The final conference of this retreat calls our attention to those experiences in life that evoke the emotion of happiness because they are meeting our conscious or unconscious needs. Easily overlooked in self-awareness and powerfully reinforcing due to the pleasant and positive emotions they evoke, these experiences may well distract us from our call to be fully human in that they may satisfy desires that do not contribute to our health, holiness, or growth as persons. In contrast to happiness, joy is not an emotion but a choice to be mindful and aware of the goodness of life, the gift of love, and the hope for the fullness of both in eternity. Finally, listeners are invited to review the various stages of life to note how love has come to them, possibly in fragmented and incomplete ways, but still love that calls us to the fullness of our humanity.

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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