Focused, engaging, agile

IN all our dealings with the others, which one way or

another should never lose the apostolic dimension, we should try our

best to be laser-focused, very engaging and agile in handling any

situation those dealings might produce.

   

            We have to remember that since we are Christians, we

cannot but be apostles also—with eagerness always to do apostolate.

Apostolate for us should not just be an intermittent concern. It is a

permanent activity we do, an inherent part of our Christian identity.

We just don’t do apostolate. We are apostles, first and last.

  

            Toward this end, we need to be truly identified with

Christ, well-versed in his teaching, and willing to follow Christ

irrespective of how our life and concerns turn. We should be willing

to follow him till the end, till death, willing to deny ourselves and

carry the cross, as he himself said.

   

            That should be our main focus, and everything else will

just follow as a consequence. If we have him in our mind and heart, we

cannot but have a universal love for everybody, irrespective of how

they are toward us, whether they are friendly or unfriendly, etc.

Christ commanded us to love everybody, including our enemies.

  

            We should try to do everything for us to be able to engage

ourselves with everybody else. To be sure, it would greatly help if we

develop our social skills, if we keep an open-minded outlook, if we

show warmth towards all, with a smiling friendliness to boot.

  

            For this to happen, I imagine that what we need to do also

is to forget ourselves and to adapt the mind and heart of Christ

instead. That way we can be full of mercy and compassion, patience and

understanding. We don’t waste time getting entangled in our

unavoidable differences and conflicts among ourselves as well as in

our own personal problems.

  

            That was what St. Paul said of Christ himself. “He emptied

himself, taking the form of a servant…” (Phil 2,7) We have to

understand that by emptying ourselves like Christ, we put ourselves in

condition to serve the others.

  

            We have to find ways to foster interaction among

ourselves. We don’t wait for these opportunities to interact with

others to come. We look for them. We create them. That is why we need

to be inventive and creative also. We should not allow ourselves to be

fully at the mercy of events. We should try to create, shape and

direct the events of our life.

  

            And when unexpected things come, let’s be agile to handle

them. Somehow, we should expect the unexpected and the surprises. They

are part of our life. We cannot avoid them, and so we just have to be

prepared for them as much as we can.

  

            The important thing, as mentioned before, is to be

laser-focused on Christ. He will provide us with everything we need in

making ourselves a true apostle of his. Whatever the circumstance,

whether it is favorable or not, we somehow would be able to do

apostolate if we have Christ in our mind and heart. We avoid getting

lost or confused in maze of things.