Our morality depends on our spirituality

IT’S quite clear that the way we think, speak, react and behave in general is determined by the way we are. This is somehow encapsulated in that Latin expression: “agere sequitur esse” which means that how a thing acts, functions or behaves is fundamentally determined by what it is—its nature or essence. It means that actions reveal the inner nature of a being. 

 In short, we can say that our actions reflect our character. In our case, since we are not purely material beings but more of a spiritual one—given the fact that the spirit is one that gives life, not our bodily dimension—we can conclude that the quality of our behavior depends on the quality of our spirituality. 

 Yes, our Catholic teaching affirms that our morality is intrinsically dependent on our spirituality. That’s simply because, to put it bluntly, our moral life is not merely a set of rules but a response to God’s call. It’s a moral life that is rooted in faith, grace, and that call of God for us to be his image and likeness, i.e., to be holy as God himself is holy. 

 The morality that is proper to us can only be achieved if our human acts are ordered toward God by following his will. That is why, Christ who is the fullness of the revelation of God to us and who offers us “the way, the truth and the life,” clearly told his disciples and us that if we truly love him, we should keep his commandments. (cfr. Jn 14,15) 

 The “way, truth and life” Christ offers us provides us with all the means we need to keep our true identity and dignity as children of God. These are means that can tackle whatever conditions and circumstances we can find ourselves in, that can convert all situations, including the worst sufferings we can encounter in our life, into a path to be with God, to achieve the ultimate end of our life which is our holiness and redemption. 

 In other words, God is always with us, guiding us, protecting us, helping us in all our needs. That is what God’s providence is all about. We need to be aware of this basic truth of our life so we can live our life the way proper to our true identity as God’s children. 

 We have to be wary of certain questionable theories about human morality that would reduce it to mere utility, subjective preference, empirical observation or human autonomy. These theories cut our morality from its true source who is God and his law and grace. These theories fail to account for the spiritual dimension of the person we are, and would unavoidably lead to forms of relativism and the denial of intrinsic evils. 

 Thus, we can say that to have a good moral sense is none other than having an abiding awareness that all our human acts, starting with our thoughts and desires, and then our words and deeds, should be good in the sense that they ought to be inspired and oriented toward nothing less than love for God and for others. 

 That’s why St. Paul once said in his praise of charity (love of God): “If I speak with the tongues of men, and of angels and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. 

 “And if I should have prophecy and should know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I should have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. 

 “And if I should distribute all my goods to feed the poor, and if I should deliver my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profits me nothing.” (1 Cor 13,1-3)

Expect all sorts of troubles in our life

CHRIST himself had already warned us about this. To his disciples, he once said: “They will put you out of the synagogues. Yes, the hour comes, that whosoever kills you will think that he is doing a service to God.” (Jn 16,2) 

 In another part of the gospel, he clearly said: “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (Jn 16,33) Yes, Christ is assuring us that we as his believers will inevitably face trials, suffering and difficulties in a broken world, but we should keep our peace and courage since Christ will take care of everything in the end. 

 Other verses that express the same warning are the following: 

 - “Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” (2 Tim 3,12) 

- “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.” (Acts 14,22) 

 We should not anymore make a big issue out of this fact of life. Rather, we should just strengthen our faith in Christ through prayer and the nurturing of the virtues like courage, fortitude, patience, cheerfulness, hope, etc. It would be helpful if we can develop a sporting and fighting spirit in this life. 

 Yes, we need a sporting spirit because life’s true failure can come only when we choose not to have hope. That happens when our vision and understanding of things is narrow and limited, confined only to the here and now and ignorant of the transcendent reality of the spiritual and supernatural world. 

 We therefore have to develop a strong spiritual sportsmanship in the tenor expressed in some words of St. Paul: “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.” (1 Cor 9,24) 

 Aside from a strong sense of self-discipline and submitting ourselves in a continuing training program, an indispensable ingredient of this healthy sporting spirit is the sense of acceptance and abandonment that we need to deliberately cultivate. This does not come automatically, as if it’s part of our genes. 

We have to develop them. We have to be sport and adventurous in facing the different conditions of our life. And it would greatly help if we too can have an abiding sense of humor. Otherwise, we would just easily fall into states of sadness, pessimism and despair which actually are unnecessary but are avoidable. 

 This we can do if first of all we have a strong and deep faith in God, our Creator and Father. If we have that faith, we know that God holds everything in order through his providence. He takes care of everything, irrespective of how things go. Ours is simply to relate everything to him and to go back to him everytime we go astray especially at the end of the day. 

 When we have this sporting and adventurous spirit, we, of course, would like to play to win and to get as much enjoyment as possible. We would give our best shot. But we also know that this is not going to happen all the time. There will be times when we lose in a game or when we get lost in our adventure. But regardless of how things go, we can always go back to God as we should, and everything would just be all right. 

 Thus, whether we win or lose in tackling life’s many challenges and trials, we can still manage to have fun and, more importantly, to learn precious lessons by getting to know more about ourselves and others, about our strengths and weaknesses, about the virtues we need to develop and grow, etc.

Our true hunger and genuine fulfillment

IN the gospel, Christ tells us about what is involved if we want to truly love him. “If you love me,” he said, “keep my commandments.” And he makes this promise: “And I will ask the Father, and he shall give you another Paraclete, that he may abide with you forever.” (Jn 14,15-16) 

 He further explained why the Paraclete or the spirit of truth is needed. “The spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it sees him not, nor knows him; but you shall know him because he shall abide with you, and shall be in you,” he said. (Jn14,17) 

 The question to ask is, how can we manage to comply with the condition of keeping his commandments to be able to love him, and in so doing, be guided by the spirit of truth in this very complicated and confusing world? 

 Given how demanding Christ’s teachings are, we would likely struggle to live up to them. Yes, Christ’s commands and the high standard of Christ’s teachings are so rigorous that we would be in a tough spot trying to keep them. 

 I believe the secret is found in what Christ himself had recommended. That is, that we do some fasting that would induce a special kind of hunger that is not only a hunger for natural food but rather a hunger for the ultimate spiritual and supernatural food that is God himself. 

 Said another way, it should be a natural hunger that should lead us to this spiritual and supernatural hunger, a hunger for God. We need to train our natural hunger to have the greatest longing for God. 

 In other words, it should be God whom we regard as the true satisfaction of our hunger. It is he who should give us the greatest joy and pleasure. We should not get stuck in the natural level of satisfaction, joy and pleasure only, the effect only of food and other natural things. But our craving for God, while eminently spiritual and supernatural, should first of all be felt in our body. 

 This way we can manage to keep the commandments of Christ no matter how tough, rigorous and challenging they are. And by keeping the commandments, we would feel the presence of the Paraclete, the spirit of truth, as promised by Christ, who will guide us and give us the proper direction in our life, marked as it is with chaotic conditions. 

 With this spirit of truth, we would not be trapped in our temporal world only, playing the game of self-indulgence and simply pursuing self-interest, unmindful of the spiritual, supernatural and eternal destination meant for us. 

 We would know how to relate our temporal affairs to our ultimate goal. We would know how to give the proper priority to all the elements in this life, and how to be firmly guarded against distractions. 

 We really should make this serious business of developing this true hunger a top priority among the things that we need to learn. We cannot take this duty lightly. We have to learn to live in the natural and temporal world while pursuing our supernatural and eternal goal. 

 As St. Paul once said: “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” (Col 3,2) He was practically telling us that we should prioritize heaven, eternal values over temporary worldly pursuits. He was asking us for a shift in perspective to align our thoughts, actions and desires with the teachings and example Christ who shows us the way to heaven.