Why are we in the world?

“Does human life have or does it make no sense, and does man have a purpose?” Otherwise, he will not find himself and will lack a mature and mature personal identity. This is important because we only have one life! Therefore, already in religion classes, the most basic question is: Why are we in the world? Religion thus gives us the answer to the most important questions concerning our lives: Where are we from, and why are we here? Where is our goal? “Eternal life is about knowing you, the one true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ” (Jn 17: 3). These words are the motto in the introduction to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (from now on CCC), which was also published in Slovak in 1998. To know God means to live, but to live a life that is not of this world. This knowledge is the goal of our lives.

Therefore, man is created not for this world, not for this life, but for another world, for another life, which means happiness that we cannot even imagine. St. Paul speaks of this life. Augustine, in his book of Confessions, which is like a life confession and confession, a celebration of God’s incomprehensible love: 28; cf. C, 45). We are created for this happiness, and this happiness seeks our “restless heart,” of which St. Augustine (Confessions, 1, 1). The New Testament uses several terms to describe the bliss to which God calls man. It is the coming of the kingdom of God, the vision of God, the entrance into the joy of the Lord, the entry into the peace of God (cf. CCC, 1720). According to St. Augustine, “there we will rest and see: we will see and love. We will love and praise. So, it will be endless in the end. After all, what other goal do we have if we do not come to a Kingdom that has no end?” (On God’s City, 22:30).

“This desire has a divine origin. God put it in the heart of man to draw him to himself, for only he can fully satisfy her” (CCC, 1718). This is how St. confessed. Thomas Aquinas: “Only God satisfies.” Therefore, to the old question of the catechism, we can answer that “God created us to know him, to serve him and to love him, and so they came to paradise. Bliss gives us a share in God’s nature and in eternal life” (CCC, 1721). This simple sentence is like a solid rope on a steep mountain path, like something one can hold on to when everything is uncertain. At the same time, the meaning of the catechism is very simply explained in this truth: it is a path, help to a happy life, a service in life, a guide, a map with precisely marked goals.

The desire above for eternal life and eternal happiness presents us with decisive choices. “It teaches us that true happiness is neither in wealth or prosperity, nor in human glory or power, nor in any human creation, no matter how beneficial it may be, such as science, technology, art, or in any creation, but only in God, the source of every good and every love” (KKC, 1723). A young man who finished school shortly after the gentle revolution started a business and succeeded. He almost became a confident man, making everyone feel. He saw the meaning of his life at work. He devoted all his strength to her, but she still did not fully satisfy him. He once witnessed a marriage. He sat down confidently on the bench. But as soon as the ceremony began, he became insecure. He hadn’t been in the temple in a long time. He didn’t know when to get up when to stay seated. He didn’t even know the songs; he just opened his mouth so that he seemed to be singing.