What practical steps give a man a purposeful life?

The first step is simply to go to church. Embed yourself within the life of the church community. Within that context it is healthy and normal to find a wife, establish a marriage, then a family, and build up that local church community. I can't tell you how many wonderful things have happened in my parish from everyday normal people who are simply hard workers contributing to the life of the church while building their own families.

This country will not change by some grandiose figure standing up and telling people to change. It will change by people having families, raising normal children who are not dysfunctional, and modeling what a good marriage looks like. If people simply did this in the church, within a generation this whole country would look incredibly different. So go to church.

Get involved. Ask the priest, what can I do to bring greater value to the parish? Where do you need a hand? Offer your time at coffee hour to set up or clean up. The great irony is that the more we as men forget about ourselves and think about other people, the happier we are. The more we focus on ourselves and what we're missing, the more miserable we are.