Love requires sacrifice

WE have to be clear about this. Love will always require

sacrifice. Where there is no sacrifice, there cannot be love. Love

grows only to the extent that we are willing to make sacrifices.

Without sacrifice, we sooner or later will be swallowed up by our own

egoism, our own selfishness.

  

            And this selfishness can take the form of laziness,

attachment to certain things to the point of self-absorption, etc. We

have to be ready to do battle against these anomalous tendencies of

ours.

  

            We should always remember that the very essence of love is

self-giving. In love, the lover needs to lose himself in his beloved.

He has to be identified with his beloved. And this will always involve

self-denial.

  

            The self-giving and losing that love requires would

actually enrich the person in his dignity. This way of loving conforms

to what Christ himself said: “Whoever would save his life will lose

it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Mt 16,25)

  

            That’s why Christ himself said that if anyone wants to

follow him, that person has to deny himself and, in fact, should carry

the cross also. Otherwise, he cannot love. And true love is

personified in Christ himself.

  

            In other words, we can only love truly when we identify

ourselves with Christ who precisely commanded us to love one another

as he himself has loved us.      We have to understand that only in

Christ would we manage to keep our love alive and vibrant, always

fresh, new and creative. It’s a love that is open to anything, and

willing to go through all the challenges, trials, difficulties, etc.

  

            To be sure, Christ is not sparing in inspiring us with his

love and in sharing his love with us. If we bother to be open

ourselves to him, to love the way Christ has loved us should not be a

problem. Christ makes himself and his ways of loving readily available

to us. That is why we need to actively look for him, as he himself

told us. “Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find…”

(Mt 7,7)

  

            We need to see to it that everyday we pattern our love

after Christ’s love for us that is so full of sacrifice that it went

to the extent of offering his life for us. We can do this if everyday,

we would always look for opportunities to makes sacrifices by ways of

serving others the way they need to be served, unafraid of the

inconveniences involved.

  

            We should never forget to deny ourselves in something

everyday if we want to keep our love alive. That self-denial should be

inspired by Christ’s example. It should not be done simply for its own

sake, for the sake only of self-denial. That would dehumanize us. This

distinction between a Christ-inspired self-denial and a self-denial

that is only for its own sake is important.

   

            When we find something required by love hard to do, all we

need to do is to go to Christ, asking for his help, for his grace.

Thus, difficulties should be understood as an invitation to go to

Christ, not to ignore him and spend our time brooding uselessly.

  

            It would greatly help if we meditate on the very passion

and death of Christ so that we can appreciate the necessity of

sacrifice in loving. There Christ shows us how to love by suffering in

obedience to his Father’s will. There we will find the true meaning of

suffering and sacrifice and their intimate relation to love.

The art of listening

WE need to learn this art. It plays a crucial and

strategic role in our life. In many instances in the gospel, Christ

told people after preaching, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

(Mt 11,15)

             Let us try to avoid Christ’s reproach, “Though seeing,

they do not see;

though hearing, they do not hear or understand...For their heart has

become calloused.” (Mt 13,13.15)

  

            We need to realize first of all that of all the words that

we have to handle, we have to give priority to the word of God as

recorded especially in Sacred Scripture. That’s simply because that

word contains all the truth, the saving truth that we need to know.

  

            God’s word is always relevant to every situation we can

find ourselves in. God’s word should inspire and guide our human word,

be it a word of our common sense, or of our philosophies, theologies,

sciences, arts and technologies, or of our culture and history, etc.

  

            Remember what the Letter to the Hebrews says of God’s

word: “The word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any

double-edged sword, it penetrates even to the dividing of soul and

spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and attitudes of the

heart.” (4,12) God’s word is both the first and the last word, as well

as the word in between.

  

            When Christ said that he who has ears to hear, let him

hear, he is actually inviting us to listen closely to his word and try

our best to discern and fathom its true intent.

  

            Let’s take that invitation seriously. We have to develop

the habit of meditating on the word of God in some regular if not

abiding way. This recommendation is somehow expressed in the very

first of the psalms:

  

            “How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel

of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat

of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law

he meditates day and night.” (1,1-2)

  

            And in meditating on God’s word, let us always ask the

Holy Spirit to prompt us or to tell us what and how to understand that

word. It cannot be denied that there are many who have also meditated

on God’s word on their own, without the help of the Holy Spirit, and

have come out with their own interpretations, their own spins and

biases.

  

            Pertinent to this point, this is what Christ said of the

Holy Spirit: “When he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you

into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own initiative, but

whatever he hears, he will speak, and he will disclose to you what is

to come.” (Jn 16,13)

  

            And as St. Paul said, anyone taught by the Spirit would

know how to combine spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. (cfr. 1

Cor 2,13) In other words, our thoughts and words would not simply

remain in the purely human or worldly terms. They become thoughts and

words of the Spirit as well.

  

            It’s when we learn how to listen to the word of God, with

the help of the Holy Spirit, that we achieve what is said of the good

soil in the parable of the sower and the seed.

            “The seed falling on good soil,” Christ said, “refers to

someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who

produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was

sown.” (Mt 13,23)

How do we gain credibility?

IT’S a question every priest, consecrated person and

anyone with some special vocation and mission in life should ask

himself frequently. If politicians, salesmen and advertisers

continually examine themselves against this standard, how much more

those of us who are entrusted with a divine mission to serve the

People of God in their spiritual needs!

  

            In this Year of the Clergy and Consecrated Persons, let us

pray that the Pope, bishops, priests and those with some special

divine vocation and mission be always credible in their preaching and,

more importantly, in their lifestyle.

  

            I imagine that to be truly credible, we have to be vitally

identified with Christ so that what was said of him can also be said

of us. Let’s remember that when he entered a synagogue in Capernaum

and began to preach, the people were astonished because he preached

with authority unlike the scribes. (cfr. Mt 7,29) He always attracted

big crowds.

  

            We priests, religious and all those with special vocations

should aim at acquiring the credibility of Christ. This will obviously

require that we learn to assume the very mind and heart of Christ.

This would presume, aside from being sacramentally conformed to Christ

as head of the Church and receiving a special vocation, that we pray

always, thoroughly study the doctrine of our faith, wage constant

struggle and renewal, etc.

  

            The idea is that we live out what Christ first told the

apostles—that those who hear the apostles, actually would hear Christ

and the one who sent Christ. (cfr  Lk 10,16) There should be a stable

consistency between who we are and for whom we work.

  

            Everyday, we have to see to it that we grow in our

identification with Christ to such an extent that we can confidently

say that we are only thinking of God and of the others, that we are

only talking about God and that everything else that is earthly and

temporal is always related to God. That should be orbit of our

thoughts, words and deeds.

  

            Let us hope that we can arrive at that point when we can

feel very much at home with the things of God and the spiritual needs

of the people, and when we can talk with ease and with conviction

about God and the people.

  

            Let us hope that, like Christ, we can offer the proper

truths of our faith relevant to a particular issue or concern. And

that we can convey these truths with charity, knowing how to adapt

them properly to the concrete circumstances of the people, times and

place.

  

            Let us hope that people can see in us Christ himself. Our

lifestyle should be such that people get inspired to love Christ and

everybody else more and more when they see and listen to us.

  

            This is not an easy thing to do, of course. In fact, it

can seem to be impossible. But with God’s grace and our humble and

constant effort, we can hack it. Christ has given us everything so

that his presence and redemptive work can still continue with us and

through us.

  

            We just have to train ourselves to abidingly identify

ourselves with Christ and with the people. For this, we have to submit

to an appropriate plan that would help us to revolve our thoughts,

words and deeds around Christ and the needs of the people.

  

            And so we have to find time for quiet and intimate

meditations and reflections, ever strengthening and sharpening our

awareness of God’s presence and his will and ways.

Frequent confession draws more favors

THE story of the paralytic who was brought to Christ by

his friends in a very dramatic way, and whose sins were forgiven first

before he was cured of his illness (cfr Lk 5,17-26), clearly shows how

Christ is interested first in forgiving sins before giving other

favors, like some miraculous cures.

  

            Or said in another way, from our point of view, if we

would just show some repentance over our sins, there is no doubt that

God’s mercy will always be given us. More, such show of repentance can

draw more favors from God.

  

            This is a point worth taking serious note of. God is

always merciful and compassionate. The more open we are to his mercy,

especially by going to frequent confession, the greater the chances

also are of receiving more favors from him.

  

            Of course, we can go to him anytime to ask for mercy. But

if we do that through the sacrament of confession, the forgiveness of

our sins becomes more assured, because it will be Christ through the

confessor who will assume our sins and die to them in order to

resurrect. That’s how our sins are forgiven.

  

            When we go through the process of going to confession,

Christ will be more impressed with our faith, just like he was

impressed with the faith of the paralytic and his friends who went

through a complicated way to get to Christ.

  

            “When Christ saw their faith,” the gospel related, “he

said, ‘As for you, your sins are forgiven.’” (Lk 5,20) Christ, of

course, is willing to forgive even if we only show some signs of

repentance without directly asking forgiveness from him.

   

            He is that merciful and compassionate, as shown, for

example, in the case of the widow whose only son died. (cfr. Lk

7,11-17) Without being asked, he volunteered to raise the dead son.

  

            The same when he saw a crowd and felt that they were like

sheep without a shepherd. (cfr 9,36) Again it was the same case when

the crucified thief beside him simply asked him to be with him in

paradise. But he would be more moved to be merciful and compassionate

if we importune him.

  

            When we go to confession, we would be actually begging him

for forgiveness. And we do it by going through some complex process of

duly preparing ourselves for it, arousing a deep sense of contrition

and atonement for our sins, looking for a confessor that sometimes can

be difficult to achieve, considering the scarcity of priests and their

heavy schedule, fulfilling the penance given to us, etc.

  

            These would practically reprise the hard way the paralytic

and his friends managed to get near Christ. In the face of all this,

for sure the heart of Christ would melt in compassion and would be

moved to do more than what we ask or expect. We should not lose sight

of this aspect of the merciful and compassionate heart of Christ.

  

            That is why it is all worthwhile to develop the habit of

frequent confession. Aside from forgiveness of our sins, through

frequent confession we can get more favors from God. It would also

truly make us a better person, since a lot of virtues would just be

developed even without our noticing them.

  

            Frequent confession would make us more simple and humble

and at the same time stronger and more able to handle our weaknesses,

to resist temptations and to make up for our sins.

  

            The only requirement here is that we be sincere in our

motives, because playing games with God can only lead to far graver

consequences for us.

Lying vs. being discreet

THEY may look and sound the same but they actually are

worlds apart from each other. One destroys the truth. The other

protects and defends it, and even promotes it.

  

            Lying can sound like the truth since it can cite facts and

data, but the intention is to deceive others. Being discreet may be

quiet on some facts and data without denying them. The motive behind

is not to deceive but to help others appreciate a relevant truth.

  

            That’s simply because human as we are, we get to know and

appreciate the truth in stages. We hardly can take the whole truth in

one go. And so we have to know and handle the truth with discretion.

  

            To distinguish between lying and being discreet would

require us to have a proper understanding of what truth is, where to

find it and how to find it. It is also a matter of how and when to

present it.

  

            It also involves the question of motives. Truthfulness and

discretion are not just a matter of producing facts and data,

blabbering them indiscriminately. They necessarily have to consider

the intentions and the circumstances also.

  

            Most importantly, truthfulness and discretion will always

uphold charity even if in a given moment such effort would involve a

lot of sacrifice. It’s charity that would dictate the terms of

discretion in telling the truth.

  

            The forcefulness of truthfulness and discretion is never

one of pride and arrogance, of wanting to dominate and control others.

It is rather to uphold the dignity of the person as image and likeness

of God and a child of his. It is working for the common good and not

just for one’s own interest.

   

            To be sure, truthfulness that would know how to

distinguish between lying and being discreet would require nothing

less than for us to have a vital, intimate relation with God who

reveals himself to us fully in Christ, who in turn is made present to

us now in the Holy Spirit.

  

            Christ himself has told us where to find the truth. “I am

the way, the truth and the life,” he said. (Jn 14,6) And even more

explicitly, he said to Pilate: “Everyone on the side of the truth

listens to me.” (Jn 18,37)

  

            The obvious basis for this is that God, of course, being

the creator of all things in the world, would know everything. He is

the very foundation of reality, the very measure and standard of

truth. Nothing is true, in the proper sense of the word, true, where

God is ignored, if not mocked. It is God where truth and charity

become identical.

  

            Truthfulness that would know how to distinguish between

lying and being discreet just cannot be a matter of our own estimation

of things, no matter how well supported we feel our assertions are.

  

            We always need to refer things to God and try our best to

see and understand things and later to talk about them the way God

sees, understands and would talk about them.

  

            This can only happen if one has a personal relation with

God through Christ in the Holy Spirit. This will involve constant

prayer, thorough study of the doctrine of our faith, developing the

whole range of virtues all throughout our life, especially the virtue

of humility.

  

            This will involve the supernatural means like having

constant recourse to the sacraments and an active cooperation in the

continuing redemptive work of Christ through personal apostolate. That

way, we truly get in touch with the people in the most objective way!

Caring for our body

IT certainly would be a wrong or questionable spirituality

that would consider the body as intrinsically bad or the source of

evil. There had been heresies that held this kind of belief in the

past. But even up to now, traces of such heresies exist.

  

            We need to remind ourselves strongly that the body is an

essential part of our nature as created by God. It is originally good.

It is meant to be good. We are a unity of body and soul.

  

            Somehow St. Paul affirms this truth when he said: “Your

bodies are the shrines of the Holy Spirit, who dwells in you. And he

is God’s gift to you, so that you are no longer your own masters. A

great price was paid to ransom you. Glorify God by making your bodies

the shrines of his presence.” (1 Cor 6,19-20)

  

            Even if in death, there is some temporary separation of

body and soul, there will also be a reunification of these two

constitutive parts of our being in our definitive state either in

heaven or in hell.

  

            There is some kind of mutual relationship between the body

and the soul. The state of the body both reflects and influences the

state of the soul. And vice-versa. That’s why there is such a saying

that “when the body is well, the soul dances.”

  

            We need to take care of our body, giving it its proper

nourishment and rest. And resting does not necessarily mean doing

nothing. It can mean a change of pace, of things to do that somehow

gives the body a period of relaxation and of recovering its strength

and vitality.

  

            Resting can mean doing some physical exercises like brisk

walking or biking that somehow oils the joints and makes one feel

light. When the body is properly taken care of, one not only can work

better, nor can undertake more rigorous activities. It enables one to

better handle his spiritual activities like praying, making

sacrifices, developing virtues, bearing weaknesses, resisting

temptations, handling pressures and problems.

  

            We should see to it that as much as possible we avoid

overworking the body to such an extent that we experience what is

called as a burnout. While it’s good that at the end of the day we get

tired, since that would mean that we have been working hard, we just

the same should avoid getting burned out.

  

            Neither should our resting and relaxing deteriorate into

some kind of body cult where the intention for resting is not so much

to recover our strength to get back to work as to indulge in vanity.

  

            Our resting and relaxing should sharpen our desire to go

back to work as soon as possible as a way of expressing and developing

our love for God and for others. When we notice that this is not the

case, we should react immediately, rectifying our intentions and

asking for God’s grace so that we return to our work with so much

eagerness of love.

  

            We also need to learn how to handle the unavoidable

tiredness and even sickness and ultimately death that will always be

part of our life. They are a state of weakness that can be a rich

source of sacrifice that can be pleasing to God if offered and

suffered with him.

  

            We have to remember that these situations—tiredness,

sickness, etc.—are not merely physical conditions. They also have a

spiritual dimension that can be handled properly if we pray.

  

            Let’s remember Christ’s words: “Come to me, all you who

are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Mt 11,28)

With the strength of Christ

THERE’S no question that we all have to be strong and

tough in our life. To survive, to face and tackle all the challenges,

that is what is needed. If we are weak, we simply would be swept away

with the slightest difficulty we meet.

  

            We just have to understand that the strength we need is

not just something physical or emotional or intellectual. While these

kinds of strength have their role to play, we should aim at developing

and achieving the strength that comes from Christ.

  

            It is this strength that made St. Paul gush: “I can do all

things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Phil 4,13) It was this

strength that enabled him in any and all circumstances to learn the

secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and want.

   

            To be sure, this strength is the strength of love that is

the very essence of Christ. It is this kind of love that, as St. Paul

again said, “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things,

endures all things.” (1 Cor 13,7)

  

            We have to aspire for this kind of strength. It is this

strength that knows how to be weak for the sake of the weak, and to

how to be all things to all men if only to save some.

  

            This strength of Christian love will certainly require us,

with God’s grace, to go beyond our natural and infranatural

conditionings. These conditionings will always be with us, but we

should try our best that we do not get completely trapped by them.

  

            That is why we have to be ready to make sacrifices and

self-denials, as Christ himself has told us if we want to follow him.

(cfr. Mt 16,24) The cross will always be needed by us so we can go

beyond our natural and infranatural limitations and conditionings to

enter into the supernatural life of God.

  

            This cross can come to us in different ways and forms. It

can be a sickness, a physical inconvenience, some emotional and

psychological pains, a problem in the family, our differences and

conflicts with others, a crisis in one’s professional life, a failure

in business, etc.

  

            If borne with Christ, these crosses would unleash the

power of the redemptive love of Christ. We can echo from our heart the

same words of St. Paul—that we can do all things through Christ who

strengthens us.

  

            In this regard, inspired by faith in God, we just have to

be game in the drama of our life, taking things in stride, whether

they are good or bad. In this way, we can live out what St. Paul

himself experienced.

  

            “We are treated as impostors,” he said, “and yet are true;

as dying, and behold we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as

sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as

having nothing, and yet possessing everything.” (2 Cor 6,8-10)

  

            There is a certain kind of immunity to any kind of

difficulty when we have the love of Christ. We should just focus on

drowning evil with an abundance of good in this world, not afraid of

anything.

  

            Everyday, let us try to grow, no matter how little, in the

strength of Christ’s love. We are always given a chance to do this by

the events and concerns of our daily life. We should so face them

squarely with Christ that at the end of the day, we can say, “I can do

all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

Working for God

YES, that’s how our attitude should be when we work. We

have to work for God and not just for men. St. Paul said so: “Whatever

you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not

for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance

from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”

(Col 3,23-24)

  

            We need to be clear about this, and make the necessary

adjustments or even radical changes in our attitude toward our work.

We should not downgrade the objective dignity of our human labor and

just treat it as if it were just purely a human affair.

  

            Our work, by definition, is also a work of God. And that’s

simply because our whole life itself is always a life with God. At

least, it is supposed to be like that, unless we stray from that basic

truth about ourselves.

  

            The creator cannot be absent from his creatures. In our

case, since we have been endowed by God with the capacity to know and

to love, due to our spiritual faculties of the intellect and the will,

we are supposed to enter into a knowing and loving communion with God,

our Creator.

  

            We are supposed to live our life and do our work fully

knowing that we are working with God and for God. That is just how the

cookie crumbles. That is the ideal way of working.

   

            Our work then becomes our contribution to the abiding

providence of God over all his creation. As the masterpiece of God’s

creation, we are supposed to be working with God and for God,

responsible stewards of his, in a manner of speaking. We are meant to

cooperate with him in his continuing work of taking care of his

creation.

  

            We need to strive to live by this basic truth about

ourselves and spread it as widely as possible. The great majority of

the people all over the world are still ignorant of this truth. And

even for those who in principle know it, do not know how to translate

it into actual reality.

  

            That is why our work often produces a lot of

problems—pride, vanity, greed, envy, discord, to name a few. We are

seeing these problems around. They have become the common effects of

our work nowadays.

  

            When we would be more aware of this truth, even if we

still can commit errors due to our human limitations and the many

temptations around, there would be an effort to make our work a source

of real goodness, of love and compassion, of energy for unity among

ourselves, etc. We would strive for utmost competence and diligence.

   

            We need to start with our own selves in learning and

living by this basic truth of ourselves. Are our motivations and

intentions for working the right one? Do we know how to relate the

temporal and technical aspects of our work to God? Do we realize that

our work is our usual way of giving glory to God? And that it is our

usual way also of sanctifying ourselves and others?

  

            I believe we have to discuss these questions more often

and more openly, if only to make ourselves more literate in this

crucial aspect of our life, especially in our relation to God and to

others.

  

            Slowly but steadily, without letup, let’s help one another

acquire this proper understanding and attitude toward our work and its

corresponding skills. What a world it is going to be if we work in

this way!

Our spiritual and supernatural bearing

WE should always remember that our life is not just lived

in the level of the physical and material dimensions. It is not even

lived in the social level in all its aspects—economic, political,

historical, etc.

  

            Our life has a prominently spiritual dimension that

requires us to nourish the way we think, judge, reason and ultimately

to love. These are the functions of our spiritual soul. It’s in this

dimension that the supernatural aspect of our life enters.

  

            Our spiritual soul with all its faculties (our

intelligence and will) enables us to go beyond our material and

natural world. It is what connects and engages us with others, be they

things or persons or a supernatural being. It is what enables us to

enter into communion with others.

  

            We just have to remember that our spiritual soul is not a

self-generated being. It is a creature, created by God the Creator. It

is what would make us realize that we come from God and should remain

with God for its proper vitality. We have to realize deeply that we

cannot live properly without him.

  

            That is why we have to see to it that to live properly as

a human person we need to establish and continually reinforce our

spiritual and supernatural bearing. This duty has priority over all

the other duties we have in this life. We may call it the mother duty

from where all our other duties and responsibilities, as well as our

rights and dignity, spring.

  

            We should do everything to establish, recover and maintain

this spiritual bearing and supernatural outlook. We should see to it

that more than anything else, we should be guided by God’s will and

ways that are shared with us through his gifts of faith, hope and

charity. We just cannot rely on our own counsel.

  

            Given the way we usually are, we really need to exert

great effort to comply with this duty of keeping a spiritual and

supernatural bearing in our life. Fact is we tend to rely simply on

our own ideas, opinions, preferences. We easily allow ourselves to be

swayed by social trends and fads, hardly questioning their foundations

and orientations.

  

            That is why we need some time everyday to do some deep

thinking and reflection that should lead us to meditate on God’s word

and works, and to pray, that is, to enter into conversation with God.

Otherwise, we would not be able to enter the spiritual and

supernatural dimension of our life. We would simply remain in the

peripherals and the superficial aspects of our life.

  

            In this, we certainly are not inventing things and playing

make-believe. Though God is the most mysterious object of our

thoughts, he is the most real being that we can ever think of. That’s

because being the creator of the whole universe, he is the very

foundation of reality. We just have to accustom ourselves with the

dynamics of the spiritual and supernatural world.

  

            We obviously need to be humble to acknowledge this basic

reality of the spiritual and supernatural world and try our best to

correspond to it. For certain, we need to constantly ask for God’s

grace which is actually given in abundance so that we would always

feel the need to take care of our spiritual bearing and supernatural

outlook.

  

            That is why we have to learn the art of being recollected

and of being a true contemplative right in the middle of the world. We

have to learn to turn our worldly and temporal affairs as means, not

obstacles, in our abiding connection with God.

“My words will not pass away”

THIS was what Christ said, reassuring us that even if he

went away and the world itself would disappear, he would still be with

us, guiding and directing us to our ultimate destination. “Heaven and

earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” (Lk 21,33)

  

            Let’s remember that Christ’s words are no ordinary words

that would just come and go. His words are eternal, effective and ever

relevant to everything that happens in our life. His words will always

shed light and give meaning to every event, situation and predicament

we can have in this life.

  

            The Letter to the Hebrews says as much: “The word of God

is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it

penetrates even to the dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It

judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” (4,12)

  

            The Letter to the Hebrews continues by saying: “Nothing in

all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and

laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” (4,13)

  

            We have to realize that we need to be guided by God’s

words rather than by our own thoughts, reasoning and estimations of

things. No matter how brilliant and clever we are, we can only go so

far in understanding things in this world, many of which are very

mysterious to us.

  

            We have to develop a fondness for the words of God. This

we can do as long as we exert due effort and continually ask, with

humility, for the grace of God. Without these requirements, we can

easily be swept away by the many alluring ideologies in the world.

  

            It’s when we listen and live by God’s words that we attain

our human and Christian maturity. And as St. Paul would say, we would

then be like infants no longer, “tossed back and forth by the waves,

and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning

and craftiness of the people in their deceitful scheming.” (Eph 4,14)

  

            It’s important that we spend time developing a liking and

an intimacy with the words of God. We have to read and meditate on

them daily, and use them as the spirit behind all events, activities

and concerns that we have during the day.

  

            We have to understand that God’s words are not meant to

give us the technical solutions to our problems. They are meant to be

the soul and the spirit of all our concerns and activities.

  

            Christ himself did not have all the technical solutions to

the problems during his stay here on earth. In the end, he had to

offer his life since he could not anymore find the solution to the

extreme case of injustice inflicted on him. But his death was not

actually a defeat. It occasioned the supreme victory over sin and

death with his resurrection.

   

            This is how we have to look at God’s words. They contain

natural truths and can give natural solutions to our natural problems.

But what they have are, first of all, supernatural and redemptive

truths that can ultimately solve our humanly insoluble problems with

sin and death and that can bring us to our eternal destination where

we truly belong.

   

            Let us promote a culture of gospel-reading and meditation

everyday. A few minutes with the gospel daily can go a long way in

putting our life on the right path. We should not miss the great

treasure we have in the gospel. We can use the new technologies to

promote this culture.

Carefree with Christ

THAT’S right! We can afford to be worry-free and as

carefree as a bird if we only know how to be with Christ, trusting

always in his unconditional love for us, his ever-merciful and wise

providence over us.

  

            Even in our worst predicaments, when we are beset with all

sorts of problems that humanly speaking are already insoluble, we can

still manage to be cheerful, calm and confident about our life. Christ

takes care of everything. He knows exactly what to do. Even from evil

things, he can derive some good.

  

            Remember his reassurances. “In this world you will have

trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (Jn 16,33)

“Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Mt 28,20)

“You will be hated by all because of my name, but not a hair on your

head will be destroyed.” (Lk 21,18)

  

            Still more: "Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all

numbered. Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.” (Lk

12,7) "Can a woman forget her nursing child and have no compassion on

the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget

you.” (Is 49,15)

  

                In many instances, he reassured his disciples not to

be afraid of him when he would appear to them in some mysterious ways.

He is always solicitous of our needs and compassionate.

  

            We just have to know how to stick with him especially in

our trying moments. Let’s do everything to live always in his presence

and mindful of all his reassurances. Let’s always be humble enough to

feel our constant need for him and to avoid feeling that we can just

be all right by ourselves.

  

            To be carefree with Christ is important to us since that

is the ideal condition for us to be able to do a lot of things out of

love for God and for others. Let’s remember that we are to develop

that love, and that love has to be shown in deeds, not only in words

and good intentions.

   

            When we are carefree with Christ, we can do all kinds of

things, even those which we feel we are not good at. When we are

carefree with Christ, we can manage to face all sorts of trials and

challenges, and enabled to handle them properly. We would know to cope

with all the difficulties in life.

  

            With Christ, things become doable or bearable, the

impossible becomes possible. In this regard, he again assures us:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you

rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and

humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is

easy and my burden light.” (Mt 11,28-30)

  

            We should not allow ourselves to be dominated simply by

our human doubts and fears. Christ is always around. He is always

there for us. We need to discipline our feelings and emotions that

often go on their own ways, without being directed by our faith.

  

            This is the challenge we have, part of the self-denial

that Christ is telling us to do. We need to listen to Christ rather

than to the impulses of our instincts and emotions only or primarily,

and even to the strong forces of the social and cultural trends

around.

  

            We need to see to it that at any given moment, we truly

can feel that we are carefree—that is, carefree with Christ.

Smoke and mirrors

IT’S the act of “obscuring or embellishing the truth of a

situation with misleading or irrelevant information.” This is now, sad

to say, a common phenomenon, especially in the press and in the social

media, with all kinds of bloggers and trolls dominating the

cyberspace.

  

            That is why we have a proliferation or, better said, an

infestation of the notorious “fake news.” There is now so much

contentiousness in the spreading of news items and in the exchanges of

opinions that we would not know anymore which one is true, fair and

with some basis.

  

            News-reporting nowadays is not anymore objective

news-reporting as it is now openly opinion-making, since biased,

selective slants and spins are clearly, if subtly, used in the

process.

  

            The worst area that is affected by smoke and mirrors

happen to be, to my mind, in the homilies at Mass, where instead of

the word of God being proclaimed, some man-made theories and opinions

are retailed.

  

            These past days, I have heard homilies that do not sound

anymore like homilies. A lot of trivias, stories, anecdotes and jokes

dominated the homilies, and instead of reinforcing the word of God,

they detract from it. The people remember, as their take-home message,

the trivias and the jokes and not anymore the word of God.

  

            This is unfortunate because this is clearly a misuse of

that liturgical part of the Mass. And that’s why from time to time,

the homilies stray into areas that instead of fostering love,

understanding and unity, they sow division and confusion. This happens

when the homilies assume a partisan political character.

   

            Not only that. Nowadays, the distinction between a homily

and eulogy is getting blurred. Instead of talking about Christ, the

homily dwells more on the deceased. Christ is relegated to the

background, if ever he is considered at all.

  

            The same during wedding Masses. Instead of talking about

the sanctity of marriage as taught by Christ, the focus is on the

couple—how they met, how they fell in love, etc. Nothing wrong to talk

about these things, but it should not be in the homily.

   

            The homily, of course, has to be relevant to certain

current issues. But it should be made clear that it is the teaching of

Christ that is expounded, not just some social, political or economic

theories and observations. Even in Masses of fiestas and memorials of

saints, it should be Christ who should be clearly proclaimed. The

saints play only a supporting role.

  

            There may not be bad intention involved here. In fact, a

lot of good intention can be presumed. But just the same, with good

intention, we can still do things wrongly.

  

            This, of course, is a big challenge to the homilists,

since it would require them to know the connection between God’s word

with the issues at hand. Yes, a certain sound theology is needed here,

one that effectively applies God’s word to these issues in a way that

these issues get inspired by God’s word.

  

            For this, the homilists need not be intelligent and

observant fellows, but true men of God, whose hearts are both with God

and with men, are both in heaven and on earth. They need to present

the living Christ to the people during the homily.

  

            They are not there to strut their stuff, to show off their

talents. They have to be no less than “alter Christus,” head of the

Church, not some performers or actors or scholars only.

Our great treasure in the Sto. Nino

WE really have to be most thankful that even up to now we

as a people still have a great devotion to the Sto. Nino. Instead of

waning through the years, this popular piety we have toward the Child

Jesus has grown.

  

            Yes, there are still things that should be made right and

purified, (I suppose we will never run out of them), but we cannot

deny that this devotion has helped us greatly in a world and in times

that are increasingly secularized and paganised. Think of the many

so-called liberal people in the world who have considered faith,

religion and piety as obsolete.

            Thanks to God the image of Christ as both a child and king

has truly so captured the Filipino heart (especially the Cebuano

heart) that whatever situation we may find ourselves in, whether good

or bad humanly speaking, we still keep our Christian faith and try our

best to live by it.

   

            Let’s hope that this devotion continues to develop and to

spread more widely, especially among the young ones who are most

vulnerable to the faith-killing and piety-numbing ways of the world

today. In this, we have to use both the human and supernatural means

of prayer and sacrifice, and to involve as many people and

institutions as possible.

  

            That the Sto. Nino is both child and king somehow reminds

us that we need to be like a child to attain our ultimate kingly goal

of human maturity and Christian perfection. As we grow older, more

exposed to the world and gaining a lot of experience, we need to be

more like a child, deepening and enriching our spiritual childhood in

Christ.

  

            Let’s always remember what Christ himself said: “Unless

you change and become like little children, you will never enter the

kingdom of heaven.” (Mt 18,3)

            Yes, children and heaven are almost synonymous to each

other. No wonder we feel like we are in heaven every time we see

children around. Every time a baby is born, we are very happy because

we somehow know that he just did not come out of his mother’s womb,

but rather from the very hands of God who created him before the

parents procreated him.

  

            In spite of the many limitations of children, what makes

them always desirable is their pure, innocent heart, incapable of

malice, ambition, pride and haughtiness. They are a source of many

other good things.

            Their heart is always trusting in the Lord always, just

like a little kid is always confident with his father. Faith and hope

easily grow and acquire strength when nurtured in a child's heart.

It's this attitude that leads them to go on and move on no matter

what, for life to them could only be an adventure of discoveries.

            It's this kind of heart that makes them transparent,

sincere and simple, not afraid to be known as they truly are. They may

still lack the subtlety of prudence and discretion, and be prone to

spontaneity, but they hardly mind these deficiencies.

            They are only interested in doing what they think is good

and enjoyable. Suggestions and corrections do not humiliate them.

Rather, they welcome these suggestions and corrections.

            Children are humble, teachable, flexible and docile. You

can tell them anything, and they always tend to believe and obey.

Attainments, achievements and successes do not spoil them. Neither do

difficulties, temptations and failures crush them and plunge them to

sadness or bitterness.

            They are easy to motivate, to be consoled, to be

optimistic. Falls and mistakes are easily forgotten. They only leave a

mark that becomes a source of precious lessons for them to learn. They

are quick to heal when wounded.

When misunderstood and misjudged

WE should not be too surprised when we are misunderstood

and misjudged by others. There are a million reasons why these can

happen anytime, given the way we all are. But we should be ready to

react properly when these things happen to us. Truth is, if we know

how to, we can even take advantage of those occasions

  

            We have to be clear about the following point. That we get

misunderstood and misjudged by others does not give us the right to do

the same to them. That would be following the discredited law of

Talion. We should not respond to these situations simply on the

impulse of our gut reactions. It would just make things worse.

  

            We need to be calm and figure out what the most prudent

way to react is. Very often, we need to pause and pray, bring matters

in the presence of God, asking for his light and guidance. We have to

learn how to hold our horses. What we cannot understand and handle,

let’s leave them in the hands of God who knows what to do with

everything.

  

            In the meantime, let us console ourselves with the thought

that by being misunderstood and misjudged, we actually liken ourselves

to Christ who suffered the most extreme case of being misunderstood

and misjudged and who converted that predicament as our way of

salvation. With him, we also will have a way out of this predicament.

  

            That consideration would calm us down and help us avoid

experiencing unnecessary anguish and dangerous bitterness. It would

foster a spirit of sportsmanship such that setbacks like these would

only sharpen our desire to play better, so to speak, and not to waste

time brooding and entertaining bad thoughts and judgments.

  

            There will always be precious lessons for us to learn when

we are misunderstood and misjudged. Let’s never forget that if certain

bad things happen to us, it is because God at least allows them to

happen. And if they happen, it is because God wants to convey

something good, a saving message for us or that he wants us to derive

something beneficial to us.

   

            These occasions of being misunderstood and misjudged

actually give us precious insights about our weaknesses and the

weaknesses of others. They give a good picture of the fragile

condition that we all are in. But at the same time we would also know

that there is a way of handling this condition properly.

  

            We have to be quick to go to God asking for light. We

should avoid just getting stuck with our own devices. We are

completely helpless before certain mysterious things in our life. Only

in him can we have a good understanding of our situation, knowing why

God allows it to happen. Only in him can we repeat St. Paul’s words:

  

            “We are pressed on all sides, but not crushed; perplexed,

but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not

destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so

that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.” (2 Cor

4,8-10)

  

            Let’s remember that as St. Paul said: “God works all

things together for the good of those who love him, who are called

according to his purpose.” (Rom 8,28) So, the crucial thing to be and

to do is to be with Christ and to follow his will, no matter what.

  

            This should be our reaction whenever we are misunderstood

and misjudged. This is not hard to do. We just have to practice it

more often, because as they say, “practice makes perfect.”

God and the world

WE need to clarify a few points about the relation between

God and the world in general. While it’s true that a number of gospel

passages picture the world as bad, it does not mean that God and the

world are inherently opposed to each other.

  

            On the contrary, God and the world should merit the same

love, since we can only have one love, and our love for God should be

the same but much more if not infinitely more elevated than our love

for the world.

  

            Our love can only be one because love is only possible

with God who is the source, pattern, end and energy for love. Our love

should start and end with God, and everything between the start and

end of our love should simply be a means and an occasion to love God.

This should be made clear to everyone as early as possible.

  

            Yes, it’s true that we need to be careful with the world,

because of the many dangers it contains. St. John articulated this

warning very well when he said: “For everything in the world--the lust

of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life--comes not

from the Father but from the world.” (1 Jn 2,16)

  

            As corollaries to this truth of our faith, Christ tells us

that if we follow him we will be hated by the world, that we have to

conquer the world with him, etc., etc. But these do not take away the

fact that the world is a creation of God and therefore good, though

spoiled by our sin.

              And precisely because the world has strayed from God, God

has to send his only Son to save it. Again St. John expressed this

very well when he said: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his

only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,

but have everlasting life.” (3,16)

  

            The point to make is that we ought to have the same

attitude of God toward the world, as shown to us concretely by Christ.

When we have Christ’s mind and heart, we will love the world and do

everything to bring it back from its alienated state to him from whom

it came and to whom it belongs.

  

            We would not be afraid of the world that much, because

with Christ we can conquer it insofar as it is opposed to God. Rather

we have to love the world the way God loves it, without being worldly.

  

            This means that if we truly love God, we should not run

away from the world and the many challenges it poises on us. Rather we

should love it, immerse ourselves in it, make use of what is true,

good and beautiful in it and purify it of what is not.

   

            It would clearly be a wrong understanding of what and how

it is to love God if we equate loving God with running away from the

world, or worse, hating it. The negative and evil things we can find

in the world should only spur us to love the world the way God loves

it—sending his only begotten Son to it. In other words, we have to be

“alter Christus” to love the world properly.

  

            We have to understand that loving the world will

necessarily involve a lot of suffering and self-denial. We should not

be afraid to bear all this. Christ has assured us we will always win

with him in our war of peace and love with the world.

Glorifying God is our best moment

THAT’S right! It’s when we manage to glorify God always in

our thoughts, our words and deeds, that we would have the best time

here on earth, the highest “high” we can ever attain in this life.

That’s simply because glorifying God constitutes the best act of love

we can give God who is our Creator and Father.

  

            Glorifying God can only signify that we are giving

everything to him, everything in our life that includes not only the

good things but also the repented bad and negative things all the way

to our death.

  

            It is an act of total self-giving and submission to him

who is everything to us. Through it, we empty ourselves completely to

fill ourselves only with God. It is where we unite ourselves to him

completely and share in his own glory.

  

            This act of glorifying God presumes that we do it out of

love, out of freedom, and of total gratuitousness that corresponds to

God’s total and gratuitous love for us.

            Let’s remember that God himself through Christ has to

empty himself by becoming man, out of sheer love for us. This is the

language of love. One empties himself to fill himself with his

beloved. We achieve this self-emptying and God-filling when we manage

to glorify God.

  

            We should see to it that whatever we do, we should try our

best that we manage to glorify God. St. Paul precisely said as much:

“Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory

of God.” (1 Cor 10,31)

  

            We may have to make a very deliberate effort to do this,

especially in the beginning. Hopefully, time will come that after

doing this many times, it will become a habit to us, something that we

do automatically.

  

            To be sure, glorifying God will not reduce our humanity,

much less, distort it. On the contrary, it will enhance our humanity,

and make it reach its peak development. It can only mean that we can

take on anything in this life, whether it is humanly considered as

good or bad, big or small, ordinary or extraordinary, etc. With the

proper understanding of our faith, everything can be made an occasion

to glorify God.

  

            It will make us above the ups and downs of life even as we

go through the twists and turns of life. It will give us joy and

peace. A sense of confidence permeates our whole life.

   

            We need to do some rehearsal to make glorifying God a

habit in us. We have to activate our faith to be able not only to

relate everything to God, but, more importantly, to use them to

glorify God.

  

            We have to stay away from being restricted by relying only

on some human standards of achieving joy and peace. We have to rely on

our faith that gives us the whole picture and provides us with all the

necessary means to achieve joy and peace while here on earth. That

way, we can manage to glorify God.

  

            Let’s remember that the more we empty ourselves and give

ourselves to God, the more we will unite ourselves with him, the more

he fills us with his graces. St. Bernard expressed this truth

beautifully when said: “Nothing is lacking when everything is given.”

   

            Yes, everything has to be given, including our rest and

recreation, our problems and failures, our difficulties and trials.

Nothing is useless in terms of glorifying God. Everything can be made

use of!