Why did God Create Me?

When the pagan Japanese had the Gospel announced to them, while they were being instructed on the infinite love of God, the great mysteries of religion, and all that God had done for man -- God born in poverty, God suffering, God dying for love of them and for their salvation, the Japanese exclaimed in a shout of joy and admiration, "Oh! how great, how good and loving is the God of the Christians!"

When they heard that there was an express command to love God, and a threatened punishment for not loving Him, they were surprised and exclaimed, "What! A command given to reasonable men to love the God who has loved us so much? Why, is it not the greatest happiness to love Him, and the greatest misfortunes not to love Him? What! Are not the Christians always at the foot of the altars of their God, penetrated with a deep sense of His goodness and inflamed with His holy love?"

And when they were given to understand that there were Christians who not only did not love God, but often offended and outraged Him, they once more exclaimed, "O, unworthy people! O, ungrateful hearts! Is it possible? In what accursed land dwell those men devoid of hearts and feelings?"

We may wonder at these sentiments of the newly converted Japanese Christians, but does not our own heart condemn ingratitude? Does it not condemn the conduct of the Prodigal Son before his repentance? He was unwilling to live in his father's house. He thought it would be happier to be independent of all restraint, to follow the desires of his heart without hindrance.

We condemn him for all this, especially his ingratitude to his father, but let us look first into our own hearts. Does this ungrateful son stand alone? Are there not many who, like him, lose the sight of God by seeking their happiness in the blind pursuit of riches, pleasures / entertainment, respect from others, and honors of this world?

And why do they do this? Because, like the Prodigal Son, they never reflect seriously on the noble end for which they were created. Let us go into the streets of any large city and look around. There are buildings and brilliant shops, but these are nothing in comparison to the vast crowds of immortal souls working out their immortal destiny of good or evil. Between the old man tottering along the street, to the youth on the way to school, to the laborer going to this daily toil, each one, has a soul that will live forever.

The tide of human beings flows on, day after day from morning until night. There are new faces continually appearing. We know not their history. We know not their destiny. New generations shall come in the place of those who now inhabit the world. All the grand buildings and brilliant shops shall be reduced to ashes, or even the world itself shall pass away; but every soul now living in this city shall live forever, because their souls are immortal, created in God's own image.

Now, very few people ever think about their future destiny, as only those who are wise will often ask themselves the great question: Why am I in this world?

Many wise monks at mid-day go into the Church, kneeling down, they ask themselves the great question, "Why did God create me?" Have I this morning been doing what God created me for?

The night comes and again on their knees in the Church they ask themselves the great question, "Why did God create me?" Did I this afternoon do what God created me for?

Once a month, there is an entire day devoted to nothing else than to put to themselves the great question, "Why did God create me?" Have I this month been doing what God created me for?

Once every year, there are ten days of silence. During that time they do not preach, hear confessions, or speak to anyone. They spend the entire ten days asking themselves the great question, "Why did God create me?" Have I this year been doing what God created me for?

This question, "Why did God create me?" is a question which men of true wisdom often ask themselves; so if they read, if they eat, if they walk, all throughout the works of the day, through the silence of the night, the great thought comes before them, "Why did God create me?"

Did God create us simply that we might make money, seek after all types of pleasures and entertainments, or strive for the respect and applause from others? Go into any great town -- New York, Philadelphia, St. Louis, or Chicago -- and see the many people everywhere. There is something in their faces which shows that they are not idle, but that they have some great business or motivation that takes up their thoughts and fills their whole soul.

How many dream day and night to be rich in money and possessions, to live in splendor and luxury, pleasure and entertainment; whose life is spent in planning, thinking, and toiling for the goal of gaining happiness. Give him all the kingdoms of the earth, all the gold of the mountains, all the pearls of the ocean, and all the desires of his heart. Will he be happy? Will his heart be at rest?

Ah! No. He will find that riches are like thorns; they only wound and burn. They seem sweet when beheld at a distance. Indulge in them and at once you taste their bitterness. All the goods and pleasures of this world are like a fisher's hook. The fish is glad while it swallows the bait and see not the hook; but no sooner has the fisherman drawn up his line than it is tormented within and soon after comes to the destruction from the very bait in which it so much rejoiced.

So it is with all those who esteem themselves happy in their temporal earthly possessions. In their comforts and honors they have swallowed a hook. But a time will come when they shall experience the greatness of the torment which they have swallowed in their pursuit for happiness.

Now, why is it that the riches and pleasures of this world cannot make us happy? It is because the soul was not created by and for them, but by God and for Himself. Therefore, it is the enjoyment of God alone that can make the soul happy.

A thing is made better only by that which is better than the thing itself. Inferior beings can never make superior beings better. The soul, being immortal, is superior to all earthly things. Earthly things, then, cannot make the soul better. Hence, it is that here on earth we are never satisfied. We always crave for something more, something higher, something better. What is this continual restlessness that haunts us through life and pursues us even to the grave?

It is the home-sickness of the soul; its craving after a Good that is better and more excellent than the soul herself is. God alone is this Good, He being Supreme Goodness itself. He who possesses God may be said to possess the goodness of all other things; for whatever goodness they possess, they have from God.

Where, then, are we to seek true happiness? In God alone. For this reason, St. Francis of Assisi used to exclaim, "My God and my All!" -- a saying to which he was so accustomed that he could scarcely think of anything else, and often spent whole nights meditating on this truth. So also, St. Teresa would exclaim, "God alone is sufficient!"

Certainly, true contentment is that which is found in the Creator -- a contentment which no man can take from the soul, and not that which is found in the creature where all joy is sadness, all pleasure is sorrow, all sweetness is bitter, all beauty is ugliness, and all delight is affliction. So it is most certain that "when face to face, we shall see God as He is"; we shall have perfect joy and happiness.

The more closely, then, we are united with God in this life, the more contentment of mind and the greater happiness of the self-same nature as that which we shall have in Heaven. The only difference is that our joy and happiness here on earth is in a developing state, while in Heaven it is brought to perfection. Therefore the idea, the very essence of all happiness is to be united with God as closely as possible. Hence, it is that St. Augustine, who had tasted all pleasures exclaimed, "You have made me, O God! for Yourself; and my heart was uneasy within me until it found its rest in You!"

Now, when is it that we possess God, are closely united with Him, and find our rest in Him? It is only when we really do His holy will.

This God gave us to understand by His command to Adam, "And of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat. For in what day soever you shall eat of it, you shall die the death." By this commandment man was clearly given to understand that the continuation of his happiness, for time and eternity, depended upon his obedience to the will of God. To be free from irregular affections and disorderly passions, and to transmit his happiness to all future generations, was entirely in Adams power. If he made a right use of his liberty by always following the law of God; if Adam had preserved the image and likeness of his Creator and Heavenly Father; if, in fine, he made a proper use of the creatures confided to his care, he would have received the crown of life everlasting in reward for his fidelity. But, by swerving, even for a moment from this loving will of God, Adam subjected himself to the law of God's Justice, which would not fail to execute the threatened punishment.

But, did God, perhaps, afterwards, in consideration of the Redemption of mankind, lay down another or easier condition for man's happiness and salvation? No. He did not change these conditions in the least.

Man's happiness still depended on his obedience to the Divine Will. "Now if you will hear the voice of the Lord your God, to do and keep all His commandments, the Lord your God will make you higher than all the nations of the earth, and all these blessings shall come to you and over take you: yet so if you hear His precepts." And our divine Savior says, "You are my friends, if you do the things that I command you." And again, "Not everyone that says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but he that does the will of my father who is in Heaven shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven." He Himself gave the example, having been obedient even to the death of the cross, thereby teaching all men that their happiness and salvation depends on their constant obedience to the will of their Heavenly Father.

Everyone, without exception, were made by God to be happy with Him forever in Heaven, on this one condition, "He that does the will of my Father Who is in Heaven, he shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven." The answer, then, to the great question, "Why did God create me?" is to know God, to love Him, and serve Him according to His holy will.

To swerve from this purpose, even for a moment, to lead a life contrary to God's will, is altogether out of his place. A tool which no longer corresponds to the end for which it was made is cast away. A wheel which prevents others from working is taken out and replaced by another. A limb in the body which becomes sick and endangers the functions and life of the others, is cut off and thrown away. A servant who no longer does his master's will is discharged. A rebellious citizen who violates the laws of the state is put into prison. A child, in unreasonable opposition to his parents is punished. It is then that men naturally hate and reject what is unreasonable, useless, opposed to, and destructive of, good order, whether natural or moral. Is it any surprise, then, that the Lord of Heaven and earth, the author of good sense and of good order, seeks justice for disobedience to His holy will?

For the man in opposition to the will of God suffers tremendously. He is continually tormented by evil spirits, who have power over his soul that has swerved from its created purpose. He is no longer under the protection of God, since he has withdrawn from God's will, the rule for man's guidance, and has voluntarily left God's watchful Providence. God sent Jonas, the prophet, to Niniva, and instead Jonas wished to go to Tarsus. For this disobedience, Jonas was buffeted by the tempest, cast into the sea, and swallowed by a monster of the deep! Behold what shall come on those who abandon God's will to follow their own passions and inclinations. They shall be tossed, like Jonas, by continual tempests. They will remain like one in a lethargy, in the snare of their pursuits, unconscious of sickness or danger, until they perish in the stormy sea, and are swallowed up in hell! "Know thou, and see that it is a bitter and fearful thing for you to have left the Lord your God, when he desired to lead you in the way of salvation, and that my fear is not with you, says the Lord God of hosts."

God also grants the devil great power over the disobedient. As the Lord permitted a lion to kill a prophet in Juda in punishment for his disobedience to the voice of the Lord, so He permits the infernal lion to assail the proud and the disobedient everywhere with the most filthy temptations, which they feel themselves too weak to resist, and thus fall prey to his rage. Unless they repent soon, like Jonas, of their sin of idolatry, as it were, they will not be saved, as was the prophet, but will perish in the waves of temptations, and sink into the abyss of hell.

Disobedience to God's will kicked the rebellious angels out of Heaven, our first parents out of Paradise, it made Cain a vagabond and a fugitive on earth, it drowned the human race in the waters of the flood, it brought destruction upon the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, it led the Jews often into captivity, it drowned Pharaoh in the Red Sea, it laid the city of Jerusalem in ashes, it has ruined whole nations, empires, and kingdoms, and it will finally put an end to the world, when all those who always rebelled against the will of God, will, in an instance, be hurled into the everlasting flames of hell by these words of the Almighty, "Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, which was prepared for the devil and his angels," there to obey the laws of God's Justice forever.

It was, on the contrary, for his obedience to the will of God that Abel obtained from the Lord the testimony that he was just, that Henoch was translated by God in order that he should not see death, that Noah and his family were saved from the flood, Abraham became the father of many nations, Joseph was raised to the highest dignity at the court of the King of Egypt, Moses became the great servant, prophet, and lawgiver of the land, as well as the great worker of miracles with the people of God. Obedience to the will of God turned Saul, a persecutor of the Church, into Paul, an Apostle of the Gentiles.

To serve God according to His will is the principle end of life. To regulate all the affairs of the universe, to be always successful in all our desires, to heap up all the riches of the world, obtain royal dignities, extend our possessions beyond bounds, without having rendered our Creator the service which is due Him, is, in the Judgement of Heaven, to have done nothing, to have lived on earth in vain.

On the other hand, to have done nothing for the world, to have always languished on a sick-bed, to have been despised by all our fellow-men, to have lived in some obscure abode, but to have served God throughout, would be enough, because we should have conducted to its last end the only thing for which this present life was given -- to answer the great question, "Why did God create me?"

Let the world cry out against this Eternal Truth, let the flesh revolt against it, and all the demons deny and oppose it -- it is and will remain an immortal truth that we were created by God to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him according to His holy will.

Source:

The Prodigal Son

Original 1875 Publication

Fr. Michael Muller, 1825 - 1899

CSSR or the Redemptorists founded by St. Alphonsus Liguori