Nathaniel Juan Obal, SSS

Theology of Creation and Eschatology

THE THEOLOGY OF MY LIFE

Introduction

“All that I have and all that I am is from God. All things that happen to me lead me to God.”

This is how I can summarize my entire lesson in Theology of creation ad eschatology.

These words are not mine, but this was the summary of our Metaphysics professor- Fr. Ken
Masong since our last lesson is the “Great Circle of Being and Our Place in It”. This is the last
chapter of Norris Clarke’s “The One and he Many”. On this chapter contains the discussion of
Aquinas’ notion of exitus-reditus. This means that the basic metaphysical structure of the
universe, fundamental laws governing it, and its final unification is in the Ultimate Source of all
beings.1 This will be the frame work of my theological reflection. St. Thomas Aquinas gave two
movements, the exitus- or the journey away from Home from the source and reditus, the
journey- in towards the Ultimate Being which is God. The exitus is the journey of all creatures
out from God and the reditus is the movement and inclination of all things to go back and to be
all united back to God, or the journey going back Home2 - thus, God is both the Alpha and the
Omega- the Ultimate Source and End of all. This movement is a necessary Law of Being, free
act of loving self-communication of a Personal God. 3 Man has a special place in this Circle
because s/he is the only being who has a capacity to freely choose to love God and has the
capacity to strive in knowing the mind of God.4 Using this schema, I will try to reflect and
theologize on my life.

My first reflection is on Journey-Out or Journey away from Home. This is a reminder for
me that all that I have, I am, all that I have, all things around me came from God. God in His
freedom and love chose to reveal Himself through creation.

1
Clarke, Norris, The One and the Many (Notre Dame, Indiana : University of Notre Dame Press, 2017), 303.
2
Ibid, 304
3
Ibid., 305
4
Ibid.,306-307
The Journey-Out of Non- Rational Creatures

He spoke his love through the sun, the moon, the stars, the sky, all the wonders of nature, the
pleasures in life, the animals , plants and all creatures. There are moments in my life whenever I
see a good scenery or a beautiful animal, I will just be ecstatic for a moment, at times even with
my mouth open wide and filled with awe and amazement say nothing but “Woooowwww!” By
just seeing them, you will be so impressed but if one reflects on the fact that God made it for us
out of love, one may just be left speechless. These creatures were created by God and designed
to develop in certain level of beauty, following a certain natural order- the universe, the planets
and heavenly bodies reflect the glory of God through its beauty and order. The animals came into
being to reflect the greatness of God. They follow certain principle of growth. The whole world
is created in such a way that everything that is needed for man in order to survive is well-
provided. Science can reveal this further that slight changes in distance from sun or other planets
can make the Earth inhabitable for man. The One who sustains the order of the natural law is
none other than God.

The Primacy of the Human Person in Creation

But on top of all creation are human beings have a special role in creation. S/he was given a
role to have dominion and tasked to be faithful stewards of all creation. Psalm 8 says:

What is man that you are mindful of him,

and a son of man that you care for him?
Yet you have made him little less than a God,[e]
crowned him with glory and honor.
You have given him rule over the works of your hands,
put all things at his feet5

Of all the creatures, it is only a human person who is endowed with body, spirit and soul.
S/He is created in God’s image and likeness and in some ways, shares God’s dominion on earth,
not as users or exploiter but as stewards of creation.

5
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+8&version=NABRE
 In the light of the exitus-reditus, his role is to make sure that the journey of creation is not
only for his own pleasure but that; it is directed back to God. Human can do this by making sure
that all things in nature is nurtured, and will not be totally destructed. One can only do this by
loving and uniting himself/herself first with God, in His Divine Plan and Will to unite all things
in him. If everything around us is created out of love, it is like a special gift from a loved one
which we need to cherish. It is therefore reasonable to choose to love God and consider
everything around me as gifts of love and as response to this love, I should take care of all these.
I remember that once in my life, I fell in love and I was loved back during my Postulancy. We
used to communicate with letters. That was years ago and yet even if I am so disorganized with
my things, I lost a lot of my things or misplace some but her letters are well kept in a safe place
like a treasure. It is because I still love the person who gave those to me and she will always have
a special place in my heart though we accepted the fact that we can never be more than friends. I
am saying this because this is the same in dealing with creation, in order for us to be good and
faithful stewards, there is a need to first strive to love God and be united with Him. Then using
His love and our love for Him as lens, a person will be more caring and responsible to everyone
and everything around him/her. She/he will take good care of his/her body, strive to use his/her
senses responsibly despite temptation of self-gratification and lust (pornography), strive use his
intellect and will to always consider the common good in his/her decision-making. I realized that
if I always see things in perspective of love, care and wellbeing of others will always be my
priority.

Sin in the Ultimate Circle of Reality

The “Journey-out” is disrupted when one chooses to be selfish and instead of facilitating
the Journey-in and Journey-out towards God, change the direction of things and instead of
leading and using them for God’s greater glory. Instead of recognizing the Lord as the Alpha
and the Omega, we place ourselves in His place and play Gods. Some are not contented in
appreciating and benefiting from it, rather exploit these gifts thinking that these are given solely
to gain more to one’s self. Though as rational being endowed with freedom and reason, and
given a capacity to recognize that there is a power above him/her, still a human person is blinded
by pride and selfishness, the reason why he/she chose to sin. Because of his concupiscence, again
and again, he forgets the Universal plan and will of God. S/he choose to do what is wrong and
fails to do what is good. Despite this, God still gives human beings a chance to be stewards
again and to still find means to be united with Him. A rational being while striving to unite
Himself to God, must also know that he is limited and that without God, he is nothing. That
despite of what s/he has, s/he is still dependent on God.
The things mentioned above are not new to me. A lot of times, I have a lot of failures in
taking my role as a steward of nature and being responsible towards my sisters and brothers. At
times, I feel frustrated with myself, with others, but personally this reflection is inviting me to
rely on the mercy of God, especially if I am faced with challenges which may seem
unconquerable. Every time I fail, I am always reminded that being steward on creation and being
a brother to everyone around me, I must always dependent and united with God. What I have and
what I have is His and not mine. I own nothing. I did nothing in order to be given this honor, but
I am task to do one thing, to love God and serve Him through His creatures and to my fellow
brothers and sister.
Another trap where a man can fall into is to be attracted, bondaged in the beauty and
pleasure that the world has to offer. Instead of facilitating in the Ultimate Circle of Being, to
unite himself to the world and unite all things back to God, he instead focuses on just uniting
himself and indulging himself with creation. Yes the creation is made beautiful but these should
not be our end. It is a true reality nowadays that people work for money. Instead of using
money, wealth in the service of the Ultimate End, s/he becomes a slave of material wealth. One
may forget that this world is but a journey and not a home. S/he has the tendency to be at home
in this earth, forgetting that in this world, we are but pilgrims and heaven is our home. The
beauty that one can see here is nothing but a shadow of what await for us in our Real Home. This
is the reason why even though one can have the whole world in his hand, one will never be
satisfied in the end because man is not made to be citizens of earth but a citizen of Heaven. The
whole world can never cover the God-shaped hole in his heart for it is only God who can satisfy
it. Wealth, power and prestige can never guarantee everlasting happiness in man. Not even
sexual gratification. This is the reason why man is never satisfied with what s/he has if he depend
his happiness with wealth, power and prestige. S/he tends to be greedy and the more he gains, the
more s/he asks for more. Again it is because these are not his final destination, he is meant to
return to His Real Home. I can say that those who are blinded with these pleasures in life can be
compared to a traveller who is lost in the woods.

Jesus: The Savior and Restorer of Human Dignity in the Ultimate Circle of Being

Despite of the fall of man, God did not give-up in revealing His Love. In order to restore
man and unite him/her to Himself, he send prophets, he reveals Himself through His Word and
invitation for conversion. Even the greatness of the sinfulness of man is nothing compared to
God’s loving faithfulness. The greatest Theophany that God have is through His Son Jesus
Christ.. Though we are sinful by the virtue of disobedience and pride, The Father sent His Son-
God- Incarnate, Jesus Christ to show us that in His ways of, kenosis, Obedience, humility,
salvation is made possible and accessible once again. He became the visible Face of the
Compassionate Father. His Incarnation sanctified this humble Earth. Through His Incarnation,
He even sanctified the whole aspect of human person. His Incarnation had made even a Mother’s
womb Heaven on Earth. Indeed, nothing can stop his saving Love for all of us, it is not enough to
reveal Himself through the prophets, despite of falling to sin over and over again, God still did
not stop in reaching for us that he allowed His Son to empty Himself and be born in the likeness
of man. His life sanctified our life, His suffering took away the punishment we deserve because
of our sins, His death had given us Hope, His Resurrection opened the possibility of our own
resurrection. He showed us that even in a context of betrayal and desertion; it is possible to still
choose to love. All in all, His Incarnation, Paschal Mystery and resurrection restored the dignity
that we once had but tainted due to sin. He again sanctifies us and gives us a chance to once
again return to the “journey-in” Homebound.

As a Sacramentino, it is a privilege for me that everyday we face The Real Presence of

Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. It is that Real Presence that always struck me. The God of all,
allowed Himself allow His glorious Body accessible through a simple piece of Bread so that we
can approach Him. He is there for me, continuing to listen to me, giving me a chance to stand up
and nourishing my body weakened by sin. Everytime I feel discouraged, this is my source of
consolation, The richness of His love is in the Eucharist, and thus St. Peter Julian Eymard, our
founder, had this as our mission, “ feed the hungers of human family through the richness of
God’s Love in the Eucharist” . Saint ‘John Marie- Vianney said to Fr. Eymard’s friend, said “you
have the Eucharist, what more do you need?” More than acknowledging my sinfulness, this is a
call for me not to despair of my self and rather entrust my sinful self to Jesus, whose love is
greater than all my faults.

Death: Our Door that Leads Us to Our Journey-Home

I fear death because nobody actually knows what is beyond death. Is it a deep sleep? Is
there really to hope for life beyond? My Faith tells me of heaven, purgatory and hell and the
description of Dante Alighieri’s depiction of are still very clear to me. Is there really life after
death? What does it look like? Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso Death is a part of human
reality. When one dies, it is not only his/her body that dies. Together with it is the relationship
between him/her and him/her family. That is what is certain with all of us-death.
I would like to see death not as wall but as a door that will lead us to the ultimate end.
Though death may seem to separate us in one way, on the other hand it unites us in a common
ground, it gives us a common call that we can never really anchor anything in this world for all
things are passing away and that only God remains. It is an equalizer where there will be no rich
and poor, influential or commoner. There is no exemption.
After death comes, eschatology, which is traditionally defined as last things- more often
associated as final judgement of an individual where his/her sins are accounted and from here the
punishment or reward is based. But now, eschatology is viewed in a more anthropocentralized
and Christocentralized way. Eschatology is now viewed as a “trial court” where everybody is
judged by God according to his/her deeds. Now, particular judgment is viewed as one’s self-
judgment. Out of Love, God gave all people freedom. God knows that man’s judgment may
falter since it is limited, the reason why he does not stop revealing Himself even after the fall. He
continues to guide them, endowed them with countless means to go back to Him. He still
remained faithful despite the people’s unfaithfulness. He even gave us His Own Son as His
Greatest Revelation, to be Someone to Whom we can hope for, to mediate and set an example in
order to be followed. He is the Norm to whom our lives and choices should be patterned. The
name “Jesus” says it all, “God-saves”. All these Divine Revelations tell us one thing, that God
strongly desires that This Life Journey, may also be Our Journey Home and that the Source is
also the Fulfilment and End. But despite this, God respects the freedom of an individual to
choose to either love God, or not to love Him. Thus this is the reason why there is hell. There is
nothing which can stop God from loving his people but He respects their freedom when they
judge themselves by not loving Him and choosing to do what is contrary to His will. Particular
judgement is therefore, a self-judgment that God affirms. Even after death, God still gives soul a
chance to be purified by means of Purgatory. Purgatory exists because of God’s love and His
strong desire to bring back soul back to Himself.
This finding is an invitation for me to see God not as a judge but as a loving Father Who
wills nothing but to draw us back to Himself. It is an invitation for me to be always reminded
that all my actions, words and thoughts should be always in line with the direction of the Great
Circle of Being. It is a responsibility to always choose Jesus in everything I do. I am called to
use all that God has given to me, my capabilities, the material world, my vows, my Faith, my
strength and weaknesses and most of all my freedom in order to reach Home. As a religious it is
not only my task to save myself but to help and accompany my co-journeyers. There is a call for
me to be a compassionate companion and not a judge. If God had always judged with great
compassion, there should at least be a great effort in me to judge in this lens. May I be a true
Sacramentino- an image of rough reflection of the Eucharistic Lord, a loving and abiding
Presence, a Monstrance that leads everyone to the Father- the End, the Gatherer, the Fulfilment
and destination of all being.