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Jim_Baur
Guest
I believe that the meaning of life is: Intimacy with God.
I need Bible ideas!
Any help?
I need Bible ideas!
Any help?
- Status
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CatholicKnight3
Guest
The purpose of life…
is…
THE GREATER GLORY OF GOD.
The Glory of God was made manifest through creation. We can see the glory of God when he behold His creation…
The GREATER GLORY OF GOD is made manifest through the redemption of man, through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
I believe this is the purpose of life.
http://www.bible-people.info/2.1.Mary_Nazareth_PassionoftheCross.jpg
is…
THE GREATER GLORY OF GOD.
The Glory of God was made manifest through creation. We can see the glory of God when he behold His creation…
The GREATER GLORY OF GOD is made manifest through the redemption of man, through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
I believe this is the purpose of life.
http://www.bible-people.info/2.1.Mary_Nazareth_PassionoftheCross.jpg
D
Della
Guest
Just for starters:
Jn. 15[4a] Abide in me, and I in you.
Jn. 17[11] And now I am no more in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to thee. Holy Father, keep them in thy name, which thou hast given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.
[21a] that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us.
2Pt.1[4] by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, that through these you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of passion, and become partakers of the divine nature.
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dshix
Guest
Gah!! Someone beat me to it. 
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CaptFun
Guest
J
Jim_Baur
Guest
To know, ove and serve is absolutely beautiful.
Is that intimacy with God? Would you consider that intimacy with God?
Is that intimacy with God? Would you consider that intimacy with God?
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Denimguy
Guest
If you know Him, you will serve Him, if you serve Him, you will love Him. I believe that is intimancy.
First answer from the Baltimore Catechism:thumbsup:
First answer from the Baltimore Catechism:thumbsup:
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Della
Guest
According to the saints we go through three stages on our way to union with God: the purgative, the illuminative, and the unitive. Most of us are still in the first stage.
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Aelred_Minor
Guest
The ultimate answer is to glorify God. Slightly more proximate is our call to seek to know, love, and serve God.
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BobCatholic
Guest
The only purpose of life is to suffer.
That’s why we are to carry our cross.
That’s why we are to carry our cross.
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EricFilmer
Guest
The purpose of life is to love God and one another.
…and one of them [a scholar of the law] tested him by asking,
“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”
He said to him, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul,
and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment.
The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”
(Matthew 22:35-40, NAB)
…and one of them [a scholar of the law] tested him by asking,
“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”
He said to him, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul,
and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment.
The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”
(Matthew 22:35-40, NAB)
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BobCatholic
Guest
Then why does God require us to suffer if that is not the purpose of life?
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Della
Guest
Well, suffering isn’t the only purpose in life. Yes, we do suffer but we also rejoice and grow in the faith and learn to love more fully, etc., etc. It’s not just about one thing, but about what is the core of what God intends for us and wants us to do and that is wrapped up in loving him and others as Christ loved us. A part of that entails suffering, to be sure, but it’s not the main focus or reason for living in Christ in this world.
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BobCatholic
Guest
I don’t understand suffering. The Catholic faith has the greatest amount of explanations for why there is suffering and I get that. What I don’t get is the part where we are punished for Adam’s sin temporally, not spiritually.
I hate not understanding. I hate this imperfection of mine, where I can’t understand. And then I can’t do. And then I get punished.
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Della
Guest
The question of temporal punishment due to the fall of man is really a topic for another thread. But trust me, no one is punished unjustly. God doesn’t operate that way. :console:
We sin because we have been deprived of grace that we would have had had our parents, Adam and Eve, not forfeited their inheritance for “a mess of pottage”, as Esau did when he sold his inheritance to Jacob.
We cannot help but sin. God knows this. He doesn’t expect perfection, he only expects our cooperation as we grow in holiness. This is why Jesus instituted the Sacraments–to renew and refresh us in our faith. If we sin we have access to Jesus in confession. How easy is that?
We just go to the priest, say what we did (just going shows contrition), and we are forgiven. The little penance we are given–to say a few prayers or do something good for another is nothing at all. In this we see God’s generosity, love and mercy.
So, don’t despair. All of us will sin until the day we die, but we don’t have to be enslaved to our passions. As we grow in grace, we leave many faults behind that no longer plague us. Trust in God and do what he asks and you cannot go wrong.
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BobCatholic
Guest
He does if we want to go to heaven. “Be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect” and “nobody can enter heaven without any blemish” (Rev 22)
And that takes care of the spiritual problem, not the temporal problem.
When it comes to the spiritual, God is infinitely generous, infinitely merciful. Zero doubt there. God rocks in that area.
Temporal things on the other hand, it is not easy, it is like pulling teeth to get healing in the temporal sphere.
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Della
Guest
Other translations render this “be holy…”. By not being perfect I mean not struggling to try to become something we can’t all on our own. To be holy and grow in holiness we need God’s grace. We can do nothing spiritual without it.
God doesn’t always heal our bodies or minds (most such latter illness is probably due to chemical imbalances in the brain). Here we let God do what he wills and simply trust, knowing that whatever we go through now is for our eternal good. St. Paul prayed three times to have his “thorn in the flesh” removed. He finally had to say, as Our Lord Jesus did in the garden, “Not my will but yours be done.” God uses our weaknesses to make us strong in the spirit. This is what God told St. Paul, “My strength is sufficient for you.” If God has not healed you he wishes you to use your weakness and wants you to simply rest in him and not focus on it. We all have such things in our lives. It’s part of carrying our cross.
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Eric_Hyom
Guest
The greatest commandments, God first, neighbour second, self third
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Jim_Baur
Guest
Della
College of St. Thomas or University of St. Thomas
College of St. Thomas or University of St. Thomas
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Della
Guest
The University of St. Thomas is located in the Twin Cities–in St. Paul. I didn’t attend, though. We have a College of St. Catherine, but I didn’t attend there, either.
Why do you ask?- Status