What is the Meaning of Life?
Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
“God … wills everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”1 Timothy 2:4
We all have the natural obligation, inscribed in our souls, to seek meaning for life, to seek the truth, because this is precisely what distinguishes us from animals, what makes us the image of God: intelligence, the need for meaning for life, to transcend, to answer the basic existential questions that no one can avoid. Where do we come from and where are we going? Who gave us life and for what? Who is God and what is he for?
The problem is that the world, guided and blinded by the devil, ruler of this world and father of lies, does not want us to know about eternity, about God, or about the soul, it wants to lead everyone to conceive of themselves as animals of another species, and to live as such, focused only on the here and now, on instincts, on surviving, without wanting to know about the afterlife, or wondering about anything else. For this reason, he has everyone entangled in the idolatry of the things of this world and distracted with inventions and entertainment so that they do not think.
“Listen to this, those who seek the poor only to ruin him and go around saying: “When will the rest of the first day of the month end to sell our wheat, and the Sabbath rest to reopen our barns?” Measures decrease, prices increase, balances change,…”Amos 8,4ss
“There is no servant who can serve two masters, for he will hate one and love the other, or be attached to the first and despise the second. In short, you cannot serve God and money.”Luke 16,12s
In these readings we see the short-sightedness of the one who closes himself to the light of Christ; blinded by the world and the devil, they resign themselves to believe all his lies and seek only their selfish interest and passing values.
We are responsible for what we decide to believe and think, for what we decide to accept as true, because that shapes our way of thinking, our ideas and actions, and therefore, our entire life, temporal and eternal.
We cannot be so naive and irrational as to lightly believe any absurd theory. The devil, father of lies who wants our destruction, has blinded many so that they may not want the truth, and prefer to deify themselves and believe that they are so powerful as to change or decide what is the truth.
There are also many superficial suckers who prefer not to think and let themselves be carried away by the easiest, like playing dead in the river, without wondering where the current is taking them, despite the strong probability that it will take them to a waterfall that will cause them death. But it’s easier than swimming to get me to safety. Many resign themselves to living only in the here and now and to living distracted with idolatries of this world without wanting to think about the afterlife or answering the fundamental questions mentioned.
Jesus was very clear about the purpose of his life: I have come so that they may have life and have it in abun- dance. (Jn 10,10). If you keep my word, you will know the truth and the truth will set you free (Jn 8:31). I am the way, the truth and the Life; no one goes to the Father except through me (Jn 14,6) so HE CAME TO GIVE ETERNAL MEANING TO OUR LIFE.
Readings for the Week
Monday: Prv 3:27-34; Ps 15:2-5; Lk 8:16-18
Tuesday: Prv 21:1-6, 10-13; Ps 119:1, 27, 30, 34, 35, 44; Lk 8:19-21
Wednesday: Eph 4:1-7, 11-13; Ps 19:2-5; Mt 9:9-13
Thursday: Eccl 1:2-11; Ps 90:3-6, 12-14, 17bc; Lk 9:7-9
Friday: Eccl 3:1-11; Ps 144:1b, 2abc, 3-4; Lk 9:18-22
Saturday: Eccl 11:9 — 12:8; Ps 90:3-6, 12-14, 17; Lk 9:43b-45
Sunday: Am 6:1a, 4-7; Ps 146:7-10; 1 Tm 6:11-16; Lk 16:19-31
Saints & Special Observances
Sunday: Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time; Catechetical Sunday
Monday: St. Januarius
Tuesday: Ss. Andrew Kim Tae-gŏn and Paul Chŏng Ha-sang and Companions
Wednesday: St. Matthew
Thursday: Autumn begins
Friday: St. Pius of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio)
Saturday: Blessed Virgin Mary