No spirituality has it all

THAT’S right. No spirituality has the exclusive right to

Christianity. No spirituality can claim to be the only way to

holiness. No matter how effective and appropriate to some people, no

spirituality can claim a universal coverage of all the faithful in the

Church.

            But, yes, each spirituality can be the only way to

holiness for some people, for that is what is truly meant for them.

That, of course, is something that only God can judge.

            And so we cannot make judgments as to whether a person is

meant for this particular spirituality or that. That matter is between

God and the person concerned alone. It’s a matter of conscience. And

so we just have to respect one another in this matter and offer some

help, if we can.

            There are different spiritualities in the Church and in

the world. There’s the religious spirituality that can lend itself to

many variations—Jesuit, Redemptorist, Dominican, etc., and the lay

spirituality. But even if we already have a good number of

spiritualities, we can never say that we already have reached the

maximum and that no other new spirituality that can found. That would

be tying the hands of the Holy Spirit.

            Ours is, of course, to discern what spirituality is proper

to us. For this, we need to be most judicious, going deep into prayer

and contemplation to know God’s will and availing of all the means to

help us see the spirituality most appropriate for us. This is a very

important task that each one of us should give due attention and

effort. In fact, this the most important task of our life here on

earth.

            And given that we already have a good idea of the

spirituality meant for us, we should, of course, embrace it and live

it as faithfully as possible. But we have to realize that we have to

be not only respectful of the other spiritualities, including those

that may be different and in some ways and practices in conflict with

ours, but also know how to work together with them for the good of

all.

            In other words, no spirituality should be so isolated and

detached from the others that it would have no relation with them. To

clarify, it might be good to remit some words of St. Paul in this

regard, to wit:

            “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit

distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same

Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in

everyone it is the same God at work.

            “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given

for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a

message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the

same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of

healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another

prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another

speaking in different kinds of tongues, and still another the

interpretation of tongues.

            “All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he

distributes them to each one, just as he determines. Just as a body,

though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so

it is with Christ.

            “For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one

body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the

one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but

of many.” (! Cor 12,4-14)

            Let us hope that each one of us is faithful to the

spirituality meant for him, and knows how to work or interact with

those of the other spiritualities for the good of whole Church, the

mystical body of Christ.