YES, we are meant to live a spiritual and supernatural
life. This, of course, will have its definitive state in heaven where
we will share the eternal life of God, our Creator and Father, who has
made us his image likeness and adopted us to be his children.
That spiritual and supernatural life starts here while we
are still in this world, immersed in our temporal affairs and subject
to all sorts of conditions and varying circumstances of life. We have
to understand that our spiritual and supernatural life here on earth
is still in its work-in-progress stage, and thus, is still tentative,
depending on the ebb and flow of things.
This is where we have to learn how to respect the
limitations and constraints of the different conditions in our life
without compromising the eternal goal we ought to be aiming at. In
fact, we have to learn how to convert these limitations and
constraints into aids rather than obstacles in our pursuit for that
definitive eternal life.
Our different conditions and circumstances in life can
either be conducive or unfavorable to the attainment of our definitive
eternal life. But just the same, whether conducive or unfavorable,
they can either lead us to heaven or away from it, depending on how we
handle them.
What may be regarded as a conducive condition or
circumstance may lead us to pride, vanity and complacency. So, instead
of bringing us to heaven, they can take us away from it.
And what may be deemed as unfavorable may elicit in us
remorse and conversion, and therefore can lead us to heaven. So, it’s
clear that it is a matter of how we handle these different conditions
and circumstance to determine whether we are heading toward or
straying away from our definitive eternal life.
What is of key importance in all this is whether we follow
the example of Christ. Better still, if we vitally identify ourselves
with him. As “the way, the truth and life” for us, he shows us how to
deal with the different conditions and circumstances in life so as to
lead us to heaven.
Let’s remember that being God, he became man to fully
identify himself with us. And vice versa. He became man so that we can
have a way to identify ourselves with him. This is the purpose of the
mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God.
Christ went all the way to assuming our human condition to
such an extent that, as St. Paul said, he was made like sin without
committing sin to save us. “God made him (Christ) who knew no sin to
be sin on our behalf, so that in him we might become the righteousness
of God.” (2 Cor 5,21)
Might be good to review what the Catechism says about this
truth of our faith. “Christ enables us to live in him all that he
himself lived, and he lives it in us,” it says. “By his Incarnation,
he, the Son of God, has in a certain way united himself with each
man.” We are called only to become one with him, for he enables us as
the members of his Body to share in what he lived for us in his flesh
as our model.” (521)
We can never overemphasize the need for us to do all we
can to identify ourselves with him. We have to have recourse to the
sacraments, especially the Holy Eucharist, since it is there that
Christ makes himself fully available to us even if we do not
understand everything that is taking place there.
We also need to learn to pray always, to know the art of
sacrifice, to go through a constant process of conversion, and to
actively participate in the continuing redemptive work of Christ by
doing apostolate.
All these will help us deal with our different conditions
and circumstances properly so as to make them our clear path to
eternal life.
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