A working spirituality needed

YES, indeed! We need to have a functioning spirituality,
not just a theoretical one, an armchair type of religiosity that´s
rich only with words and ideas, but very poor in action. Regardless of
our condition in the world, we should have a genuine spirituality that
consistently nourishes our spiritual life whatever the circumstances
in our life may be.

            Our problem is that even among those who are supposed to
be ¨spiritual¨ already because of their status in life—like priests
and others supposedly active in Church affairs—there is so much
ignorance, confusion, error, incompetence, inconsistency, pretension,
hypocrisy, laziness, complacency in this regard.

            Part of a working spirituality should be a kind of
mechanism, embedded into our personal system, that continually
addresses these dangers all of us are exposed to and even prone to.

            To achieve this spirituality, we have to devise a
realistic plan of spiritual life, consisting of practices of piety,
well-defined yet flexible to varying circumstances, that would help us
at least to stay in touch with God even as we get immersed in the
things of the world.

            We should already outgrow any doubt, fear or allergy to
this possibility of us living with God. It´s amazing that even among
those expected to lead the way in spiritual life, these doubts and
fears still hold sway, thereby spreading an atmosphere of uncertainty
and a sense of impracticability insofar as spiritual life is
concerned.

            First, we have to be clarified about why there´s a need
for spirituality. There are many people who are not clear about this
reality of our life. They think we are just entirely or mainly
material beings, or simply cultural ones subject to certain
conditionings, and nothing more.

            We can get some ideas from St. Paul who once said, ¨May
the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly, and may your spirit and
soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ.¨ (1 Thes 5,23)

            In this Pauline description, man is pictured as composed
of ¨body¨ which is our corporeal and earthly condition, ¨soul¨ which
is our capacity to feel and know, and ¨spirit¨ which is what makes us
attracted and united to God and vivified by him.

            There may be a variety of other descriptions about the
structure and constituent composition of our being, but what should
not be ignored is that we have a spiritual ¨component,¨ so to speak,
that is integral and essential to our being. Yes, there can be
diversity in our ideas of spirituality, but in the end we have to
acknowledge its basic unity.

            And just as we have to take care of our body, of our
emotional, psychological and mental well-being, we also need to take
care—in fact, even greater care—of our spiritual life, since that is
what brings us to our human and Christian perfection. We have to put a
stop to the ignorance and indifference that commonly besets our
attitude toward our spiritual life.

            Using our Christian faith, we need to know the nature of
this spiritual life, what its important elements are, its
characteristics, its foundations and purpose, its functionings, etc.
Then we need to know how to develop it toward its full perfection.

            Again, for this, we already have in the course of
Christian history a vast array of spiritualities that can be useful to
us. We just have to mine this thick vein and rich ore of information.
With our new technologies, we have less reason not to know. What
simply is needed is the so-called ¨political¨ will, putting all our
faculties into the act.

            Imagine the wealth contained in the age of the Church
Fathers, to the monastic period, to the period of the mendicant orders
of St. Francis and St. Dominic, the post-Tridentine period dominated
by the Jesuits, and the post-Vatican II period up to the present!

            It´s a shame that in spite of this great wealth, the
general literacy of people on spirituality is way below the passing
grade. If ever there is some stirring of spirituality, it´s usually
found in confined and highly-localized places. It´s not yet
globalized. No wonder we are vulnerable to the many temptations of the
world that now are becoming systemic.

            We should realize the importance of some practices of
piety essential in any plan of spiritual life: mental prayer, Holy
Mass, communion, visit to the Blessed Sacrament, spiritual reading,
examination of conscience, holy rosary, confession, etc.

            Perhaps with the help of a spiritual director, we should
devise one fit for us, given our personal circumstances.