Devotional Thought of the Day:

⁸  In conclusion, my friends, fill your minds with those things that are good and that deserve praise: things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and honorable. ⁹  Put into practice what you learned and received from me, both from my words and from my actions. And the God who gives us peace will be with you. Philippians 4:8-9 (TEV)

 ²⁷  God’s plan is to make known his secret to his people, this rich and glorious secret which he has for all peoples. And the secret is that Christ is in you, which means that you will share in the glory of God. ²⁸  So we preach Christ to everyone. With all possible wisdom we warn and teach them in order to bring each one into God’s presence as a mature individual in union with Christ. ²⁹  To get this done I toil and struggle, using the mighty strength which Christ supplies and which is at work in me. Colossians 1:27-29 (TEV)

654  Until now you had not understood the message that we Christians bring to the rest of men: the hidden marvel of the interior life. What a wonderful new world you are placing in front of them!

In the last few days, I have been asked a few times about theology, about what it iis, about what it isn’t.  The questions were not precisely worded that way.  Some questions asking me my thoughts on an article, some questions sent me about dialogues my friends had been involved in, which concerned them because they were “theological” yet seemed…. empty.troublesome, and the question was asked… is this theology worth my time?

As I consider these questions, I must ask the question, what is theology?  What is its purpose?

For my answer, I must turn to the greatest theologian in the New Testament, to the Apostle Paul.

Where did he focus his thoughts of theology on?  What took up his time, his thoughts, his efforts?  Was it on high level discussions about semantics and how things are phrased?  Is it about the discussion of miniscule differences in manuscripts copied by people a thousand years after the scriptures were written?  Paul, who walked among the greatest of Rabbinical theologians, who was a master teacher himself, would toss it aside.  For his thoughts and words to dwell on something that is the heart of theology, dare I say the only thing that is theological.

Christ, bringing people into God’s presence, revealing to them His love.  Everything, the incarnation, His life, death, burial, resurrection, ascension, all that scripture records which points to Him.  That is the nature of theology – literally the logic, the reason of God.  This is the treasure we have, this is the thing which we focus on, working with all that is in within us, even as Paul encourages us to do.

For it is Christ in you which St..Josemaria talks about as our “interior life” – that incredible blessing we have, as we realize the Spirit dwells in us, as God abides with us, as the we realize the message of Advent and Christmas – Immanuel – God is with us!

Theology drives us to treasure that life, to remember that it is the promise of our baptism, that it is found as we take and eat, take and drink the Body and Blood given and shed for us.  This is the highest good, the reliance on God. This is that which Paul would have us keep our thoughts on, this Christ, this Savior, this plan to make us the people of God.

That is the purpose of theoogy…that should become the focus of our lives….

All else… is as worth it as the stuff Paul leaves behind.

Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 2744-2747). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.