Man’s
Purpose
YOUCAT catechism +Catechism of the
Catholic Church Lesson 2
AVE MARIA Series
2. Why did God create us?
God created us out of free and unselfish love. [1 –
3]
When a man loves, his heart overflows. He would like to share his joy with
others. He gets this from his
Creator. Although God is a mystery, we
can still think about him in a human way and say: Out of the “surplus” of his love he created
us. He wanted to share his endless joy
with us who are creatures of his love.
“One must know man and human things in order to love
them. One must love God and divine
things in order to know them.” (Blaise
Pascal, 1623-1662, French mathematician and philosopher)
God is love. (1 John 4:16b)
"FATHER,
. . . this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true
God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent (John 17:3)." "God our Savior desires all men to be
saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:3-4)." "There is no other name under heaven
given among men by which we must be saved (Acts of the Apostles 4:2)" - than the name
of JESUS. --Prologue, Catechism of the
Catholic Church, Second Edition
THE LIFE OF
MAN - TO KNOW AND LOVE GOD
1 God,
infinitely perfect and blessed in himself, in a plan of sheer goodness freely
created man to make him share in his own blessed life. For this reason, at
every time and in every place, God draws close to man. He calls man to seek
him, to know him, to love him with all his strength. He calls together all men,
scattered and divided by sin, into the unity of his family, the Church. To
accomplish this, when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son as
Redeemer and Savior. In his Son and through him, he invites men to become, in
the Holy Spirit, his adopted children and thus heirs of his blessed life. --CCC
2 So that this call should resound throughout
the world, Christ sent forth the apostles he had chosen, commissioning them to
proclaim the gospel: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you
always, to the close of the age (Matthew
28:18-20)."4 Strengthened by this mission, the
apostles "went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with
them and confirmed the message by the signs that attended it (Mark
16:20)."5 --CCC
3 Those who with God's help
have welcomed Christ's call and freely responded to it are urged on by love of
Christ to proclaim the Good News everywhere in the world. This treasure,
received from the apostles, has been faithfully guarded by their successors. All
Christ's faithful are called to hand it on from generation to generation, by
professing the faith, by living it in fraternal sharing, and by celebrating it
in liturgy and prayer (Acts
of the Apostles 2:42).6 --CCC
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