In this video clip, Fr. Spitzer describes level 3 happiness, the happiness of living for others. Level 3 happiness is so powerful that it even enabled Viktor Frankl, author of "Man's Search for Meaning," to survive a prisoner of war camp during WWII.

The news has featured human connectivity in seemingly endless variety lately—from discussing the negative effects of social distancing and quarantines on our mental health to the creative ways people are reaching out and staying in touch. 

Imagine we’re writing the current chapter in a history of human relationships to government and God. This 2020 installment comprises a pandemic, social polarization, tragedies of life and livelihood, political paralysis, tragic urban violence, and countless souls in turmoil. The short-term solutions we forge from ad hoc policies and practices could lead to greater crises and disputes. We Catholics should be glad that we are “cast” and that a loving God is actually overseeing the real plot line.

In this clip, taken from the Magis Center's "Happiness, The Series," you'll discover why our culture is so obsessed with success and power. Watch Father Spitzer and the Magis Center explain Level 2 happiness and whether or not worldly success can actually lead to true happiness.

Discover why happiness is the driving force behind every decision you make.

Most of us have met “the guy who knows everything”—meaning, the guy who claims to know everything. He’s the boss who can do no wrong, the bore at parties who has a strong opinion about all subjects under the sun, or the political junkie who not only knows the “true contents” of Hilary Clinton’s deleted emails, but also knows “who is really running the world.” 

"He looks on me individually, He calls me by my name, He knows what I can do, what I can best be, what is my greatest happiness, and He means to give it me.” -St. John Henry Newman

Thanks to Paul Nicolaus for a recent review examining scholarly research on the kind of happiness we might experience en route to the office each morning. 

A good friend of Fr. Spitzer, Lou Tice, passed from this life in 2012, but lived with an incredible vision.

There is only one way to live, and that is for others. We only become ourselves by forgetting ourselves.