THE SPIRITUAL LIFE

By Brother Joseph of Mary,

According to St. Thomas Aquinas, who is one of the greatest minds the church has ever produced, reality or the universe has two great divisions, God and creation. God can be considered in the Godhead itself as God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Each person of the Trinity being attributed separate and distinct functions.

Creation can be approached from two divisions, angels and man. The angels are arranged in a cascading order of perfection according to nine choirs. The most perfect are the seraphim, whose singular distinction is that their love extends beyond their knowledge. Those angels containing the least perfections of God are known simply as angels.

Man, as a separate creation from angels, can be considered in two complementary divisions, male and female.

When we approach our interior life, also known as the spiritual life, it is good to keep in mind the grand scheme of reality, as laid out by St. Thomas Aquinas and described above. The purpose of doing so, will become more self-evident when we begin to think in union with the intellect of GOD. That is precisely what St. Thomas Aquinas did. Also when we think in terms of ends and means it will assist us to know what our goal is in the spiritual life and the means that are available to reach that goal. Of course the ultimate goal in the spiritual life that the Catholic Church holds before us is the exaltation of the soul to the point of union with God. To know, love and serve God in that intimate union is the highest perfection that a human being can hope for.

If we keep in mind the distinction of perfections that are seen in the hierarchal order of angels, we will be constantly reminded that our life on earth is also to be ordered pursuant to a hierarchy of values, virtues and action. That simply means that we are to remain open to growth in the perfections available to human nature, as we live our life. That openness to this growth can be referred to as the process of sanctification or the process of becoming holy. The soul should never fear becoming holy. It is the soul’s destiny, it is its purpose for being, and consistent with its nature that it become holy, that it become possessed by God. During the Pope’s [JPII] October 1995 trip to America he told the faithful to be not afraid of pursuing holiness. The Holy Father did emphasize the assistance that the Holy Spirit will give to all who do not run from holiness. This pursuit of holiness is not just for Priests and Religious, but the call and work of all the Faithful through the help of the great sanctifier, the Holy Spirit.

It will be helpful for the reader to be introduced to these basic concepts in order to build them in future installments regarding the spiritual life.

A review of the simplicity of the concepts introduced this time would be appropriate here. It is presumed that the audience reading this article believes that God does exist. God did create. God’s creation consists of angels and humans, both male and female. God’s creation exists in an ordered hierarchy, which can be seen in the nine choirs of angels. The order of hierarchy also exists in man. That man can climb the order of hierarchy in a process known as sanctification or the pursuit of holiness. The goal of the pursuit of holiness is union with God.

In our next article we will continue to talk about union with God.

Brother Joseph of Mary