BECAUSE of our weakened human condition, we have to be most wary of
our tendency to spoil the sublime, to trivialize an indispensable
thing, to take our eternal destiny lightly.
In one gospel episode, for example, Christ was already talking to his
disciples about his impending death and resurrection, the culmination
of his redemptive mission here on earth. And yet the disciples were
more interested in finding out who among them was the greatest! (cfr
Mk 9,30-37)
What impertinence, to say the least! And yet this impertinence can go
on and on even until now when we are supposed to know better, what
with all the education, formation and information we are receiving in
this digital age of ours.
It’s not that we should be glum serious in this life of ours. Far from
it! Christ wants us to be happy and cheerful, healthily engaged in the
world in all our temporal affairs. But everything should be led toward
that culminating sacrifice each one of us should make, following the
example of Christ, our way, truth and life itself.
It’s the redemptive sacrifice that involves real pain, suffering and
death, but it also guarantees our salvation, our reconciliation with
God. It also makes sure that our love for one another is authentic,
not fake. It is also the sacrifice that can sanctify all our earthly
endeavors, irrespective of how they fare in earthly terms, making them
acquire an eternal value, not just a passing one.
We need to be reminded about the real character and purpose of our
life here on earth. We need to learn how to handle our weaknesses, our
temptations and the distractions around. We have to avoid getting lost
or pursuing a different goal in our earthly sojourn.
Most importantly, we need to learn how to relate everything to God.
Even in our most mundane and temporal affairs, where we enjoy a
certain autonomy, we have to see the inherent link these affairs have
with God.
Besides, we have to learn how to offer everything as a sacrifice,
because that is what our life, and everything in it, is supposed to
be. Everything has to be done and lived in the context of God’s love
for us who asks for our correspondence by way of offering our whole
life to him.
Let’s always remember that love is repaid with love. God has loved us
first. We have to love him in return. He has given us everything,
especially his mercy. We have to give ourselves completely to him—as
much as possible. After all, everything comes from him and belongs to
him.
Besides, our life offering cannot but involve suffering, since it is
an offering that is done also in the context of our sinfulness that
needs to be overcome and its effects and consequences to be borne
patiently.
But we should not worry too much about all this suffering, since
Christ, more than us, has already borne it for us and continues to
bear it with us. Ours is simply to cooperate with him as much as we
can. And so we can manage to suffer in silence, even in joy, just as
Christ himself suffered in silence and joy in view of the
resurrection.
For all this to happen, we need to see things with faith, more than
just with our reason and much less with our senses alone. Faith gives
us the global picture of our life, linking the here and now with our
eternal destiny, the material with the spiritual, the natural with the
supernatural.
Faith has to inspire all our temporal affairs so we can relate them to
God who is our ultimate goal. Without faith, all our temporal
affairs—our work, business, politics, our sciences and arts,
etc.—would just be going around in circles, and often would simply be
chasing after the wind.
For faith to develop and prosper in us, we need to have the mind and
the attitude of a servant. That’s why in the gospel referred to above,
Christ said: “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of
all and the servant of all.” This indication, to be sure, is not to
downgrade us, but rather to upgrade us from our wounded selves.
Reiterating the same point, Christ also told his disciples to be
childlike in terms of simplicity, total trust in God, docility, etc.
That’s why he said: “Whoever receives one child such as this in my
name, receives me. And whoever receives me, receives not me but the
One who sent me.”
our tendency to spoil the sublime, to trivialize an indispensable
thing, to take our eternal destiny lightly.
In one gospel episode, for example, Christ was already talking to his
disciples about his impending death and resurrection, the culmination
of his redemptive mission here on earth. And yet the disciples were
more interested in finding out who among them was the greatest! (cfr
Mk 9,30-37)
What impertinence, to say the least! And yet this impertinence can go
on and on even until now when we are supposed to know better, what
with all the education, formation and information we are receiving in
this digital age of ours.
It’s not that we should be glum serious in this life of ours. Far from
it! Christ wants us to be happy and cheerful, healthily engaged in the
world in all our temporal affairs. But everything should be led toward
that culminating sacrifice each one of us should make, following the
example of Christ, our way, truth and life itself.
It’s the redemptive sacrifice that involves real pain, suffering and
death, but it also guarantees our salvation, our reconciliation with
God. It also makes sure that our love for one another is authentic,
not fake. It is also the sacrifice that can sanctify all our earthly
endeavors, irrespective of how they fare in earthly terms, making them
acquire an eternal value, not just a passing one.
We need to be reminded about the real character and purpose of our
life here on earth. We need to learn how to handle our weaknesses, our
temptations and the distractions around. We have to avoid getting lost
or pursuing a different goal in our earthly sojourn.
Most importantly, we need to learn how to relate everything to God.
Even in our most mundane and temporal affairs, where we enjoy a
certain autonomy, we have to see the inherent link these affairs have
with God.
Besides, we have to learn how to offer everything as a sacrifice,
because that is what our life, and everything in it, is supposed to
be. Everything has to be done and lived in the context of God’s love
for us who asks for our correspondence by way of offering our whole
life to him.
Let’s always remember that love is repaid with love. God has loved us
first. We have to love him in return. He has given us everything,
especially his mercy. We have to give ourselves completely to him—as
much as possible. After all, everything comes from him and belongs to
him.
Besides, our life offering cannot but involve suffering, since it is
an offering that is done also in the context of our sinfulness that
needs to be overcome and its effects and consequences to be borne
patiently.
But we should not worry too much about all this suffering, since
Christ, more than us, has already borne it for us and continues to
bear it with us. Ours is simply to cooperate with him as much as we
can. And so we can manage to suffer in silence, even in joy, just as
Christ himself suffered in silence and joy in view of the
resurrection.
For all this to happen, we need to see things with faith, more than
just with our reason and much less with our senses alone. Faith gives
us the global picture of our life, linking the here and now with our
eternal destiny, the material with the spiritual, the natural with the
supernatural.
Faith has to inspire all our temporal affairs so we can relate them to
God who is our ultimate goal. Without faith, all our temporal
affairs—our work, business, politics, our sciences and arts,
etc.—would just be going around in circles, and often would simply be
chasing after the wind.
For faith to develop and prosper in us, we need to have the mind and
the attitude of a servant. That’s why in the gospel referred to above,
Christ said: “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of
all and the servant of all.” This indication, to be sure, is not to
downgrade us, but rather to upgrade us from our wounded selves.
Reiterating the same point, Christ also told his disciples to be
childlike in terms of simplicity, total trust in God, docility, etc.
That’s why he said: “Whoever receives one child such as this in my
name, receives me. And whoever receives me, receives not me but the
One who sent me.”
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