Why Am I Here?

img_post_inspiration002_thumb1Welcome back to my series of blogs titled, “Have you ever wondered?” In my last blog we pondered the question, “Who am I?” Thanks to the Church and Sacred Scripture we can confidently answer that question. In short we are children of God, created by God in the image and likeness of God (cf. 1 Jn. 3:1-2; Gen. 1:27). What does this mean? How does this translate into my everyday life, in my existence on this planet? Let’s begin by asking who God is. St. John tells us that God is love (cf. 1 Jn 4:8). St. John then tells us how God revealed himself as love, “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him may not die but may have eternal life (Jn 3:16). And St. Paul tells us that “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8). In his first letter to the Corinthians St. Paul describes love as it is lived in everyday circumstances, the “stuff of life,” our life. “Love is patient; love is kind. Love is not jealous, it does not put on airs, it is not snobbish. Love is never rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not prone to anger; neither does it brood over injuries. Love does not rejoice in what is wrong, but rejoices with the truth. There is no limit to love’s forbearance, to its trust, its hope, its power to endure. Love never fails” (1Cor. 13: 4-8).

So if God created us in his own image, which is love, then our purpose in life is to reach our fullest identity, our greatest fulfillment here on earth and perfectly in heaven, by revealing the image of God that we are, by listening to God’s unique communal life call to us, and by loving as God loves in every circumstance of our life.

In my next blog we will explore what God’s unique communal life call to us is and how our saying “yes” to this call will fulfill our purpose of loving as God loves in a unique unrepeated way that will contribute to the Church’s mission of revealing God’s kingdom of love and justice for all.