Misty asked a somewhat rhetorical question around the general topic of the meaning of life (quick discussion) and rather than gumming up her blog, I decided to respond a bit here.

Any older Catholics out there should be able to answer the question: Why are we here? We are here to know and serve God in this life and be with him in the next. Unbelievably simple to say - difficult to do. But after I learned this simple truth, I looked back over my life and wished I'd had that simple truth earlier on. Would I have lived my life differently in response to this understanding, would I have made fewer mistakes? Who can say - I think so.

But this understanding gives a gauge with which to weigh all decisions - does my pending action violate one of the Ten Commandments? If so, it cannot be done, regardless of the circumstances. Will a decision serve or inhibit my ability to serve God? This can be difficult to determine sometimes, but at least it begins the discernment process.

One thing is certain - you cannot do evil so that good might come of it regardless of the circumstances. Put it another way - the end does not justify the means.

If you realize it is more important to please God than to please other people, there is a freedom to make clear choices - of course, pleasing God includes serving people and being on the lookout for their best needs.

But, it doesn't matter if we serve tons of people in some immoral or morally indifferent goal - the greater number, the highest utility, the most efficiency - is not the measure of right. God's eternal laws of what is right are the measure of right.