What are two false answers to the question of the meaning of life that actually give life little or no meaning?
What does our Christian faith tell us about the meaning of life?
What does faith tell us about God, our creation, and his relationship with us?
How is the meaning of life personal?
How might some people respond to the fact that we have a God-given purpose?
What are examples of other things in creation having a purpose?
Why does God endow us with an immortal soul?
Why does God give us a rational intellect?
Why does God give us free will?
In terms of our purpose, why did God make us different from the rest of creation?
What might be surprising about our God-given purpose in life?
What does the Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1703, say about our destiny?
Why does God wanting us to be happy seem contrary to how many people view God?
How does our natural desire for happiness inform our actions?
Why does chasing after happiness give a sense of incompleteness?
Where alone will we find true happiness?
According to the Catechism, no. 27, what must we do to live according to truth?
According to St. Augustine, what is the cure for a restless heart?
According to Blaise Pascal, what is the common goal of all people?
What did Pascal think can fill the “infinite abyss” in the human heart?
Critical Thinking: If Pascal was right that happiness is the common goal of all people, then how can people who endure suffering be considered happiness-oriented? Give examples.
What happens the closer we draw to God?
According to the Catechism, no. 27, how does God express his desire to be in union with us?
According to the Catechism, no. 1, why does God draw close to us?
According to the Catechism, no. 1, how did God accomplish his desire to draw all people into “the unity of his family, the Church”?
What God-given gift must we exercise to draw closer to God?
How must we exercise the gift from the previous question to draw closer to God?
Are we alone on our journey toward God? Why or why not?
How is every person a religious being?
How do we grow naturally in the awareness of the divine?
At what answer to the meaning of life have peoples and cultures throughout time tended to arrive?
According to the Epistle to the Romans, how is God’s invisible nature perceptible?
What is the beginning of faith?
Why is faith a gift from God?
Critical Thinking: Faith is a gift, but to be appreciated it requires a response on our part. How is this like any other gift of great value? Give examples.
Through what does faith come?
To what does faith say yes?
Why were men like Zacchaeus scorned by fellow Jews?
How did Zacchaeus’s outward actions evidence his inner change?
Who was Thomas a Kempis, and for what is he best known?
According to Thomas a Kempis, what will happen if you “desire these present things [i.e., things that give worldly happiness] too much”?
Complete the quote: According to Thomas a Kempis, we should, “Use temporal things but . . .”
According to Thomas a Kempis, why can you not be satisfied with temporal goods?
Why does God gather us into his Church?
According to the Catechism, no. 1253, within what can each person believe?
What is the relationship between faith and Baptism?
With what do we cooperate by being baptized?
What is another word for holiness?
Why does Scripture sometimes refer to holiness in terms of perfection?
How does the Catechism describe the universal call to holiness?
What lifelong process is required to become a saint?
What happens the more we are in communion with God?
Name five of the many ways listed that God “calls” each of us.
What is the profound call that comes with Baptism?
What is the origin and meaning of vocation?
How do most people today use vocation?
What does their use of the word imply?
Is every “call” a vocation?
What is the Christian meaning of vocation?
What is the universal call of every baptized person?
To which three states of life does the Church recognize particular vocations?
What does each of these particular vocations represent, and for what does is provide?
In general, how do married people live out their vocation?
Within what contexts do married people witness their faith?
To what do those called to Holy Orders or to the consecrated life dedicate themselves?
In what contexts might those in Holy Orders or in the consecrated life serve?
How is following our God-given vocation different from deciding which professional career to pursue?
What is vocation not about, and what is it about?
In what does the happiness and fulfillment of trusting God’s plan for our lives consist?
What is the key to our vocation?
What is the name for the process of discovering God’s will in our lives?
What vocational advice did St. Paul give in 1 Corinthians 7:17?
Why is it your choice to discern and answer God’s call?
How do a person’s parents figure into the discernment process?
According to the Catechism, no. 2230, what “right and duty” to children have when they become adults?
According to the Catechism, no. 2230, what is not prevented by the “necessary restraint” of parents not to pressure their children vocationally?
What do we need to do to follow God’s plan for our lives?
What are some of St. Anselm’s written works?
When he was archbishop of Canterbury, did St. Anselm get along well with the English rulers? What evidence does the text present for or against this?
What did St. Anselm encourage as means to progress in the search for divine intimacy?
Summarizing it in one sentence, what did St. Anselm teach in the excerpt from the Proslogion?
What two popular slogans describe the absurdity of pinning all our hopes for happiness on money?
What do we risk by seeking worldly success alone?
What is the lesson of Christ’s parable about the rich man with a bountiful harvest?
What is the only true measure of a successful life?
How can we gain such a life?
By what “isms” is the modern search for happiness governed?
Critical Thinking: In contrast to the negative “isms” cited by Matthew Kelly, which faith-filled “ism” would greatly benefit the world if it were more broadly embraced and more truly lived? Hint: It starts with a capital “C.”
What “spiritual navigational instrument” has God placed within the human heart?
What is the “great paradox of God’s teaching”?
What are “the glimpse of happiness living outside the philosophy of Christ”?
What is the outcome of the “hopeless attempt” at humans thinking they could be “like gods”?
What fuel is proper to the human “machine”?
Why is it no good “asking God to make us happy . . . without bothering about religion”?
What sort of “exodus” is every vocation?
How does God wish to achieve “the fulfillment of his plan for us”?
Where does the “fruit” of a vocation “ripen”?
How, as we were warned by Christ, is “the good seed of God’s Word” attacked?
How can we position our hearts to being “good soil”?
How can we grow in “the joy of cooperating with God in the service of the Kingdom”?
