Spiritual detachment

In today’s Gospel reading, a rich, young man who had been faithfully following God’s commandments approached Jesus and asked if he would be rewarded with eternal life. With love in his heart, Jesus responded: “You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven: Then come, follow me. “The young man went away very sad, for he had many possessions. Christ’s disciples were likewise confused, and Peter reminded him that they had given up everything to follow him.  Jesus, then said to them, “Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come” (Mk. 10:21-22, 28-30).

This message of Christ, when taken literally word for word, can lead us to confusion and despair. But when taken in a deeper sense with God’s love, it gives us consolation and peace. Here lies one of the most significant spiritual principles that we learned from St. Ignatius. Spiritual detachment. This is vitally meaningful in our lives. It is worth quoting here the “Principle and Foundation” of the Spiritual Exercises, particularly for those who are not acquainted with them.

Principle and foundation

“Human beings are created to praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord, and by means of doing this to save their souls. The other things on the face of the earth are created for human beings, to help them in the pursuit of the end for which they are created.

From this it follows that we ought to use these things to the extent that they help us toward our end, and free ourselves from them to the extent that they hinder us from it.

To attain this it is necessary to make ourselves indifferent to all created things, in regard to everything which is left to our free will and is not forbidden. Consequently, on our own part we ought not to seek health rather than sickness, wealth rather than poverty, honor rather than dishonor, a long life rather than a short one, and so on in all other matters.

Rather, we ought to desire and choose only that which is more conducive to the end for which we are created.”

This makes it very clear, then, that God’s one and only law is the law of love. To love God with all our heart and soul, and to love everyone and anyone as we love ourselves. This moves us all to what we call the common good. A way of explaining all this is the lifestyle of SSS. Stewardship that moves to Simplicity, that moves to Sharing. I have written on this in this column in the past, but allow me to repeat it here now.

I am not the owner of myself. I did not create myself. God, out of love, created me, and I am simply His steward. Since this is so, God’s will is for me to continually discern where He is leading me and how He would want me to live my life. How will I use my time, talents, and treasures? This will lead me to a simple lifestyle, inspired by no less than the person of Christ himself, who lived a very simple lifestyle. You can imagine how that is these days, when we are all tempted and drawn by a super materialistic, extravagant, and narcissistic culture. Our spirituality and closeness to God is our only means of living a simple lifestyle, especially if we are gifted with some or a lot of material wealth.

Nothing is impossible with God. Provided we surrender to Him as our Boss, He will lovingly lead us from a simple lifestyle to a lifestyle of sharing. Sharing of our time, talents, and treasures with those who need them, and my God, there are so many of them who precisely need our loving help. Thus, the God-inspired lifestyle of Stewardship, Simplicity, and Sharing. How can we go wrong with this as our mission in life?!

As our beloved Pope Francis recently stated: “Working for a just distribution of the fruits of the earth and human labor is not mere philanthropy. It is a moral obligation. For Christians, the responsibility is even greater: It is a commandment.” The Holy Father is igniting a social revolution against global capitalism, particularly American capitalism, which we inherited here in our own country, where the results are even much worse than in the USA.

But there is hope indeed, provided our faith and efforts continue to escalate. Our coming elections are crucial. Let us do our best in voting for leaders who will be faithful missionaries of God in working for the common good of our people. Let us also increase our efforts in reaching out to our poor, marginalized fellow-Filipinos who are all God’s beloved people.  In God’s own way, the poor themselves are part of the solution in solving their painful situation. As Pope Francis himself said, addressing the poor: “You, the lowly, the exploited, the poor and underprivileged, can do, and are doing, a lot. I would even say that the future of humanity is in great measure in your hands.”

To each one of us: I am God’s steward of my time, talents, and treasures. All of these are given, not just for my personal self, but for the common good.