Thursday, September 6, 2018

A reminder on communion


BEFORE we get carried away by the dynamics of our present
life, it is good to remind ourselves that whatever we do or whatever
situation we may find ourselves in any given moment, we are meant for
communion with God and with one another and that we should keep and
foster it, and not just tolerate or suffer it.
  
            Always living in communion with God and with everybody
else is not an option that we are free to choose or not. It is a
necessity for us, although a necessity that has to be pursued in true
freedom. We should live it not because we are told to live it, but
because we just want to live it (“me da la gana,” in Spanish) and
because we are convinced it is what is essential in our life.
  
            While we will always have some differences in our life and
contend with all kinds of variety and diversity, we have to remember
that all these are not meant to undermine our communion, but rather to
foster it.
  
            Our unavoidable differences and conflicts are not meant to
be divisive, but rather to be instrumental in enriching our life as a
communion. We just have to find a way to live and develop that
communion amid and even through these differences and conflicts.
  
            These differences and conflicts are rich opportunities to
mature and purify our love and care for one another. They can occasion
to develop in us the love that is a reflection and participation of
the love that God has for us.
  
            Obviously, the basis, source, power and end of communion
is God who has also given us all the means for this communion to be
achieved. With God, who reveals himself in full to us in Christ who in
turn is made present in the world today in the Holy Spirit, we would
know how to enter into communion with everyone including those who for
one reason or another we may consider to be our enemies.
  
            It is only through Christ that we can manage to love even
our enemies. This is the dynamics of communion. It is to know and to
love God and everybody else. It is to love one another the way Christ
has loved us. For this purpose, like Christ we should be willing to
suffer and die in obedience to God’s will. We have to be ready for
suffering which will be unavoidable in our life.
  
            We have to be wary of our tendency to react to some issues
based on instincts alone, or on our physical, emotional,
psychological, cultural condition alone. We have to find a way of
reacting to things on the basis of our faith which tells us that
whatever we do, we should uphold the ideal of being in communion with
God and with everybody else.
  
            In this regard, it would be good if we spend some time
processing this truth in our prayer, in our intimate conversation with
God from whom we can always ask for the necessary grace and with whom
we can start making the appropriate strategies to attain the desired
ideal.
  
            Indeed, we have to go through a process of persistent
practice until the necessary attitude and skills are acquired. All the
effort needed, to be sure, will always be worthwhile. In the end, we
can see and judge things better, and make fair decisions that will
uphold our need for communion despite our differences.
  
            We have to remind ourselves about the need for communion
especially nowadays when we are riven by all sorts of conflicts
because of our differences in political views, ideology and other
preferences.


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