AN UNEXAMINED LIFE...

Socrates, one of those great men that ever existed, once remarked that AN UNEXAMINED LIFE IS NOT WORTH LIVING . From time to time, it is a special duty we owe to ourselves to embark on some personal inward journey and ask ourselves some penetrating questions about life and our role in it. I state without fear of contradiction that the most disastrous moments of life are those moments wasted in merely EXISTING instead of truly LIVING. As we reflect on the readings of today’s celebration, I think it is right and very providential that we should once more be confronted with this naked truth about life and our role in it. Today, as we begin a new month, the Church wants us to honour one of her good and faithful servants, St. Justin the Martyr.

Eschatology (the theology of the END "TIME" & END "THINGS") is one of those scary issues that people scarcely speak about. Yes, it is true that Christ has said that “CONCERNING THE END, NO ONE KNOWS WHEN IT WILL BE; EVEN THE ANGELS IN HEAVEN AND THE SON DON’T KNOW. ONLY THE FATHER KNOWS” (cf. Mk. 13:32). But the fact that WE DON’T KNOW WHEN IT WILL BE does not rule out the fact that WE SHOULD NOT BE CONSCIOUS OF IT. It should actually be very worrisome that I should continue to float and aimlessly move around on earth not actually making effort to be very much aware of WHERE I AM COMING FROM, WHAT I HAVE ACTUALLY COME TO DO & WHERE I AM GOING TO.

On the basis of the above, I dare to reason and submit that ANYONE WHO LIVES HIS/HER LIFE – UNMINDFUL OF THE "END" – IS MERELY EXISTING AND CAN’T BE SAID TO BE TRULY LIVING.

To live is to impact on life; to live is to be fruitful; it is to fill the earth and subdue it (cf. Gen. 1:28). The Bible is very clear on that. And so, it becomes very pertinent that we remind ourselves that we were created not just to EXIST, but to LIVE; not just to SAP THE EARTH’S NUTRIENTS but to BEAR FRUITS. And the best way to live is to LIVE FOR OTHERS. The tree does not consume its own fruits. It bears fruits for the benefit of all. This is exactly the final instruction of St Peter in his first letter as he advises and reminds us that “THE END OF ALL THINGS IS NEAR; ABOVE ALL, WE MUST LOVE, LIVE AND EMPLOY OUR GIFTS FOR ONE ANOTHER” (CF. 1 Pet. 4:7-11).

We should then not be surprised to hear that Christ cursed a fruitless fig tree (cf. Mk. 11:11-14): a fig tree that was merely EXISTING, sapping the earth’s nutrients with nothing to show for it. It was just EXISTING, and did not LIVE for the benefit of all. We should also not be surprised to learn that Christ drove people out of the temple (cf. Mk. 11:15-17). Again, His anger blazed out at a people who just EXISTED to sap and ravish the TEMPLE, instead of LIVING for the TEMPLE and BUILDING IT UP. And who/what is this TEMPLE? It is you and I (the members of the Body of Christ) who are the Living Temple of God (cf. 1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19). We constitute the Living Temple of God; and should thus use the gifts that God has given us for the building up of one another. It is a mandate, not an option!

In St Justin the Martyr, we see a man who did not just EXIST, but LIVED. He LIVED because he employed his natural powers as a philosopher (especially his power to know and understand) to build up the Body of Christ even to the point of offering his life for that cause. This is the FRUITFULNESS that Christ expects from us!

I wish you a more FRUITFUL and HAPPY New Month!