Building up communion today

WITH the celebration of the Solemnity of All Saints, we

are vividly reminded that we are meant to live in communion of saints,

since whether we like it or not, whether we are aware of it or not, we

are all creatures and children of God who are expected to form part of

the people and family of God.

   

            This is made possible because we are first of all human

persons, created in the image and likeness of God, capable of entering

into a more intimate relation with God and others than what others can

do. Besides, God gives us the grace so that we can go beyond our

natural limitations to be able to enter into the very life of the

infinitely supernatural God.

  

            As human persons, we are meant to enter into communion,

first with God, and then with everybody else. That we are endowed with

intelligence and will indicates that we are not just meant to be

lumped together the way material and physical things are put together,

nor the way plants and animals come together.

  

            We are supposed to enter also into the mind and heart of

God and of everybody else. Our togetherness is not just a matter of

physical union. Neither is it a matter of emotional affinities, or

other merely human kinship, whether cultural, historical, social,

political, etc. Thus, we have to be wary when we become mainly reliant

on these factors.

   

            The communion meant for us is that of the mind and heart.

It is a communion of spirit with its corresponding morals that would

know how to put together in some organic whole all the differences and

conflicts so characteristic of our human condition here on earth.

  

            To be sure, the communion meant for us is not a matter of

uniformity. A rich and great variety of differences, whether they be

personal, natural, or even moral and spiritual, can be compatible with

this communion as long as we know how to handle them.

             And that can only mean that we relate everything to God,

our Father and Creator, who is the very source, keeper, pattern and

power of unity and communion. Short of that, our unity and communion

would at best be only apparent, and at worst, false, deceptive and

dangerous, prone to be manipulated by our own weaknesses, if not by

malice and sin, and the tricks of the devil.

  

            With God, these differences and conflicts that are

unavoidable in our life can, in fact, be a strong motive for loving

one another more and thus building up unity and communion, rather than

a cause of hatred and division among ourselves.

             We have to actively build up this communion meant for us

by seeing to it that we acknowledge and welcome God in our lives, that

we obey his will and ways that are full of wisdom and truth, goodness

and love, understanding, compassion and mercy.

  

            He is the one who knows what to do with whatever situation

and predicament we may be in. And what is impossible with us is always

possible with him. His ways would know how to handle our weaknesses,

mistakes, failures and sins. They go much farther than what our human

efforts—personal, political, economic, etc.—can accomplish.

   

            Of course, we should not forget that following God’s will

and ways will always involve the cross, the cross of Christ, since our

wounded human condition needs Christ’s cross. We should avoid the

illusion that we can have this communion proper to us by avoiding the

cross. We need to be ready to accept this reality.

            In these times when we see a lot of division, if not a

growing fragmentation in the world that is due in large part to the

technological developments and the growing population that generates

multiplying differences in social, economic, political and even

ideological statuses, we need to be more active in building up this

communion that is proper to us.

  

            We should not take this concern for granted, but rather

consider it as one primordial duty we have, especially today. Since we

already know in theory the whys and wherefores, the source and goal of

this concern, we need to develop the relevant attitudes and skills.

  

            We have to learn to pray, to ask God always for light,

guidance and strength, and to develop the appropriate human virtues to

correspond to the divine gifts of faith, hope and charity. This can

mean virtues like humility, fortitude, patience, meekness and

simplicity, friendliness, mercy and compassion, etc.

  

            It would be good if from time to time, we examine

ourselves whether we are progressing in building up communion.