Regarding risks

WE know that in this life there are always some risks. We

have to contend with some dangers and threats along the way. They are

actually everywhere, from the physical aspect of our life to the most

subtle levels of the spiritual and the moral.

            We, of course, should try to avoid them. But there also

are situations when these risks are unavoidable and we are somehow

forced to take them. We have to be prepared for these eventualities.

            We have to learn how to detect these risks so we can avoid

them. And we also have to learn how to manage them when they have to

be taken. We need to develop the appropriate skills for this, using

also the appropriate analytical tools.

            The first thing to do is to sharpen our understanding

about what would constitute as risks and dangers, especially in the

area of our spiritual and moral life. We have to be clear about what

would constitute as sins against God, against others and our own

selves, and against the environment, etc.

            Sad to say, many of the people’s sense of sin and

temptation is increasingly distorted these days since what are clearly

against the will and commandments of God are now being legalized and

normalized.

            We now have legalized abortion and same-sex marriage, for

example, and the frivolous lifestyles complete with sexual perversions

and all kinds of addictions are spreading.

            All kinds of cheating, deception and corruption are

rampant. All these would certainly create a loosening of morals all

over the place, especially affecting the young ones who are most

vulnerable.

            It is now quite a challenge to make people develop the

proper sense of sin. This can only happen if there is also the prior

and abiding effort to develop a closer relationship with God. Without

this latter effort, there is no way we can have a good sense of sin,

let alone the ability to know and resist their risks.

            So the real challenge is actually how to make people

develop their spiritual life of love and communion with God. So far,

what we see is a highly formalistic kind of spirituality that hardly

has any substance. There’s a lot of inconsistency and instability in

the spiritual life of many people.

            Regarding risk detection and risk management, what is

immediately needed is the habit of making a regular examination of

conscience so that people can effectively monitor the developments of

their spiritual life. People have to be taught how to do this, always

highlighting both the immediate and long-run benefits of this

practice.

            There has to be good system of monitoring the different

events and situations of the day. This may include the practice of

noting down not only mentally but also on paper the significant

features of these events and situations that need to be looked into

more closely.

            People have to be taught how to discern the different

spirits behind every event and situation to see if they are good or

bad and thus to be able to act accordingly. They have to know the root

and sources of the risks and temptations they have to contend with.

            Together with teaching people how to do the examination of

conscience, the practice of how to formulate a good plan of ascetical

struggle should also be taught. The spiritual and supernatural means

should take pride of place, but the concrete human means should also

be made clear.

Caring for the family

I WAS happy to note that last Christmas, there were many

family pictures in the social media that carried their Christmas

greetings to their friends and their respective families. I hope and

pray that this warm family relations are kept and made to develop some

more.

            We can never exaggerate the importance of the family in

our life. And we should be most thankful to God that, at least, in our

country, we can still observe a strong sense of the family that, sad

to say, seems to be disappearing in other parts of the world.

            We should not be complacent, however, with what we are

enjoying at the moment with regard to family life in general. There

are many challenges to face nowadays in this department, and we should

just tackle them and continue to learn lessons and improve the quality

of our family life.

            Let us entrust this concern to the Holy Family of Nazareth

who will surely guide us and keep us properly grounded and rooted as

we flow with the dizzying developments of our times that have serious

implications insofar as family life is concerned.

            First of all, we have to understand that the family

environment can only be a reflection of the love between the parents.

That love between husband and wife, father and mother, should always

grow and develop, getting more and more purified as time goes on and

as more challenges appear.

            With that strong love, the proper attention and affection

to their own children, especially the young ones, would be effectively

nurtured. The parents should realize that the quality of their love

for themselves and for their children increases in proportion to their

self-surrender, their self-denial, their willingness to make

sacrifices.

            They have to be wary of the subtle damage that tiredness,

stress and self-absorption can cause. They need to always remember

that the way to happiness is to be generous, giving themselves without

counting the cost and without expecting any return.

            For all this, the parents should see to it that the life

of piety and a culture and tradition of Christian love are always

fostered in the family. Everyone should be encouraged to think of the

others, to serve and not to be served. The parents should think of how

to sustain a plan of Christian formation for the whole family.

            The parents should spend ample time with the children,

getting to know each one of them, and respecting and loving them the

way they are, encouraging them in their strengths and helping them in

their weaknesses.

            There should be established family traditions of being

together on certain parts of the day and on special days and

occasions. Family get-togethers, praying and going to Church together,

for example, can be developed. The parents should be the ones to

initiate family activities that help members get closer to each other

and imbibe good values.

            In particular, parents should give special attention to

the development of virtues like humility, order, hard work,

compassion, patience, good manners, respect for different opinions,

capacity to change and adapt to different persons and circumstances.

            Also, parents should instill a deep sense of

responsibility to their children, as well as strength of character

especially when faced with challenges. Affection should be the abiding

atmosphere in the family. Again the parents should take the initiative

in this department.

            All of this would require the parents to pause and pray,

and study things coming up always with some concrete plans and

strategies.

Gratuitousness

THIS is the law that should govern and characterize our

whole life. We are meant for loving which, in concrete terms, is a

matter of serving others. If that loving is authentic, that is,

inspired by God’s love, then it shown in serving others wholeheartedly

without counting the cost nor expecting any return. It’s completely

done for free.

            This truth about ourselves is amply dramatized in that

lesson Christ gave regarding the unprofitable servant. (cfr Lk

17,7-10) “When you have done all you have been commanded,” Christ

said, “say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what we were

obliged to do.’”

            Loving and serving cannot and should not be quantified in

terms of cost and reward. It is above all these considerations. It’s a

purely spiritual operation that should not be spoiled by giving it

some material and temporal value. It’s where we can approximate, keep

and build up that dignity of being the image and likeness of God and

adopted children of his. It’s how we become God-like.

            As man, we of course have our material and temporal needs.

These should be attended to as well. We are body and soul, material

and spiritual, and both dimensions have their distinctive requirements

that have to be met as best as we could.

            At least, in our earthly life, these two dimensions and

components of our being are inseparable. One cannot be without the

other. Just the same, we should not confuse them. We have to abidingly

acknowledge their difference and learn how to handle this condition

properly.

            Of these two components, the spiritual aspect has pride of

place, since as Christ said: “It is the Spirit that gives life. The

flesh counts for nothing.” (Jn 6,63) In other words, our material and

temporal dimension would have no value unless properly inspired by the

Spirit who together with giving us life also inspires us to love, to

give ourselves freely to others.

            Remember what St. Paul said. “If I give all I possess to

the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do

not have love, I gain nothing.” (1 Cor 13,3) Christ himself said:

“What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his

own soul?” (Mk 8,36)

            It’s this Spirit-inspired loving that makes serving and

self-giving an affair where we gain and receive more the more we give

ourselves to others. These are what Christ said in this regard:

            “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure,

pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into

your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

(Lk 6,38) And, “Freely you have received, freely give.” (Mt 10,8)

            This is how God serves and gives himself to us, with

complete gratuitousness. He even goes all the way of still loving and

serving us even if we do not reciprocate his love properly. This is

how we should serve and give ourselves to the others also.

            This will require a deep sense of humility and utter

detachment from earthly things, which does not mean that we have no

need for earthly things. Our need for earthly things will be fully

satisfied if we give ourselves first to God, for as Christ said:

            “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and

all these things shall be added unto you.” (Mt 6,33)