Every man and woman who comes into this world asks himself or herself: Where did I come from? Where am I going? What is the meaning of life? The atheist says that we come from nothing and return to nothing. What meaning can there be in something that begins in nothingness and ends in nothingness?
Science and technology have improved our lives in recent years, but they do not and cannot tell us what is the meaning of life. However, the need to give meaning to our existence is common to all mortals. Consciously or unconsciously, we all seek to find a purpose for our existence and, in some way, to justify it.
Those who lose or never find the meaning of life end up depressed, feeling the nausea of emptiness, and often seek to end their lives. They quickly realize that a life without meaning is not worth living.
A Wayfarer Without a Path
“Wayfarer, your footprints are the path and nothing more; Wayfarer, there is no path, the path is made by walking." – Antonio Machado
On one hand, every man and woman who comes into this world is born with a unique genetic code that has never existed before in the five million years of human existence and will never exist again, until the end of human history.
In this sense, every human being who comes into this world begins a new path, a new life, which is his and his alone. This is the dignity of the human person and his freedom: he can live life as he wishes, finds, and follows his own path, which did not exist beforehand, as if predestined, but which is made as he walks on.
Since he is the one making the path, as the Spanish poet intuited, the only path that exists is being made by his own footprints—that is, the journey he traces. It is like the paths that appear, formed by the many people passing through the same place, made without machines and without the intention to create them.
On the other hand, no one arrives here completely isolated from what preceded them. Just as our DNA is composed of the genetic material of our father and mother, we are also heirs of everything humanity has done throughout its history. Everyone in the human species, consciously or unconsciously, accesses what Jung called the collective unconscious, which functions as a kind of database containing the idiosyncrasies of the human race.
In this sense, every human being who arrives in this world continues what came before. Like in a relay race, we receive a legacy, an inheritance, talents, and, with our life, we continue the projects that already existed, imbuing them with our personal stamp and raising them to a higher level.
It is in this continuity that our personal touch is added. Einstein received Newton’s mechanistic physics and, with the theory of relativity, elevated it to a new level. Mozart dedicated his life to music and took it to a high level; at the end of his life, he passed the baton to Beethoven, who elevated it even higher. Every athlete, in every sport, sets new records based on previous ones.
The Way, the Truth and the Life
Every human being who comes into this world has in Christ the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6); in other words, we are called to live in Christ, by Christ, and with Christ. Humanism and Christianity are one and the same; the Christian is the measure of the human, and the human is the measure of the Christian.
"Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters." (Luke 11:23). There are no two humanisms, no two ways of living human life. There is no equally valid alternative to Christ; there is no other way of self-realization, of living human life in fullness and achieving happiness. Therefore, whoever is not with Him is not with someone else, because that alternative model does not exist; thus, whoever is not with Him is against Him.
However, this does not mean that, with Christ as the model for all who want to be truly human, we are transformed into clones behaving like puppets or automatons, with the same personality type, thinking, acting, and living life the same way.
When we say that Christ is truly man and truly God, we are saying that, so far in humanity, only God in Christ has managed to be authentically, fully, 100% human. Only Jesus of Nazareth has fully realized the project of humanity that God had for man when He created him. Only Jesus of Nazareth has fully realized God’s dream and made it a reality.
"God became man so that man might become God" (St. Irenaeus); this is the reason for the Incarnation. Without Christ, man has no way of knowing what is to be fully human.
Different in equality, or equal in difference
Being 100% man, Christ represents the totality of the human being; He is the standard by which we all measure ourselves, the horizon, the goal, the simultaneously achievable and unachievable objective of human life. Achievable because it is within reach of all; unachievable because no one will ever completely equal to Him.
Even Saint Francis of Assisi, called by some theologians the "alter Christus”, did not reach 100% of being like Christ. Each saint, that is, each Christian who achieves spiritual success, lives a part of Christ’s humanity, both in quantity and quality.
"And these are the ones sown on the good soil: they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold." (Mark 4:20). In quantity, because, as the parable of the seed that falls on good soil suggests, some produce sixty, other thirty percent. Depending on an unlimited number of variables, vicissitudes, and circumstances, some imitate Christ by 60%, while others only by 30%. The amount does not matter, as the parable seems to suggest, but rather having Christ always as the sole reference in our life.
“(…) so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours." (Matthew 25:25). In quality, because Christ possesses the totality of talents; we receive some talents and not others. Everyone receives enough talents to make his or her life viable, but no one receives all the talents or none of the talents. The important thing is to develop and make the talents received bear fruit instead of hiding them, admiring, or envying the talents of others, trying to live their life, which is never possible.
Francis of Assisi and Francis of Xavier are both saints and even have the same name, but they are quite different in the path of holiness they followed. Francis of Assisi imitated Christ in His humility, while Francis of Xavier imitated Him in His zeal to reach out to as many as he could.
There is a psychological theory called the Enneagram, which argues that there are nine different personality types, and that each human being belongs to one of these nine types. Each of these types develops a human quality to the detriment of others. This theory suggests that Christ, being 100% man, embodies the complete realization of all these qualities.
As Jesus is the model to follow, the standard of humanity, His personality is made up of all nine types. In the incarnation, He accepted and fully lived all the forms of human personality, so He can be the model and paradigm for all personality types; the way, the truth, and the life for all to follow, each in his or her own way.
Conclusion – The meaning of life lies in finding our unique path, inspired by Christ as the model of full humanity, developing the talents we have received, and living authentically and consciously.
Fr. Jorge Amaro, IMC
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