Where do we find meaning in life?Wants, Needs and Desires• Wants are short term.• Needs are more important and more lasting than short-term

wants.• Desires are deeper, longer

and more personal.

Where does God fit in?• The deepest human desire is to know that we count for

something.• The Church teaches:

• We matter to God;• God loves us unconditionally;• God is the only true answer to

our search for meaning in life.• Within each of us is a need or desire

to know God.• The desire for God is universal and

inherent in our human nature.

Where do we find meaning in life?

Human life is special

The Book of Genesis—A Faith Account•A faith story written by people who wanted to tell how the world and everything in it came to be.•Not meant to teach scientific truths, but the great truths of our faith.•God made the universe and everything in it.•God made human beings to be the pinnacle of all creation.

Human life is special

The Book of Genesis—A Faith Account• God is the living Creator and Sustainer of all that exists.• God created man and woman ‘in the image of God’; both

are equal.• God gave humankind ‘dominion’ over the rest of creation.• God demands that we be good stewards of creation.• God rested on the seventh day and made it holy. We need

to do the same.

The Second Account of Creation•At the beginning of the second chapter of Genesis.•This parallel story of the Creation of human beings is much older than the first account.•Imagines God as a modeler in clay, shaping human beings out of mud.•Ish (man) and isha (woman) are equally created in the divine image.

Human beings share in God’sdivine life

Human beings share in God’sdivine life

We Share in God’s Life and Love•We are made to love and to be loved.•We experience love from those around us, but God loves us more than any human being could ever love us.•God is love. (1 John 4:8)

Human beings share in God’sdivine lifeGod Promises Us Salvation•The Fall of Adam and Eve in the garden—Original Sin.•God tells the serpent, ‘I will put enmity between you and the woman’; this is the first promise of Salvation to be found in the Bible.•This promise will be fulfilled in the Person and ministry of Jesus Christ.

Human beings share in God’sdivine lifeGod’s Love Is All Around Us•God’s love is everywhere in the created world.•God’s love is in every human person, including yourself.•Human love is a reflection of God’s love.

When we witness humanlove at its best, we get asense of what God and thelove of God is like.

How do we recognize our desirefor God?The Desire For God Is Written on the Human Heart•St. Augustine: ‘Our hearts are restless until they rest in you.’ (Confessions)•Catechism of the Catholic Church: ‘The desire for God is written on the human heart, because man is created by God and for God.’ (CCC, no. 27)•Blaise Pascal: ‘There is a God-shaped hollow in the human heart that only God can fill.’

•Only God can fulfill our true longings and give lasting joy.

How do we recognize our desirefor God?FaithFaith is both a gift of God and a human act by which the believer gives personal adherence to God (who invites his or her response) and freely assents to the whole truth that God has revealed.

—United States Catholic Catechismfor Adults, 512

The story of St. Augustine

St. Augustine•Born in North Africa in AD 354.•Lived a wild life by following his every want.•Monica, his mother, prayed continuously for his

conversion to Jesus.•Converted to Christianity at age 33; describes

this journey in his book The Confessions.•His famous phrase sums up his experience:

‘Our hearts are restless until they rest in you.’•Became a priest in 391 and Bishop of Hippo in 396.•Wrote many influential theological books and

sermons; died in 430.