Thursday, October 29, 2015

Glorious and somber November

NOVEMBER begins with the celebration of the Solemnity of
All Saints and the Commemoration of All Souls. These celebrations
remind us of the wonderful reality that our life is not just limited
by our earthly space-and-time existence, but has other dimensions that
we often take for granted.

             They remind us of the glorious reality of the communion of
saints that is meant for all of us, since we are all children of God,
and the Christian meaning of earthly suffering and death that while
sobering is also uplifting, since these serve for our purification and
ultimate redemption.
  
            We have to be wary of our tendency to get stuck to the
here and now, and to be so immersed in the drama and game of our
earthly life that we fail to realize there is a lot more than what we
have here, what we do and say now, what we are at present.

             We may create all sorts of problems and chaos in this
life, all kinds of ugliness. But, hey, there is hope! Christ has
redeemed us with his death! Sin and death have their sting removed.
Let us learn to see beauty in all the chaos and ugliness of our
present, and attain redemption in our seemingly hopeless predicament.

             Let’s remember that Christ’s all-powerful and never-fading
work of redemption that culminated on the cross, can take on anything
that we say, do or are, whether it is something good or something bad.

             What is simply needed at the very least is our openness to
the merits of Christ’s redemptive work by not putting obstacles to
them or resisting his will and commandments. Better, if we actively
follow God’s will. We may still commit errors, but if done in good
faith, there is still hope. Christ will repeat what he said just
before he died: “Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they
do.”
  
            No, death definitely does not have the last word. It’s
life, everlasting life with God in heaven, or God forbid, eternal
condemnation in hell. Neither are pain and suffering the main
ingredient or the ultimate goal of our earthly life. It’s joy, peace,
victory, success, offered to us by Christ himself, our savior.
   
            It’s not even only life with God that we are meant for.
It’s life with everybody else, in a blessed communion of saints that
God willed for all of us from all eternity. On his part, he has given
everything that this ideal be made real. It’s now up to us to choose
to follow God’s will or not.
  
            These celebrations on November 1 and 2 should expand our
awareness that we belong to the family of God whose image and likeness
we are and whose children we also are. As such, we are not meant to
live in time alone, but also in eternity, not here on earth alone, but
also in heaven.
   
            We need to be more aware of our duty to seek sanctity in
the middle of our earthly concerns. Even more, we need to be skillful
in carrying it out. This duty, in so many words, is combining our
earthly concerns with our eternal goal.
  
            There is nothing in our life that cannot be sanctifiable.
What matters is that we relate everything to God, whether it is
something good, for which we ought to be thankful, or something bad,
for which we have to be sorry.
  
            Even our sins, if repented, can be a tremendous trigger
for grace to be showered on us. We, of course, should try to avoid sin
which is actually a matter of increasing our love for God and for
others.
  
            We need to be clear about these fundamental truths, so we
be guided properly in our life, making the right choices, since our
life is also not a matter of fate or luck, but rather of choice, first
that of God who chooses to love us in spite of whatever, and that of
ours. But we have to learn to choose properly.
  
            Whatever situation we may find ourselves in, including the
worst scenarios possible to our human, earthly condition, we can
always manage to find joy and peace if we allow ourselves to be guided
by our Christian faith, rather than by just our human estimation of
things.
  
            So as we visit the tombs of our loved ones, let’s remember
these fundamental truths that give the proper perspective to our life
and everything in it, including our predicaments. These truths would
shed on us the light for our life, and would reveal to us the glory

awaiting us.

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