THAT may sound funny, or a literary
oxymoron, but in the
lives of saints, in the life of Christ himself, yes, there can be
victory in what may largely be considered as defeat.
Just look at Christ’s own crucifixion and death. That
event, from all human angles, could only mean defeat, a crushing
defeat. But it was what led to his resurrection. It was what paid the
price for all our sins to attain our redemption. From the spiritual
angle, it can only mean victory.
We need to look more closely at this very mysterious
phenomenon, so that we can be more in line with God’s logic and ways,
rather than remain in our very limited, time-and-earth-bound
understanding of things.
We need to expand and deepen our perspectives to
accommodate this wonderful spiritual and supernatural reality offered
to us. Of course, for this to happen, we have to pray, meditate, be
humble enough to ask for God’s grace, for this is a truth of faith
that can only enter our mind and heart when faith that requires
humility is alive in us.
Truth is, in this life of ours here on earth, often
described as a “vale of tears,” we cannot help but experience
contradictions, difficulties, mistakes, insults, ridicule, and all the
other forms of failures. This is part of our human condition.
It would, however, be naive on our part if we choose to
get stuck with the merely earthly and temporal aspects of our life,
when the reality that governs us includes the spiritual and
supernatural that requires us to use our faith, more than just our
senses and intelligence.
With faith operative in us, we may experience all sorts of
weaknesses, but we still can manage to have hope and to wage an
appropriate battle to tackle them. With faith, we can avoid falling
into the paralyzing state of cowardice. We can spring into action.
Faith lets us share in the power of God who knows how to
draw life from death, rest from hard labor, light from darkness, good
from evil. We have to learn how to access this reality that is
abundantly offered to us by God himself.
With faith, we can echo St. Paul’s: “In all things, let us
exhibit ourselves as ministers of God, in much patience, in
tribulation, in necessities, in distresses...as dying, and behold we
live; as chastised, and not killed; as sorrowful, yet always
rejoicing; as needy, yet enriching many; as having nothing, and
possessing all things.” (2 Cor 6,9-10)
With faith, we would know the value and meaning of pain,
suffering and trials. These are sources of purification, occasions to
grow in maturity and other virtues, moments to refine our awareness we
are children of God who “chastises whom he loves, and scourges every
son he receives.” (Heb 12,6)
Thus, we need to exercise our faith more forcefully and
consistently, something that we can do if we pray, meditate on God’s
word, study the doctrine of our faith, develop the virtues, have
recourse to the sacraments, wage a lifelong interior struggle, etc.
Unfortunately, these are activities that are hardly
appreciated by the people of today. They are even considered as a
waste of time, a repression of the human spirit and freedom, useless
relics of antiquity and of the dark ages, etc., the exact opposite of
what these activities actually achieve if done properly.
We need to rescue ourselves from such ignorance or
misinformation. That’s why we have to talk a lot about the role of
faith in life of all of us. Faith, like our reason, is not supposed to
be practiced by a few.
Though we can refuse the use of faith, just like what we
can do with reason, we have to understand that faith is meant to be
used by all. We are actually beings not only of senses and reason, but
also of faith. We use faith, knowingly or unknowingly.
So, we have to realize that faith also has a valid and
legitimate place in our public discourses—be it in the media or in the
halls of congress and government. We cannot say that just because it
is a Catholic faith or a Protestant or Muslim one, it is optional and
therefore does not have a necessary role to play in our discourses.
Truth is, faith is always in the middle of our
discussions—if not a faith in God, then a faith in something else,
including a faith only in oneself. Whether we are aware of that or
not, the fact is some kind of faith is always involved.
lives of saints, in the life of Christ himself, yes, there can be
victory in what may largely be considered as defeat.
Just look at Christ’s own crucifixion and death. That
event, from all human angles, could only mean defeat, a crushing
defeat. But it was what led to his resurrection. It was what paid the
price for all our sins to attain our redemption. From the spiritual
angle, it can only mean victory.
We need to look more closely at this very mysterious
phenomenon, so that we can be more in line with God’s logic and ways,
rather than remain in our very limited, time-and-earth-bound
understanding of things.
We need to expand and deepen our perspectives to
accommodate this wonderful spiritual and supernatural reality offered
to us. Of course, for this to happen, we have to pray, meditate, be
humble enough to ask for God’s grace, for this is a truth of faith
that can only enter our mind and heart when faith that requires
humility is alive in us.
Truth is, in this life of ours here on earth, often
described as a “vale of tears,” we cannot help but experience
contradictions, difficulties, mistakes, insults, ridicule, and all the
other forms of failures. This is part of our human condition.
It would, however, be naive on our part if we choose to
get stuck with the merely earthly and temporal aspects of our life,
when the reality that governs us includes the spiritual and
supernatural that requires us to use our faith, more than just our
senses and intelligence.
With faith operative in us, we may experience all sorts of
weaknesses, but we still can manage to have hope and to wage an
appropriate battle to tackle them. With faith, we can avoid falling
into the paralyzing state of cowardice. We can spring into action.
Faith lets us share in the power of God who knows how to
draw life from death, rest from hard labor, light from darkness, good
from evil. We have to learn how to access this reality that is
abundantly offered to us by God himself.
With faith, we can echo St. Paul’s: “In all things, let us
exhibit ourselves as ministers of God, in much patience, in
tribulation, in necessities, in distresses...as dying, and behold we
live; as chastised, and not killed; as sorrowful, yet always
rejoicing; as needy, yet enriching many; as having nothing, and
possessing all things.” (2 Cor 6,9-10)
With faith, we would know the value and meaning of pain,
suffering and trials. These are sources of purification, occasions to
grow in maturity and other virtues, moments to refine our awareness we
are children of God who “chastises whom he loves, and scourges every
son he receives.” (Heb 12,6)
Thus, we need to exercise our faith more forcefully and
consistently, something that we can do if we pray, meditate on God’s
word, study the doctrine of our faith, develop the virtues, have
recourse to the sacraments, wage a lifelong interior struggle, etc.
Unfortunately, these are activities that are hardly
appreciated by the people of today. They are even considered as a
waste of time, a repression of the human spirit and freedom, useless
relics of antiquity and of the dark ages, etc., the exact opposite of
what these activities actually achieve if done properly.
We need to rescue ourselves from such ignorance or
misinformation. That’s why we have to talk a lot about the role of
faith in life of all of us. Faith, like our reason, is not supposed to
be practiced by a few.
Though we can refuse the use of faith, just like what we
can do with reason, we have to understand that faith is meant to be
used by all. We are actually beings not only of senses and reason, but
also of faith. We use faith, knowingly or unknowingly.
So, we have to realize that faith also has a valid and
legitimate place in our public discourses—be it in the media or in the
halls of congress and government. We cannot say that just because it
is a Catholic faith or a Protestant or Muslim one, it is optional and
therefore does not have a necessary role to play in our discourses.
Truth is, faith is always in the middle of our
discussions—if not a faith in God, then a faith in something else,
including a faith only in oneself. Whether we are aware of that or
not, the fact is some kind of faith is always involved.
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