There is a beautiful story which tells us about the importance living with a sense of higher purpose in our daily life.

Once a man was passing by a construction site. The workers were busy with their different kinds works. He was curious to know what they were doing. So he asked one of the workers about his work, the worker said that,” I am carrying bricks to the construction site.” Another worker who was doing the carpentry works said that, “I am making doors and windows.” In this way all of them just stated the works they were doing.  As that man wanted to proceed, he noticed a small boy who was also working there. He was in fact carrying water to the construction site. The man asked the boy the same question, what is he doing? The boy replied to the man, “I am building the Cathedral Church!”

This story beautifully tells us the importance living with a sense of a higher purpose. It is the sense of higher purpose which makes our life more meaningful.  The famous theologian Hans Ur Balthasar, describes this sense higher purpose as recognizing our part in the great “Theodrama.” In our day-to-day activities, we should not miss the sense of participation in the Theodrama, which God had planned for each one of us from eternity. The person who knows the why of his existence will have a different attitude to his life and works, just like the attitude of that small boy to his works was different from that of other workers.

The contemporary consumeristic society often presents before us wrong vision of life. The average ideology of many young people today is just to achieve a higher standard of living for himself or herself and possess what everyone possesses. Swami Vivekananda a Hindu Monk who lived in the 19^th century, in his address to the youth of India, told them, “Arise and awake, our life here on earth is very short. There are much greater things we have to do than just being satisfied with our own jobs and earnings.”

In our search for meaning and purpose of life, it is good to remember that, it is not what we expect, but rather what life is expected from us or what God wants from us which is really important. This is what we learn from the life of St. Vincent. As a young priest, for almost twelve years, Vincent was trying fulfill his own limited goals and dreams. It is when he realized that God had a higher purpose for his life and when he gave himself to that purpose. Then not only was his life changed, but his life became an instrument of transformation in the society and in the church and his life became an inspiration to many.

About the Author:

Fr. Binoy Puthusery, C.M. is a Vincentian priest belonging to the Southern Indian Province. He was ordained as priest on December 27, 2008 and soon after served as an assistant parish priest in Tanzania.  In 2011, after two years of ministry, he was appointed as Spiritual Director to the Vincentian Sisters of Mercy, Mbinga Tanzania. He currently lives in Barakaldo (Spain), and is a teacher in the Masters in Vincentian Studies.