Fake news only a democratic problem?

A NEWS item caught my attention recently. It said that the

phenomenon of fake news nowadays is a crisis gripping countries with

the democratic form of government. Frankly, I was amused more than

anything else when I read that item.

            What immediately came to my mind was the fake news—which

is a euphemism for lies, spins, empty and tendentious rhetoric—have

always been around since we can always misuse and abuse our freedom

whether we are in a democracy, monarchy, autocracy, etc.

            What aggravates the whole issue is that with easy access

now to very powerful means of communication, the probability of fake

news being spread around is indeed very high. We have many

propagandists and spin masters who can only be partisan and therefore

partial in their views. We now even have the so-called trolls.

            Unless we know the real nature of freedom, its source,

goal and means, and how it is related to the truth and ultimately and

constantly to God, we would always be hounded by fake news and its

many other forms and expressions that often are most tricky and

deceptive.

            When one is not inspired by the spirit of God, there is no

way but to succumb to the ways of fake news, whether he is the maker

or the receiver of such news. No amount of research and diligent work

can replace the spirit of God who is the only one who can give us the

whole truth, and truth that always goes together with charity. Without

God, one tends to be reckless in his opinions and is often blinded by

their own lights.

            The other day, in an American talk show over the Youtube,

the interviewer was fact-checked and was found to be mistaken in her

assumptions. Just the same, the interviewer said that she counted on a

vast network of researchers whose findings could support her claims.

But she was actually wrong.

            Everyone has to have recourse to God if he is interested

in objectivity and fairness in his views. Ignoring God can only leave

one to his subjective biases and prejudices. Not even a good intention

supported by an extensive research and a big amount of data can change

that.

            With God, one will always be inspired to study issues very

well before making some claims. He will examine his own attitudes and

motives and put them in the right track.

            He will also practice some restraint in his opinions,

since in spite of all the studies and the amount of data and

information, he knows that he still would not know everything. He

would always realize that he does not have the last work on any issue.

He should be open to the possibility of being corrected or given more

data, etc.

            But, alas, how many of our news agencies and journalists

have God as their main anchor in their work? In fact, many of them

would consider any reference to God as undermining their sense of

objectivity and fairness.

            Let’s remember what St. Augustine said about truthfulness.

Some people “love truth when she shines on them, and hate her when she

rebukes them.” He said that with these people truth will hide from

them and will expose them in due time.

            This is a real problem that is in need of urgent solution.

How do we evangelize those in the media, so filled with their sense of

self-importance and conceit, such that they realize deeply that they

need God always in their work?

            As to the readers and recipients of news, when they are

with God, they would know that they just cannot believe what they read

or hear in the media indiscriminatingly. They know they have to

practice extreme prudence and discernment, especially now when fake

news proliferate.

Let’s beg for a steadfast spirit

WE should beg God that we be given a steadfast spirit, not

a wavering, flickering one. We have to be realistic with our weakened,

wounded human condition that often finds us good only in the beginning

of an endeavor but cannot hold on to that state to the end. And so

with great humility, we should go to God asking that we be given a

spirit that can remain faithful and true all the way to the end.

            Perhaps what can help us in this regard is to make as our

own prayer the words of Psalm 51,10-11: “Create in me a clean heart, O

God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Cast me not from your

presence and take not your holy Spirit from me.” Let’s use these words

and really mean them. These are inspired words and can really move the

heart of God.

            Of course, we have to be humble so as to have a living

faith in these words. Our usual problem is that even if we do not say

it openly, we actually consider biblical passages as too mushy for us

to use. This is actually quite a wrong attitude to have. The words in

the Bible are no ordinary words. If approached and used properly, they

can effectively bring us to God. They teach us what to say and how to

speak with God.

            But, yes, we need to have a steadfast spirit. That’s

simply because our human condition in this world often finds us

unstable and unfaithful. We may be good at the beginning and in our

intentions and words, but our good intentions often do not last. Along

the way, we get tripped by a variety of causes—laziness, complacency,

treachery, pride, envy, greed, etc.

            We just have to look at the case of our first parents who

enjoyed the best of things in the beginning. And yet, in spite of all

their privileges, they managed to fall. Our case is much worse than

theirs.

            We already are born with a certain attraction to evil, the

so-called concupiscence, and so even if we managed to be good and

faithful for a time, even for a long time, we should not be surprised

that at any given moment, we fall. This is the common experience of

practically all of us.

            A steadfast spirit is what we should be begging from God

all the time. We have to be humble enough to acknowledge and to feel

the urge of that need. Everyday, let’s try to find ways to be

constantly aware of this need. We actually cannot afford to take this

matter for granted.

            The good thing about this need of begging for a steadfast

spirit from God is that it would help us to always relate things to

God, to get engaged with him. Whether these things are good or bad,

humanly speaking, we would be led to God.

            And that is the proper state for our life to be in. Our

life would not be in its proper state and would get exposed to all

sorts of dangers if it would not be lived with God. We need to be

clear about this basic, completely indispensable truth about our life.

            We many times dare to be on our own, thinking that with

our own powers and resources, we can hack all the challenges and tests

in life. That simply is not true. We always need God. We need him more

than we need air, water and food. It is when we are with him that we

satisfy our innermost longing for life everlasting and for a joy

without end.

            So, let us importune God to give us a steadfast spirit!

Anniversaries and reunions

CELEBRATING anniversaries and holding regular reunions are

healthy practices that should be perpetuated all throughout life. They

certainly help in reminding us of who we are and what we are supposed

to be and to do.

            As long as they are done with God as the source and end of

the celebrations, and not made to indulge only on an ego-trip of

nostalgia and sentimentalism, they will always be helpful.

            Anniversaries are like visits to the past that would

elicit memories that are an integral part of our life. They remind us

that life is a continuum of the past, the present and the future. In

fact, they remind us that there is an eternity waiting for us, and

that the way we perform in our temporal life here on earth determines

the kind of eternity we will have.

            Anniversaries therefore remind us that we have to be

thankful to God and to everyone who have helped us to be faithful in

our commitments through the years. They also remind us that for the

sake of fidelity, there might be things we need to correct or purify

in our commitments we entered into in the past, or that we may have to

reinforce and enrich those commitments. If only for this,

anniversaries are indeed a very valuable occasion to celebrate.

            Reunions, whether they be of the family, class, or

whatever, reaffirm our need to be always with others. As persons, we

are meant not only to be individuals but also to be communion with

others, and ultimately with God. Anything that is conducive to

developing our sense of community is always good.

            As Pope Francis pointed out in his latest Apostolic

Exhortation, Gaudete et Exsultate, we are always in need to be in a

community. “Growth in holiness is a journey in community, side by side

with others,” he said. (141)

            Reunions definitely are one concrete way of strengthening

our sense of community that is proper to us. We all know that no man

is an island. We are always in need of others. In fact, we are

actually in a journey to form a universal communion of saints that

will be definitively achieved in heaven, but which we have to start

working on while here on earth.

            Let us hope that we have the proper understanding and

attitude towards the celebration of anniversaries and the holding of

reunions. They are not meant to be trivial affairs just to fulfill

some social obligations or expectations. They are meant to enrich us

humanly and spiritually, and to lead us to our ultimate perfection as

persons and as children of God.

            It’s indeed a big challenge today to identify the true

nature and purpose of anniversaries and reunions. At the moment, they

seem stuck in the level of formalism, sentimentalism, commercialism,

and all sorts of isms.

            They can even be made to play out one’s pride and vanity.

In this regard, we have to be ready to go against the current and

somehow help to turn the tide toward a better understanding of their

purpose in our life. We have to inculturate the proper understanding

of anniversaries and reunions.

            We have to understand that anniversaries and reunions are

not only meant to occasion greater self-knowledge. They are also to

enhance our sense of duty toward God and others. In a sense there is

something serious and sacred in these events that should not undermine

the joy that normally marks their celebrations.

            To be sure, the celebration of anniversaries and the

holding of reunions will go a long way in building a strong sense of

unity and commitment among us, and in giving fresh impulses in our

duty to be faithful in our love for God and for others.

No crisis too big for God’s grace

MANY people have expressed the grave concern about today’s

world. For one, they say that it is already a given nowadays that a

great majority of the young people, both boys and girls, are now

exposed to pornography and that many are downed with sexual addiction.

            Even many of those who appear to be good and responsible,

they claim, are plagued with such scourge. And it would just be matter

of time that the unavoidable consequences of this problem will also

appear.

            We, of course, should not underestimate the gravity of

this crisis. The signs and symptoms of this malady are all over. The

inconsistencies in the lives, the lowly ideals of those affected, even

of those who appear to be good, are plain to see. But there is always

hope.

            We should not allow ourselves to be swallowed up by the

horror of these predicaments. We should not stop at lamenting and

complaining. We have to remember what St. Paul once said: “Where sin

abounded, grace did abound more exceedingly.” (Rom 5,20)

            We have to reassure ourselves, based on what Christ has

promised and has actually done for us, that there can be no crisis

that is too big for the grace of God to handle.

            We have to remember that nothing happens in this life

without at least the knowledge and tolerance of God. And if God allows

some really bad things to happen, it is because a greater good can

always be derived from them.

            We just have to put ourselves in God’s side to tackle

whatever crisis plagues us. That is the real challenge we have to

face. And just like what Christ did and continues to do to redeem us,

we have to follow the formula he once spelled out: deny ourselves,

carry the cross and then follow him. (cfr. Mt 16,24)

            If we are willing to do that, then we can even gain a lot

more than what we appear to lose and to suffer. In other words, we can

say that the bigger, the more serious the problem is, the bigger,

plentier and stronger also would the grace God will give us. So, let

us just be game and do our part of the bargain.

            It’s not easy, of course. But neither is it impossible. It

would really depend on how we see things. If we only consider the

enormity of the problem, then we cannot help but feel overwhelmed and

even get discouraged. But if we consider God’s abundant grace, even

the impossible can be possible for us.

            We need to educate ourselves always to remain calm and

optimistic when faced with grave problems, and just try our best to

discern what God is showing us with respect to resolving a crisis.

            Yes, we have to learn to suffer. But let’s never forget

that there is always the resurrection of Christ. Christ has already

won for us the war against any form of evil. We just have to learn to

be with him and not be so stupid as to do things simply on our own.

            We have to strengthen our conviction that every problem

and crisis is an opportunity to grow in strength and quality in our

spiritual life, in our love for God and others and the world in

general. Yes, we need to develop a proper love also for the world. We

have to conquer the world that will always be beset with the effects

of our sins.

            Again, let’s do all this with a sporting spirit based on

our faith, hope and charity. We may get dirty from time to time, but

we can always get up and then move on. To repeat, there is no crisis

too big for the grace of God to handle!

Can we really live a supernatural life?

THIS is a question many people ask after being told that

we are all meant to live a supernatural life. And we just have to

start explaining.

            First, that we are meant to live a supernatural life is

based on the fact that we have been created by God in his image and

likeness. We are meant to be children of his, meant to share in the

very nature and life of God, as St. Peter himself in his second letter

said so:

            “His (God’s) divine power has granted to us all things

that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who

called us to his own glory and excellence, and by which he has granted

his precious and very great promises, that through these you may

escape the corruption that is in the world because of passion, and

become partakers of the divine nature.” (1,3-4)

            Our life is always a shared life with God, because as a

creature of his, we cannot be without our Creator who gives and keeps

our very own existence. And of all the creatures, we as persons,

endowed with the capacity to know and to love, have a very intimate

character in our coming from him and belonging to him.

            But before we do our part in developing a supernatural

life, we are told that God has already given us everything so that we

can share in his divine nature and supernatural life. He has given us

his grace which comes to us in many, many ways.

            We have the sacraments, especially the Holy Eucharist. We

have his living word in the gospel and other instrumentalities that

spread this living word of his. We have the living witnesses of many

holy men and women, starting with our Blessed Mother, etc.

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

our life is meant to be supernatural with God. On the part of God, he

has adapted himself to our own condition, wounded as it is by sin, by

becoming man and going all the way to assuming all our sins even

without committing sin just to save.

            St. Paul said this: “For our sake he (God) made him

(Christ) to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the

righteousness of God.” (2 Cor 5,21)

            The corollaries we can derive from these wonderful words

can be that any situation we can find ourselves in, whether it is big

or small, ordinary or extraordinary, good or bad, is a situation where

we can always find Christ, Christ who is willing to save us, to put us

to the right path, to lead us to our eternal destination.

            We should disabuse ourselves from the idea that

supernatural life in this world is exclusively a life of wine and

roses, all bliss, and extraordinarily beautiful. We should disabuse

ourselves from the idea that supernatural life is one that is marked

only by very special experiences like ecstasies, levitations,

bilocations, stigmatas, glossolalia, and other mystical experiences.

            Supernatural life here on earth can be spent in an

environment of blood, sweat and tears. In fact, the cross in all its

forms can be considered a genuine sign that one is living a

supernatural life.

            All we have to do is to be mainly guided by our faith,

rallying all our powers—our intelligence, will, emotions and passions,

our memory and imagination, etc.—to the dynamic of our faith.

            Let’s remember always we are only on some kind of

pilgrimage in this earthly life of ours now. We are meant for

eternity—with God in heaven. That is our definitive life. But we have

to see to it that our earthly life is also supernatural, and not just

natural, because, in our case, there is no such thing. If our life

here is not supernatural, then it is just animal life and is

completely inhuman.

Just come home

THESE past months, I have been attending family and class

reunions and these always gave me very happy, moving and memorable

experiences. There is a sensation of being at home, of being part of a

family or class where the process of growing up, of learning and

discovering, and of being unconditionally understood and loved as one

is, took place.

            All of these somehow reminded me of the parable of the

prodigal son. (cfr. Lk 15,11-32) We are familiar with the story. A son

went away from home, taking his big inheritance and wasted all of it

in loose living until he suffered its inevitable dire consequences. In

his desperation, the one good thing that he did, the last straw he

managed to clutch, was to decide to come home even if he was willing

not anymore to be considered as a son.

            We know what happened. The father was all the time waiting

for him. And when he saw a glimpse of the returning prodigal son, he

could not help but ran to him, very happy to have him back. He ordered

a feast and let go of what the son did. He knew his son was sorry.

            This is a great lesson all of us have to learn. In life,

anything can happen. We try to do what is good, but sometimes our idea

of what is good can actually be bad. We just have to remember that

even in our worst possible scenario, we can always count on God’s

ever-ready mercy as long as we decide to come home to him.

            We should always strengthen our faith in God’s mercy and

compassion. Of course. We should also try not to abuse God’s goodness,

even if we know that despite our best efforts we may end up abusing it

just the same. But whatever happens, we should come home. Just come

home. That’s what matters in the end.

            We need to strengthen our spirit of divine filiation—that

God is our father who is all merciful and compassionate, who is all

willing to do anything for us just to get us back to him.

            This point, I believe, is worth reiterating. It is what

truly grounds us to the foundation of our life and nature, giving us

the meaning and purpose of our existence. It’s a source of joy,

confidence and serenity. It tells us what our filial rights and duties

are.

            More importantly, it tells us who we are and gives us an

abiding sense that we are never alone, or worse, just on our own. It

fills us with the conviction that we are children of God, that no

matter what happens God will always be with us and for us unless we

reject him.

            We have to be wary of our tendency to think that we are

just on our own. That would be an attitude that can be suggested only

by the devil who will always tell lies. Sad to say, many people are

succumbing to this trick of the devil. That’s why many now fall into

some deep despair when misfortune comes their way. They feel there’s

no one else to run to anymore.

            God’s ever-ready mercy and compassion cannot be doubted at

all. In spite of all our sins, he in Christ is willing to die for us,

to assume all our sins for us, and to render death to our sins with

his own death and conquering them with his resurrection.

            This divine mercy should never be lost in our mind. We

however should try to avoid being spoiled by it. Rather, the assurance

of divine mercy should prod us all the more to be more generous, more

fruitful, more faithful in our love for him and for everybody else.

Humility and humbling oneself

POPE Francis said in his Apostolic Exhortation, Gaudete et

exsultate, that humility is when one is humbled or humiliated. It’s a

line that has been said by many other holy men and women before him.

It’s true, of course. But I feel that we just have to qualify that a

little bit.

            And that is that humility presumes that one humbles

himself first before he can accept, with God’s grace and in the manner

of Christ’s humility, all the humiliations that can come to him.

            Without this attitude of humbling oneself, one cannot

accept the humiliations that can be inflicted on him, the way Christ

accepted all the humiliations, especially in his passion and death.

            I believe that Christ himself made this condition for one

to be truly humble. “Those who humble themselves will be exalted,” he

said. (Mt 23,12) He also said that “if anyone wishes to be first, he

shall be the last of all and the servant of all.” (Mk 9,35)

            One’s effort to humble himself complies with Christ’s

command that if we want to follow him we should deny ourselves and

carry the cross. In other words, our capacity to carry the cross of

all the humiliations that can come to us can only take root and

develop when we deny ourselves or empty ourselves. In short, we can

only carry the cross if we humble ourselves first.

            This is somehow corroborated when Christ told his

disciples who were arguing about who was the greatest among them that

“Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me. And

whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me.” (Mk

9,37)

            And the child is presented here as the icon of humility

and simplicity, since the child does not think of himself as someone

great. He is always outward looking, not inward looking, and is

accepting of everyone and everything.

            We therefore need to have that humility and simplicity of

a child even as we gain more experience and knowledge. The challenge

here is how to retain that child-like humility and simplicity as we go

through the drama of life, with its ups and downs, wins and losses.

            When we have the humility of a child, we would be

facilitated in accepting Christ and the mysteries of the spiritual and

supernatural reality that is meant for us. Successes would not

intoxicate and spoil us, nor failures dampen our spirit. Whatever

happens, we would still be in God’s side.

            If ever, they would only enable us to get closer to God,

thanking and praising him for the good things we are experiencing or

asking for help and for forgiveness when bad things come our way. We

would manage to retain our peace and joy.

            When we think of ourselves only, whether highly or lowly,

we would imprison ourselves in our own world and would be left

helpless and defenceless against our own weaknesses, the deceptive

allurements of the world, and the tricks and wiles of the devil. God’s

grace, which is poured abundantly especially when we are in great

need, would just go to waste.

            It’s actually a crazy situation to be in, so it’s ironic

that we tend to fall into it in spite of all the assurances of God’s

presence and continuing guidance and help to us. We should learn to

forget ourselves and think more of God and of the others.

            So everyday, let’s come up with plans, strategies, means

and devices that would help us to forget ourselves and focus ourselves

more if not exclusively on God and the others. Christ has assured us

that what we seem to lose for God’s sake, will gain us a lot more and

with better things.

            We really need to learn to humble ourselves!

Piety vs. pietism

THEY can look the same, if appearances and things external

are only considered. But one is true while the other is fake in this

whole business of developing our proper relation with God and with

others.  We need to have the skill of distinguishing between the two

and of choosing the right one.

            Piety sprouts from a genuine love of God with whom a

person can truly have a personal encounter with God, an encounter that

produces a lot of living effects. Pietism is just a matter of going

through the motions of piety but is barren in things that really

matter, although it may mimic some fruitfulness.

            Everyone is supposed to develop a personal relationship of

intimate love of God, a love that would lead us to love everybody

else, no matter how he is. This is what piety is all about. It is

actually a duty that everyone has since he or she has to correspond to

God’s continuing love for all of us. In other words, God’s love for us

should be repaid also with our love for him.

            But given our condition of being a knowing and free

creature, we can always choose to be true or false in that duty to

correspond to God’s love. This is where we have to make frequent

self-examination to check if indeed our relationship with God and with

others is truly taking the right path.

            It can also happen that given our wounded condition, we

can fall into the fake pietism without fully realizing it. This is the

case when one falls into what is known as spiritual lukewarmness and

complacency, a general feeling of self-satisfaction that blinds one

from moving forward and growing more in his spiritual life.

            We need to see that our relationship with God is a working

one, full of love that will always have effects both internally and

externally. If there is true piety, we will always be fired up by the

many forms and expressions of love that actually are limitless in its

possibilities. There is never a dull moment when piety is alive and

kicking, because even if we are restrained physically, the heart will

always throb with love.

            When we notice that we are feeling empty and idle, we need

to do everything to regain a felt intimacy with God. We have to feel

God’s great love for us so we can ignite our own love for him and

others. The ideal to aim at always is for us to feel driven and

passionate and hot in our love for God and others.

            That is why we also a need a plan or strategy, complete

with concrete means, to see to it that our piety is sustained amid the

ups and downs of our daily drama. These means can be some moments of

quiet mental prayer or meditation, a time for spiritual reading, for

saying the Rosary, for attending the Holy Mass and receiving Holy

Communion, and of course, a time of hard work.

            We can also determine if our piety is true piety and not

false pietism if after those practices of piety, we feel the impulse

and the urge to do a lot of good like doing personal apostolate

everywhere, sanctifying our work without fear of the effort and

sacrifices involved, etc. In other words, true piety makes us to be

both contemplative and active. We would not be one or the other only.

            In our daily examination of conscience before we end the

day, let’s try to make an assessment as to whether we managed to

strike a good balance between the contemplative and active aspects of

our life, which should be like the two sides of the same coin.

That we be perfect

CHRIST himself said it very clearly. In fact, he said it

as a command. “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is

perfect.” (Mt 5,48)

            We need to feel at home with this divine injunction, and

not to be afraid of it. More than that, we need to find ways of how we

can translate this injunction into a reality in our life, something

that is done knowingly and freely and not because we are commanded to

do so.

            To be sure, this command can be done, because on the part

of God, everything has already been given so that we can manage to do

it freely. And on our part, with the spiritual character of our

nature, we can also manage to go beyond the limitations of our

material condition as well as to handle the moral difficulties that

would be involved in the process.

            We just have to be clear about what this perfection is,

that Christ is asking us to achieve. It’s clearly not perfectionism

that would express itself in self-righteousness, rigidity,

fastidiousness, irritability, fanatical fervor. Perfectionism would

not know how to handle mistakes, faults, defects, sins, whether they

are of oneself or of others.

            Christian perfection is a perfection of love as shown by

Christ himself. The divine order to be perfect comes as some kind of

conclusion to Christ’s long discourse, all in Matthew 5, about the

beatitudes, about us being the light of the world, about the need to

follow strictly the law but also to go beyond it, about our need to

make our righteousness surpass that of the scribes and the Pharisees.

            It comes after being told that we should not be afraid to

cut a hand or to pluck an eye if they get in the way of our

sanctification and salvation. Also, that we should not resist evil,

that is, if one strikes us in the right cheek, we offer the other.

Then, to top it all, Christ told us to love even our enemies.

            All these premises are pregnant with implications, both

theoretical and practical. In these times of rapid communication and

information, we should be very aware of them and try our best to live

them.

            We have to learn to leave behind what so far we think is

loving, because love by nature goes without measure. We have to follow

its unending quest and adventure, relying mainly on the impulses of

God’s grace.

            What is ironical is that in spite of our very advanced

information technology, many of us may be gaining a lot of technical

and scientific knowledge, but losing the religious knowledge, wisdom

and piety. We need to do some drastic revision of attitudes.

            What is clear is that we have to revolutionize our

understanding of love which is the essence of our perfection. It

should go beyond the parameters of our human condition, and give the

dynamics of grace full play.

            In practical terms, this could mean that we should never

say enough to the demands of love. Loving requires us to be vitally in

touch with God through prayers, recourse to the sacraments,

development of virtues, carrying out of our responsibilities.

            If we persist in praying, we can increasingly discern

God’s will for us moment to moment. Our capacity to follow his will

and to receive and share his powers and wisdom increases. We would

just find ourselves swept by the forcefulness of his love. What we

found before as difficult, if not impossible, to do, we would find it

rather easy now.

            This perfection of love has endless manifestations. We

would always think well of others in spite of their mistakes and even

their offenses against us. Like God, we would be slow to anger and

quick to forgive.

Guiding souls

THIS is quite a tough job. To guide souls is indeed a very

delicate job. It requires nothing less than entering into the inner

life of a person with the intention of helping and of eventually

leading that person to God. But how can this be?

            Priests are supposed to be sacramentally configured to

Christ as head of the Church and therefore as the ultimate guide of

souls, the redeemer of mankind. They are supposed to have the very

mind and sentiments of Christ. And if they are truly vitally

identified with Christ, they will also share in the power of Christ.

            But is this possible at all? If we have faith, the answer

is yes. The sacrament of Holy Orders configures one to Christ with an

effectivity that is called in Latin as “ex opere operato.”

            It means that by the mere reception of the sacrament and

as long as there is no formal impediment to such reception, that

sacramental configuration is achieved, not so much by the qualities

and dispositions of the recipient as by the power of Christ himself.

            Would we think that the apostles had the qualities and

dispositions of becoming the first bishops in the Church? If we are to

go by our human standards, we would have serious doubts about that.

But Christ made them our first bishops, and bishops they were.

            The priestly ideal of being another Christ as head of the

Church will certainly demand everything from them. But given that

priests are men, with their own share of weaknesses and all that, that

ideal will be pursued in stages at best, with its own ups and downs,

its twists and turns, its drama.

            We, priests, should do our part of resembling more and

more like Christ with our daily effort to be faithful to our identity

and ministry. This can never be overemphasized. And everything should

be done so that at least its approximation can be gained.

            As guide of souls, we should learn how to deal with all

kinds of souls with their respective consciences. There are those with

a certain and delicate conscience, those with erroneous, doubtful, lax

or scrupulous conscience, etc. Of course, these consciences bring with

their own lifestyle. We have to learn how to deal with each one as he

is and help him in the way that is proper to him.

            Nowadays, we have to deal with people who, on the one

hand, are over-pious as to be self-righteous, and those, on the other,

who are hostile to God and religion, those in irregular marital and

family situations, those affected by all sorts of addictions and

ideologies. The priest as guide of souls has to be prepared to handle

each case.

            Indeed, the priest should strive with God’s grace and his

effort to be all things to all men, as St. Paul once said, in order to

save all. This will require of him to forget himself and just try his

best to have the very mind and heart of Christ whose love for us is

universal and for always. He really should be humble so that he can

always be open to new possibilities rather than put limits because of

his subjective standards.

            Obviously, he has to study and go deep into the sciences

that deal with the care of souls. Hopefully, he can see even the

subtle distinctions between what is true holiness and the many forms

of fake sanctity and give guidance accordingly.

            That is why the formation of priests will always be

ongoing, and especially these days when with so many developments

around, there are also many new things to learn and to tackle.

            It also pays that the priest is always willing to go to

where the Spirit leads him as he guides souls.

A God-favoring algorithm and matrix

 IF only to be able to talk in the same wavelength as the

young ones who are usually techies, I thought of familiarizing myself

with some digital terms that would somehow capture the things I wanted

to tell them. And I discovered at least two terms that seem to serve

the purpose.

  

            One is the term, algorithm, which in the digital world

means “the set of ‘rules’ a search engine may use to determine the

relevance of a webpage, and therefore its search engine ranking.”

  

            In other words, if we are a search engine, like Google,

and we want to search for a particular product, we should come up with

some formula such that we can get the relevant particular webpages in

their proper ranking, with the first one as being the most relevant

for our needs.

  

            The other term is matrix, which again in the digital world

means “a vast sea of computing resources that can be visualized by the

user, is accessible at many levels, and is lit up more intensely in

the areas of greatest activity.”

   

            With all the many and complex information, data and things

being fed into our brain because of the new technologies, we need to

have some means to be more keenly discerning as to which ones have

priority over the others so we do not get confused and lost and can

still maintain a good sense of direction and purpose.

  

            Knowing how to formulate an algorithm that is useful to us

and to learn how to cruise in the very complex matrix of data is

certainly an important and even an indispensable skill that we now

need to acquire.

  

            And we should make sure that in all the activities and

operations we now do in our cyberworld, we should always give God the

highest priority so as to avoid getting lost in that intoxicating

environment.

  

            Yes, God has to be given the highest priority for after

all he is the Creator of the whole universe, including our digital

culture, the author of what is real, the ultimate standard of what is

true, good and beautiful.

  

            We should be wary of the strong possibility of being

seduced by some worldly values that, while having their legitimate

place in the sun, can only lead us to a lot of dangers when not

inspired, rooted and directed towards God.

             We should never forget what Christ once said: “For what

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

soul.” (Mk 8,36) Let us always remember that we are meant to be with

God from whom we came and to whom we belong in a way that is so

intimate as to enter into a living communion with him.

   

            We cannot deny that the new technologies can hijack our

sense of religion, our love-characterized relation with God and with

everybody else, such that we end up not only indifferent to God and to

others but also hostile to him and to everybody else.

  

            It’s true that we have to be immersed in the things of the

world, since they in fact are the means for us to enter heaven to be

with God in our definitive state of life. But we should be properly

immersed in them.

              And that means that while we are immersed in the things of

the world, we should also be immersed in God. In fact, the more

immersed we are in the world, the more immersed we should also be in

God. Otherwise, there is no other way but to get lost.

  

            We need to devise an algorithm that will always lead us to

God regardless of what we are doing in the world. We also need to know

how to handle the matrix of information, data and other resources so

that we would always be led to God.

Travesty of the truth

THE expression appears in the Acts of the Apostles. St.

Paul warned the elders of the church of Ephesus to be very watchful

because “when I have gone, fierce wolves will invade you and will have

no mercy on the flock.” (cfr 20,28-38)

  

            And he continued by saying that “even from your own ranks

there will be men coming forward with a travesty of the truth on their

lips to induce the disciples to follow them.”

             These words acquire immediate relevance as we see them

turn to reality especially nowadays when the perversion and distortion

of the truth that comes from God is done not by those who are openly

against God, the Church, or religion itself, but by those who appear

to be for God, for the Church and religion in general.

  

            That is why Pope Francis in his latest Apostolic

Exhortation, Gaudete et Exsultate (Rejoice and be glad) is also

warning us today of some fake forms of holiness that manage to beguile

many faithful. He cited two main ones: Gnosticism and Pelagianism.

            Of Gnosticism, he said that it is “a purely subjective

faith whose only interest is a certain experience or a set of ideas

and bits of information which are meant to console and enlighten, but

which ultimately keep one imprisoned in his or her own thoughts and

feelings.” (36)

  

            He said that Gnosticism is a distortion of the truth about

what holiness is because “a person’s perfection is measured not by the

information or knowledge he possesses, but by the depth of his

charity.” (37)

  

            “Gnostics do not understand this,” he said, “because they

judge others based on their ability to understand the complexity of

certain doctrines. They think of the intellect as separate from the

flesh, and thus become incapable of touching Christ’s suffering flesh

in others, locked up as they are in an encyclopedia of abstractions.

In the end, by disembodying the mystery, they prefer ‘a God without

Christ, a Christ without the Church, a Church without her people.’”

  

            In other words, Gnostics are those who may be

knowledgeable about the faith or may have some special religious

experiences that are often flaunted, but whose deeds and behavior are

inconsistent for they are devoid of true charity. Their knowledge and

special experiences are more for themselves and not at the service of

God and others.

  

            Pelagianism, on the other hand, is the belief that

holiness can be achieved mainly if not exclusively through man’s

effort alone, with hardly any help of divine grace. It clearly goes

against what St. Paul said that everything, especially holiness

itself, “depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who shows

mercy.” (Rom 9,16)

  

            Not that human will and exertion are irrelevant in the

pursuit of holiness and everything that is good and proper to us. They

are, in fact, indispensable, but only as means, as evidence and

consequence of the working of God’s grace and his mercy.

  

            The Pelagians are those who may be doing a lot of

practices of piety—they can do a lot of prayers and novenas, can be

active in church activities, join religious processions and other

forms of popular piety, etc.—but still fail to be with God, to be

consistent in charity in their life.

  

            Their practices of piety are more a matter of performance,

and not as a means to be with God and to be truly God-like as we are

meant to be. A Pelagian spirituality often insists on the performance

of these practices of piety without checking if indeed these practices

lead one to God.

             We have to be wary of these travesties, perversions and

distortions of the truth about sanctity. They can be marketed by those

inside the church who actually are wolves in sheep’s clothing or

devils dressed as angels of light.

The mainstream, the peripheral, the marginalized

WE all know that we ought to love everyone, since we all

belong to one human family, created by God to be his people meant to

share his life in heaven and while here on earth. But given our human

condition, this love has to be expressed in different ways since all

of us find ourselves in different conditions and circumstances.

  

            Though ideally, we consider ourselves as one family, the

reality is that differences and even conflicts will always be with us.

There are differences that can be considered as natural, but there are

also those which are unnatural since they are consequences of our sins

and mistakes.

  

            This is where we have to learn how to handle this

phenomenon such that in spite of our differences and conflicts, we

manage to love one another. We have to see to it that our love is

universal and that despite our differences and conflicts, we manage to

build and reinforce our unity, making it as organic as possible.

             This is where we can consider the fact that in any given

society, there are those who we regard as belonging to the mainstream,

and those who are in the peripheral, and also those, given our human

weaknesses, end up being marginalized, edged out due to some cases of

injustice, neglect, etc.

  

            The Holy Father has been talking a lot about reaching out

to the peripheries. It’s a call worth echoing always, because we

cannot deny that we have the strong tendency to be so short-sighted

and narrow-minded that we attend only to our needs and those of our

immediate circle of relatives and friends.

  

            But it’s a call that should not be done at the expense of

neglecting the attention and love due to those in the mainstream and

those who are immediately close to us. That’s because only when we

give love and attention to those in the mainstream and close to us

would we be properly trained and enabled to reach out to those in the

peripheries and the margins.

             We just should make sure, however, that our attention to

those in the mainstream and close to us does not stop there, but

should motivate us to extend and expand our concern to others until we

reach the peripheries and the marginalized and beyond. If our love is

genuine, that is the dynamics it would take.

  

            We have to steadily know and love others more and more.

This is a task that should not stop. In spite of the many things that

we may already know and that may show the enormity of our love, there

will always be new things to know, new insights to learn, new issues

to tackle. There will always be new demands on our love for others.

  

            Everyday we have to be aware of these new things and be

ready to face and resolve them. Though striking us as overwhelming,

these can easily be handled as long as we are with Christ, constantly

dialoguing with him, asking for help, for light, for strength. It

would be as if we are in an exciting adventure, with a lot of suspense

and excitement, but somehow assured that everything will just turn out

right.

  

            With our new technologies and, thanks to God, the many

initiatives and living testimonies of people about how they reach out

to others, this responsibility of growing in our love to reach out to

the peripheries and the marginalized is immensely facilitated.

  

            Everyday we should make new conquests in this regard. Are

we reaching out to more and more people? Are we approaching that ideal

described by St. Paul that we have to be all things to all men? Are we

progressing in the love shown to us by Christ, a love that knows no

measure?

Marketing spiritual services

IT is not, of course, a matter of indulging in commercialization of

things spiritual and of religion and piety. That would be simony, a no

no. But given the temper of the times, I think we need to be more

pro-active in promoting the spiritual services, such as the sacraments

and others like spiritual counselling and spiritual direction. We have

to make people understand that they need them badly.

  

Truth is of all the things that we most need, I believe the spiritual

things, the very means of our sanctification and of developing a

lifestyle that would lead us to our eternal life, should rank first.

  

As such, they should not be confined to some restricted and confined

means of promoting them, like just depending on some word of mouth and

putting some notices on bulletin boards of churches, etc. In fact, we

cannot anymore depend solely on homilies to do this. These spiritual

services can and should be more visible and audible in the media also.

  

I am sure we can generate a lot of interest for them. With many people

entangled if not sunk in complicated situations and predicaments, they

will soon realize that there are other very effective ways of tackling

them other than the usual material means, like pills, food

supplements, exercises, etc.

  

We cannot deny that many people are stuck with bad habits, vices and

all kinds of addiction--from alcohol to drugs to sex to the Internet

to games, etc., etc. Self-abuse, pre- and extra-marital sex are

rampant. Corruption, greed, deception in high places are now into

epidemic proportions. Cases of depression and mental illness are

increasing at a frightening rate.

  

I must say that there is a very big market out there of people who

would be highly benefited if given the appropriate spiritual services.

The spiritual services, like the sacraments of confession and the Holy

Eucharist, spiritual direction and counselling, etc., can actually

offer remedies and relief that attend more to the more important

constituent of our nature, which is our spiritual soul. If people only

know the effectiveness of these spiritual services!

  

Of course, we have to make everyone understand the priority that the

care of our spiritual soul has over that of our physical body, without

ever disparaging the importance of the latter. It is in the state of

our spiritual soul where the ultimate quality of our life is actually

determined. This is actually a point that needs to be explained more.

  

We need to do a lot of advertising the benefits of the spiritual

services, slowly but steadily explaining the details of the benefits

involved. And we can do this by making use of the usual means of

advertising, like making commercials for radio, TV and even online.

There is now a lot of marketing being done online.

  

Let us hope that we can count on competent people to do this. The

clergy should lead the way, but the laypeople can and should be highly

involved in this job. With their exposure to the real world and their

creativity, many laypeople can be most effective in this department.

  

Yes, appropriate gimmicks, slogans and the so-called “hugot” lines can

be used--anything that can legitimately grab the attention of the

people. Of course, we should not forget the traditional means of

promoting these spiritual services, but neither should we be stuck

with them.

  

Times have changed, and there are people who do not feel at home

anymore with the old traditional means. We need to adapt to the times.

We may have to do some changing of attitudes and acquiring new skills

for this purpose.

  

Let’s hope that the spiritual services can be made mainstream in the

world of media!

Vocation and adventure

KNOWING that everyone has a vocation, the next thing we

have to do is to find out what precise vocation is meant for us. There

are a number of possibilities. One can be an ordinary layperson, or be

cleric or a consecrated person. One can choose from the many different

spiritualities that are approved by the Church.

  

            In this, we need to have a sense of adventure since we

would be dealing mainly with things of faith, realities that are both

spiritual and supernatural where there will be lights and shadows,

facts and mysteries involved. These are realities that sometimes are

beyond the reach of our senses, and even of our intelligence.

   

            There will be no hard-and-fast rules in this regard. What

we can count on would just be some indicators that can somehow tell us

that God wants us to have this or that specific vocation. There is

usually some kind of forceful confidence that one is meant for a

particular vocation when he would finally meet it.

  

            If one is more inclined to be working right in the middle

of the world, seeking sanctity there and unafraid to deal with the

dirt that is usual in that place, and even knowing how to convert the

bad things there into ways to attain a degree of holiness, then most

likely he might be meant to be a layperson.

  

            Or, if one is more inclined to lead a more quiet life, far

from the hustle and bustle of the world, then he might be meant for a

contemplative life. We have to remember also that the specific

vocation can come to us in very unexpected and dramatic ways. Just

consider the vocation of St. Paul, for example. God can make dizzying

twists and turns in our life just for us to discover our vocation.

Still the possibility of being mistaken will always be there, and we

should just know how to deal with it.

  

            Let’s remember that what God has meant for us from all

eternity can only be known at the end of time. In the meantime, we

should just try our best to correspond as generously and heroically to

whatever we think is what God wants us to be. What we have to avoid is

to be complacent with respect to the issue of our specific vocation is

concerned.

   

            Thus, we have to learn how to go through this kind of

terrain with the spirit of adventure and gamesmanship. We, of course,

should try our best, employing all the powers we can count on, to

succeed in this delicate endeavor. We have to be sincere and earnest

in our efforts. God sees the true intent of our heart and judges and

treats us accordingly.

  

            But we should be ready to take it easy when in spite of

our best efforts the result would still be a failure. We have to learn

to move on, without getting stuck with the possible setbacks which can

actually provide us with precious lessons. Again, let’s remember what

St. Paul once said: “All things work together for good to them that

love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.” (Rom 8,28)

  

            Let us just enjoy things, which is actually what happens

when we do things with love. Even if there are pains and sufferings

involved, or mistakes committed, etc., if there is love, one will

always have a good measure of peace and joy, marks that would tell us

that God is with us and that we are somehow doing things right.

   

            So, let’s just be sport and game in this business of

discovering and pursuing the specific vocation meant for us. Nothing

is lost and everything will just work out for the good as long as we

are sincere and earnest in corresponding to what, in good faith, we

think is our specific vocation.