WITH the celebration of the Solemnity
of All Saints and
the Commemoration of All Souls that mark the beginning of November, we
are reminded of the wonderful reality that our life is not just
limited by our earthly temporal affairs or by the here and now, but
also has other dimensions that we often take for granted.
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 skilful
in carrying it out. This duty, in so many words, is to learn how to
combine our earthly concerns with our eternal goal.
To be sure, this duty is doable, and not a fantastic job
that exists only in our dreams and intentions. God himself guarantees
that it be practicable and attainable. It is his will and he has given
us all the means to achieve it, including giving himself to us in
Christ, in the Holy Spirit, in the Church and the many
instrumentalities the Church provides us.
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.
It’s a question of truly exercising the theological gifts
of faith, hope and charity that would enable us to go beyond the
temporal to enter into the eternal, and to make use of our mundane
activities to attain what is truly our ultimate end—our sanctity, our
free identification with God, our Father and Creator.
When we live consistently by faith, hope and charity, we
break the limits of the material to enter into the spiritual, the
natural to rise into the supernatural to which we are destined. We can
discern the presence of God in everything and the twists and turns of
his divine providence that always respects the way our human freedom
goes.
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.
That’s because where there is true love, temptations and
sin would find it hard to get into our mind and heart. We therefore
have to learn to love with the love of God which is the true source of
love. We have to try our best to keep it alive all the time.
But to be realistic, we know that given our human
condition, even our best efforts at loving cannot keep us from
sinning. We always fail somewhere along the way, and end up having to
say sorry. And so, let’s just be humble enough to make it a habit to
make acts of contrition, atonement and reparation.
Very relevant to this is the crucial role of the habit of
making a regular examination of conscience. The daily practice of
examination of conscience can mean that we have a keen and effective
desire to take care of our conscience. Conscience is the inner, most
intimate link we personally have with God. It’s there where we meet
God, hear his voice and decide to follow or disobey him.
If we know that, would we not do everything to keep our
conscience in the best condition, making it ever sensitive to God’s
promptings and docile to carry out his will?
We just have to make sure that our practice of examination
of conscience is done always in the presence of God, and should not
merely be our own effort at introspection. The distinction is crucial,
because doing it right gives us tremendous benefits, while doing it
wrong can generate more harm in us.
Many of us may still be afraid to face God in our
conscience. Some say, such meeting would just complicate our life.
Others claim that such encounter is actually hard if not impossible.
There can be many reasons, but they really have no basis.
Why should we be afraid when God is our Creator, our Father whose only
desire is to love us? He is slow to anger and rich in mercy.
the Commemoration of All Souls that mark the beginning of November, we
are reminded of the wonderful reality that our life is not just
limited by our earthly temporal affairs or by the here and now, but
also has other dimensions that we often take for granted.
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 skilful
in carrying it out. This duty, in so many words, is to learn how to
combine our earthly concerns with our eternal goal.
To be sure, this duty is doable, and not a fantastic job
that exists only in our dreams and intentions. God himself guarantees
that it be practicable and attainable. It is his will and he has given
us all the means to achieve it, including giving himself to us in
Christ, in the Holy Spirit, in the Church and the many
instrumentalities the Church provides us.
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.
It’s a question of truly exercising the theological gifts
of faith, hope and charity that would enable us to go beyond the
temporal to enter into the eternal, and to make use of our mundane
activities to attain what is truly our ultimate end—our sanctity, our
free identification with God, our Father and Creator.
When we live consistently by faith, hope and charity, we
break the limits of the material to enter into the spiritual, the
natural to rise into the supernatural to which we are destined. We can
discern the presence of God in everything and the twists and turns of
his divine providence that always respects the way our human freedom
goes.
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.
That’s because where there is true love, temptations and
sin would find it hard to get into our mind and heart. We therefore
have to learn to love with the love of God which is the true source of
love. We have to try our best to keep it alive all the time.
But to be realistic, we know that given our human
condition, even our best efforts at loving cannot keep us from
sinning. We always fail somewhere along the way, and end up having to
say sorry. And so, let’s just be humble enough to make it a habit to
make acts of contrition, atonement and reparation.
Very relevant to this is the crucial role of the habit of
making a regular examination of conscience. The daily practice of
examination of conscience can mean that we have a keen and effective
desire to take care of our conscience. Conscience is the inner, most
intimate link we personally have with God. It’s there where we meet
God, hear his voice and decide to follow or disobey him.
If we know that, would we not do everything to keep our
conscience in the best condition, making it ever sensitive to God’s
promptings and docile to carry out his will?
We just have to make sure that our practice of examination
of conscience is done always in the presence of God, and should not
merely be our own effort at introspection. The distinction is crucial,
because doing it right gives us tremendous benefits, while doing it
wrong can generate more harm in us.
Many of us may still be afraid to face God in our
conscience. Some say, such meeting would just complicate our life.
Others claim that such encounter is actually hard if not impossible.
There can be many reasons, but they really have no basis.
Why should we be afraid when God is our Creator, our Father whose only
desire is to love us? He is slow to anger and rich in mercy.
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