What is essential is invisible to the eye

I was told this cute little story a few years ago. It happened in a Catholic Primary School. A little girl, recently arrived in Australia from a refugee camp in Africa, was listening to a talk given by a visitor to her school. The talk was on conditions in the Solomon Islands and what was being done to help the people there. One slide that was shown was of a pathetic little tin shed that served as the community school. It was of course shown to highlight the terrible plight of the people. On seeing the shed however, the little girl was heard to say “O isn’t that lovely.” And she meant it!


“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” Antoine de Saint-Exupery in Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince)


The profound truth expressed so succinctly above is one that is often forgotten in our modern, frantic, materialistic society. Thanks to self-interested big business and the often morally challenged media, people have been spun a wonderful myth. Happiness is out there! All we have to do is find it. How do we find it? Well, if we spend enough money on ourselves we are sure to find it. We can even make the people we love happy by buying things for them. There are clothes and jewellery, I-Pod’s and mobile phones, TV’s and DVD’s, computers and coffee machines – the list is endless! There are even people who risk unnecessary major cosmetic surgery in the pursuit of happiness – breast enlargements, face lifts and liposuction and people even go overseas to get them cheap!

Don’t get me wrong. It’s not that there is anything inherently wrong in buying any of these things. The danger is that people, especially young people, can be brainwashed into believing that they need these things to be happy. Worse, they can become depressed or angry that others have more or better things than they do.

The Christian belief is that happiness comes from knowing God and ourselves as well as we possibly can and in serving others first rather than in serving ourselves. In getting to know God, we enter into and strengthen a relationship with our creator, a relationship that can nurture and sustain us through good times and bad. By getting to know ourselves well, we come to know our gifts, abilities and talents as well as our weaknesses, which in turn allow us to decide a meaningful direction in life. In serving others first we actively share the love of God wherever we are in the world. Happiness is an internal sense of self worth and of connectedness with our loving creator and with our fellow human beings. What is essential is invisible to the eye.

Catholic schools in Australia make a real difference to the lives of thousands of young people every day. We are fortunate to live in a country that allows freedom of Religious expression. Our Catholic schools work in partnership with parents, parish and the wider community to provide our young people with the time, teaching and example necessary to get to know themselves and to get to know God. In this way our young men and women come to know that it is only with the heart that one can see rightly.