Sunday, September 2, 2012

Spiritual man vs. carnal man


THIS distinction, I believe, is most basic and indispensable to be
known by all. I would even go to the extent of saying that it would be
criminal to be ignorant of it, since it gives us the two fundamental
choices we have to make in our life. We cannot go on with our life
without knowing and making these options, one or the other.

    The distinction comes from St. Paul. In his first letter to the
Corinthians, he talks about what is to be spiritual and what is to be
unspiritual or sensual, carnal, worldly. First he says that a man is
known by the spirit that is in him.

    “For what man knows the things of a man, but the spirit of the man
that is in him?” (2,11) Then he talks about two basic spirits: the
Spirit of God or the spirit of the world. “Now we have received not
the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we
might understand the gifts bestowed on us by God.” (2,12)

    Then he describes this truth of faith, this doctrine in this way: “We
impart this (Spirit of God) in words not taught by human wisdom but
taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who
possess the Spirit.” (2,13)

    A comparison between the spiritual man and the unspiritual man
follows. “The unspiritual man does not receive the gifts of the Spirit
of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand
them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man judges
all things, but is himself to be judged by no one.” (2,14)

    The spiritual man enters and will have the “mind of Christ.” The
unspiritual man remains simply with his own mind. This is a
distinction that can only be accessed through faith, with reason and
everything else, and not only by reason alone.

    In the gospel of St. John, we are also told about the spirit being
the principle of life proper to us. “It is the spirit that gives life,
the flesh is of no avail,” our Lord says (6,63).

    We have to be clear about this, because discussing this truth by
reason alone will only lead us nowhere, in spite of the flashes of
intelligence and all that can take place.
   
    And so, there’s no point convincing people about this truth using
reason alone. As St. Paul said, it is “not taught by human wisdom but
taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who
possess the Spirit.”

    So those who do not have the Spirit yet, or who appear not to have
it, I suppose the thing to do is to use the spiritual and supernatural
means more than the human ones.

    That is, we have to intensify our prayer, sacrifice, recourse to the
sacraments, ascetical struggle, hard work and study, development of
virtues, giving good example, living Marian and other devotions, etc.

    Again, in the gospel of St. John, our Lord talks about the need to be
born again of water and the Spirit, that is, from the flesh to the
Spirit, because “that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that
which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (3,6)

    These words have clear reference to the need for the sacrament of
baptism that incorporates us into the body of Christ, the Church, and
leads us to receive all the other gifts from God given to us through
the Church—other sacraments, word of God, etc.

    We can never exaggerate our need to keep our union with God all day,
that is, to be very spiritually alive and avoid lapsing into being
unspiritual, sensual, carnal or worldly.

    We contend with powerful enemies of our spiritual soul, and so
anything that will help to keep these enemies at bay, especially in
our vulnerable moments, is always welcome.

    We contend with our own weaknesses and the many temptations around.
We have our erratic and rebellious testosterone, our tendency to
greed, pride, vanity, etc. It certainly would be a good idea that we
develop a certain lifestyle, supported with an appropriate plan or
program of activities that would keep us always with God.

    For one, the practice of daily mental prayer would be good, going to
Mass and Communion, Holy Rosary, spiritual reading, continual
aspirations that would keep us in constant dialogue with God, would be
very helpful.

    The bottom line is that we should be aware of our responsibility to
develop and keep our spiritual life healthy and vibrant.

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