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For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
I came to you in weakness and fear and much trembling, and my message and my proclamation were not with persuasive words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of spirit and power, so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.
And prayer and the Holy Ghost
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That is the part that gets me.
But the cross, the sacrifice of Christ reminds the hedonist there is more, another dimension, and one which leads to true fulfillment, not just the pursuit of the next level of pleasure.
That reminder exposes the emptiness in seeking such shallow goals, and as such, they are annoyed by it, they resent it, they hate it, and they seek to eliminate it, but they cannot simply ignore it.
As Jesus told Peter, thete is no glory without the Cross, no crown without suffering. Fr. Lovebeads of Our Lady of Liturgical Abuses in Cedar Falls said that the meaning of this Gospel is that we are only united to Christ in suffering as having witnessed His crucifixion and death. Good grief. Talk about carrying the Cross. Right. Out. Of. That parish.
This is a great article. I too do not understand why God wants me to suffer and be miserable if He loves me. But I do know the difference between right and wrong and follow His commands. Even though the hedonistic world looks so much hipper.
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HEDONISM
The doctrine that pleasure is the goal of life and is man's highest good. By pleasure, true hedonists understand the admittedly imperfect enjoyments of this life only.
It was first formulated by the Greek philosopher Aristippus (c. 435-360 B.C.). Misinterpreting the teaching of Socrates (470-399 B.C.), who said that happiness is the end of life, Aristippus identified happiness with pleasure. He held that intellectual pleasures are higher than sense pleasures, but what matters is the pleasure here and now available. An act is good, and therefore virtuous, insofar as it gives present satisfaction.
Hedonism was refined by Epicurus (c. 341-270 B.C.), who joined it to the physical theories of Democritus (c. 460-370 B.C.). It is the only ethics consistent with pure materialism. For Epicurus the goal of life is not intense pleasure but an abiding peace of mind, a state of cheerful tranquillity. Above all one must avoid fear of any kind of god and fear of death. The wise man so regulates his life that, before death, he has the greatest amount of pleasure and the least amount of pain. Moderation is counseled not on moral grounds but on one's enablement to enjoy future pleasures in this life. Desires should be restricted to the bounds within which they can be satisfied. Whatever increases pleasure or one's general peace of mind is good, and anything that decreases it is bad. Modern hedonism is the preferred moral philosophy of those who deny or doubt the existence of a future life. (Etym. Greek h_don_, pleasure.)
All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.
Jesus died for hedonists, too, since He “came into the world to save sinners...” I think even our modern hedonists, buttressed by invincible self-esteem, cannot escape emptiness and consequences. God can use these to draw them to Christ Jesus.