The sense of heaven and eternity

WE need to see to it that even as we immerse ourselves as

deeply as possible in our earthly affairs, we do not lose our sense of

heaven and eternity. In fact, the ideal is that as we go deeper in our

temporal affairs, our sense of heaven and eternity should also become

sharper.

  

            This is always possible and doable as long as we are

guided first of all by our faith rather than by our feelings and by

our merely human estimation of things. Let’s always remember that it

is our faith, our Christian faith, that gives the whole picture of our

life—where we come from, where we are supposed to go, the purpose of

our life here on earth, the true value of our mundane concerns, etc.

             Let’s be theological in our thinking and reaction to the

things of this world. For that, we of course would need some training.

It should consist of always referring things to God, whatever they may

be—good or bad, a success or a failure, a victory or a defeat, etc. We

need to feel the urge to do so.

  

            In short, we have to keep our spiritual and supernatural

bearing which should involve a certain detachment from the things of

the world. For this detachment to be lived, we should assume a certain

spirit of gamesmanship or sportsmanship, since the effectiveness of

our earthly affairs is not so much in whether we win or succeed in

them as in whether we manage to refer them to God whatever the

outcome.

   

            We try to do our best to win in whatever endeavor we do,

but just the same, whether we win or lose we remain happy and assured

that we are all friends, brothers and sisters, and children of God.

  

            The detachment involved here can be of the heroic type as

illustrated in the gospel. “If your hand or your foot causes you to

stumble,” Christ said, “cut it off and throw it away. It is better for

you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two

feet and be thrown eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to

stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter

life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of

hell.” (Mt 18,8-9)

  

            Though these words should not be taken too literally, we

have to understand that we have to be ready to take extraordinary

means if only to stay the course in our earthly activities.

  

            We cannot deny that we are ranged against formidable

enemies in our earthly life that tend to bind us only to time and

space, as if our whole life has nothing beyond those dimensions.

  

            We have to constantly remind ourselves of what the Letter

to the Hebrews has told us clearly. “We don’t have a permanent city

here on earth, but we are looking for the city that we will have in

the future.” (13,14)

  

            We have to train our mind and heart as well as our

feelings and senses to conform themselves to this truth of our faith.

In our personal prayers and meditations, let us consider from time to

time the reality of heaven and reinforce that primitive yearning we

have in our heart for a life without end, for a happiness that has no

limits, which can only take place in heaven.

  

            Let us remind ourselves frequently that our faith tells us

that we actually come from God, and not just from our parents, and we

are meant to be with God forever in heaven after our earthly sojourn

which is meant to test us if we want to be with God or just with

ourselves.

Always be child-like

THIS is what Christ wants us to be always. “Let the

children come to me,” he said. “Do not prevent them, for the Kingdom

of God belongs to such as these. Amen, I say to you, whoever does not

accept the Kingdom of God like a child will not enter it.” (Mk

10,14-15)

  

            To be sure, it’s not a call to be childish, as in being

whimsy, capricious, thoughtless. Rather we are asked to be always

humble and simple, full of trust in the authorities and especially in

the providence of God, and eager to believe in what is good, precisely

like a child whose worries are few and not deep and lasting.

  

            We have to remember that Christ also said that even while

we have to be simple and innocent like doves, we should also be shrewd

and clever like serpents. (cfr Mt 10,16) We have to find ways of how

we can blend these two apparently contrasting qualities together.

  

            To be child-like is to have a lot of faith in God. It is

to be led more by that faith than by our merely human estimation of

things. It is to accept whatever happens in our life but always

confident that God never abandons us and is leading us to him through

the ups and downs of our life.

  

            To be child-like is to have a pure and innocent heart,

incapable of malice, ambition, pride and arrogance. It is to have the

confidence that even our defects and mistakes, if immediately referred

to God, do not really matter much.

  

            To be child-like is to be transparent, simple and sincere,

unafraid to be known as they really are, warts and all. The knowledge

and vast experience they gain in life do not alter their simplicity

which neither negates prudence and discretion.

  

            To be child-like is to be welcoming to suggestions and

corrections made on them. These do not make them feel humiliated, but

rather thankful. To be child-like is to be teachable, flexible and

docile. When one is child-like, he can be told anything and he tends

to believe and obey. Attainments, achievements and successes do not

spoil him. Neither do difficulties, temptations and failures crush

them and plunge them to sadness or bitterness.

  

            To be child-like is to be easy to be motivated and

consoled. It is to be optimistic despite problems and difficulties.

Falls and mistakes are easily forgotten. To be child-like is to be

disposed to see things as they are, whether they are self-evident

natural truths or highly mysterious supernatural realities. What is

not understood is simply accepted and believed, relying simply on the

recommendation of parents and elders.

   

            To be child-like is to capture the spirit of the

beatitudes, where being poor in spirit, being meek or in a state of

mourning, being pure of heart and being persecuted, insulted and the

like are no big problem. They are good occasions to go closer to God.

   

            We need to always reinforce this need of ours to be

child-like. That’s because we are easily carried away by today’s world

forces that pressure us to leave behind our being like a child and

become complicated to tackle the complicated issues and situations of

the times.

  

            That’s always a strong temptation to us, because as they

say, it would take a thief to catch a thief. But let us remember

always that to untangle the knots of our times, we need to be simple,

always going to God for any problem-solving. And that’s simply because

to be complicated to uncomplicate complicated things would just make

things worse, not so much for others as for oneself.

  

            To be child-like knows how to abandon oneself in the hands

of God irrespective of the sacrifices involved.!

Giving our all

THAT gospel story about a rich young man who asked Christ

how he can inherit eternal life (cfr. Mk 10,17-27) is a poignant

warning among the so-called good Christians who are already doing a

lot of good but still are unwilling to give all to God.

            It’s a story that effectively reveals what is truly inside

our heart. Is our heart really for God or is it actually just for

ourselves though it can be showy about being Godly? The man in the

gospel readily admitted that he had been observing the commandments,

as Christ articulated them again. But when he was told what he had to

do to merit eternal life, he could not take it.

            “You are lacking in one thing,” Christ told him. “Go, sell

what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in

heaven. Then come, follow me.” At this, the man’s face fell and went

away sad, for he had many possessions which he was unwilling to give

up.

            We have to be most wary of this scenario in our life,

which actually, and sadly, is quite common. There are good people who

are not truly good enough, because when the ultimate test is made,

they are not willing to give up all in order to have God.

            They forget what St. Teresa once said, “Solo Dios basta,”

(With God we have enough). They get too attached to the many good

things in their life such that these blessings from God are converted

into competitors of God themselves.

            They prefer a life in this world that is without

suffering, without self-denial, without the cross, as if a genuine

Christian life can be exempted from all these. It is as if they have

been born without original sin and have led their lives without

committing any sin at all.

            We have to be most careful with this most likely

phenomenon happening in our lives. Yes, we have to be well-guarded

against this temptation and do everything to combat it whenever,

wherever and however it arises.

            It would be a pity if after the many good things we may be

doing, we fail to pass the final test. We have to remember that love

is without measure. It is in its nature to give itself completely,

convinced that what seems to be lost would actually be regained a

hundredfold. In this, Christ has reassured us abundantly.

            We have to be wary of the tricks of the devil and of our

own wounded flesh that all try to block us in the last stretch in our

pursuit of love. They will try to convince us that we already have

given and done enough. We do not need to give more. They will try to

trick us to be self-satisfied with what we already have been giving

and doing.

            To be sure, to give ourselves completely to God and to

others is not easy. We need nothing less than the grace of God and our

generous and prompt correspondence to it. But it’s not impossible.

            We just have to learn to give ourselves to God and others

more and more each day. We can ask ourselves, for example, “Today,

what can I give more to God and to the others?” “What else have I been

keeping to myself rather than giving it away to God and to the

others?”

            For sure, we will have some answers to those questions and

start to act on them. In this way, the attitude and practice of giving

our all, even if in instalment basis, can be achieved.

            Let us look beyond our own comfort zones, and reach out to

others, conquering more areas of divine and human concerns out of

love. We will be repaid abundantly. God cannot be outdone in

generosity.

Taking care of our spiritual powers

WE need to give due attention and care for our spiritual

faculties of the intellect and will. As our Christian faith tells us,

of all the powers and capabilities we have, it is the intellect and

the will that make us image and likeness of God before all the other

components of our humanity, like our body, can partake of the same

dignity.

            That’s simply because these powers of ours enable us to

know and to love, and therefore, allowing us to enter into communion

with the objects of our knowledge and love. They are spiritual powers

that transcend the dynamics of our physical or material constitution,

i.e., our biological, chemical make-up, etc.

            As such, these powers of ours are capable of receiving and

acting not only on things of nature, but also on the spiritual and

supernatural realities. A philosophical term is applied to this

phenomenon. And this is called their “obediential potency,” that

allows them to be elevated to the supernatural order, to the world of

grace, the world of the spirit and of God.

            As a Catholic dictionary would put it, obediential potency

is “the capacity to receive either a miraculous change or a

supernatural perfection that exceeds the natural capacities of a

being.” Of all the creatures of God, we, together with the angels,

have that potency.

            It stands to reason therefore that we have to give due

attention and care for these powerful faculties of ours. We just

cannot allow them to develop on their own, simply guided by what our

senses can discern.

            They have to be inspired and guided by the things of God

who give us a share not only of his knowledge but also of his very

life through the gifts of faith, hope and charity, or the gift of

grace in general.

            Unless our spiritual faculties of intellect and will are

guided by faith, hope and charity, they can only go anywhere and

nowhere, and in fact can expose and lead us to a lot of dangers.

Indeed, they can be our worst enemy, our gravest curse!

            Without faith, hope and charity, or without grace, we may

know a lot of things and get involved also in significant human

affairs, but we will fail to reach the goal meant for us. We would be

prone to get entangled in controversies and endless contentions.

            That is why nowadays we see a lot of controversies and

wranglings, bashings, not to mention sins that are now considered as

the right things to do, like abortion, contraception, corruption,

same-sex marriage, divorce, etc.

            With faith, hope and charity, or with grace, we get to see

and behave beyond the physical sense and to reason beyond the human

sphere. In short, we get to reflect the life and the ways of Christ in

our own lives, Christ who is the very pattern of our humanity and the

redeemer of our wounded humanity.

            To be sure, letting our intellect and will to be inspired

and guided by faith, hope and charity does not undermine the natural

operations of these spiritual faculties of ours. If at all, it will

only enhance their functions, using them in their fullest potentials.

            With faith, hope and charity, our intellect and will can

avoid getting trapped in a bubble that isolates them from the

spiritual and supernatural world. With faith, hope and charity, even

the smallest and insignificant activity of these spiritual faculties

can acquire an eternal value.

            We need to see to it that our intellect and will are truly

inspired and guided by these theological virtues, going deep in our

knowledge of the doctrine of our faith, availing of the sacraments,

developing the virtues, and waging a lifelong ascetical struggle.

Our blessings and misfortunes

WE should have the proper attitude towards our blessings

and misfortunes. Given our condition, these are unavoidable items in

our life and we just need to know how to handle them, so we can take

advantage of them rather than get spoiled by them.

            The basic attitude to have is, of course, to count our

blessings always, rather than brood over our misfortunes. Our

blessings are obvious and countless, and we need to take account of

them especially as we go through the usual challenges, trials and

difficulties in our life. We tend to take them for granted. To be

sure, God is always there for us. He will never fail us. It’s rather

us who can fail him and ourselves.

            Let’s never forget that we are creatures of God, and in

fact, the masterpiece of his creation. He has endowed us with

intelligence and will and showered us with his grace such that we

truly become his image and likeness, and adopted children of his

through Christ in the Holy Spirit.

            This basic truth about ourselves should infuse us with a

deep sense of joy and confidence, in spite of whatever problem,

difficulty, mistake and sin we can commit. Let’s always remember the

parable of the prodigal son. No matter how much we abuse God’s

goodness, God will always welcome us back if we decide to go back to

him.

            Besides, it would be good if we are constantly aware of

the many good things that we enjoy in life and that we tend to take

for granted. The air we breathe, the food we eat, the family we have,

etc.,--these things should lead us to be most thankful to God and to

keep being close to him, always doing his will, because away from him,

we can only have problems.

            Even our misfortunes can be a source of blessing as long

as we go through them with God. Everything will always work out for

the good, St. Paul reassured us. (cfr Rom 8,28)

            We have to be wary of a strong current trend in the world

today where people tend to depend simply only on their own resources

instead of going to God. Such attitude, no matter how brilliant,

talented and gifted a person is, cannot cope with all the challenges

in life. Sooner or later, he will be overcome by life’s problems and

troubles.

            When we count our blessings, we unavoidably are led to God

who is the source of all good things. In this, St. James in his letter

told us very clearly. “Every good and perfect gift is from above,

coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights…” (1,17)

            Nowadays, I see many people, even many young ones, already

looking sad and depressed because they are more aware of their

problems and difficulties rather than the many blessings they have.

Some have even gone to the extent of knowing only the bad things in

life, and nothing of the good things.

            I guess such phenomenon is due in large part to the trend

of ignoring God in their lives, or just taking him for granted. There

is so much secularism around, so much paganism, where the basic

equality of men where everyone loves one another is forgotten and is

replaced by the law of the jungle where the strong and fortunate can

easily take advantage of the weak and the unlucky.

            It would be good if from time to time we pause and take

account of the many good things God has given us. It would lead us to

realize what is really important in life, and to avoid getting

entangled and lost in the drama of life.

            Remember that we are meant to be always happy and calm

even in the midst of our misfortunes.

The sinner and his sin

IT is said that we have to love the sinner but hate the

sin. I suppose that’s simply because what is wrong is sin itself, but

the one who committed it, though he may be guilty of what he did, is

still a brother or a sister of ours whom we have to love and help to

get back to the right way.

            It is easier said than done, of course. What usually

happens is that we are easily overtaken by our feelings and emotions

and, in a sense, throw the baby with the bath water. That is, while we

hate the sin for the inconvenience, damage and other evils it causes,

we end up hating the sinner also. This is a very common phenomenon.

            We have to find ways of distinguishing the sinner from the

sin. But the basis for this effort to keep loving the sinner in spite

of his sins is the example of Christ. We need to meditate often on the

life and death of Christ, because it is where we are shown how to love

the sinner while hating the sin.

            And the example of Christ is clearly that of proclaiming

the truth about what is right and wrong, what is good and evil, and of

offering forgiveness for everyone, even if the requirements of justice

were not fully met yet. Anyway, with what we owe Christ, we can never

fully fulfill the requirements of justice.

            This is something we have to learn as early as possible.

We just have to deepen our knowledge of what is right and wrong, what

is good and evil, and conform our life to it as best as we can. And

then like Christ, let us be quick to forgive, or at least, to offer

forgiveness, just as we have to be quick to ask for forgiveness if we

are ones in the wrong.

            Of course, we should also be interested in living as best

as we could the requirements of justice among ourselves. But we should

also realize that no matter how much we try to live justice, we can

never have it perfectly. And the last word we have to give is that of

mercy. Mercy is the ultimate expression of justice.

            Like Christ, we have to be willing to bear the burdens of

the others. That’s precisely what St. Paul said in his Letter to the

Galatians. “Carry each other’s burdens,” he said, “and in this way you

will fulfill the law of Christ.” (6,2)

            Yes, Christ just bore all our sins to save us, to bring us

back to where we came from and to whom we belong—God.  He just had to

forego the requirements of justice to reconcile us with God. That was

why he just kept silent when he was tried and sentenced to death in

the most unfair trial of all times. He did it to save us.

            That is the attitude we ought to have when we are faced

with the sins of men. While sins will always be sins and ought to be

condemned, we have to do everything, including foregoing justice and

just handing mercy, to save the sinner.

            We may even have to find excuses for the sinner who can be

ourselves too. Not only that, we can and should take the initiative to

bring the sinner back to the right path, even if that effort would

meet resistance and hostility.

            In other words, let’s have the magnanimity of Christ, his

heart that is full of love and compassion. Otherwise, if we just get

stuck with our concern for justice, we will never end in our

wrangling, our quarreling, our animosities, etc.

            Remember, the sinner is still our brother or sister. He or

she is still a child of God.

Never take God for granted

THIS is our usual problem. We take God for granted many,

many times. Even when he is always around, we manage to ignore him and

even to go against him. We have to overcome this problem.

            Let’s remember that time when Christ returned to his

hometown and started teaching in the synagogue, and his people could

not believe that one of them was a “big guy.” (cfr. Mt 13,54-56)

            That kind of reaction can very well describe our attitude

toward God in general. Even if we as a people are Christian believers,

many of us do not realize that God continues to be with us. He is

actually inside and outside us. He is all around.

            A beautiful psalm describes the omnipresence of God. It

may be worthwhile to put it here, at least, in part, so that we become

familiar with this phenomenon and start to correspond to it properly.

            It’s in Psalm 139 where it says: “You have searched me,

Lord / and you know me. / You know when I sit and when I rise; / you

perceive my thoughts from afar. / You discern my going out and my

lying down; / you are familiar with all my ways. / Before a word is on

my tongue / you, Lord, know it completely. / You hem me in behind and

before, / and you lay your hand upon me. /

            “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, / too lofty for

me to attain. / Where can I go from your Spirit? / Where can I flee

from your presence? / If I go up to the heavens, you are there; / if I

make my bed in the depths, you are there. / If I rise on the wings of

the dawn, / if I settle on the far side of the sea, / even there your

hand will guide me, / your right hand will hold me fast. /

            “If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will hide me / and the

light become night around me,’ / even the darkness will not be dark to

you; / the night will shine like the day, / for darkness is as light

to you...”

            I remember Opus Dei Founder St. Josemaria Escriva saying

something similar. “There is something holy,” he said, “something

divine hidden in the most ordinary situations, and it is up to each

one of you to discover it.”

            Yes, what we have to do is to cultivate the skill of being

aware of God’s presence all the time and in everything. It’s a matter

of honing our contemplative dispositions and skills, which means that

we should not just be contented at looking at things in their

externals and neither in their internals. We have to go beyond and see

the presence of God at the core of everything that exists.

            Let’s remember that God as Creator can never be absent

from his creatures, because as Creator he is the giver as well as the

maintainer of a creature’s very existence. Take him out, and that

creature reverts to nothing.

            That is why God is in control of everything. He may allow

us to act freely such that we can go against him, but he is still on

top of us. Our freedom cannot remove him from us. We just have to

realize that our freedom is properly exercised when done to give glory

to God. That’s what our freedom is actually for.

            We have to sharpen our contemplative skills even in our

most mundane affairs. So everyday, let us find ways of how this can

happen. It is the most worthwhile activity we can do. For what does it

profit a man if he gains the whole world, but loses his soul by

missing God in his life?

Not just Christian performers, actors, scholars

WE have to strongly and frequently remind ourselves that

we are supposed to be another Christ, who as the Son of God, the

perfect image that God has of himself, is the pattern of our humanity,

and who as the God-made-man, is the redeemer of our damaged humanity.

            We have to do everything to achieve that goal, that ideal,

for which Christ has already given us everything. In fact, he has

given his own self, and not just some means.

            We need to be truly Christian, going beyond just being

Christian by name, nor even just being a Christian performer or actor

or scholar, quite active in church activities and knowledgeable about

Christian doctrine. Much less should we be contented with being a

Christian caricature.

            We have to have the mind and heart of Christ, his very own

spirit which is given to us this time in the Holy Spirit, such that

while we can say that we are so-and-so as our personal, individual

identity, we can also say with conviction that we are another Christ.

            Our human identity, let us remember, is not complete

unless it is merged with the identity of Christ. And this is possible

and achievable because in the first place Christ wants it that way.

“You are mine,” we read in the Book of Isaiah (43,1), underlining the

fact that as a creature of God, we cannot be without our Creator and

Savior.

            That is why God continues to beg us to be with him. “My

son, give me your heart and let your eyes delight in my ways,” we read

in the Book of Proverbs. (23,26) Are we aware of this divine plea and

are we doing something about it?

            We should try our best to exercise our faith to the hilt,

the faith that God himself gives us. We have to be guided by our faith

more than anything else so that we can have not only an encounter with

God through Christ in the Holy Spirit, but also to enter into vital

union with him, such that God and us become one.

            This is no pipe dream. It’s true, of course, that while

this ideal will only be definitively achieved in heaven, it is also

true that it has to be pursued earnestly, without let-up, while here

on earth. It can be done. It should be done, what with all the

resources Christ has made available for this purpose.

            When we have the mind and heart of Christ, we would know

how to understand everyone and everything, and would be willing, like

Christ, to bear whatever burden there is in our relation with others.

We would know how to be patient, compassionate and merciful. Anger,

envy and pride would be far from us.

            We would prefer to suffer and even die than to compromise

our charity. That would the real mark of one who is truly identified

with Christ. We would be full of charity. We may have defects and

still commit some mistakes, but our charity stays and is lived

abidingly.

            Everyday let us craft a plan or strategy to keep our vital

identification with Christ a reality. This is not falling into some

kind of psychological complex, since if we truly try to be another

Christ, Christ himself will be the first one to make us humanly simple

and humble.

            We need to feel at home with this basic truth of our faith

that our very consciousness should have Christ as its essential

constituent. We have to learn to live this identity with naturalness,

one that includes the eminently spiritual and supernatural character

of our life.

The battle in public opinion

IT used to be that the ‘war zone’ is quite far and remote

from us. But now with the new technologies which have made the world

smaller and more tightly interconnected, the ‘war zone’ has spread out

quite widely and is now quite near to all us, irrespective of where we

are. And many times too close for comfort.

            I am referring to the battle in the area of public

opinion. If you follow the American talk shows in YouTube, for

example, you will most likely have a good picture of how things are

there—a lot of vicious exchanges interspersed with frivolous

commentaries that only show the kind of mentalities, cultures,

ideologies people have.

            The division and hostilities between the so-called

conservatives and liberals have become sharper and more acrimonious,

and have left in its wake a lot of collateral damages even if some

grains of truth and other useful things can also be gathered. Just the

same, I think whatever victory is achieved is quite Pyrrhic.

            There’s a lot of slamming and bashing, nitpicking and

fault-finding, absolutizing what is relative, dogmatizing what simply

are matters of personal or class preferences. Yes, a lot of useless

noise. Rash judgments, suspicions, reckless comments are having a

field day.

            The large networks cannot anymore truly say that they are

being objective and fair since they only cater to some segments of

society who share their views. In other words, they have become

subjective big-time. They cannot be trusted anymore as purveyors of

truth and justice, and active agents of peace and the common good.

            When they say, for example, that they are “Moving Truth

Forward” or that they are the “Most Trusted Name in the News” or that

they are “Objective and Balanced,” we can now readily say that we are

actually being taken for a ride. Tell it to the Marines. What is now

made very clear is that they are all carriers of their own interests

and agendas that are over and above what they profess as their service

toward the common good.

            The world of public opinion is in great need of

redemption. And its savior can, of course, be only Christ who is the

savior of everyone and of everything in this world. Without him,

forget it, we will never have a decent exchange of views in the world

of public opinion. What we will have is the remaking of the Law of

Talion—eye-for-an-eye, tooth-for-a-tooth kind of discussion.

            Of course, there will always be those who would say that

involving Christ in this business of public opinion will destroy the

very character of public opinion and will defeat its purpose.

            We need to overcome that myth if we want to remain human,

let alone, Christian. Our public opinion need to reflect the dignity

that we all have as persons and as children of God who are ruled by

truth that will always be infused with charity. For a truth and

justice without charity would not be truth and justice at all.

            It is not true that putting Christ at the center of our

public discussion of issues would undermine our earnest pursuit for

what is truly fair and just in our life in common. It is not true that

putting Christ at the center of our public discussion of issues would

simply ask us to pray and suffer and thereby adversely affect our

pursuit for social progress and justice.

            With Christ, there will always be prudence and tact,

delicacy and compassion, broad-mindedness and respect for opposite

views in our discussions and debates. Charity will always prevail

irrespective of how different our opinions may be.

Our greatest need

ST. Augustine’s book, “De civitate Dei’ (The City of God),

talks about two cities that are formed by two loves: the earthly city

by the love of self, even to the contempt of God, and the heavenly

city by the love of God, even to the contempt of self. He postulates

that in the end, we have a choice as to whom to love: God or

ourselves.

            Of course, theoretically it should be God whom we should

love, since he is the very source, pattern, power and end of love.

“Deus caritas est,” as we are told in the first letter of St. John.

(4,8)

            But we always have the uncanny tendency to negate that

ideal and love ourselves instead of God. This is what we have to be

most aware of and do something about. This is going to be lifelong

struggle for us.

            And the reason for that is because we often misuse our

freedom, that God-given endowment that enables us to choose and to

love. Instead of referring the exercise of our freedom to God always,

we many times just refer it to our own judgments and estimations. It’s

this freedom that would determine whether we are with God or just by

our own selves.

            The challenge is how to make us feel that our greatest

need is, in fact, God whom we ought to love first and last. He is the

greatest good that we can aim at, infinitely better than any earthly

good we can find in ourselves and in the world.

            That is why Christ, when asked what the greatest

commandment was, simply said that it is to “love the Lord your God

with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with

all your strength.” (Mt 12,29)

            But many times, we do not see this fact, this plain truth.

It could be because we can think that we do not feel the need for God

as much as feel the need for food, air, money, prestige, progress,

etc.

            It is actually a wrong reasoning to have, since all our

material, natural and human needs are provided for by God in the first

place. If there is no God, there would be no food, no air, no water,

no money, no prestige and progress, etc.

            Of course, there is also that tendency to think that

things simply depend on us because we are increasingly capable of

doing and accomplishing things. As if God has nothing to do with our

capabilities!

            We need to correct these anomalies and should really pause

for time to time to consider certain basic and indispensable truths

about ourselves. We are creatures of God who is a Father to us and who

provides us with everything.

            Our greatest need is actually God. He not only provides us

with our material, earthly and human needs. He gives us what is truly

and ultimately necessary for us—our own salvation, our own

reconciliation with God our Father whom we have wronged with our sins.

He gives us the grace that will definitely make us the image and

likeness of God, adopted children of his.

            We should find ways to make us feel not only our constant

need for God, but also our immediate need for him. That’s because very

often, we get carried away by the drama and the twists and turns of

our earthly life. As a result, we often are confused and lost, or

simply so mesmerized and affected that we fail to see things properly.

            We need to wage some kind of revolution within ourselves

to correct the errors of our times so that we will always feel the

need for God and the urge to correspond to that need. This may be a

tall order, but it is not impossible at all! With God, everything is

doable and achievable.

We are never alone!

IT’S true. We are never alone. Even in our most solitary

moments, we have no reason to feel alone. That’s simply because God is

always with us, is always intervening in our life, is always pouring

out his love and graces to us.

            And if we make the necessary effort, we will also realize

that not only is God with us, but that with God we also are with

everybody and everything else. We are actually and objectively in a

state of communion with God and with everybody else. With our

intelligence and will, plus God’s grace, we are wired for this. To

feel alone is actually an anomaly and a magnet for all sorts of

temptations and dangers to come and hound us.

            Not even death nor distance can and should separate us

from others, much less, from God. We should be able to echo St. Paul’s

words in this regard with conviction: “Neither death nor life, neither

angels nor principalities, neither the present nor the future, nor any

powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation,

will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ

Jesus our Lord…” (Rom 8,38-39)

            Let’s never forget that it is only when we are in the

company of God and of everybody else, regarding them in the way that

our faith teaches us, that we can manage to be on the right path to

our eternal destination. Temptations and sin can come only when we

dare to be and to feel alone.

            This reminder is timely especially for those who travel

alone and find themselves in new, unfamiliar places, and who do not

know the people of the locality. In occasions like this, we should

make it a point to make extra effort to realize that we are never

alone.

            Otherwise, we become easy prey to temptations and falling

into sin would just be a moment or some steps away. Let’s remember

that it is in these occasions that the devil pulls his most devious

tricks.

            He can whisper that since anyway no one knows us here, we

can do anything we like. He can induce us to give in to what our

wounded flesh likes to do. He can easily lead us to act out our

fantasies and our dormant immoral desires.

            We should learn to have a keen sense of the presence of

God and of everybody else. For this, we need some kind of training,

giving time to meditate often on this basic truth of our faith, until

it sinks deep in our consciousness and guides us in our affairs all

throughout the day. Let’s never forget that the Holy Spirit is

continually prompting us.

            That’s because without God and others, we are left only

with our own selves as the substance of our consciousness. And that’s

a very dangerous predicament for the simple reason that we would not

have any stable and objective point of reference. We would just be at

the mercy of our unstable subjective self.

            Everyday, let us examine if our sense of the presence of

God and of others is growing stronger. Let us come up with prompt,

effective resolutions to keep this sense of God’s presence going.

            We may feel awkward at the beginning, but if we insist and

persevere in the effort, this sense would become second nature to us.

In time, we will realize that we can do things we need to do with a

light, happy heart, without any anxiety at all, in spite of the

challenges, trials, difficulties, and the consequences of our mistakes

and those of others.

            In this way, we can already anticipate that perfect

communion promised to us by Christ in heaven.

Sharpening our hunger for heaven

WE are, of course, in this world which plays a crucial

role in the over-all scheme of our entire life. But we have to

remember that even as we immerse ourselves in worldly affairs, we

should not allow ourselves to be so trapped by them that we forget

that we are meant for a life beyond this world.

            We are meant for heaven, for life in eternity, hopefully

with God our Creator and Father in whose image and likeness we have

been created. And so, we should sharpen our constant awareness of our

heavenly destination, and the ways by which this awareness can be

kept.

            Christ said it very clearly. “Do not store up for

yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and

where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves

treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where

thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there

your heart will be also.” (Mt 6,19-21)

            And St. Paul echoes the same sentiment. “Set your minds on

things above, not on earthly things.” (Col 3,2) We should do

everything to avoid getting entangled with our earthly and temporal

affairs.

            It’s not that these worldly concerns of ours are not

important. They are very important! But only as means, not as ends.

They are nothing, and they can be very harmful to us, if they are not

related to our true and ultimate end.

            We have to find ways to relate everything to God, to the

supernatural character of our final destination in heaven. Whether we

like it or not, this is how the cookie crumbles for us, given our

nature that is not only material but also eminently spiritual.

            We are meant for a supernatural life with God because that

is how we are wired and equipped with our intelligence and will, and

also because, first of all, it is God’s will and he gives us the grace

to effect it in us.

            This is no gratuitous assertion, because many are the

references in the Bible that tell us so. “My son, give me your heart

and let your eyes delight in my ways,” we are told. (Prov 23,26) And

in another instance, we are told: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed

you. I have summoned you by name. You are mine.” (Is 43,1)

            The strongest proof, of course, is the fact that God

became man, Jesus Christ, who assumed all our sins with his passion,

death and resurrection. God wants us to be like him in Christ through

the Holy Spirit.

            We can correspond to this grand design of God for us,

first, by keeping a constant dialogue with him. This should not be

difficult to do since any item in our life can be and should be a

material for that dialogue.

            Our problem is that we prefer to talk with our own selves,

and very often we just find ourselves empty headed and prone to all

our weaknesses, temptations and the many other allurements in the

world.

            The Holy Spirit is constantly prompting us, is always

intervening in our lives, showing us the way and empowering us to do a

lot of good. If we would just allow ourselves to be led by the Spirit,

instead of our own flesh-and-world-based reason and will, we would be

doing a lot of good. We would be storing up treasures in heaven.

            To be led by the Spirit is the best thing that can happen

to us. We would not be lost as we cruise the many tricky ways of the

world. No matter what happens, even if we commit mistakes in our

temporal affairs, we would still end up doing good.