Here's an interesting post from Richard Heyduck on truth versus happiness as the goal of modern parishioners. It's a read-the-whole-thing piece, but let me take a whack at this question towards the end of the piece-
How does happiness fit with truth and love?
Not all that well. Not at first, at least. The Holy Spirit will have some constructive criticism on some (if not many) parts of our lives, and folks might not be ready to hear that.
The truth sometimes hurts; the Church is often pitching spiritual surgery, which hurts in the short term but will produce a better life in the long term. If someone on a happiness quest doesn't want to change enough, then they will look elsewhere, either to secular culture or less demanding faiths.
More on this in the days to come, for it's worth coming back to.
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