World Youth Day came to an end in Sydney, Australia, this= past week, and for the closing mass Pope Benedict attracted half a million people. In his message to pil= grims from around the world, he included these thoughts: “Many young people view their lives with apprehension and raise many questions about their future. They anxiously ask: H= ow can we fit into a world marked by so many grave injustices and so much sufferin= g? How should we react to the selfishness and violence that sometimes seem to prevail? How can we give full meaning to life?” These questions are natural among = the young, but they never completely leave older people either. Why did God make me? What is the purpose of my life? What does God expect of me?

Saint Paul addresses this in his letter to the Romans. In his view, God has a big plan fo= r all of creation, yet God is interested in individual people. God created each of us for some purpose, and we are happiest when we fulfill it. Here’s what Paul wrote: R= 20;All things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. For those he forekne= w he also predestined; . . . and those he predestined he also called; and those = he called he also justified; and those he justified he also glorified.”<= /p>

The word “predestination” is used by some Chr= istians to mean that God has predetermined your salvation. Some people think there’s no= point trying to live a better life because, “if I’m doomed, I’m doomed.” But Saint Paul= probably means something more general – that God has a predestined plan in mind for each of us, but it requires our cooperation.= As we give it, we are called, just= ified, and glorified.

Good Christians try to discern what God wants of us. We do it with the big questions &#= 8211; whom should I marry? Is God c= alling me to religious life? What employment should I seek that will bring happiness to me and benefit to the world? And we discern GodR= 17;s will with smaller decisions: How shall I spend my day? Who relies on me today? Which of the choices facing me tod= ay is the one that will please God the most?

Sadly, we make some choices based on low principles ̵= 1; what will give me pleasure, or what is easier to do. But God expects something more. God created us for this time and p= lace, with particular abilities and opportunities. We show our love for God when we a= ccept what God made us to be. When = we do, no matter how difficult the task, or how painful the suffering, all things = will work together for good.

Pope Benedict told the pilgrims of World Youth Day, ̶= 0;Be prepared to put your life on the line in order to enlighten the world with = the truth of Christ; to respond with love to hatred and disregard for life; to proclaim the hope of the risen Christ in every corner of the earth.”<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Christians can have a profound eff= ect on the lives of individuals and in the course of world events if we seek out w= hat is God’s purpose for our lives, and if we strive to live it faithfully each day.