Q. What is the purpose of existence, why were we made?
A. To be eternally happy.
Q. What is the purpose of life here on earth?
A. To perfect ourselves so that we can both achieve and be capable of enjoying that happiness.
Q. What does it mean to perfect ourselves?
A. At the end of the day, it boils down to growing in the human virtues (the good habits).
Q. Which is the most important virtue to cultivate?
A. Charity or love.
Q. Why?
A. Because any single act of love demands overcoming oneself and going out to make another happy.
That single act entails within itself all the other virtues: fortitude, prudence, humility, purity, order, punctuality, cheerfulness, magnanimity, meekness, sincerity etc.
Q. And how do I know if I have this kind of virtuous love, if I have the virtue of charity?
A. Love is proven by sacrifice: where you continue to want and to do good to the other even at your own expense (e.g. of time, comfort, money, preference, honour, etc.). This is why the acts of mercy that the Pope is pushing for, genuine friendships and to an even greater extent, marriage are so virtue-making.
In marriage for example, the husband has to learn to forgo his comfort in order to see his wife comfortable first; has to forgo his rest in order to play with his kids, has to forgo his plans in order to spend time with his family. These are all the more heroic when the husband precisely doesn't feel like: when there are prettier women, more disciplined kids and more exciting games out there. But he sticks by his commitment: to his wife and to his kids.
2ndAugust 2015