The Christian Good Life

Writers and thinkers have described the good life in several ways:

So long as the memory of certain beloved friends lives in my heart, I shall say that life is good.—Helen Keller

And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.—often attributed to Abraham Lincoln

Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the good life.—Mark Twain

To live is so startling it leaves but little room for other occupations.—Emily Dickinson

A Christian take on living a good life might go something like, The good life is spent listening to anxious questions about life and developing an outlook that sees God’s grace at work. 

In this season of the incarnation, we will hear in the Scriptures how the hopes of the people of Israel were expressed in new ways: The desert is lush with life—the lion and lamb peacefully coexist. God’s vision for human life brings together people and situations that defy common sense.

In God’s view, there’s always room for new life to spring from the old. That’s what Christ brings us and what the best of Catholicism proclaims through its faith, beliefs, and worship.

For a Christian, a good life doesn’t happen magically. A good life involves accepting life’s mysterious blend of limits and possibilities. A good life is oriented to the future with a hope that God’s kingdom is here and will continue to come. A good life is present when this kingdom springs forth in the practice of justice, forgiveness, prayer, and service to the poor and abandoned.

On behalf of the staff of Liguori Publications, I wish you a blessed Advent and merry Christmas.

See you at the crib!