D.

The Spiritual Self

At the end
of this learning module, the student is expected to:
2, Articulate ways of finding meaning in life.
b. Explain the Biblical as well as
the Filipino understanding of the soul and the spirit.
C.
Discuss the significance of the practice of religion in the spiritual life of
the
person.
d. Construct an
essay indicating how he/she could personally and concretely live the
great commandment of love.

108
 _Understanding The Sef-
DISCUSSION/READINGS

INTRODUCTION

Are you happy with do

yourlife now? Do you find meaning in the things that you
What makes you
everyday? truly happy? Did you ever take these questions seriously
before?

In search of his true identity, man can never do away from considering his spiritual
well-being. For one thing, he is composed of both body and soul. The body points to his
relationship with the material world and the soul, his relationship with the spiritual world,
which is the transcendental dimension of life. Man's spirituality is the focus of our

discussion in this section.

In
the search for meaning in life, one of the major concerns is the development of a
of the human being which integrates well with his/her psychological
balanced spirituality
maturation. This psycho-spiritual integration or development can be of help in bringing
about social transformation since it exposes the individual to different situations or cases
for
that awaken in him/her the desire to make difference in his/her life as he/she searches
the meaning of his/her life.

Such integration leads to a better understanding of oneself with the questions: Who
am 1? How
am 1? What are my big aims in life? How clear are they? How truly Filipino
life. It leads to
truly Christian am I? It seeks answers to the basic existential questions in
self-introspection, a journey into the core of the human being.

1. The Concept of Spirituality

at our core. It is
As mentioned in the earlier chapter, the spiritual self is who we are
more permanent than the other two selves, material self and social self. The spiritual self is
self which develops a certain level
our subjective and most intimate self. It is the aspect of
of spirituality which is deemed as man's way of seeking as well as expressing the meaning
with God, self,
and purpose of his life. It speaks of the quality of one's relationships
others, institutions and God's entire creation, marked by respect, forgiveness, generous
level of Christian maturity and
service and prayer. It is showing great refinement or high
Divine. This spirituality
the IS
concern with the higher things in life such as the Sacred or to a deeper
specified more concretely in deepening the faith. Spirituality leads man
communion with the Divine. It is a path of direct and personal connection with the Divine.or
It

embraces all faiths, social and political ideologies.

It aids persons in spiritual, emotional
as those seeking to make a significant change
physical distress, crisis or discomfort as well that leads to personal
in their lives through self-awareness. This can be a healing process
development.

109
 1.1 The Spirit and the
Soul

The
interconnection of two important terms IN our discussion needs to be
considered, which is that
of the spirit and the soul. Though these are sometimes used
interchangeably, they have distinctions which mentioned by
need to be recognized. As
L. Mercado (1994). "the spirit in the Hebrew language is ruach or pneuma in Greek which
means breath (esp. the breath of life). The spirit is described as the disposition of an
individual,
a person's habitual attitudes, as man's supernatural power which comes from
God. It is the
part of us
part of man" through which all life and power of God flow. It is the "life-giving
psyche, (as. 2:26). Soul on the other hand, is in Hebrew, nephesh or in Greek.
originally meaning
principle of human nature.
'throat of 'neck' which means 'human life', the animating
emotion, conscience' In modem psychology, it is described as
of the 'will, mind, the Seat
for natural man, Both soul and spirit mean life. But soul (nephesh-psyche) stands
while spirit
dimension of (ruach-pneuma) is the ethical factor which adds the new
relationship with
the supernatural
God. Spirit enables man serve God and to participate in
to

body (flesh), soul, andHere, the Hebrew concept of man is holistic, not a trichotomy of
order.
spirit, but one totality.
between
the natural and the However, the Hebrew sees the distinction
supernatural, in respect to the soul and spirit."
The term used by
the Filipinos for spirit is a loan word, "espirito"
in Tagalog, "hininga" and in
or "espiritu" which is in Visayan term,
"anges".
The concept of soul IS
very familiar to
the Filipinos. As mentioned earlier, this is
the "nonphysical aspect of the person, the
complexity of human attributes that manifests as
consciousness, thought, feeling, and will, regarded as distinct from the physical body.
the person's emotional and moral nature, Where ede
It is

thoughts and feelings

hidden. In some systems of religious beliet, the themosttheprivate are

is believed to continue to exist after the body dies. The soul is also
spiritual part
is
thatfuture of a human
being
to reward
and punishment. The regarded as subject
aspect of the person Bible further speaks of the soul as the innermost
because of this spiritual whichsoulsignifies thespiritualprinciple in him,"The breathofthe hos
that the body
becomes alive.

Filipino Traditional Understanding of Sout

1.2. The

we consider the traditional

discussion of the soul since this understanding
is the key to
of Filipino communities in our
our past as people which still has traces in understanding ourselves at present, recalling
sometimes today's context. The
*soul' and 'spirit' are
Demetrio, et. al. in the book 'The Soul to
According to
kararwa, kadkadduwa, all come from the Indigenous Filipino', "kaluluwa,
because the soul has two the root word duwa, which means, two. This is
its life, and the other existences - one physical that is connected to the human body and
spiritual where it exists on its
further derived from
kadduwa, meaning "companion."
own. The Ilocano "kadkadduwa" is
the nature The doubling of "kad " intensifies
he forermnan nionship
partner," therefore so that itofmeans
attached companion constant
the living companiont or ain imiensiie
person".

"The Tagalogs call the soul, kaluluwa;

makatu; the Ilokanos, kadkadduwa or kararwathe Bagobos, gimokud; the
and the Visayans,Ilonggos.
dungan (if person is inside physical
alive), and kalag (if person is dead);
body); the
dungan
110
 Understanding The Self
(willpower)" (Demetrio, et. al., 2011). For the Cebuanos, the soul is referred to as
and the Mindoro folks. karadwa or kalag. is the
For the Kankanays of Cordillern, ab-abiik
term
used for the spiritual self which rivers, etc. which
also believed to
applicable to trees, stones,
is also
are
have ab-abiik. Demetrio used the word of Mariano Gatan,
for the Ibanag's soul "which has The
the role of giving direction and wholeness to the man.
body can stay alive inder endently of
the soul while the soul itself, even when
separate from
the body, experiences
material wants and needs" (Demetrio, et. al, 1991). Furthermore,
"when the person is frightened, the ikararua leaves the body while the body remains alive.
A ritual called
'mangaggakao' is performed to invite the soul to return to the body"
(Mercado, 1994).

"For the Tagalogs, the kaluluwa speaks more of the soul of the deceased person
than that of theliving. Jocano refers to the soul of living person as his kakambal (twin or
double) which is thought of as the 'malay' or the 'tiny voice' "It is a consciousness which is
the individual's capacity to think,
to reason, to learn and to have willpower.
At night, the
kakambal may travel around and its troublesome encounters could be the cause of

nightmares (bangungut). The double becomes a kaluluwa after the person dies" (Jocano,
1971).

"The dungan (not normally seen by Ilonggos and

the human eye) for the
sometimes comes out of the body and takes on a visible form such as that of an insect like a
housefly or even a lizard. The dungan may leave the body voluntarily as when a person is
asleep, according to the Visayans. When a person can see himself in his dreams, it means
that dungan's travel outside the body should
his "other self" has left the physical body. The
be
be free from accidents. Only when the soul has safely returned home would the owner
well"
able to wake up. Whatever happens to the dungan happens to the physical body as
(Demetrio, et. al., 2011).

that
cited by Demetrio, et. al.(2011), also indicates
Alicia Magos (1986) as
another cause of the withdrawal of the soul from the body IS when the body is badly
cited
the body. Similarly, Arsenio Manuel, as
maltreated. The soul then voluntarily leaves
the case of a
by Demetrio, et. al., speaks of the soul, leaving the body involuntarily as in
there's a
child who is frightened. The kaluluwa or dungan departs from the body and so
return to your
need 10 call the soul back by saying," Come back, come back soul of
home body. " The child becomes normal again the moment the kaluluwa or dungan rejoins
the body. Another involuntary departure of the soul happens when it is lured or captured by
of the soul and death is
bad spirits or 'engkantu', "Sickness is the effect of temporary loss
the effect of permanent loss"

Furthermore, Magos says that the Visayan dungan has a secondary meaning of
'willpower'. "A strong dungan is the intellectual and psychological capacity to dominate
or

persuade others to one's way of thinking. A person with a lot of willpower is said to have a
causing illness or
strong dungan. By itself, if strong due to ritual nurturing, is capable of
it

seriously weaken the other persons who have weaker dungan. Constant companionship
(sometimes under the same roof) of two persons may lead to a spiritual competition between
one with the weaker dungan"
the two dungan and the defeat results to sickness of the

(Demetrio, et. al., 1991).

111
 a religio-magical
Mercado says that if weak, "the dungan has to be strengthened in With the
rite to prevent weakness. dungan
or cure body illness caused by its inherent
properly nurtured, nourished.
strengthened, and lodged in the physical body,
he is
a person
said to
would
consequently have a satisfactory well-being. With such condition, have
influence/dominate others.
intelligence, proper sense, willpower, good health, capacity to via the nose, ears,
and,
similar other qualities. At death. the soul (kalag) leaves the bodytowards the
eyes and other orifices and eventually goes with the air or the wind upper
regions where it waits until it sure that the "kalag" will
can find another body to enter. To be
go to its
final destination, the rite, patulod (meaning, "to usher; to push is performed on
the third
day after the burial of the person. With this, the "kalag" will not come back to visit
the living and cause illness. has some messages to
be told Such visits may happen when the 'kalag"
to the living".

The notion of multiplicity of souls is common among Filipinos. According to Llanes

(1956), as cited by Demetrio, et.
al. (2011), four souls animate the body in early Ilokano
belief namely:
1. The
kararwa or
the soul proper, is the vital element In man. It can leave only after
death. It is the
llokano name presently used for the Christian soul.
2. The karkarma or second soul can leave the it can be
stolen from the
body when one is frightened; or
body when the person goes to isolated places. If the soul fails to return,
the owner
becomes insane. Sacrifices and attendant ceremonies are held to lure back
lost
karkarma. The Ilokano karkarma tands for natural vigor, energy, strength or power.
It also stands for mind
counterpart of what the Greeks referred
or reason. It is our to as
psyche.
3. The aniwaas
(aningaas or
alingaas) or third soul, can leave the body during sleep
and visit places which the person who owns it
frequents when awake.
If he he wakes up,
may lose his aniwaas (aningaas, alingaas) and become insane.
Ar-aria (al-alia), or our fourth soul, is the liberated soul of the dead. It is the soul
4.
that comes down to earth to visit its relatives
and friends, asking them to pray or
perform duty it failed to do in life. The howling
of dogs announces the presence of an
ar-aria/al-alia. It
makes noise, disturbs the chickens, makes audible footsteps, breaks the
door, or bangs the utensils in the kitchen. If the dead was
a cook, he likes staying in the
kitchen; if a tailor, he plays with the sewing machine. If he
was lame in life, his
footsteps betray that fact.

Like the Visayans and the Ibanags, the Ilokanos believe that the soul leaves the
body when frightened which results to sickness and a ritual iS necessary to invite the strayed
soul back to its homebody.

Loob and Personhood ,

2.

Filipino understanding of self, we have the concept of loob and

In the contemporary
personhood. LOOB, the inner self or inner being, is the core of one's personhood and where
the true worth of the person lies. It is what makes one what he is and who he IS as a person.
It is a term used to describe a person in
relationship
with others,
has defined the person by his relationship with others and such is
Contemporary psychology
done by describing what
sort of loob he has such as magandang loob or
mabuting loob and masamang loob. A person
is said to be of magandang loob/mabuting loob if he relates well and positively with others.
112
 Q_ Understanding The Self_ O)g
He IS not only
need. They
well-intentioned but he also promotes the well-being of others, especially
said to be of
those in are called people of goodwill. On the contrary, a person IS
masaimang loob

an fisted trough citoma tahitier tn homine t

if he IS LOOB is
of bad character. He relates negatively with others. This
the
an authentic person stems from

According to Mereado (1994), "'a purified kalooban is supported by prayer. This loob
that has been continually purifiedand strengthened nequires commitment to the cause offrom
the
individual. This happens through forms of sacrifices which include prayers,abstinence
certain kinds of food, or comforts, and sexual abstinence. Constant prayer and religious
exercises are ways to purify the loob. One of the most popular sacrifices done by some
Filipino Catholics is the
"penitensia' during Good Friday. The penitents reenact the

suffering of Jesus Christ, from the flagellation to the crucifixion. Penitents whip themselves
on the back, using whips made of bamboo or rites,
paddles to draw blood. To complete the
some devotees willingly allow themselves to be nailed to the cross, reenacting Jesus'
crucifixion. Despite the pain, loss of blood, the penitent emerges a "new man" whose loob
has been renewed, ready to face squarely the challenges of this world. Prayer and ritual can
be source of power".

Covar, in Mercado's hook, 'The Filipino Mind' says that "the use of amulet
(anting-anting) may also be a source of power. Those who use the anting-anting believe that
the words of Christ and the things used in Catholic liturgy are a strong source of power.
While Scriptures say that the Word of God is efficacious (Heb.4:12; 1Th.2:13 ft.), meaning,
power to produce a desired result', their belief extends to other rituals and liturgical
'has the

language in the Catholic rite. The efficacy of the anting-anting"depends upon the proper
execution of certain rituals and the following of strict rules." Holy Week is supposedly the
best time for obtaining, testing and recharging the powers of anting-antings"

God's Kagandahang-loob

Filipino concept and value, kagandahang-loob (kindness, generosity,

The

benevolence, helpfulness) can be a very appropriate description of who God is for Filipinos.
It is a quality of
It connotes all that iS good in a person which is the ideal among Filipinos.

BEING which has its roots in the very heart of a person and which is given expression in the
deeds
totality of one's life of interrelationship. This reminds us of Jesus in whom words and
are true manifestations of His kagandahang-loob. This is why God's saving activity is
described as kagandahang-loob.

Loob and Prayer

said to be "the first expression of man's interior truth". Interior truth

Prayer is

the core of one's personhood, his loob, which is closely related to man's spirit.
It is
refers to
of creaturehood
the ultimate organizing center of human reality. It is also the very zone
which is the substratum of ideas, feelings and behaviors. Those whose loob
is pure, serene
such as the ability to control
and controlled have "special powers" granted to them by Christ
elements, cure the sick, speak in different tongues, interpret signs, among others.

113
 the
Prayer then is the
acknowledgment and awareness of of nature oftrue
the loob, and the Christian's
richness or weakness of this loob as exposed by the lightfaith. This loob
is made "in
the imageandlikeness" of God; hence. it Is constituted by being related to God.
With this,
receptiveness, an active listening to what God
prayer becomes an active
is revealing through one's loob T1 is the recognition, acknowledgment, acceptance of this
relatedness to
God of our loob in an explicit
manner. "Christian prayer is our conscious
personal communion
with God, our Father, in Christ Jesus. It is the fruit of the Holy Spirit
working in
our hearts, enabling us to turn to to call Him
God and with confidence, our
Father. This prayer is always a free gift of God, which leads us back to Him, paghabalik.
loob(conversion) when
this astray, restoring the original goodness of one's kalooban. How does
conceptof loob and prayer helpus find meaning in he?
3. Finding and Creating Meaning - Viktor Emil Frankl
According to Viktor Frankl,
"meaning is
something to discover rather than to Man'i
same
invent." It has the Search For
concept with inner happiness, life satisfaction. Meaning
self-actualization, deep spirituality. He believes that in
life, there is an existential vacuum which means that
life is
and
empty, meaningless, purposeless, aimless, adrift,
so on. Because of this
existential vacuum, we fill
our
lives with pleasure, eating beyond all necessity, or
even
having promiscuous sex.
We might seek power, Viktor Emil Frankl was born in
especially the power
represented by monetary success. Because Vienna, Austria on March 26, 1905.
vacuum, Frankl says that we fill
of this existential He is a medical doctor, a psychiatrist
our lives with "busy-ness," who developed Logotherapy, a form
conformity, conventionality, anger, hatred and even attempts of psychotherapy, based on helping
to destroy what we think is hurting us, a neurotic clients find a sense of meaning and
"vicious
cycle," such as purpose in their lives.
obsession with germs and cleanliness. or
fear-driven obsession with a
phobic object.

3.1 Three Ways of Discovering Meaning in Life

Viktor Frankl
indicates three broad approaches namely: experiential values,
creative values, and attitudinal values.

a. Experiential Values
This approach involves experiencing something or
someone we value. The most
important example of experiential values is the love we feel towards another
relatives, friends, and workmates. - family,

b. Creative Values
This is the traditional existential
idea of providing oneself with
becoming involved in one's projects, or, better, in the project of one's own life.meaning by
It includes
the creativity and passion involved in art, music, writing, invention, and work.

114
c. Attitudinal Values
Understanding The Self_
Attitudinal values include practicing virtues such as compassion, bravery, a good
sense of humor, and the like. But FrankI's most famous example is achieving meaning by
way of suffering. The ultimate goal is self-transcendence, in
It is
the spiritual realm.
reference to God, a reference to religion.

3.2 The Practice of Religion

Researches speak of religion as the
people's way of connecting themselves to Giod
as
they search for meaning in life. Religion is also popularly understood as 'beliefs and
behaviors related to
supernatural beings and powers." Still others define religion as "an
organized system of ideas about the spiritual sphere, along with ceremonial practices; our
way of relating with the supernatural or the DIVINE". All cultures have religion.

Religion serves several functions to man as follows:

"The practice of religion has a significant effect on happiness and an overall
sense of personal well-being" (Stark, R., 1971).
2.
"Regular religious attendance led to much less psychological distress"
(Williams, D. 1970).
3. "Young people see love as
the central aspect of the meaning of life; they believe
that
religion is still important in helping form judgments and attitudes (Thomas, D.).
4. The cohabitation rate is seven times higher among persons who seldom or never

attend religious services compared to persons who frequently attend (Larson, D).

"Therefore, the practice of religion is beneficial to individuals, families, states, and

the nation. It improves health, learning, economic well-being, self-control, self-esteem, and
empathy. It reduces the incidence of social pathologies, such as out-of-wedlock births,
crime, delinquency, drug and alcohol addiction, health problems, anxieties, and prejudices.
Furthermore, religion creates a moral community to which people experience a sense of
belonging. It provides rites of passage as mn the case of sacraments in Christianity. It
provides emotional support. It serves as a means to provide answers to ultimate questions in
life. It shapes the people's views of the universe. Finally, it can be a powerful agent of social
change" (Haviland, et.al., 2007).

How do people practice Religion? The practices we discuss here are just among
the many ways through which religion is practiced.

3.2a Rituals

Rituals are 'patterned forms of behavior that have something to do with the
supernatural realm' They are performed in a repetitive nature. They can be religious or
of
secular. "People worldwide engage in religious rituals that require a considerable amount
Thailand
time or personal sacrifice. A good example is the case of the Vegans of Phuket,
who perform various acts of self-torture, including bathing in hot oil, fire walking, and
piercing themselves with sharp implements during their annual vegetarian festival. "Life-
cycle rituals", often referred to as 'rites of passage', mark a status change from one
important life stage to another. The Christian sacraments are examples of this. Many
religions encourage rituals of pilgrimage, a round trip to a place considered sacred for the
purpose of religious devotion or ritual" (Sosis, 2010).
115
 In many cases, sacrifice as the offering of something to the supernaturalbeingsis
performed to please or to express gratitude such deities.
to An example of this is the
offering
ritual iS described
ritual called "harang' practiced by the Visayan fishing villages. Such as
"a
process of purification (tuob), invocation (pagtawag), entreaty (pangamuyo), offering
(bayad), feast (kan-on), encompassing almost every aspect of the community's existence
including good bad harvest, the operation of fishing boats and cases
or
of
illnesses*
(Kawada,
M., 1956). Kanyaw in the Cordillera, which is performed as an expression
of
thanksgiving to their deities as well as a means to appease them is also noteworthy. This is
also
an expression of
solidarity among the members of the community. Similarly, the
Buklog of the Subanens in Aurora, Zamboangn
spirits ,and plea
IS performed in their fiesta to with
honor
the
for favors. It is also a Subanens' relationship
symbol of the their
fellowmen, and have the function
a spiritual journey to their Creator. Rituals in this sense of
uniting the people.
They allay fear of crisis as they prompt collective action.

3.26 Magic

Magic is commonly referred to as "tricks" and #illusions" that make impossible

things
it as
seem to happen, usually performed as entertainment. Stein and Stein (2011), describe
a special talent
happen through some sort
or skill; an act that makes impossible things
trickery or deception, and thereby manipulating not the supernatural world, but rather
of

human
perception. However, magie, as anthropologists use the term, refers to activities,
usually rituals, by which a person can compel the supernatural to behave in certain ways. It
is seen
as the ability which gives somebody control over the forces of nature. It is used in

many
It is
cultures for healing, keeping away evil, seeking the truth, and for vengeful purposes.
an
attempt to make supernatural forces act in
specific ways for good or evil purposes by
recourse to certain specified formulas.

Stein & Stein (2011), state that magic answers our need to have some control of
our lives and also of others with
the ability to control the supernatural forces. Haviland
(2007), also explains that like religion, magic tries to
and provides
comfort and a coherent view of the world. It also explain the unexplainable
reduces stress, reinforcing group norms
and identity, providing sanctions for individual behavior and
It leads to avoidance providing a sense of the world.
or healing of illness. In the area of entertainment, magic captivates the
audience with expert showmanship. It promotes and advances the art of staged magic.
Magic exists in all cultures.

3.3c Witchcraft

Witchcraft, commonly understood as "kulam', refers to the idea that certain

people have an inborn power to harness spirits or
energies for specific purposes. "It is an
explanation of events based on the belief that certain individuals possess an innate
psychic
power capable of causing harm, including sickness and death" (Microsoft Encarta 2009)
Here, it is
closelyunderstood closely with sorcery. Witchcraftis widelyconsidered
evil.Like sorcery, it is seen as magic or special power that is worked for illegal or antisocial
ends. For example, magic that is worked to kill someone for vengeful purposes is bad. The
witch or sorcerer tends to
steal food remnants, hair, nail clippings, or clothes from the victim
and use these objects to inflict harm upon
the victim. As stated by Stein & Stein (2011),
"Although magic IS used for variety of reasons to increase success and control the
uncertainties of life, magic can also be used in antisocial ways to interfere with the
116
economic activities of others
and to bring about illness and even death. Anything that
disrupts the life and happiness of
someone is evil". The use of magic in this way is
abominable. But why
do people still practice witcheraf12
Just like
Haviland (2007), mentions that witchcrah serves a number of functions in society.
religion and magic, he says that "witchcraft provides explanations of the
inexplicable, like illness, or
natural disasters, as well as allows a community to come
together,focus their
energies on something
reassert their communal identity. It IS also
(ridding themselves
of bad witchcraft) and to
to explain a personal misfortune
without having to shoulder any blame way for people
a

to
themselves. Finally, it provides an outlet for
feelings of hostility and frustration without
disturbing the norms of the larger group."
3.3 What the Bible Says About Magic, Ritual and
Witchcraft
As
Filipinos of today, predominantly Christians, we have the Bible as our guide in
the practice of our religion. Specifically, the Book of Deuteronomy states:

"Don't sacrifice your children in

the fires on your altars; and do not let your people practice
fortune-telling, or use sorcery, or Interpret omens, or
engage in witchcraft. or cast spells, or
function as mediums or psychics, or call forth the
spirits of the dead. Anyone who does these
things is detestable to the Lord. It is because the other nations have done these detestable things
that the Lord your God will drive them out
ahead of you. But you must be blameless before the
Lord your God" (Dt. 18:10-13).

For us Christians, God alone

worthy of adoration, for He alone, is the ONE,
is
TRUE GOD. Such acts contrary to this, such as ascribing power
to amulets, magic and
others mentioned above, are considered idolatrous and therefore, unacceptable. It is a
violation to the very first commandment of God, "I am the Lord, your God who brought
you out of Egypt where you were slaves; worship n0 god but Me" (Ex. 20:2-3). This is
further made clear in Jesus Christ's declaration of the 'Great Commandment of Love'
when He said;

"The most important one is this: Listen, Israel! The Lord our God is the only Lord. Love the
Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your
strength. The second most important commandment is this: Love your neighbor as you love
yourself. There is no other commandment more important than these twol (Mark 12:29-31).

conclusion, submission to practices such as magic, kulam, and others of their

In
kind may not lead us to the "ONE. TRUE GOD", the source of all power. Much
discernment must be done to examine or evaluate our practices whether or not they lead us
closer to the One, True God. There are indeed Filipino traditional religious practices
(popular/folk religiosity) which are not helpful to our true worship of GOD, practices which
need to be purified, and this calls for a genuine, meaningful Christian evangelization.
Without careful examination, our practices may lead us away from the ultimate source of
happiness, our ultimate end. Such ultimate end is God Himself, our union with Him. Failure
to examine the things that we do, the way we live our lives, results to the loss of meaning in
life. Jesus Christ Himself gave us a clear guide when He spoke about the commandment of
love - love of God and love of neighbor.
May you truly find meaning as you continue your life's journey, guided by Jesus,
the Incarnate Word of God.

117