The Ultimate Worth of Life – Br. Curtis Almquist
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Br. Curtis Almquist
In the calendar of the church we remember today a medieval princess named Elizabeth, born in year 1207 into immeasurable privilege as the daughter of the King of Hungary. At age 14 she happily wed a German nobleman, Ludwig. Meanwhile the poor surrounded her on every side, especially because of a famine and epidemic that had ravaged the population in 1226. Elizabeth was smitten by the endless needs. With her husband’s blessing, she built a hospital, then gave away her dowry, crown, jewels, and royal attire all for the relief of the poor and sick.
The following year her husband died and her in-laws descended, accusing Elizabeth of squandering the royal purse on the vagrants of the land. There was a palace coup and she was put out. The poverty which had been her passion to alleviate now became hers to bear. She became a Franciscan tertiary. In the succeeding years her dwelling places varied, sometimes with charitable relatives, and sometimes in a pigsty, literally. Elizabeth lived in poverty, her life a self-offering. She was deeply loved and revered. She died at age 24 on this day in 1231, and was canonized four years later. Her name, Saint Elizabeth, has been remembered through the centuries for her gifts of healing, and help, and hope, especially for the poor and the infirm.
We hear in the gospel lesson appointed for today, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Our ultimate treasure, the end for which we have been given the gift of life, is in God. And therefore everything in life – every relationship, every distinction or responsibility, every ability, every trinket or property to which we have been entrusted – are not our possessions. They are temporary means to realize our end, which is “to know God, and to love God, and to serve God.”[i]
This is ultimately the distinction between an idol and an icon. An idol is some thing to which we cling and to which we may give ultimate worth, which is called “worship.”[ii] It can be anything: our youthfulness, our good name or good looks, our title, our privilege, our chest of money. An idol is some thing we fix on, clutch at, possess, or are possessed by. Whereas an icon is like a window through which to experience something More, something larger that belongs to God. It makes a world of difference to see life as “iconic” (like an icon), that is a window through we experience the most amazing people and other gifts of creation which come from God as channels to and from God. All that we are and all that we have are not our possessions but rather are gifts from God and for God. Life is not a possession; life is an invitation, a recurring invitation. Life is like an icon, a window to and from God.
Emulating Saint Elizabeth, two practices are helpful for living life freely and faithfully:
- At various points in life, it is helpful to intentionally dispossess ourselves of what we may be clinging to – what may take up inordinate space in our treasure chest, or in our closet, or in our hands – to make space for deeper things, the beginning and end for which we have been created, which is in God.[iii] Dispossess things.
- And secondly, to identify a need or needs that seizes your own heart. Is it children in need, or those without a home or a homeland, or the imprisoned, or those who are discriminated against?[iv] There are endless needs, as you well know. But what particularly seizes your heart’s attention? We cannot do everything, but we can do something. What now is that for you?
And in thanksgiving for blessed Elizabeth of Hungary, whom we remember today.
[i] These words are the “Foundation and First Principle” of The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556), the founder of the Society of Jesus, the Jesuits.
[ii] The English words “worth” and “worship” come from the same etymological root.
[iii] In our appointed Gospel (Luke 12:32-34), Jesus says: “Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven…”
[iv] Our appointed Psalm (146:4-9) names many different people of need.
Thank you Brother Curtis. This touched me deeply.
eautiful excerpts from Pope Leo XIV’s new apostolic letter “In Unitate Fidei,” on the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Niceae. It is a beautiful meditation on the Nicene Creed.
“In this sense, the Nicene Creed invites us to examine our conscience. What does God mean to me and how do I bear witness to my faith in him? Is the one and only God truly the Lord of my life, or do I have idols that I place before God and his commandments? Is God for me the living God, close to me in every situation, the Father to whom I turn with filial trust? Is he the Creator to whom I owe everything I am and have, whose mark I can find in every creature? Am I willing to share the goods of the earth, which belong to everyone, in a just and equitable manner? How do I treat creation, the work of his hands? Do I exploit and destroy it, or do I use it with reverence and gratitude, caring for and cultivating it as the common home of humanity?”
“If God loves us with all his being, then we too must love one another. We cannot love God whom we do not see without loving our brother and sister whom we do see (cf. 1 Jn 4:20). Love for God without love for neighbor is hypocrisy; radical love for our neighbor, especially love for our enemies, without love for God, requires a ‘heroism’ that would overwhelm and oppress us. In following Jesus, the ascent to God passes through descent and dedication to our brothers and sisters, especially the least, the poorest, the abandoned and the marginalized. What we have done to the least of these, we have done to Christ (cf. Mt 25:31-46). In the face of disasters, wars and misery, we bear witness to God’s mercy to those who doubt him only when they experience his mercy through us.”