In our Gospel reading, we have heard of the soul. Let us spend a few moments on discovering what the soul is. I will also have a few more thoughts on prayer.
The soul in Sacred Scripture can be defined as “inner life, one’s inmost being…physical life”(Aland et al. 2014, 717). Lumen Gentium from Vatican II, along with the Fathers of the Church, compares the soul with the “principle of life” of the human body (Lumen Gentium, 7).
The parable of the rich man that we have heard in the Gospel, gives us a fascinating account of a wealthy person speaking to his soul. What comes across pretty clearly, is that the man is convinced that he has full mastery over his soul. He is telling his soul what to do: “relax, eat, drink, be merry”. In contemporary language we would say that the rich man thinks that he owns his soul. Sometimes in movies you see a scene where a powerful group of people comes across a person who first went along with the powerful group’s wishes, and now wants to break free, now wants to liberate himself from the gang or the cartel. In a typical scene, someone from the powerful group says to the person who wants to step away from them, “You can’t do that, we made you, we own you”. We own you. In different words, the rich man is doing the same thing. He is telling his soul, his life principle, his inmost being – I own you. “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years” – don’t worry, enjoy life. And that very night, the bell tolls for him, that very night, he is called to stand in front of God’s judgement.
My brothers and sisters, for the past two weeks, I was reflecting with you upon prayer. Last week, I mentioned how positive feelings do not always accompany someone who is praying. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, back in 1989, proposed that “the soul’s union with God is realized in a mysterious way, and in particular, through the sacraments of the Church…it can even be achieved through experiences of affliction or desolation…they may be an authentic participation in the state of abandonment experienced on the Cross by our Lord” (Orationes formas, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Oct. 15, 1989, 9). So, experiences of desolation, desert, hardship, can be legitimate parts of prayer. However, there is one state of soul, one underlying condition, which clearly shows God’s presence: that is peace. If in the midst of turmoil, difficulties and challenges, in the midst of dryness in prayer, you have a certain amount of underlying peace – that is a clear sign of God’s closeness to you.
Moving back to the soul. We are called to cultivate our soul, to make it grow, to make it blossom, like a flower in a garden. Striving for holiness makes our soul bloom. Lumen Gentium states this about the universal call to holiness: “Therefore, all the faithful of Christ are invited to strive for the holiness and perfection of their own proper state…Let all then have care that they guide aright their own deepest sentiments of soul. Let neither the use of the things of this world nor attachment to riches, which is against the spirit of evangelical poverty, hinder them in their quest for perfect love. Let them heed the admonition of the Apostle to those who use this world; let them not come to terms with this world; for this world, as we see it, is passing away” (Lumen Gentium, 42). Our first reading, from the Book of Ecclesiastes, clearly speaks of riches passing away – all is vanity. We are not to be attached to property and wealth, or to things of this world. You and I are always on pilgrimage, we are always moving one breath, one minute, one hour closer to the day when the bell tolls for us. To the day when we are called by our Creator to pass from this life, to the next.
As we work to cultivate our souls, as we work to take care of our souls, we have a great help in Our Lady. The Blessed Virgin Mary, gives birth, so to speak, to the life of grace in our souls. Of her, Lumen Gentium states, “In this singular way she [the Blessed Virgin] cooperated by her obedience, faith, hope and burning charity in the work of the Saviour in giving back supernatural life to souls. Wherefore she is our mother in the order of grace” (Lumen Gentium, 61).
My brothers and sisters, we do not own our souls, we do not possess our life principle. There is only One who has this right: our God. Our God is the one who, one day, will call us back to Him. In the meantime, let us try to take good care of our souls, to make them grow and bloom. Amen.
(Fr. Pawel Ratajczak, OMI, Aug. 4, 2019)