FOCUSING ON THE SPIRITUAL


TUESDAY, THIRTY FOURTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

Dan 2:31-45; Dan 3:57-61; Lk 21:5-11

Temporal and Eternal Gifts

As human beings, we are habituated to sensible things. The cause is that the original fall dismissed the original glory of man and his ability to live spiritually. Thus, the tendency to spiritual knowledge and life is diminished or non-existent in us. Our birth and nurture have emphasised the materially given almost to the exclusion of the nonmaterial components of our experience. Yet we all must travel the spiritual way in order to come to God, our ultimate end and good. This is the lesson our Lord taught Nikodemus, the Pharisee, who came to him in the night to enquire about the truth. He represents all of us who walk by what our senses can perceive. Our Lord emphasised the need to be born spiritually in order to enter the kingdom of heaven. It is not enough to be born naturally or bodily; we must also receive a spiritual birth to travel the spiritual path that leads to the eternal kingdom of God. The two births were meant to coincide in the plan of God. But the choice of our first parents to walk the path of experience of darkness and death has separated the two. The natural or material birth was never optional, but a gift and a vocation to existence from God. The spiritual is always a matter of choice, in accord with the free will God gave rational beings. Both are great gifts beyond our imagination that God has given us to dignify us.

The two births now refer to our different beginnings; the first, which is a natural birth, is our reference to Adam and Eve, our first parents. The second, which is spiritual birth, refers us to Jesus Christ, our Saviour, and to Mary our mother in mystery. The Son of Man, therefore, teaches and opens the spiritual path to us when we profess faith in him. When we come to Jesus Christ, we must first learn about spiritual birth and the path, as Nikodemus, then receive and walk on that path in faith. Our understanding of the spiritual life and path enables us to walk with Jesus Christ and discern God’s will in our lives. When the disciples were distracted by the beauty of the Temple in Jerusalem and were engrossed in their admiration and discussions about the material and temporal realities, the Lord recalled their attention to what matters the most. “When some were talking about the Temple, remarking how it was adorned with fine stonework and votive offerings, Jesus said, ‘All these things you are staring at now—the time will come when not a single stone will be left on another: everything will be destroyed.’” Here, our Lord was not just speaking to those listening to him, but to all of us, his disciples, who would live down the ages; we are never to rivet our attention on material or sensible things, which are here today and tomorrow are gone. We must rather fix our attention and interest on spiritual and lasting things. This is what it means to live and walk the spiritual path.

The spiritual life and path is Jesus Christ himself. Thus, to live and walk the spiritual path is to focus on Christ. The disciples did not get the message clearly, for they missed the emphasis. Their question leads us to this conclusion: they wanted to know what time and signs of the passing of the objects of our material interests. That is not the important thing, for that happens every day and every moment. Our question should be: what are we to focus on and be interested in? This is the question our Lord answered. “Take care not to be deceived, because many will come using my name and saying, “I am he” and, “The time is near at hand.” Refuse to join them.” Our spiritual reality does not come and go; it is always with us for Jesus Christ, the Eternal Word, who lasts forever. The same lesson was given to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, in his dream, which Daniel helped him to understand. He was shown the passing of kingdoms, riches, powers of this world, and the eternity of the kingdom of heaven established by the Son of Man for all nations and peoples. “The wind blew them away, leaving not a trace behind. and the stone that had struck the statue grew into a great mountain, filling the whole earth.” The spiritual birth leading us into the spiritual reality and kingdom will spread throughout the world as we preach the Gospel, bringing all peoples and nations into the everlasting kingdom of Jesus Christ. Let us remain interested in the eternal kingdom of God.

Let us pray: Stir up the will of your faithful, we pray, O Lord, that, striving more eagerly to bring your divine work to fruitful completion, they may receive in greater measure the healing remedies your kindness bestows. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.       

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