WE need to realize that there is such a person as the Lord of history.
He is the one who orchestrates all the events of the world in the
whole length of time since he is the world’s Creator who cannot
abandon his creation. Rather he continues to govern it, since he
created it for a purpose.
This Lord of history is God who revealed himself to us completely in
his Son who became man, Jesus Christ, and who continues to be with us
in the Holy Spirit through the Church and through the many
instrumentalities—doctrine, sacraments, hierarchy—that Christ himself
put up to keep his presence and action abiding in us throughout time.
We need to understand that history is not just a product of blind
forces nor of chance. It is a manifestation of divine providence that
has to contend with our human freedom that can turn things in any
which way.
We need to understand that history is not just a series of events that
we record, with more or less some logic thrown in to make the it
acquire some meaning. It is a history of salvation planned by God from
all eternity, given birth in time, and developed toward its proper end
through the twists and turns of human freedom.
It is a history whose vital action takes place first of all and always
in the hearts of men as they relate themselves to God or not, before
it produces repercussions in the other aspects of human life:
professional, social, economic, political, cultural, etc.
So our history is a joint venture between God and us, with us always
asked to participate as actively and as freely as possible in the plan
of God. God is responsible for our history. He is always in control,
knowing what to do in any situation. But we too are responsible.
That’s the reason why we need to try our best to get in touch with God
always. Every move that we make should be planned and executed always
with God. And every incident that comes our way, good or bad, should
be viewed always with God also.
That is why it is the saints, from the time of the apostles up to now,
more than the political or social leaders and heroes, who have
effectively illuminated history. That is why the Church survives in
spite of the many grave and serious crises it faced through time.
The saints, ever faithful to God’s will and docile to his abiding
promptings, and even if their efforts were mostly hidden and hardly
recognized, have been the ones who have outlived big empires and
powerful ideologies. Their contribution went beyond what simply are
temporal and worldly. They linked world events to their supernatural
end.
Like Christ, they did their part always passing through the way of the
Cross. That’s how their resurrection, their victory was also assured.
That is why, for the world today to successfully face the most subtle
and deadly challenges it faces, it needs real saints who are faithful
to God and not afraid to carry the Cross.
In today’s world situation, what is needed are saints who know how to
grapple with the sophistries of the times not so much by the eloquence
of the words as by the abiding testimony of their saintly lives that
highlight the spiritual and supernatural realities.
As St. Paul put it: “My speech and my message were not in plausible
words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that
your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of
God.” (1 Cor 2,4)
This does not mean that we don’t study the doctrine of our faith, but
we need to see to it that such study truly redounds to a palpable
sanctity that is always accompanied by the zeal to do apostolate, the
best sign of Christian love one can have toward others.
It is in this way that we can expose the lie behind the deceptive
sophistries of our times like relativism, rationalism, atheism,
agnosticism, materialism, exaggerated forms of spiritualism that
downgrade the objective value of the material world, etc.
These are what ail the modern world, an ailment that is not anymore
considered as such, but rather the opposite, as a kind of liberation,
enlightenment and the like. One is truly sick when he insanely
considers his illness as his health and power.
The Lord of history is doing his part, and provides us with everything
we need. It’s us who need to correspond.
He is the one who orchestrates all the events of the world in the
whole length of time since he is the world’s Creator who cannot
abandon his creation. Rather he continues to govern it, since he
created it for a purpose.
This Lord of history is God who revealed himself to us completely in
his Son who became man, Jesus Christ, and who continues to be with us
in the Holy Spirit through the Church and through the many
instrumentalities—doctrine, sacraments, hierarchy—that Christ himself
put up to keep his presence and action abiding in us throughout time.
We need to understand that history is not just a product of blind
forces nor of chance. It is a manifestation of divine providence that
has to contend with our human freedom that can turn things in any
which way.
We need to understand that history is not just a series of events that
we record, with more or less some logic thrown in to make the it
acquire some meaning. It is a history of salvation planned by God from
all eternity, given birth in time, and developed toward its proper end
through the twists and turns of human freedom.
It is a history whose vital action takes place first of all and always
in the hearts of men as they relate themselves to God or not, before
it produces repercussions in the other aspects of human life:
professional, social, economic, political, cultural, etc.
So our history is a joint venture between God and us, with us always
asked to participate as actively and as freely as possible in the plan
of God. God is responsible for our history. He is always in control,
knowing what to do in any situation. But we too are responsible.
That’s the reason why we need to try our best to get in touch with God
always. Every move that we make should be planned and executed always
with God. And every incident that comes our way, good or bad, should
be viewed always with God also.
That is why it is the saints, from the time of the apostles up to now,
more than the political or social leaders and heroes, who have
effectively illuminated history. That is why the Church survives in
spite of the many grave and serious crises it faced through time.
The saints, ever faithful to God’s will and docile to his abiding
promptings, and even if their efforts were mostly hidden and hardly
recognized, have been the ones who have outlived big empires and
powerful ideologies. Their contribution went beyond what simply are
temporal and worldly. They linked world events to their supernatural
end.
Like Christ, they did their part always passing through the way of the
Cross. That’s how their resurrection, their victory was also assured.
That is why, for the world today to successfully face the most subtle
and deadly challenges it faces, it needs real saints who are faithful
to God and not afraid to carry the Cross.
In today’s world situation, what is needed are saints who know how to
grapple with the sophistries of the times not so much by the eloquence
of the words as by the abiding testimony of their saintly lives that
highlight the spiritual and supernatural realities.
As St. Paul put it: “My speech and my message were not in plausible
words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that
your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of
God.” (1 Cor 2,4)
This does not mean that we don’t study the doctrine of our faith, but
we need to see to it that such study truly redounds to a palpable
sanctity that is always accompanied by the zeal to do apostolate, the
best sign of Christian love one can have toward others.
It is in this way that we can expose the lie behind the deceptive
sophistries of our times like relativism, rationalism, atheism,
agnosticism, materialism, exaggerated forms of spiritualism that
downgrade the objective value of the material world, etc.
These are what ail the modern world, an ailment that is not anymore
considered as such, but rather the opposite, as a kind of liberation,
enlightenment and the like. One is truly sick when he insanely
considers his illness as his health and power.
The Lord of history is doing his part, and provides us with everything
we need. It’s us who need to correspond.
No comments:
Post a Comment