By Fr. Roy Cimagala
LET’S see to it that our thinking and reasoning is always guided by our Christian faith, hope and charity, and not just by what we see and understand, no matter how high our IQ is or how much data and facts we have in possession.
This is what may be called as theological reasoning. It is allowing the spirit of Christ to enlighten our thoughts and reactions to things. After all, if we are the image and likeness of God, we have to see, think, react the way Christ would, he who is the pattern of our humanity and the redeemer of our damaged humanity.
As we have been repeating already a number of times, our life should always be a life with God, with Christ, if we want to be consistent with our Christian identity. Otherwise, we would just be Christian in name, but not in fact and in truth.
This point about the need to develop a theological mind may have been illustrated in that gospel episode where Peter was overwhelmed with what Christ said about how much easier it is for a camel to enter the eye of the needle than for a rich man to enter heaven. “We have given up everything and followed you,” he said. (cfr. Mk 10,28-31)
Peter and the rest of the apostles obviously were at a loss as to how to understand what Christ said. If they did not trust Christ, if they did not have faith in him, then obviously they would already have left him long time ago. But they struggled to develop their faith.
When we have a theological mind, we would realize that we are not supposed to understand everything. We simply follow what Christ would tell us through the many ways he communicates with us. We follow what Christ would tell us because we believe he is the God who became man to save us, and he can never deceive us nor can be he deceived.
When we have a theological mind, we would know that we are living in a world of the spiritual and the supernatural where mysteries and things difficult to understand prevail. We should just learn to live with that condition.
When we have a theological mind, like Christ who is “the way, the truth and the life” for us, we would know how to be humble and patient, especially when we are confronted with difficulties and contradictions in life.
When we have a theological mind, we would always consider first the truths of our faith that would assure us of the resources for hope and charity during our predicaments. Our reactions and behavior would not simply be human and natural, guided only by our instincts, emotions and natural rationality.
When we have a theological mind, we would know the value of suffering and the many difficulties in life. We would know that everything will always work out for the good. (cfr. Rom 8,28) Regardless of the varying situation in our life, whether it’s good or bad, we would be consistent in having our feet firmly grounded on earth while our mind soars to heaven.
In the end, when we have a theological mind, we would partake of the wisdom of God who knows what to do in any situation. We should do everything to develop a theological mind, always studying and meditating on the life of Christ and developing the virtues.
Email: roycimagala@gmail.com
