Man's Purpose is God - Something Outside Himself

There is only one end for man, and that end is not to be found within himself. Man's end, man's purpose is God, something outside himself which is greater than himself. It would be false Christian spirituality to say that the end of man is his own perfection. That is not the end of man. Man's perfection is not in himself, nor can it ever be in himself. Man's perfection is in God, in incorporation in Christ, and, through Christ, in God. All your virtues and all your piety, so to speak, would remain unfinished and incomplete if you were not raised above yourself to God.  And this is the spirit of childhood, an unreserved admiration of God, an unstinted praise of God, a constant movement towards God, rising above yourself, outside yourself, so that our life is merged in the greater life of God... When once you have penetrated into him you will understand him to have great and marvelous ways, mysterious dealings with his creatures...

- Dom Anscar Vonier, O.S.B. (+1906) was the abbot of Buckfast Abbey in Devon, England. Excerpt from The Art of Christ: Retreat Conferences