Catholic during the Great Apostasy

What is the purpose of life ?

The life of man manifests itself in fourfold form: as sensual, spiritual, social and religious life.
For, first of all, man is by nature a complex being and two worlds combined in himself, hence his natural life has a double form: sensual at the same time as spiritual.

Secondly , he is a member of society, that is, of the great human family, whose goods, duties, works and sorrows he shares, and from here comes social or community life. For the rest, he is the work of God, from whom he took his beginning and to whom he should strive as the ultimate end, and from here flows the religious life, so named because religion means man’s relationship to God.

To this fourfold life every man is called; and which is his main task, or, as it is said, his destiny ?
For what ultimately does man live?

Is it perhaps for the purpose of making himself-as much as possible-pleasant for his brief sojourn on earth, and to make the most of the consolations here?  

But on this earth, all consolation is mixed with bitterness, all roses here have thorns; moreover, these consolations, insignificant and transient, similar to a flower that blooms in the morning and withers at noon, will not satisfy the thirst of the soul, so that even if it drinks a sea of them it will always thirst, and at the moment of death it will cry out in sorrow: punishment above vanity and all vanity.

So perhaps this is what man lives for, to devote himself to work or science, to devote himself to the family, the nation, humanity ?

And this is not, – for all work, which does not aim at eternity, will finally bore man, and will not give him true happiness,- all science, which ignores faith, will not solve for him the ultimate riddle of life, often even intoxicates him with pride and instead of enlightening, into a thicker darkness, all love, finally, which does not start from God and does not go to God, is not eternal, and therefore will not fill the immortal soul, to which God has poured desires almost infinite, is rarely faithful and pure, always changeable and fragile, – such love does not elevate man above man, so that he finds himself everywhere, and therefore his nothingness and misery, his w alks, anxieties and longings.

What then is the purpose of our existence on earth?

The glorification of God and the salvation of the soul, this is the answer of reason and faith. That’s right, God Himself is our beginning, because He snatched us from nothingness and called us into being, He gave us this body so bizarrely and intricately arranged, – He gave us this soul, so great and beautiful, a soul made in His image, a soul endowed with so many powers and abilities, a soul gifted to know and love its Creator, – and this soul He united with the body , that is, He gave us life; and not only gave it once, but maintains it constantly, otherwise we would return to the nothingness from which we came out. And not only did He give us natural life, but He elevates the soul to a supernatural state and unites it to Himself by grace. Thus we have everything from God, and we belong completely to God,-more than the slave to the master who bought him,-more than the fruit to the tree that bore him,-more than the painting to the painter who created it.

 

And why did God give us life, and with life everything?

For His glory; for God can have no other purpose in His action, otherwise He would cease to be God. And therefore to glorify God, that is, to serve God, that is the goal of our existence, the highest goal, the necessary goal, the goal that leads us to happiness, because only in this way can we save our souls, that is, unite ourselves with God, who as He is our beginning, so He is our end, our highest and only happiness.

To serve God – this is the task of our life, – the most important task, in the face of which everything is nothing, so that if we had tasted all the pleasures of the world, if we had gathered all the treasures of the earth, if we had possessed the crowns of all the kings, the fame of all the heroes, the wisdom of all the sages, if we had made both family and nation and all mankind happy: if we do not serve God, we are nothing and do not live at all, because our life is not life, but an illusion and a dream, followed by a terrible awakening.

Unfortunately, such is the life of many. For some live only to please the senses and satisfy the lower animal needs, and condemn the spirit to darkness and slavery. The motto of their life is these words: “ Let us use the goods of the present, and let us partake of things created quickly. Let us fill ourselves with expensive wine and oils, and let us not pass the flower of time. Let us walk in wreaths of roses until they wither. . . let us leave signs of delight everywhere: for this is our part and this is the lot.” These hardly deserve the honorable name of men, and to them the word of Scripture applies : “Man, when he was in honor, did not understand: he is compared to mindless cattle, and became like them”.

They tell of the pagan sage Diogenes, that one day at high noon he was walking with a lantern in the Athenian marketplace and seemed to be searching diligently for something by its light. “What are you looking for?” one of the passersby asked him. “I’m looking for a man,” the sage replied. “What do you mean, a man! Don’t you see that the market is full of people.” “Yes,” replied the sage, “but they are not people one cattle, because instead of living according to reason, as people, they let themselves be guided and ruled by their cattle lusts.”

Oh how few there are in the world today!

Others do liberate the spirit from the degrading shackles of the flesh and feed it with science, but this freedom is not complete, nor is this food sufficient, for they lack the knowledge and love of God. The mental life is developed in them, but the religious life is neglected; and so they too are not perfect people.

Others sacrifice themselves for the family and society, and the main purpose of their life is to make the family happy or to serve society, and from there to increase prosperity, industry, education or freedom; they live for people, but forget God and the soul: – and these are not perfect people.

Others live not only for themselves and society, but also for God, because they strive to know His truth and fulfill His law; atoli this religious life of theirs is not perfect and comprehensive. Their faith is faint or dark, their love is weak and unstable, hence eclipses of the spirit and perversions of the will often follow; – and these are not yet perfect people.

Others, finally, have God as the ultimate goal of life, and consider God’s truth as the supreme truth and norm of all truth, God’s law as the only code and the basis of all codes; according to this truth and this law they arrange all their lives and all their relations not only to God, but also to society and to themselves, desiring this only to please God and to unite themselves with God, who is perfection itself and the source of all perfection; and since the incarnate Word, Jesus Christ, brought truth and law to the world together with grace, or rather, is himself truth and law, so they, using grace, and holding to truth and law, live perfectly according to Christ, that is, they are perfect Christians, and therefore perfect people.

 

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“SPIRITUAL LIFE or Christian perfection according to the most excellent spiritual masters”, Volume I – Msgr. Joseph Sebastian Pelczar