What does it profit…?

RECALL Christ’s words: “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but suffers the loss of his own soul?” (Mt 16,26) It’s good to be reminded of these words as we go deeper into our march toward progress.

These words were spoken just before Jesus went to Jerusalem to go through the final and culminating stage of his redemptive life. Peter tried to dissuade him. He was promptly rebuked. “Get behind me, satan, you are a scandal to me, because you do not mind the things of God, but those of men.” (Mt 16,23)

From there, Jesus articulated the doctrine of the cross: “If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” (Mt 16,24)

These are words to be received by faith, and not just by our reason, much less by our senses. There’s no way the latter human faculties can like them, much less, follow them. Faith is needed, the one that comes from Christ who gives it freely and abundantly and to which we have to correspond fully also.

These words challenge us to go beyond our own world of understanding to enter the ultimate reality meant for us. That’s none other than a life with God, a shared life at once human and divine, ours and God’s.

We have to understand that we cannot remain in the purely natural level of our senses and reason alone. That would unduly restrict us. That would frustrate the natural tendency of our intelligence and will that project themselves toward infinity, looking for the ultimate truth and good that only can be God in the end.

This is the most challenging task before us. A lot of things need to be clarified, the truths of faith need to connect with our human ways. Obviously a numberless raft of obstacles has to be hurdled. But we just have to face them.

Among the things we need to clarify is that this truth about our shared supernatural life, while a truth of faith, a religious and Christian doctrine, is also meant at least to be known by everyone. It’s not just a Catholic or Christian affair to be confined within churches, but one that has right to be proclaimed in public also.

We need to disabuse ourselves from the thought that religious truths are not meant to be publicly proclaimed, or that they are just personal and private affairs, or worse, are optional. That kind of thinking is fallacious, erroneous. It does not correspond to the whole truth about ourselves.

Obviously, we have to respect each other’s freedom, no matter how badly lived and exercised that freedom is. But precisely also because of freedom, we have the right and duty to proclaim, without forcing anyone and imposing things to him, the whole truth about ourselves.

And truth can not only be restricted to the level of the sensible, the intelligible. It has to go all the way to the religious sphere, to the world of mysteries that while mysterious always exercises a certain attraction to all of us.

In spite of how we may be in life, of what we say and profess, at bottom we are all a religious being. We go beyond our senses and reason. We cannot help but enter into the world of faith and belief. Or at least we get to be aware of it.

That’s the reason why we should try our best to develop our religious sense, sharpening our spiritual faculties, nourishing them with the proper doctrine and relevant virtues plus God’s grace always.

We need to protect that religious sense, even strengthening it as we go through the day where we meet all sorts of things that can distract us and weaken that spiritual and supernatural outlook.

We have to be aware that being immersed in the world, we have to contend with so many things that can absorb us at the expense of our living union with God and with others. They can drag us to the depths of self-centeredness and self-absorption.

Everyday, we have to devise ways and strategies to keep and recover, once lost, our spiritual and moral bearing, our experiential contact with God and with others.

Is there peace and joy, prudence and wisdom, goodness and mercy, etc. in our every action? These, and more, are clear signs we are with God. Absent those, we have reason to think God is not with us.