"We should not expect our lives to make complete sense in this world. We should not expect them to turn out beautiful and well proportioned and perfectly acceptable from a temporal point of view, because we are cooperating with God's plan for our eternal happiness. Our task is not to build a beautiful edifice in this world, but rather, as Gaudium et spes 38 puts it, to prepare material for the Kingdom of God. And our best efforts, even if unsuccessful from a this-worldly perspective, constitute solid building material that the Lord uses in constructing his kingdom. That is why Gaudium et spes 39 explains: 'after we have obeyed the Lord, and in his Spirit nurtured on earth the values of human dignity, brotherhood and freedom, and indeed all the good fruits of our nature and enterprise, we will find them again, but freed of stain, burnished and transfigured. This will be so when Christ hands over to the Father a kingdom eternal and universal.'"
— Rev. Peter F. Ryan S.J., "How to Discern the Elements of Your Personal Vocation". The entire article is highly recommended.
