Priesthood, the true pursuit of happiness

Or the pursuit of true happiness, according to Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan in the Herald of Hope column in the August 23, 2007 issue of our Milwaukee Catholic Herald.

St. Thomas [Aquinas] was quick to point out, of course, that happiness is not the same as pleasure. In fact, the Angelic Doctor observed that one of the ways we humans get into big trouble is by confusing the two.

As another philosopher explained.

There is, on the one hand, the purely psychological meaning of "happiness" when that word is used to refer to the satisfaction or contentment an individual feels in getting what is wanted. ...

In its ethical or moral meaning, the word "happiness" refers to a life well lived, a whole life that is morally good because it is the product of virtue (or the habit of right desire) accompanied by the blessings of good fortune. ...

--Mortimer J. Adler, Adler's Philosophical Dictionary (1995) pp. 103-104

Archbishop Dolan goes on

God made us for happiness, now, and in eternity.

That would be the moral, not the psychological meaning. He then goes on to cite studies of job satisfaction.

the happiest and most satisfied of all American workers? Buckle your seatbelts: Clergy!

Happy in which sense?

A couple of years ago, the Los Angeles Times reported the same finding: 92 percent of priests are happy, and would do it all over if they were asked to choose a vocation again.

Which appears, at least, to mean happy in the moral sense.

Everybody talks about the few that leave; nobody talks about the big majority who happily stay.

This article had 10-15% leaving within five years; still a minority, but more than a few. Might be interesting to see what seminarians have been taught over the years about the nature of happiness.