This Sunday's Gospel for the feast of All Saints is Matthew's account of the beatitudes where Jesus went up a hill on the banks of the Sea of Galilee and taught his disciples what their be-attitude must be to inherit the kingdom of God. To explain the close link between beatitude and happiness, here is a beautiful extract from the Catechism:
‘The Beatitudes respond to the natural desire for happiness. This desire is of divine origin: God has placed it in the human heart in order to draw humanity to the One who alone can fulfill it. We all want to live happily; in the whole human race there is no one who does not assent to this proposition, even before it is fully articulated. “How is it, then, that I seek you, Lord? Since in seeking you, my God, I seek a happy life, let me seek you so that my soul may live, for my body draws life from my soul and my soul draws life from you” (St Augustine). God alone satisfies.
The Beatitudes reveal the goal of human existence, the ultimate end of human acts: God calls us to his own beatitude. This vocation is addressed to each individual personally, but also to the Church as a whole, the new people made up of those who have accepted the promise and live from it in faith’ (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1718-1719).