A newborn baby. Is there anything in the world more beautiful and more innocent? In a tiny baby, we can see ourselves when we were new to the world. In their little grasping fingers that reach out to touch and explore to their wide, seeking eyes that drink in the light and colors of the world around them—babies find everything worthy of their attention. The world to them is a place of beauty, adventure and goodness. We see in them the beauty, adventure and goodness of a soul created in love by God and made in His likeness. We see the innocent purity of a freshly-minted soul, unstained by sinful thoughts or actions. Before the age of reason, about seven years of age or so, only original sin mars the beauty of the soul in any way. This inherited sin of Adam and Eve is washed clean at baptism. After we receive this Sacrament, our newborn soul truly reflects our Maker’s love and divine goodness. We are His sinless child.
The Lord made us to be like Him. He created you and me “in His image” (Genesis 1:27). It is in our souls that we mirror God, not in the flesh and bones of our mortal bodies, good as they are. Our spirit or soul is what makes us human and is a reflection of the living God. Catholics believe that we are created by God at the moment of our conception, fully whole and fully human. We aren’t just tissue that becomes a human at the time of birth. No. From that first moment of life, we are a human being. God’s greatest gift to each of us is the precious gift of our own lives, which He planned from the beginning of time.
In our journey through life, our choices affect the state of our souls. When we sin against our neighbor, that sin wounds our relationship with God. Sin also wounds our souls. This wound can be large and deep, or small and shallow, but there are consequences to every sin. When we confess our sins in the Sacrament of Reconciliation that wound is healed. But a scar remains. That scar is any attachment to the sin that remains within us. Over a lifetime, the marks of our sinful choices leave a map on our eternal souls. What will your map reveal at the end of your life? Just as God gave you the gift of life and an eternal soul, the gift of your soul is what you’ll give back to Him upon your death. Jesus shares with us the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30) which illustrates what we are to do with the gifts He gives to us. He calls us to be Christ to one another, to care for one another, to love one another and to offer ourselves to help Him build the Kingdom of God. In short, we’re called to live like Jesus so that when we meet the Master, we can hear Him say to us: “Well done my good and faithful servant….Come share your Master’s joy”(Matthew 25:21).
We’re entrusted at birth with an eternal soul. At the end of our lives, we’ll present this soul back to the Lord. Our offering to Him will be the summation of all the choices we’ve made in our lives and all the mercy and forgiveness we’ve begged of Him. Jesus established a Church to shepherd and guide us through our earthly lives (Matthew 16:18). He didn’t want us to try and figure things out on our own. Through His Church we can receive the grace of His Sacraments and the mercy of His forgiveness. He will make an accounting of our lives, like the Master evaluated the servants in the parable. In our case, the riches God gave to us our are very souls. Like the newborn, we were once pure and innocent of sin or scar. Have we loved as He loved? Have we shown mercy to those around us? Have we forgiven others, not once or twice, but seventy times seven? Have we given of our gifts and treasure without counting the cost? Life is our journey to become more like Jesus so that at the end of our time on earth we can be with Him forever. What will your gift to God be like?
“Go forth, O Christian soul, out of this world in the name of God the Father Almighty Who created you; in the name of Jesus Christ Who suffered for you; in the name of the Holy Spirit Who sanctified you.”
—from the Catholic prayers for the dying
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