ABRAHAM MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF VALUES

Ranks or orders human needs according to importance, immediacy, and level of difficulty in terms of
acquisition: at the bottom stands the physiological needs, while perched at the pinnacle is self-
actualization.

In the Netflix documentary series, titled: the “The Last Dance,” Michael Jordan was shown as the
man who obsessed himself with winning championship.

Why is that some people, even if they seemed to have reached the top of the world, remain
unhappy?

ANALYSIS
WHAT IS THE MEANING AND PURPOSE OF OUR LIFE?

It is natural for human beings to desire to be happy.

Human beings, embark on a lifelong search for that absolute good, which will lead them to the
happiness that never ends.

How do we attain God? Takeaways:

« By claiming that we are redeemed.
« The road that leads to God is described as:
✓ “narrow”
✓ “passing through the eye of a needle.”

1. Jesus Christ, the Ultimate Revelation of the Father

It is only through Christ, the only true mediator between God and man, that human beings can reach
God.

“No mission is activated and no identity is clarified apart from Christ.”

PCP II

We look up to Christ as the ultimate revelation of the Father, who calls us to communion, and as the
good teacher who leads us to the Father

a. God as our Personal Absolute

St. Augustine and St. Monica

“Thou hast made us Thyself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee”

“God is a personal absolute in whom is found the reason for our existence, and therefore, He is a
being who gives absolute meaning to our lives.”
-Schillebeeckx, Edward. Christ the Sacrament of the Encounter with God. London: Sheed and Ward,
1963.
Beloved by God
“God, infinitely perfect and blessed in Himself, in a plan of sheer goodness freely created man to
make him share in his own blessed life. For this reason, at every time and in every place, God draws
close to man. He calls man to seek Him, to know Him, to love Him with ll his strength.”
-Catechism of the Catholic Church

“To be a human being means to come from God and to go to God.”

YOUCAT

God, as our personal absolute, gave Himself to us through the incarnation of Christ, His only Son
our Lord.

b. Christ is God in a Human Way

God did more for human beings than for any other creature that He has created:

He shared His life with them, which happened perfectly through the incarnation of Christ.

“In His Son and through Him, He invites men to become, in Holy Spirit, His adopted children and
heirs of his blessed life.” CCC, 13.

Through the mystery of Christ’s incarnation people live with God, have a special bond or relationship
with Him, and most importantly they feel or experience His love everyday of their lives. Luke 18:15-
17

c. Christ is Human in a Divine Way

God’s coming down to meet His people also means raising them up and liberating from their sinful
condition.

By becoming human...
« Christ became an example for all people to follow because He manifested those
characteristics that make man perfect.
« Jesus Christ, through His life, words, and works, revealed how people should live their lives.
« Jesus corrected the false belief that people are bad or helplessly sinful.
« Jesus revealed what is true and good about human beings: that they are all invited by God to
be perfect like Him

When asked how many times we should forgive, his response was: always! (Matthew 18:21). Christ
demonstrated that goodness is not give and take. Doing good does not expect something in return
but is the habitual response of someone who is created in the image and likeness of God.

When the woman caught in the act of adultery was brought to Him (John 8:1- 11), Jesus did not
show condemnation but only mercy and compassion. When He lovingly told the woman to sin no
more, Jesus showed that people, by the grace of God, can change for the better.