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Road to Purity
Why Do Christians Serve? Maturity and the Holy Spirit - Part I
Alexandre Harvard [Harvard: 2014, 2018] sees mature human beings as people who know the truth about themselves and then live by it. They maintain an objective reality, rather than subjective. For Christians, that is accepting the basic tenets of our faith as the ultimate objective reality. It is outside of us. What are those tenets? The Trinity of God - Father, Son and the Holy Spirit; the divine and human nature of the son, Jesus Christ; the 10 Commandments; the seven capital sins and their opposite virtues, and the Beatitudes. It is beyond the scope of this lecture/essay to discuss them in depths. However, I believe a prerequisite for Christian maturity in service is the need to know, refer and call upon them. Other than a priestly homily at Sunday mass, there happens to be two explanations of the seven capital sins and the Beatitudes found in the books listed below that I can recommend. [Baglino: 2023, 2024]
If there is to be personal growth toward effective service, there needs to be maturity. Harvard goes on further to maintain the virtues of magnanimity and humility as necessary components of maturity and greatness. The desire to lead a full life and achieve fulfillment combined with a level of humility calling us to serve others are those components.
And if we serve, we serve with a specific mission along with the the knowledge of those we serve: their sinfulness, their dignity, their cultural style. More about that cultural style later. Yet we serve, and we ponder, “well what for?” Is it to feel good? A friend of mine, a non practicing, cradle Catholic, would indicate to me that the times he went to church made him feel so good. So he went to church once in awhile to feel good. Is that a reason to go to church or to serve others, for personal satisfaction?
Or is it egoism that motivates our desire to serve? Look at me they say - I serve. I mean why serve if we don’t believe in God or the tenets of Christianity mentioned above. One of the maxims of the Father of Communism, atheist Karl Marx is “to each according to his needs, from each according to his ability.” Sounds nice and personally I believe he took that from the bible. Well history shows us such a magnanimous gesture without God for humanity and society really doesn’t catch on to people and doesn’t work in reality. Therefore, the government has to do it all. Consequently, human beings become a more selfish lot. They want the government to continually meet their needs if others or even they won’t do it for their own selves.
No, the only real motivation for service and humility toward others is religion and Christianity, and it is Christianity that asks the body of Christ to live lives of service to others. In Matthew 26 and 28 we find that call: The Son of man came not to be served but to serve; and, whoever would be great among you must be your servant.
Magnanimity and humility are to offer to God our God given talents in order to serve. We do that with a sense of mission, plus a persistence and a recognition of dignity for both the server and those being served. One great example of greatness in service is that of Alexandr Solzhenitsyn, author of ‘The Gulag Archipelago’ and ‘A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich’. Here was a man whose mission was to be a memory; the memory of a people doomed to tragedy. And in doing so, he was jailed and then exiled by the Soviet Union. But here was greatness in the life of service. He never lost hope for the future of Russia and of the world. He had a personal sense of dignity even when his country and its government tread roughly all over dignity. Yet he inspired others to take up his call to recognize and resist the powers of the Soviets even from the depths of the Siberian Gulags.
Finally, Alexandr Solzhenitsyn had a self knowledge that he was only doing God’s work, that God was leading him daily. He gave himself daily for that cause of service. Sad that today’s youth and culture seems to have missed out to a certain degree on his message of authoritarian rule both in Russia and America. Yet his greatness is acknowledged universally.
It is spiritual maturity that compels greatness. Moreso, spiritual maturity requires us to live in a state of holiness. [Eason: 2024] Your humble writer and lecturer had experienced a spiritual awakening within the last 5 years or so. Previously, it become known to him that he was only living a mediocre spiritual life. Imagine that, a cradle Catholic, attending mass weekly for years, living a mediocre life. I admit it. We all fall short of the glory of God.
Spiritual maturity is a state that arrives beyond speaking to a priest, beyond making a good confession, beyond regularly attending Sunday mass, beyond receiving Holy Communion and even beyond praying the rosary. Yes these anchors of the faith [confession, the Rosary and the Holy Eucharist] can propel one towards spiritual maturity. For this writer/lecturer it was in addition 3 life saving surgeries and 3 TIAs [transient ischemic attacks or mini strokes] which served as a warning and call for those surgeries. And it emerged into calling upon the Holy Spirit for light and help; a game changer, and the Holy Spirit working on my soul ever since, for sure. Deacon Richard Eason calls this ‘spiritual lightning’ which replaces spiritual mediocrity with spiritual maturity. [Eason, 2024]
How does the Holy Spirit work in us? In Ezekial 36: 27, the Holy Spirit in us allows us to walk in His statutes and ordinances to follow and obey. That is, the tenets of faith - 10 commandments, beatitudes. The Holy Spirit will teach us everything and remind us of what Jesus tells us. In John 20, Jesus breathed to the apostles to receive the Holy Spirit.
And in Timothy 2: 17, it is power, love and self control that comes to us from the Holy Spirit. That is maturity. Let us translate the above into practices of maturity.
The Holy Spirit replaces the days of mediocrity - boredom, worry, stress - with productivity and joy. From the Holy Spirit we receive according to St. Thomas Aquinas, the 7 spiritual gifts: fear of the Lord, piety, knowledge, fortitude, counsel, understanding and wisdom. With such gifts we are allowed to transform our minds toward the more mature behaviors needed for service. What are those specific mature behaviors needed for service? Part II next time.
Sources:
Baglino, Michael J. 2023. The Dr. B. Reader on the Ologies: Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology. Amazon Professional Publishers.
Baglino, Michael J. 2024. Europe Meets Florida: Encounters with Psychology, Culture and Religion. New York: LT Publishers.
Eason, Richard. 2024. Spiritual Lightning: Answering Your Call from Jesus to Master His Values. Irondale, AL: EWTN.
Harvard, Alexandre. 2014. Created for Greatness. New York: Scepter Publishers.
Harvard, Alexandre. 2018. Virtuous Leadership. New York: Scepter Publishers.
Dr. Michael J. Baglino, Ed. D. is a retired college professor, most recently an adjunct prof. in behavioral science at Palm Beach State College, Florida. He is a graduate of both Winona State University, MN and Florida International University, Miami. Michael is also a retired entertainer [singer/actor], performing primarily as a Frank Sinatra tribute artist under the name ‘Michael Matone’. A parishioner of St. Therese de Lisieux Catholic Church in Wellington, FL, Michael serves as a lector, EM, and 4th degree Knights of Columbus. He is a professional member of the Society of Catholic Social Scientists. The Baglino family, wife, children and grandchildren all live in South Florida.
He is the author of 5 books, most notably ‘From Gramsci to Freud’ and ‘The Dr. B. Reader on the Ologies’. In his books, Dr. Baglino presents a series of articles and vignettes on religion, psychology, politics and culture. He shows us that God is with us in our daily lives interweaving trials, travels, and decisions with Catholicism. Definitely not without humor, Michael presents a down to earth and Catholic perspective to so many of our contemporary issues. See www.michaelbaglino.com/speaker.
