I& #39;ve been dwelling on a Raymond Chandler quote recently. It goes roughly "Getting over alcoholism means accepting the world isn& #39;t as shiny and bright as you& #39;d like it to be". Seems to me true about the way we view the world today 1/4

We – including the Church – oversell the image of a beautiful creation. I don& #39;t mean that the world isn& #39;t beautiful, only it isn& #39;t as beautiful as we& #39;d like it to be. The kind of happiness we hope for isn& #39;t in this world, and it doesn& #39;t matter how much we promise it is. 2/4

The Church didn& #39;t create suffering or sin, but it has to begin by acknowledging them, as does any other religion or philosophy – any other starting point is dishonest. Without that context, the call of the Cross is meaningless. That& #39;s why people today want the fantasy of a 3/4

good life rather than the reality. We are encouraging generations of fantasists by promising them a type of happiness that doesn& #39;t exist. It& #39;s simply not as colourful or as bright as we& #39;d like it to be. It can& #39;t fulfil our deepest needs 4/4