Sin keeps people from happiness, says papal preacher

(April 11, 2009) Sin and not God is the main cause for people's unhappiness, said the preacher of the papal household. Father Raniero Cantalamessa, the Preacher of the Pontifical Household, made the observation in his homily at Good Friday’s liturgy of the Passion of Christ, presided over by Pope Benedict XVI in St Peter’s Basilica. The Capuchin priest said that sin and the refusal of God traps a person in lies and injustice, condemns them to vanity and corruption, and is "the final cause also of the social evils that afflict humanity."
Fr. Cantalamessa noted a campaign promoting atheism on busses in London this year ultimately "served God's cause" by reminding people of the importance of faith, especially to those who suffer. Buses bearing the slogan "There's probably no God. Now enjoy your life!" hit the streets of London in January and the atheist publicity stunt was replicated in other cities, attracting widespread media coverage. "We should almost thank the people who promoted that advertising campaign. It has served God's cause more than so many of our apologetic arguments," said Father Cantalamessa. "It has demonstrated the poverty of their reasons and has helped stir so many sleeping consciences," he added. What was striking, he said, is not only the claim that God might not exist but its implication that God is an enemy of happiness. St. Paul taught that sin is "the principle cause of man's unhappiness, the refusal of God, not God himself," said the priest, adding "Atheism is a luxury that only those with privileged lives can afford."
Drug use, an unchaste sexual life and violence may bring on an immediate sense of pleasure, but in the long run they "lead to moral dissolution and often even the physical ruin of the person," he said.
With Christ's passion, death and resurrection, pleasure no longer ends in suffering but leads to life and joy, he said. "Christ did not come to increase human suffering or preach resignation to suffering. He came to give meaning to suffering and to announce its end and defeat," Father Cantalamessa said. Suffering is a mystery for everyone, "but without faith in God it becomes immensely more absurd," he said.
Father Cantalamessa said experts and policymakers have been analyzing what triggered today's global economic crisis but few have dared to "put the axe to the roots and speak about sin." St. Paul defines "insatiable avarice as idolatry and he points to the root of all evil in the unbridled desire for money," said Father Cantalamessa. Why else would so many families today be homeless and so many workers be jobless "if not because of some people's insatiable thirst for profit?" he asked. "The elite members of the financial and economic world turned into a runaway train that steamed ahead without brakes, without stopping to think about the rest of the train that had come to a standstill on the tracks. We were headed in the completely wrong direction," he said.
In his homily the papal preacher said, "Christ did not come to increase human suffering or preach resignation to suffering; he came to give meaning to suffering and to announce its end and defeat." He said suffering is a mystery for everyone, "but without faith in God it becomes immensely more absurd."
Pope Benedict XVI presided over the Good Friday liturgy held in St. Peter's Basilica. He began the rite by kneeling in front of the altar in silent prayer. During the sermon he removed his shoes and walked to the altar to kneel before and venerate the Crucifix.