"What does it profit a man if he gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his soul? Or, what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" (St. Matthew).

Our Divine Lord tells us that each one of us has an immortal soul. He tells us that all material wealth, all the gold, all the pleasure, all the sensuality of this world cannot be compared to the value of the immortal soul.

We have seen that the soul of man is immortal. Why? Because it is spiritual. What do we mean by the spirituality of the soul? I shall try to explain what is meant.

All of you are familiar with the difference between living things and non-living things. By life we understand a special kind of activity which manifests itself in various ways: in growth, sensation, free movement, intelligence and reasoning. Plants grow and put forth leaves and flowers; animals have a higher kind of life feeling pain and pleasure, and possess freedom of movement. Man, still higher, grows as the plant, has feeling and movement as the animal, and, in addition, he thinks and reasons.

Philosophers prove to us conclusively that every living thing possesses a power which is called the soul. Thus a plant has a plant soul; an animal has an animal soul. By the soul, we mean the power of life. But the souls of plants or of animals are material powers. Of all the things in this world, only man possesses a spiritual soul.

Now, the human soul is spiritual because (l) it is not made up of parts. The body is made up of parts. Scientists tell us that at least every seven years every part of our body is replaced with new cells. But our intellectual powers are in no way replaced. (2) The human soul is spiritual because some of its actions are independent of matter. Thus, by our power of reasoning, man or woman alone of all creatures in this world is capable of forming abstract, universal, spiritual ideas. For example, in everyday life we see individuals whom we say are truthful. Thus, we say that John Doe is truthful, and we say that Bill Jones is truthful; but did you ever see truth walking down the street? Our idea of truth applies to every truthful person in the world, whether this person is short, tall, slim, or fat. The idea of truth is spiritual; therefore, we must possess a spiritual power which enables us to form such spiritual ideas. That power, we call the spiritual soul.

Further, the human soul is spiritual (3) because it exercises free will. By free will, we mean the power of choosing either of two courses represented as good by the intellect. A plant is not free. A dog is not free. A bird is not free. Can a bird build a skyscraper? Does the bird ever change in its way of building a nest? But man is free. If you ask an architect to design and build l,000 different kinds of homes he can do so because he or she has intelligence and is free.

As one great mind said: "You never have to dig very deeply to find the record of a man drawing a picture of a monkey, but no one has yet dug deeply enough to find the record of a monkey drawing a man."

If the human soul can form spiritual ideas through its power of reasoning and is free to act this way or that, it acts independently of the body, and it can exist even when the body perishes, and can continue to seek the truth and to love the good.

The question is asked in the catechism: "How is the soul like to God?" The answer is given: "The soul is like to God because it is a spirit that will never die and has understanding and free will." If this philosophical proof is too difficult for you to understand, then accept the word of Christ, Who tells us that we have an immortal soul.

What about our bodies? We have seen that "man shall go into the house of his eternity." As is stated in the Bible. The very best way to consider our bodies is to think with the saints. St. Thomas More looked upon his body as so much lovable lumber to be used in building the house of his eternity. St. Francis of Assisi called his body, "Brother Ass", the donkey he must ride while traveling to eternity.