The Archbishop of Cathedral, Dr. Rowan Williams, said in his Easter Sermon that the narrow pursuit of material goals won’t bring happiness, but only ''personal and communal fulfilment.''
Williams emphasised that joy was a result of living with an outward focus, by fostering relationships with others and the surrounding world.
The Archbishop referenced the British government’s proposals to try to measure the nation’s well being, and to seek ''happiness rather than just prosperity.''
Williams said: ''Now it's certainly a good thing that people have publicly acknowledged that there is more to life than the level of our Gross National Product, that we're just beginning to say out loud that corporate prosperity divorced from personal and communal fulfilment or stability is an empty thing.
''It seems that, just as we can't find fulfilment in just loving ourselves, so we can't just generate happiness for ourselves. It comes from outside, from relationships, environment, the unexpected stimulus of beauty - but not from any programme that we can identify.''
Dr Williams requested his listeners to consider Christians around the glob who are persecuted because of their religion, or who are coping with some form of personal grief.
"We might well remember today some of those in such situations - Christians facing threats and attacks in Pakistan or, right at the moment, in Northern Nigeria; and please pray and think of them, as some fanatics of all backgrounds seek to exploit religious differences there, even in the wake of what appears as a free and fair election.
"Or we might think of an aid worker in Congo, or a nurse or teacher in a strained and under-resourced institution, or a carer sitting through the night with a terminally ill child - people such as this will sometimes speak, shockingly, of feeling joy in the middle of what they endure."
Following on from this, Dr Williams also challenged people to look past their own preoccupations and worries.
"What we can contribute by our will or effort is not a system for making ourselves happy but a habit of readiness to receive. The person whose mind is completely cluttered with anxiety, self-absorbed worry or vanity or resentment, is going to find it hard to give way to moments of gift and surprise."
(Image from file).