WE have to be clear about this. Going spiritual is a human need, not to mention, a Christian need. It constitutes our perfection which everyone, and not just a few, should aim at. Obviously we have to help one another in this task, because it´s not easy.
We have to blare out this piece of vital truth as widely as possible these days. People seem to be unaware of it. They feel contented with simply living a sensible or rational life, acting out the full range of their emotions, instincts and passions, and guided only by the principles of practicality, convenience, popularity, etc.
We have to understand that short of the spiritual, we are left handicapped, unable to attain our ultimate goal.
Many young people, for example, untrained still in the ways of spirituality, are very vulnerable to the tricks of the flesh, the world and the devil. They are helpless before the unregulated workings of their hormones, the wild aspects of the environment, and other bad influences.
The other day, someone told me about an increasing number of young students so addicted to this so-called DOTA that they sacrifice their sleep, and from there all sorts of problems arise—lack of attention in classes if ever they manage to go to school, wasting money, etc.
From that book, Light of the World, where the Pope was interviewed, the journalist told him that a Brazilian supermodel declared that no one now enters marriage as a virgin, indicating the state of sexual immorality worldwide.
A news item highlighted an American movie dealing on the theme of promiscuity of boys and girls as young as 13. When some parents complained, the reply of the producers was that the movie simply reflected what is actually taking place among these boys and girls today.
We don’t have to look far to see the dearth of spirituality around. There’s a lot of frivolity, deception, vanity, sensuality, etc., etc., around us. Everyone is constantly teased and titillated with sensual images and worldly, materialistic values. The spiritual life is left to starve and die a slow death.
Just recently, while waiting for my boat ride in the terminal, I was surrounded by a group of young boys and girls. And from their words and behaviour, one can readily notice that spiritual life is all but absent.
Of course, they were still young boys and girls. It’s very easy to understand them. We all passed through the same stage. But this can also happen to the not-so-young and, in fact, to everyone else. Thing is we should not just allow this state of affairs to go on. We have to do something about it.
We have to learn the way of spirituality—how to pray, to offer sacrifices, to know the value of the sacraments and the virtues, the art of ascetical struggle, how to behave with propriety in public, etc. These are things that should not just be confined to spiritual books and practiced by a few people. Everyone in his own way has to learn these things.
We have to know how to infuse our thoughts, words and actions with faith, hope and charity. A trace of refinement and an abiding concern for one another always mark our behaviour when spirituality is lived. An eagerness to understand one another, to forgive and help others bear their burdens characterize a spiritualized lifestyle.
We have to bust the many myths about the impracticality or irrelevance of the spiritual life. One is that spiritual life is an optional, not necessary, thing. It truth, our spirituality is the most necessary element of our life, one that gives over-all meaning and direction to our life. It’s where our freedom is exercised to the full.
Going spiritual is the goal everyone of us should target. For this, everyone has to be involved. Obviously the clergy takes the lead part, but all the others also should do their part—parents, teachers, public officials, employers, etc.
Not only is spiritual life to be cultivated by individuals in the personal order. It also has to be developed in all the other aspects of our life—social, professional, political, cultural, economic, etc. Even our various institutions have to be spiritualized. They cannot and should not just remain in the bureaucratic level.
We have to upgrade our understanding of our life. It’s true that we have to be concerned about justice, peace, economic effectiveness and political harmony, but if these are not based on a spiritual life, these things will just remain phantoms, ghosts.
Go spiritual to go essential!
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