In 2009, the late Cardinal Francis George published a book entitled The Difference God Makes. It offered a combination of faith, intellectual brilliance and love for God and the Catholic Church that were the hallmarks of the cardinal.

The book explored the practical importance of the truth about God.

The title of the book might even be restated in a different way for us now, nearly a decade later. It might be Why God Matters. That’s because, as we look around and see the advancing societal and family disharmony and breakdown, as well as the sense of personal uncertainty and unhappiness evidenced by so many, both the existence of God and His importance to the world are being called into question.

In other words, in our modern world, even many who say they believe God exists live and act as though He does not matter. That is a tragic error, since God does matter — He matters more than anything else.

Without a belief in God, we can know some things about the physical world — we can find cures for diseases and develop remarkable technologies.

But even with such good things, a world without an understanding of God tells us nothing about why we are here, and what we really are supposed to do. Our existence simply makes no sense, and we cover that senselessness with a disordered fixation on the things we surround ourselves with.

Most fundamentally, of course, the very existence of the world and our own existence as human beings force us to look for God. Why is there something rather than nothing? Why am I here?

Even our cultural fixation for science has to admit that the limits of human study are restricted to this world and cannot answer these most fundamental questions.

All the hypotheses of Big Bangs in various forms or blind evolution don’t really answer the question of where the first molecules of matter came from, how we are conscious of ourselves and our eventual death, or what purpose or end there may be in nature and in ourselves.

God matters as well when we look at ourselves and extend that reflection to the human race as a whole. The human heart throughout history has sought God, especially in moments of crisis.

Reason also recognizes in each of us our own ability to think, as well as capacities that separate us from the rest of creation. We sense written in our hearts a link to God who has made us for a purpose. And we sense the presence of God in human nature.

Suppressing the recognition of God, His very existence and the reflection of His nature in our humanity, means that we fail to understand the true nature of the world. Such a misunderstanding means that we would not truly know ourselves and the very purpose of our lives. But don’t we see that happening all around us in modern society?

God matters because the reason He has called us from nothingness into this life is to invite each of us to share eternity with Him. That gives us a purpose and an understanding of the goal of every life, every prayer and every sacrifice.

Without the recognition of God, and that He matters, all of creation is simply understood to be at our disposal to make use of as we choose, for good or ill.

Pope Francis wrote eloquently about this in his encyclical “Laudato Sì’.” He has used the term “throwaway culture” to describe a mentality that, without reference to God or His plan in the world, sees creation, the technological and artistic goods of our making and even our bodies as objects to be manipulated at will and then discarded when they no longer please us.

Failing to recognize God’s presence in us undermines the dignity of each person who is made in the image and likeness of God.

Think of the violence in our communities, between countries and even at concerts attended by young people. Such violations of human dignity would be unthinkable among those who recognize and reverence the presence of God.

This world was made good by God and then broken by our sin. It was redeemed by Christ. Through the Church we, all of our loved ones, and every other person are invited once more to eternal life with God beyond what we see and sense in this world.

It is this understanding that gives meaning to the world and to life. It is the reason that God matters, and matters above all else.