I. Des articles de la foi — Le 1er dimanche
The Purpose of Human Life
Human life finds its true meaning and beginning in the glory of God.
The Purpose of Our Life 1.1 The Minister: What is the chief purpose of human life?2 The Child: It's to know God. 2. M: Why do you say that? E: Because he created us and placed us in the world so that he might be glorified in us.✦ And it's only right that we should direct our life to his glory, since he is its beginning.3
The Sovereign Good
Knowing God is the highest good, without which human life is more miserable than that of beasts.
The highest good for human beings. M: And what is the highest good for human beings? E: That very thing.4 4. M: Why do you call it the highest good? E: Because without it our condition is more miserable than that of the brute beasts. 5. M: From this, then, we see that there is no greater misfortune than not living according to God. S: Indeed.5
True Knowledge and Service
True knowledge of God is expressed through honoring Him, trusting Him, and acknowledging Him as the source of all good.
6. M: But what is the true and right knowledge of God? E: When we know him so that we may honor him. The right way to honor God well consists in four points 7. M: What is the right way to honor him well? E: It is that we put all our trust in Him; that we serve Him by obeying His will; that we call on Him in all our needs, seeking in Him salvation and every good; and that we acknowledge, both with the heart and with the mouth, that every good thing comes from Him alone.✦✦6
Read the original Latin
La fin de notre vie 1. Le Ministre : Quelle est la principale fin de la vie humaine? L'Enfant : C'est de connaître Dieu.
2. M : Pourquoi dis-tu cela? E : Parce qu'il nous a créés et mis au monde pour être glorifié en nous. Et c'est bien raison que nous rapportions notre vie à sa gloire puisqu'il en est le commencement.
Le souverain bien des hommes 3. M : Et quel est le souverain bien des hommes? E : Cela même.
4. M : Pourquoi l'appelles-tu le souverain bien? E : Parce que sans cela notre condition est plus malheureuse que celle des bêtes brutes.
5. M : Par cela donc nous voyons qu'il n'y a nul si grand malheur que de ne vivre pas selon Dieu. E : Voire.
6. M : Mais quelle est la vraie et droite connaissance de Dieu? E : Quand on le connaît afin de l'honorer.
La manière de bien honorer Dieu gît en quatre points 7. M : Quelle est la manière de le bien honorer? E : C'est que nous ayons toute notre fiance en lui, que nous le servions en obéissant à sa volonté, que nous le requérions en toutes nos nécessités, cherchant en lui le salut et tous biens, et que nous reconnaissions, tant de coeur que de bouche, que tout bien procède de lui seul.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Isa.43.7 — Everyone who is called by my name, and for my glory I created him, I formed him, I even made him.
- ↩Jas.1.17 — Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
- ↩Rom.10.9-Rom.10.10 — If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Rom.10.10 — For with the heart one believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth one confesses, resulting in salvation.
Notes
- 1 ↩French fin here means purpose/end as telos, not life's termination; rendered Purpose in the heading for clarity in modern English.
- 2 ↩principale fin = chief end/purpose (telos). Purpose preferred over end to avoid the sense of death, while chief keeps the catechetical force of principale.
- 3 ↩French « rapportions notre vie à sa gloire » means to refer/orient life toward God's glory; rendered as « direct … to » rather than the more archaic « refer … to ».
- 4 ↩Cela même points back to the preceding answer: living for God’s glory / God being glorified in us, which is here identified as the sovereign good.
- 5 ↩French E (Écolier/Enfant) rendered as S (Student) to match the catechetical dialogue roles in modern English; Voire is an affirmative assent (indeed/yes).
- 6 ↩French fiance is trust/confidence/reliance (not foi, ‘faith’); rendered ‘trust’ to keep that distinction.
Catechism of the Church of Geneva (Le catéchisme de l'Église de Genève) companion
Rule yourself daily, not just on retreat
Chosen Portion turns the mirror into a daily practice — a short reading and examining question each morning before you lead anyone.
Chosen Portion makes the mirror daily: the ruler-formation questions this collection preserves become a two-minute morning examination in the app.
- A daily formation reading drawn from centuries of counsel to those in authority
- One pointed examination question a day — two minutes, before the meetings start
- Track your practice over weeks and watch the examined life become a habit