Your Guide to a Happy Life: Wisdom from Fr. Joe Sica

By Joseph E Sica

"Why shouldn't our lives be full of brightness, goodness, productivity, and growth?" Fr. Joe Sica asks this question in so many ways in his writings. He truly believes that no matter how deep our sorrows, how big our mistakes, or how firmly we hold on to our grudges, Jesus always stands ready to help us free ourselves so that, more and

• Language: English
• Publisher: Twenty-Third Publications/Bayard
• Release date: Mar 31, 2021
• ISBN: 9781627856201

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Your Guide to a Happy Life

Wisdom from Fr. Joe Sica

Contents

About the Author

Foreword

Part 1: Cultivate Joy

Joyology

Heaps of Healing Humor

Seize Life Daily

You Are Someone’s Spotlight

Fortified Boundaries

Laughter: The Best Medicine

Happiness at Work

The Spice of Life

Tag! You’re It!

Don’t Worry, Be Happy

Choose Carefully

Part 2: Heal the Hurt

The Healing Power of Tears

Cancel Your Guilt Trip

Face Life Fearlessly

Tune Out the Chronic Critics

Resurrection Recovery

No Unheard Cries

Misery Is Optional

Being Wrong Happily Ever After

Let It Out and Let It Go

Enough!

One Is the Loneliest Number

Part 3: Change Perspective

Aha! Changes Everything

Sneer or Cheer

Born to Bounce Back

Empty Spaces

Change Your Attitude

Hot under the Collar

The Elephant in the Room

On Second Thought

Crazy Busy Is Simply Crazy

It’s Time for Some Easy Listening

From Rut Dwelling to Risk Taking

Part 4: Reach Out

Warning: Kindness Can Become Contagious!

Living Unselfishly

Show Up and Stop

STALL Snap Judgments

That’s What Friends Are For

Simple Acts

Open Your Eyes

Who Am I?

The Hurry-It-Up Generation

Be a Seize-the-Moment Responder

Little Things Do Matter

Part 5: Practice Forgiveness

Burying the Proverbial Hatchet

Favor Yourself

Turn Hate Upside Down

Forgiveness Cures

Care, Confront, and Come Clean

From Response to Repair

Got Forgiveness?

Getting on the Same Side of the Fence

No Budge on a Grudge

The Remedy Is in the Writing

Resolve to Reconcile

Part 6: Grow in Faith

Me? No Way!

A Life-Sustaining Rule

Remember Who You Are

Simplify! Simplify!

Keep Pedaling

Face the Unexpected with Faith

God’s Unique Creation

Confess the Mess

The Reward of Discomfort

The Clock Is Ticking

About the Author

Father Joe Sica, son of the late Joseph J. Sica Jr. and Elveria Rossi Sica, was born in Scranton on November 27, 1955. He received his early education at William Prescott #38 and graduated from Bishop O’Hara High School, Dunmore. As a seminary student, Father graduated from the University of Scranton, while in formation at St. Pius X, Dalton, and earned an M.A. degree from the Catholic University Theological College, Washington, D.C. Father Sica was ordained to the priesthood on April 24, 1982, by Bishop J. Carroll McCormick, D.D., late Bishop of Scranton.

Father Sica served various assignments in his nearly 38 years as a priest in the Diocese of Scranton. He served as assistant pastor of Annunciation Parish, Williamsport; Mount Carmel Parish, Carbondale; Our Lady of Snows Parish, Clarks Summit; St. Aloysius Parish, Wilkes-Barre; St. Mary’s Parish, Scranton; and St. Peter’s Cathedral, Scranton. He served as director of religious formation at Pocono Central Catholic High School, Cresco; Bishop O’Hara High School, Dunmore; and Bishop Hannan High School, Scranton. Father Sica served as pastor of Nativity B.V.M. Parish, Tunkhannock; and Holy Rosary Parish, Scranton; and as senior priest at Immaculate Conception Parish, Scranton. In addition, Father Sica served faithfully as a chaplain at Mercy Hospital in both Wilkes-Barre and Scranton. He will long be remembered for his pastoral outreach to the sick and suffering.

Father Sica was well known as an inspiring author. His books include Embracing Change and Forgiveness: One Step at a Time. In addition, for many years he published daily devotional booklets for Lent.

Detail of a portrait of Fr. Joe Sica, painted by Doria Mahoney and now hanging in the main vestibule of Immaculate Conception Church, Scranton, Pennsylvania.

(PHOTO COURTESY OF FR. PAT MCLAUGHLIN.)

Foreword

On March 31, 2020, we lost a precious friend.

In a blink, he was gone…

But is he?

His desk was left perfectly clean; not a paper or pen misplaced. But sitting in front of us was the completed version of his 2021 Lenten reflections, ready to teach us once again. Ready to inspire us once again. Ready to give us hope once again.

Then silently in the background was another gift from Fr. Sica…. Another book, one none of us knew about, and just about ready to be published: Your Guide to a Happy Life: Wisdom from Fr. Joe Sica. This a collection of some of Fr. Sica’s most treasured pieces that he left for us as a final gift.

For those of us who knew and loved him, our world is a darker place. Our job to honor him is to go forward with the faith and optimism of Fr. Joe Sica.

For those who did not know him, my hope is that this little book gives you a glimpse of who he was: a man who loved his work, loved his people, and loved his God.

His approach was often unconventional, and he was not saintly. But neither are most saints. And he lived by one basic principle: What would Jesus do now?

As Bishop Joseph Bambera beautifully described at Fr. Joe’s graveside, "Every bishop should have a Joe Sica….Despite the occasional insanity, he baptized every baby, married every couple, and buried every person who sought a Catholic service. While so many of us were examining the rules, Joe Sica went to work welcoming so many into the arms of the Catholic