"When we want to find out the purpose for which a machine is made, we take it apart, see how it works and see what use it will be, and in this way we discover the end for which its maker invented it. In the same way we can look at the soul of a human being.
It is immortal, so its end cannot be anything earthly, since all human beings fade, then wither and die, as the prophet says. Therefore, only God can be its end. Its great need to know and to love proves that our soul was made for God alone, and nothing in human knowledge and human affection can fully satisfy it."
The desire for happiness also proves this. Riches, pleasures and the praise of human beings are mere vanity. In God alone will the soul find happiness, because perishable goods cannot be its end and it is impossible for anything to find rest apart from the end for which it was made.
When the Pharisees asked Jesus if it was necessary to pay tribute to Caesar, Jesus asked for a coin. 'Whose image is stamped on this?' Caesar's. It is the same with our soul: the image of God is stamped on it, his immortality, his intelligence, his love, his happiness. So we must give God our souls.
But what means are to be used? God has no need of money or high positions… This kind of sacrifice does not constitute true detachment or necessarily please God. What he wants is that we give ourselves to him in spirit and in truth. It is the sacrifice of our hearts that he wants!
Our happiness is not outside us, it is within us through the reign of God alone. So we must establish his empire there and root out all that is opposed to his will."
(Course in Christian Perfection - Fr Noailles)
The sentiments expressed in this passage inspire my life.
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