THIS is the law that should rule our
life. Christ himself
said so. “He that shall lose his life for me, shall find it.”
“Whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel, shall save
it.” “He that hates his life in this world, keeps it unto life
eternal.”
The same idea, the same truth and ideal, is reiterated,
developed and expressed in many other ways in different parts of the
gospel. In one instance, Christ tells us be detached from all
possessions and even from those we consider close and important to us.
“If anyone comes to me without hating his father and
mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own
life, he cannot be my disciple…Everyone of you who does not renounce
all his possessions cannot be my disciple.” (Lk 14)
As we can see, all this business of losing and hating and
renouncing is meant to make us filled with God who after all is our
everything. With him, we also would have everything else we need, but
in their proper order.
“Seek first the kingdom of God and his justice, and all
these things shall be added unto you.” (Mt 6,33) We should never worry
that what we seem to lose according to our human standards would
actually be lost. On the contrary, what we lose would actually gain us
a hundredfold.
Again, Christ reassures us of this truth. “Everyone that
has left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or
wife, or children, or lands for my name’s sake, shall receive a
hundredfold, and shall possess life everlasting.” (Mt 19,29)
We should be quick to react to things and to reason out
with faith, so that we avoid going into unnecessary episodes of
anguish, sadness and self-pity. Rather, when this belief about losing
so we gain the things of God truly rules our life, we can be happy and
confident, with the mind of a victor, with a demeanor that would
suggest elegance and poise.
Far from being a sad life, Christian life is actually a
very happy life. When one conforms himself as tightly as possible to
Christ, he knows that whatever self-denial and suffering he can
experience in life, will always have great redemptive value.
We have to learn to rid ourselves of the fear of losing,
of renouncing, and even of dying. Like a good, shrewd businessman,
let’s not be afraid to throw in a big infusion of investment, as
suggested by Christ, into our ultimate business of our redemption,
when the hundredfold of spiritual dividends is already guaranteed to
us.
To learn this, we can start in the self-denial of little
things in our daily affairs—in our food and drink, in our comfort and
convenience, in our dealings with others that should be marked with
utmost understanding and patience, in the generous self-giving with
which we do our work and other duties, etc.
In fact, that little effort to smile and to be nice to
someone we find boring or offensive could very well be the spiritual
investment needed at the moment. When we persist in that attitude,
making it a habit, for sure we can acquire greater capacity to give
ourselves more and more to God and to others, to lose ourselves so we
can gain God in us.
Let’s remember the example of Christ, as described by St.
Paul who strongly encouraged us to follow Christ. “Let this mind be in
you,” he said, “which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form
of God, thought it not robbery to be equal to God, but emptied
himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of
men…” (Phil 2,5-7)
This attitude is not some form of masochism. It is not a
perversion of our humanity. Rather, it is what purifies us, what cures
us of our illnesses, what strengthens us, puts us in the right path,
helps to repay and atone for our sins, disposes us to be elevated to
the supernatural order of God to whom we belong, assures us of our
redemption.
We have to grab every opportunity to empty ourselves more
and more so we can fill ourselves more and more of God. That is how we
have to look at how to live our life here on earth.
And the opportunities to do so are actually ever-present.
We are presented with an endless flow of possibilities to empty
ourselves even in our most solitary moments. That’s because all this
is first of all a matter of thoughts, intentions and desires.
said so. “He that shall lose his life for me, shall find it.”
“Whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel, shall save
it.” “He that hates his life in this world, keeps it unto life
eternal.”
The same idea, the same truth and ideal, is reiterated,
developed and expressed in many other ways in different parts of the
gospel. In one instance, Christ tells us be detached from all
possessions and even from those we consider close and important to us.
“If anyone comes to me without hating his father and
mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own
life, he cannot be my disciple…Everyone of you who does not renounce
all his possessions cannot be my disciple.” (Lk 14)
As we can see, all this business of losing and hating and
renouncing is meant to make us filled with God who after all is our
everything. With him, we also would have everything else we need, but
in their proper order.
“Seek first the kingdom of God and his justice, and all
these things shall be added unto you.” (Mt 6,33) We should never worry
that what we seem to lose according to our human standards would
actually be lost. On the contrary, what we lose would actually gain us
a hundredfold.
Again, Christ reassures us of this truth. “Everyone that
has left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or
wife, or children, or lands for my name’s sake, shall receive a
hundredfold, and shall possess life everlasting.” (Mt 19,29)
We should be quick to react to things and to reason out
with faith, so that we avoid going into unnecessary episodes of
anguish, sadness and self-pity. Rather, when this belief about losing
so we gain the things of God truly rules our life, we can be happy and
confident, with the mind of a victor, with a demeanor that would
suggest elegance and poise.
Far from being a sad life, Christian life is actually a
very happy life. When one conforms himself as tightly as possible to
Christ, he knows that whatever self-denial and suffering he can
experience in life, will always have great redemptive value.
We have to learn to rid ourselves of the fear of losing,
of renouncing, and even of dying. Like a good, shrewd businessman,
let’s not be afraid to throw in a big infusion of investment, as
suggested by Christ, into our ultimate business of our redemption,
when the hundredfold of spiritual dividends is already guaranteed to
us.
To learn this, we can start in the self-denial of little
things in our daily affairs—in our food and drink, in our comfort and
convenience, in our dealings with others that should be marked with
utmost understanding and patience, in the generous self-giving with
which we do our work and other duties, etc.
In fact, that little effort to smile and to be nice to
someone we find boring or offensive could very well be the spiritual
investment needed at the moment. When we persist in that attitude,
making it a habit, for sure we can acquire greater capacity to give
ourselves more and more to God and to others, to lose ourselves so we
can gain God in us.
Let’s remember the example of Christ, as described by St.
Paul who strongly encouraged us to follow Christ. “Let this mind be in
you,” he said, “which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form
of God, thought it not robbery to be equal to God, but emptied
himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of
men…” (Phil 2,5-7)
This attitude is not some form of masochism. It is not a
perversion of our humanity. Rather, it is what purifies us, what cures
us of our illnesses, what strengthens us, puts us in the right path,
helps to repay and atone for our sins, disposes us to be elevated to
the supernatural order of God to whom we belong, assures us of our
redemption.
We have to grab every opportunity to empty ourselves more
and more so we can fill ourselves more and more of God. That is how we
have to look at how to live our life here on earth.
And the opportunities to do so are actually ever-present.
We are presented with an endless flow of possibilities to empty
ourselves even in our most solitary moments. That’s because all this
is first of all a matter of thoughts, intentions and desires.
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