“‘YOUNG man, I tell you, arise!’ The
dead man sat up and
began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Fear seized them
all, and they glorified God…” (Lk 7,14-16)
Yes, my dear, there’s always hope even in our worst
condition. If Christ can resurrect the dead, the worst condition that
we can find ourselves in, what else can he not do to save us?
Even if we are rotten to the core in terms of our speech
and behavior, there is always hope. And so we just have to be patient
which does not mean that we do nothing. We have a lot to do, because
God’s grace and mercy would have no effect if we are not receptive to
them by at least making an effort to correspond to his will.
We need to foster this hope as we go through changing
circumstances brought about by all sorts of developments, social,
political, economic, technological, etcetera. We need to foster this
hope as we face new things that can be mysterious to us, especially at
the beginning.
Our hope should be properly based. We cannot simply root
them on our human powers alone and the many other resources provided
by nature. They are never enough to tackle with what we have to
tackle, since we have to contend not only with material and natural
goals and challenges, but also spiritual and supernatural ones.
A hope based on God surely delivers, though it can have
God’s ways of delivering that are mysterious and therefore puzzling.
Just the same, we just have to learn to flow with God’s ways.
Thus, a certain amount of detachment and abandonment is
needed here. We cannot be sure of everything. But with that hope based
on God, even in our mistakes and failures, we would be brought to
where we should be, and that is, with him and our eternal destination,
beyond whatever mundane and temporal fate we may have here.
Remember St. Paul’s words: “All things work together for
the good for those who love God.” (Rom 8,28) Of course, loving God
presumes hope, for without hope we cannot love God truly.
And so, let’s not be unduly entangled with earthly things.
Yes, it’s true that we have to be immersed in our temporal affairs,
for after all, they are also the means and occasions that would
somehow determine our eternal destiny. But they themselves are not
what would bring about our eternal destiny. It’s God’s grace whose
mysterious ways we just have to learn to correspond as best as we
could.
Our correspondence to God’s grace may have all sorts of
defects and imperfections, but as long as it’s done with good faith,
with our best efforts that can always be better, with eagerness to say
sorry and to make up when we commit mistakes, I suppose God, being a
very good father to all of us, will understand and pick us up where we
fall or where we are found wanting.
There’s no point belaboring our failures and defects.
God’s mercy will take care of everything as long as we at least are
open to God’s mercy. We need to work on our conviction that we are
children of God so that we do not fall into unnecessary fears and
doubts as to how our earthly affairs and our life itself would go.
Fail or succeed, they will always be for the good.
So let’s stop engaging in childish catfights over our
differences in opinions, beliefs, character and temperament. We would
be wasting time, effort and many other resources that way, though, I
am sure, that if God allows them to happen, it must be because there’s
a greater good that can be derived from them. This is part of hope.
But let’s not tempt God. What we can avoid, we avoid.
So, as to the D30 presidency, let’s just hope and help him
in whatever way we can so he can be a good leader, very human,
Christian, competent, honest, respectful of the rule of law, etc.
Let’s hope that he overcomes his being onion-skinned and is open to
clarifications, reminders, even corrections, especially in his speech
and demeanor. This trait is never a sign of weakness, but rather of
strength of character.
He has many good qualities, even much more excellent
compared to what we have seen in other leaders. In many respects, he
is very endearing especially to the simple folks. But let’s not be
blind to his weaknesses, nor consider them as unimportant or
irrelevant. Our help should be total!
began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Fear seized them
all, and they glorified God…” (Lk 7,14-16)
Yes, my dear, there’s always hope even in our worst
condition. If Christ can resurrect the dead, the worst condition that
we can find ourselves in, what else can he not do to save us?
Even if we are rotten to the core in terms of our speech
and behavior, there is always hope. And so we just have to be patient
which does not mean that we do nothing. We have a lot to do, because
God’s grace and mercy would have no effect if we are not receptive to
them by at least making an effort to correspond to his will.
We need to foster this hope as we go through changing
circumstances brought about by all sorts of developments, social,
political, economic, technological, etcetera. We need to foster this
hope as we face new things that can be mysterious to us, especially at
the beginning.
Our hope should be properly based. We cannot simply root
them on our human powers alone and the many other resources provided
by nature. They are never enough to tackle with what we have to
tackle, since we have to contend not only with material and natural
goals and challenges, but also spiritual and supernatural ones.
A hope based on God surely delivers, though it can have
God’s ways of delivering that are mysterious and therefore puzzling.
Just the same, we just have to learn to flow with God’s ways.
Thus, a certain amount of detachment and abandonment is
needed here. We cannot be sure of everything. But with that hope based
on God, even in our mistakes and failures, we would be brought to
where we should be, and that is, with him and our eternal destination,
beyond whatever mundane and temporal fate we may have here.
Remember St. Paul’s words: “All things work together for
the good for those who love God.” (Rom 8,28) Of course, loving God
presumes hope, for without hope we cannot love God truly.
And so, let’s not be unduly entangled with earthly things.
Yes, it’s true that we have to be immersed in our temporal affairs,
for after all, they are also the means and occasions that would
somehow determine our eternal destiny. But they themselves are not
what would bring about our eternal destiny. It’s God’s grace whose
mysterious ways we just have to learn to correspond as best as we
could.
Our correspondence to God’s grace may have all sorts of
defects and imperfections, but as long as it’s done with good faith,
with our best efforts that can always be better, with eagerness to say
sorry and to make up when we commit mistakes, I suppose God, being a
very good father to all of us, will understand and pick us up where we
fall or where we are found wanting.
There’s no point belaboring our failures and defects.
God’s mercy will take care of everything as long as we at least are
open to God’s mercy. We need to work on our conviction that we are
children of God so that we do not fall into unnecessary fears and
doubts as to how our earthly affairs and our life itself would go.
Fail or succeed, they will always be for the good.
So let’s stop engaging in childish catfights over our
differences in opinions, beliefs, character and temperament. We would
be wasting time, effort and many other resources that way, though, I
am sure, that if God allows them to happen, it must be because there’s
a greater good that can be derived from them. This is part of hope.
But let’s not tempt God. What we can avoid, we avoid.
So, as to the D30 presidency, let’s just hope and help him
in whatever way we can so he can be a good leader, very human,
Christian, competent, honest, respectful of the rule of law, etc.
Let’s hope that he overcomes his being onion-skinned and is open to
clarifications, reminders, even corrections, especially in his speech
and demeanor. This trait is never a sign of weakness, but rather of
strength of character.
He has many good qualities, even much more excellent
compared to what we have seen in other leaders. In many respects, he
is very endearing especially to the simple folks. But let’s not be
blind to his weaknesses, nor consider them as unimportant or
irrelevant. Our help should be total!
No comments:
Post a Comment