Reflection on: #3 Where You Are Going
Reflection on: #3. Where You Are Going (St. Maximilian’s Unpublished writings #1270, Vol. II)
St. Maximilian Kolbe asks a very thought-provoking question, “But where are you heading to in the course of your life?” It is meant to help one reflect on the meaning of one’s life. Is there an ultimate purpose for one’s daily existence? Or do we just exist for a period of time day in and day out and then pass away like the animal and vegetable species that have fulfilled their purpose on earth. What makes human beings different?
The one thing we all seek as human beings is happiness. This is programmed in our very nature and in the depths of our being. This desire for happiness cannot find its ultimate fulfillment from earthly pleasures and satisfactions because it is never extinguished in the human heart regardless of what level of happiness one seeks. There is always a desire to have something more, something better that is always gnawing away at the human soul. Fr. Spitzer identifies this as transcendental desires for Perfect Truth, Perfect Love, Perfect Beauty, Perfect Justice and Goodness, and Perfect Home. None of these is found in its perfection on earth. If we have the yearning for such ultimate perfection in our soul, how can we find the fulfillment of all desire?
And where do we get this awareness of perfection if it is not found in our world nor experienced in the earthly realm? It has to come from the very source of Perfection. *Fr. Robert Spitzer, (S.J., Ph.D.) quotes St. Augustine in saying it has to come from God who is present to our transcendental soul. He is perfect Truth, Love, Beauty, Goodness, and Justice, etc. St Augustine found that all his pleasures still left him wanting and in emptiness. It is God’s presence that motivates us to seek love, truth, beauty, justice, goodness, etc. He is present to our consciousness and is always calling us to Himself.
So when St. Maximilian makes the statement, “Where you are Going” he wants us to look within and discern in what direction are we heading. Are we going journeying towards God, the ultimate source of happiness, Perfection in every way? Or, are we gradually slipping into decadence and loss of our true human dignity and ultimate purpose in life? It is our choice.
- Robert Spitzer wrote several books for the existence of God. He wrote “The Soul’s Upward Yearning” that offers clues to our Transcendent Nature from Experience and Reason. He also has a weekly program called “Spitzer’s Universe” on EWTN.
By Annette Leib, President of MI Canada.