The answer to the Catechism question, “Why did God make us?” is “To know him, to love him and to serve him in this world and to be with him forever in the next”. Those of us who were brought up on the Penny Catechism will have memorised this question and answer, and it will roll easily off the tongue. The bigger question is, though, “Is this what we do?”

In recent years, we have become familiar with the term “missionary disciple” – a term that is used throughout Evangelii Gaudium (the “Joy of the Gospel”), the first of Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortations. This term is used boldly to emphasise the mutual importance of the need both for a relationship with our Lord and the need to serve him in this world by serving our brothers and sisters.