Author name: amdg

National Catholic Register portal reports on Arthur Brooks, a Harvard professor and self-described “devout Catholic,” who has built a lucrative career promoting what he calls the “science of happiness.” His latest book, *The Meaning of Your Life: Finding Purpose in an Age of Emptiness*, proposes that the secret to happiness lies in asking “the big why questions” — a form of self-reflection he claims will lead individuals to meaning and fulfillment. Brooks recounts his own pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago in 2019, during which he claims to have found what he was seeking, and now prescribes a regimen of digital detoxification, Jungian-style introspection, and engagement with “transcendent” questions as the antidote to the epidemic of anxiety and depression afflicting American youth. The Register sat down with Brooks to discuss his book and how the Catholic Church can reach “strivers” — high achievers who, despite outward success, feel their lives lack meaning. Brooks argues that technology distracts people from asking deep questions, that suffering should be “managed” rather than eliminated, and that parents must model virtuous behavior for their children. He expresses optimism about young adults filling Catholic churches in Manhattan, calling them “green shoots” that must be cultivated with holiness and joy. The interview reveals a man who has substituted the supernatural life of grace with a naturalistic, psychological framework dressed in Catholic vocabulary — a perfect specimen of the conciliar Church’s capitulation to secular humanism.