By Fr Michael My Van Tran
WE are born hungry for the purpose of our life.
Our trouble starts because we do not know where to look for nourishment.
For example, the bed, the table, or the chair… What are their purposes? And if we want to know about their purposes, who should we ask? Should we ask the bed, the table or the chair? We won’t get an answer from them.
If we want an answer, we have to ask the person who ordered these things, they can tell us what they are for.
Likewise, if we want to know what the purpose of our life is, we cannot just ask ourselves or others.
We, humans, can only provide what we have learned from philosophy and biology.
Instead, we need to ask the One who created this world, this universe, this image, that is, our body, the One who brought us into this world.
What is the meaning of my life, God? Who am I in this life?
God will answer us; and that answer will bring us joyfulness, happiness and peace; because we will know that we live for a purpose.
Our God is very good at keeping silent as you may have experienced.
But he gave us His Word and we can find the answers we seek from God in the Bible.
Jesus taught people many things in his time, and all those things are written in the Bible.
We are encouraged to read the word of God more.
However, reading only is not enough, we need to let God’s word to speak to us.
I have studied the Bible a lot, read the Bible every day, but sometimes when I examine myself at the end of the day, I can see that I have not lived according to the Word of God because I have not let the Word of God speak to me.
And Paul’s words are like saying to me: “For what I want to do, I do not do, but what I hate, I do.” (Romans 7:15)
Every time we go to Mass, when we listen to God’s word and receive God’s Body and Blood, we receive the life and strength we need from God so that we can live accordingly with what God invites us to live.
That is the meaning of the Eucharist.
Friends, let us pray for each other so we can use the words of God as our light and the Body and Blood of Christ as life and strength to help us to live God’s word daily.
And by doing that day by day, God will feed our hunger for the purpose of our lives.
Fr Michael Tran is an associate priest at St Stephen’s Cathedral.
