Man needs religion

I was happy to again bump into a very interesting point while I was reading
recently parts of the “Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church.”

I remembered that this point made a deep impression on me the first time I read something similar many years ago. It put in clear and precise words what I strongly felt in my heart then, but was groping for the right words to express it.

It had to do with religion, with the important role religion plays in our life, and with how we somehow look for it without being quite aware of it. The Compendium has this to say about it:

“Religiousness represents the loftiest expression of the human person, because it is the culmination of his rational nature. It springs from man’s profound aspiration for truth and is at the basis of the free and personal search he makes for the divine.” (15)

Contrary to what some people may say, in my view we tend to enter the world of religion as we try to exhaust and reach the limits of our human reason and feelings. Religion comes as one possible consequence of our quest for truth.

This, of course, presumes that we consistently try to reach the edges of our reason. The problem often is that we get stuck along the way, and simply get contented with something, if not material then ideological.

The search for truth leads us to spiritual and supernatural realities, and ultimately to God. We cannot be confined to a material and temporal world. Something in us strongly tells us there’s a lot more beyond what we simply see and even understand.

And I would say that this innate tendency of ours for the spiritual and supernatural realities, though felt in varying degrees, does not invent these realities. To me, it simply means we have been made to discern these realities.

Another corollary would be that the heavy problems and crises we have in many fronts can only mirror a sad state of affairs where many of us do not go all the way in developing ourselves so as to reach the culminating religious part of our life.

When reason is made the ultimate source of knowledge, the final arbiter of what is good and bad, then we are in for some disaster. Our reason can only be a discoverer, a transmitter and processor of truth. It cannot be the source of truth. It abuses itself when it considers itself as truth’s ultimate author and creator.

Of course, the Catechism of the Catholic Church describes man as basically a “religious being.” (cfr 28) No matter how pagan or atheistic one may be, it is believed that at least a trace of religiosity somehow flickers in his heart.

“The desire for God is written in the human heart, because man is created by God and for God; and God never ceases to draw man to himself. Only in God will he find the truth and happiness he never stops searching for.” (CCC 27)

St. Augustine corroborates this with his famous words: “Lord, our heart is restless until it rests in you.” Saints and holy men and women down the ages have somehow given similar spontaneous testimonies.

We need to put more seriousness in the way we live and develop our religion. In my countless conversations with men and women, I can readily see traces of religiosity in them. The problem is that the desire is hardly matched by action.

In the first place, there is a lot of doctrinal ignorance and confusion, leading people to unknowingly enter into superstitions and other false beliefs. Many are Christians or Catholics by name only. Their deeds often belie their words.

Then also, many do not know the importance of virtues and ascetical struggle, study of the doctrine, regular recourse to the sacraments, prayers and sacrifice, etc. How can religion prosper with this neglect?

In several cases, it can easily be seen that religion becomes a highly personalized and private affair, tailored to suit one’s so-called religious whims and caprices. Religion is not anymore something given from above and dutifully received by us. It simply becomes one of our inventions.