"SOUL OF MY SOUL" ^_[1]

LIKE THE WOMAN'S JAR

1.  Your human soul exists, spiritual and immortal. Like the clay of the Samaritan woman's water jar, it has a form. It consists of your intellect and the will. These it has in common with the soul of every other person in the world. The human intellect and will refer to more than one's brain and emotions, however.

2.  Like the Samaritan woman's particular jar, your human soul is unique. There is no other quite like it in the world. This is why we sometimes speak of one's individual spirit. Your spirit is your own unique and personal soul. God gives to each individual a soul as the very essence, indeed the vessel of his identify.

TOGETHER WITH THE BODY

3.  The soul is a spiritual substance which, together with the body, makes the human creature a person. God creates each soul at the moment of a person's conception. Without it, the human creature could never be a person, nor could he possess an individual share of and responsibility for the sacredness of humanity.

4.  The soul is not energy. It is not an aura or force field or vague abstraction. It does not have any physical or material properties. Hence, the human soul cannot be apprehended as an object, in the sense that a butterfly may be captured or an energy field manipulated in a laboratory.

SUBSTANTIAL FORM OF THE BODY

5.  Every human soul possesses being and existing. Immortal, the soul is the substantial form of the human body. The soul possesses a marvelous and mysterious unity with the body. Only death can separate the two, and only then for a time. Unlike the human body subject to mortality by the primordial fall of Adam and Eve, the human soul of every person remains immortal from the instant of human conception.

6.  The death of one's body, it must be remembered, is not the death of his soul. Yet, the destiny of both is intertwined, and every human being who has and will ever live must account to God for his stewardship of the gift of life--his own and others for whom he bears responsilibility.

RESEMBLES THE PURE SPIRIT

7.  The mere possession of a human soul offers man the potential to perform the noblest of deeds. Indeed, his soul contains within itself to seek and find God, to obtain more from life than the body itself is capable of achieving in the order of temporal things.

8.  The soul leads each person to seek God and finding him, to contemplate him in unity. Although the human body is a wonder of creation, and in its own way enfleshes the inexpressible beauty of God, it is by virtue of his soul that man more perfectly resembles the pure spirit being of God and reflects the divine image and likeness.  [cf. Gen 1:26]  The inherent resident potential of all individual human beings to act in such a way as to consciously image God and reflect his goodness sets the human person apart from all other living creatures in the world.

VITAL AND RATIONAL PRINCIPLE

9.  That man's vital and rational principle of life surpasses all other living creatures in the world cannot be overstated. Animated with vigor and potential, man's soul permits him to enjoy the highest order of life on earth: it sings the praises of his being and graces him with the richness of knowing, that is to say, the profound and humbling ability to interpret experience, to learn, and to situate what he has learned in the hierarchical order of knowledge. 

10.  Man's capacity for self-reflection enables him to order knowledge in such a way as to transcend mere experience and observation. By seeking and discovering the truth about his own soul, he understands that he is a creature of flesh and spirit. He is answerable to his fellow human beings for his personal conduct, material cooperation and life's achievement. He is also answerable to God whose image and likeness he bears. 

CALLED BY LOVE

11.  God's gift of personhood to man imposes on every human creature a desire, indeed a duty, seek and find the Divine Personhood of God who made all things. By finding is meant the discovery of God's Truth revealed in nature and the truth revealed by God himself directly to man. Finding God also refers to something beyond mere discovery, however. Having found God who created him and knows him, human beings are called by love to enter into relationship with God.

12.  When man's knowledge of God leads him to make a voluntary and enduring gift of himself to God, and to inform his thoughts, words and deeds, he understands God as Teacher. His ears hear a word behind him, saying, "This is the way, walk in it", when he turns to the right or when he turns to the left.  [Isa 30:20-21] He beholds the mysteries of heaven and earth with eyes of faith. The knowledge of God, if incarnated into the thoughts, words, and deeds of his life, makes possible the human person's attainment of wisdom and his articulation and defense of God's truth.  

VESSEL MEANT TO BE FILLED

13.  The human faculty of discerning and choosing the good cannot be understood apart from the soul's own purposeful activity. In imitation of God's pure goodness, man is capable of choosing the good. With the aid of the natural law that God places in his soul at conception, the human person is capable of pursuing the good, attaining it, and ultimately being transformed by it.

14.  The Samaritan woman's empty clay jar reminds us that the human soul is a vessel designed to carry what is essential. It is meant to be filled. The soul's health is crucial for the body's health. The body is an instrument for the soul's fulfillment. Should a person's soul be depleted or suffocated by useless things, or tyrannized by the unrestrained appetites of the flesh, he faces grave difficulty. His being and knowing are endangered, his very meaning of his existence is in doubt. Absent remedy, the quality and purpose of his life degrades, and he will live in fear and dread of the future.

NOT MERELY A PASSIVE RECORDER

15.  The human soul cannot fill itself. It did not originated itself, nor is it destined to return to itself--although man often treats his soul as if it possessed these powers. Tragically, many human beings act as though the soul is merely a passive recorder of one's individual human biography. Erroneous as well is the notion that the soul is merely an expression of the brain's self-awareness and passion. 

16.  The person whose eyes of faith are blind rejects God. He tries to fill his soul with the goods and pleasures of this world. They distract his soul but only for a short while. He is content with the appearance of being fed, but the world's goods and pleasures do not satisfy his hunger. The soul's hunger is strong at first but without genuine nourishment, its vitality weakens, and its voice becomes more subdued and hence more easily suppressed. The word of truth--the natural law at the very least--is always in one's possession, but the noise of world is roaring. What is the human soul meant to carry?

"IF YOU KNEW THE GIFT OF GOD"

17.  The clay jar prompts an insight. Water is the universal earthly sign of enduring heavenly realities. A human being's soul is intended to be filled by Christ himself with spiritual well-being and purpose, for he desires to pour his Spirit to the full, even to overflowing.  [cf. Psa 23:1-3; 42:1-2]  Unhappily, however, man's flawed human powers deceive him. Strangely, he is averse to credit God as his creator, guide and destiny.  "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink', (says the Lord), you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water."  [Jn 4:10] 

18.  Why are human beings so protective of the junk which strangles the soul? How we wish to defend useless things! We goes to extraordinary length to purify water for drinking, never thinking of substituting anything inferior in its place. Yet, what do we do with the truth? We dilute its purity. We corrupt it with the brackish Word of the World.  [cf. Jas 3:11]  And we author all species of fiction to substitute for its unchangeable, eternal authority!

TRUTH OVERTAKES US

19.  When the moment of truth overtakes us, we are astonished to learn of our soul's poverty. When stuffed with what the world calls wealth, it actually contains nothing; it becomes destitute of reality and meaning. Still we may remain attracted to Jesus who teaches his followers how to live a noble life. Christ possesses the fullness and splendor of personhood and humaneness. Our souls instinctively recognize who Christ is and what he is. Our soul cries out with Adam's delight:  This is flesh of my flesh, soul of my soul!   [cf. Gen 2:23] 

20.  Nevertheless, like the Samaritan woman, we try to justify ourselves to Christ. We use all our persuasive means to shield the emptiness of our lives and suppress our soul. We excuse all that we should have avoided and all that was not accomplished. We use the world's eloquence to defend useless things, mere debris, and all the garbage that dishonors the human soul. We grumble with resentment at the very thought of communicating with God. We dare to quarrel when Jesus says that nothing in the created world can satisfy the soul. "You worship what you do not know", he says.  [Jn 4:22] 

"GATE OF HEAVEN"

21.  Recalling how little the world has to offer, Jesus observes, "Every one who drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst; the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."  [Jn 4:13-14]  The moment of divine encounter is now. Christ is the "gate of heaven".  [Gen 28:17]  Jesus makes himself known to you in the sacred Church which the world and its crowded cities does not recognize. You stand before him, apart from the noise and commotion of life.  [cf. Gen 28:17] 

22.  The water of this well is the only thing that will satisfy the longing of your human soul for eternal life. One sweet drink proves to the sinner that all Jesus says is true. By heavens brook, He washes your soul clean of its impurity. He gives the you an abundant share of spiritual water, encouraging you to drink often. He promises that he will not fail you.  [cf. Isa 55:1-11]  For his part, the you must submit to Christ for the grace of repentance, for the grace of sacramental  forgiveness. You must ask Jesus to accept you as a disciple. You must tell others what Christ has done for you.

WORTHY DEEDS ARE REQUIRED

23.  My dear friends, the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman is true. There was a well, and it once belonged to Jacob. Beside it, in the heat of the day, Jesus and the woman shared a privileged encounter and there experienced profound joy. We know that Jacob's well, though real, is a sign of the mystery of heaven and of the God who dwells in its eternity. The Well of Living Water, of which Jesus spoke, is itself a sign of the heavenly banquet table. Before the altar of our parish Church, we are privileged to encounter Christ and witness to the reality of his heavenly banquet.

24.  The Samaritan woman learned that neither human longing or repentance is satisfied by talk alone. Worthy deeds are required. When he was lifted up on the cross, Christ elevated the meaning and dignity of everything he taught. If he had not accepted willingly his passion and death, then his truth would have remained only human words and false words at that. By accepting the Father's will--a pledge on our behalf for the salvation of our souls, indeed the whole of humanity--Our Lord paid a high price that those who choose for him might have life and possess it to the full.  [cf. Jn 10:10] 

IMITATE THE MYSTERY YOU CELEBRATE

25.  Today, brothers and sisters of Christ, I invite you to surrender to him who was worthy to be called Son of the Most High God. Entrust your soul to him. Leave it in his brotherly care. He will not fail you. Humble yourselves. Be washed clean. Become a people holy to God. Offer to Christ the worthy sacrifice of your humble and contrite hearts. Know the worth of the gifts of bread and wine that are offered in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

26.  Know what Christ, through your priest, is doing at the altar when he elevates the gifts to a new dignity. Imitate the mystery which you celebrate here.^[2] Set your hearts on the mystery of the cross. It points the way to the banquet table in the heavenly Jerusalem. May the Spirit of God give you the joy of your encounter with Christ in this privileged moment we know as Holy Eucharist.