The head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales has urged people not to seek their happiness in wealth or career success but rather to find it in a relationship with Jesus and the people they love.

Delivering his homily for midnight mass at Westminster Cathedral last night, Archbishop Vincent Nichols acknowledged it was difficult to sustain happiness and peace beyond fleeting moments like Christmas.

“More often we feel pressurised, discontented or troubled. Perhaps sustaining happiness in our lives is an art we have lost,” he said.

“Yet this is our Christmas greeting: that the child born in a stable in Bethlehem is the source of our happiness.”

The birth of Jesus as the answer to the world’s discontent was a paradox, he said.

“The wisdom of our world tells us that happiness comes with success or pre-eminence in our chosen field, with wealth whether through enterprise or the Lottery, or with celebrity status, even the fleeting status of TV fame. Happiness, we are told, comes from the way in which we are regarded by society.

“Yet, in our hearts, we know this is not so, even while being tempted to follow such siren voices. We know that our happiness lies much closer to home: in our steady relationships of friendship and love: in family and community.”

Pointing to the family of Mary, Joseph and Jesus and the way they overcame adversity, he said the first source of happiness was “faithful, persevering love” that bears fruit through self-sacrifice.

“Then there is the child,” he continued.

“He is at the heart of this revelation, at the heart of happiness, for in his every word and action he will disclose the truth, not only of God but also of our own humanity.

“He is the one at the centre of these celebrations, whose birth we celebrate and whose message we again proclaim.”

The door to true happiness, the Archbishop said, lies in understanding that Jesus was truly God and truly man.

“Only when we grasp that Jesus is truly God and truly man is the gulf between us and God breeched. Then we are no longer on our own.”

The Archbishop said people were longing for peace in the face of conflicts in society and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Many youngsters today, he said, resort to gangs and gang violence “to bolster their weakened sense of identity”.

“But the gift is there: the gift of Christ’s love and forgiveness, to be received on our knees. Then we may grow again,” he said.

“And in that growth lies our true happiness: a happiness of sincerely serving others, a happiness of rejoicing with them in shared effort and joy, a happiness of knowing and offering forgiveness, a happiness of lasting love which is not afraid of self-sacrifice.

“This is the happiness open for us on this darkest of nights. Let us rejoice in this gift, accepting it afresh with gratitude and so wish each other a very happy Christmas indeed.”