The opening words of the Catholic Catechism give a very simple answer to the enquiry concerning the origin and purpose of man. ‘Who made you? God made me. Here we are immediately confronted with the problem of our own origin, since as soon as our minds awaken from the slumbers of unconsciousness, we become supremely aware that we are alive, and seek for an explanation. The question then arises, ‘Why are you alive?’ And the correct answer must be, ‘Because God loves me'. God's love is creative and the cause of things. But it may be asked, ‘Why does God love you?’ The answer to this query is found in the fact that God is what he is. He is infinite goodness, and wills to communicate himself to others. St Thomas has said, ‘to love anything is nothing else than to will good to that thing'. (I, 20, 2.) It was by an act of love that ‘God made me out of nothing by his word'. Moreover not only does God create, but he preserves in being whatsoever he has made; ‘In him we live, and move, and are', says St Paul (Acts. 17, 28).