'Belonging' Offers a Roadmap to Happiness

Maria V. Gallagher reviews Catholic Mom contributor Debra Black's new book, designed to bring happiness to the millennial generation.

Chances are, you are on a quest for happiness. The question is, where do you look for it? In entertainment? Sports? Shopping?

Author Debra Black recognizes the desire for happiness that lies deep in all our souls. Exploring that need, she has crafted a book that excels in offering a roadmap to happiness, specifically designed for the millennial generation.

Belonging: An Invitation to Happiness for Millennial Catholics is a work that offers the possibility of a lasting joy which trying circumstances cannot erase. For, in establishing or strengthening a relationship with Jesus, seekers can find a happiness that surpasses all understanding.

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Black opens the book with a stirring quotation from St. Pope John Paul II, a man who forged a special relationship with the young:

It is Jesus in fact that you seek when you dream of happiness; He is waiting for you when nothing else you find satisfies you; He is the beauty to which you are so attracted; it is He who provokes you with that thirst for fullness that will not let you settle for compromise; it is He who urges you to shed the masks of a false life; it is He who reads in your hearts your most genuine choices, the choices that others try to stifle.

Black points out that, in our 21st century world, many of us are plagued by loneliness. Despite the proliferation of “social” media, Black notes that “missing is real fellowship and communion with others.” The result is a sense of isolation, which can be crippling and soul-depleting.

But in Jesus we can discover the truth of our identity and worthiness, leading to a real communion.

You must seek Truth Itself to find happiness and, when found, believe you are worthy of it. Because you are. This is belonging.

While Belonging was written with Millennials in mind, it is the type of book that can appeal to individuals of all ages whose hearts hunger for a lightness of spirit. Black extends an invitation to discover happiness even in the midst of hardships.

Your Christ and Brother wants to be with you moment-by-moment helping you through even the smallest struggle. And if you let Him, you will be purified of these struggles. Happiness can be yours now.

At a time when many young adults manifest wounds of the heart, Belonging provides a key to getting past hurt and finding the glory of God. In Him, we can discover peace and the happiness that comes with it.

Belonging book review