To be truly Christ-like

KNOWING that as a human person we are patterned after

Christ, we should aim at making ourselves more and more like him. This

should be our constant daily concern. All our other concerns in this

life, no matter how important and urgent they may be, should be

subordinated to this primordial one.

            To be sure, this fundamental desire does not undermine our

humanity. If anything at all, it will only bring us to our human

perfection. We should not be afraid to give priority to this desire,

for it can only put all our other plans and ambitions in their proper

order.

            To be truly Christ-like would, of course, require that we

know Christ through and through. This will certainly ask of us that

we, at least, read and meditate on the gospel regularly, for it is

where we can find Christ. As St. Jerome famously said: “Ignorance of

the Scripture is ignorance of Christ.” We have to make it a daily

habit to read, study and meditate on the Bible. With our new

technologies, this should not be difficult to do.

            To be truly Christ-like would, of course, be an endless

affair. We can never say we are definitively Christ-like, since we can

never exhaust the richness of Christian life no matter how much effort

we exert. We just have to try and try. At least, everyday we should be

able to say that we are becoming more and more like Christ in a

specific aspect.

            Definitely, if we want to be truly Christ-like, we should

be full of goodness and love. We should reach out to everybody, no

matter how difficult that would be or how undeserving the others may

be of our care and attention. Like Christ, we have to be willing to

empty ourselves so as to identify ourselves with everybody. We have to

fan into a bursting fire this desire to serve others.

            Like Christ, we have to assume the attitude of wanting to

serve everybody and not to be served. We have to be wary of our

tendency to fall easily to a sense of self-importance or conceit. Like

Christ, we have to be willing to “wash and kiss the feet” of

everybody.

            Like Christ, we have to love our enemies, and to bear the

burden of everybody, willing to replicate in our life the very passion

and death of Christ, so that we too can join him in his resurrection.

We should be willing to offer mercy to everyone as well as to ask for

pardon for our own sins.

            We also have to understand that our identification with

Christ can be achieved sacramentally. Aside from baptism and

confirmation, let us see to it that we regularly go to confession and

receive Christ in the Eucharist.

            Like Christ, we have to pray constantly, keeping an

abiding conversation with our Father God. We have to learn how to pray

in all situations and circumstances of our life, be it happy or sad,

light or heavy.

            Like Christ, we have to have a sharp hunger for souls. The

apostolic dimension of our life should be considered essential and

indispensable. Wherever we are, whatever be our situation, the

apostolic concern should always be in our mind and heart. We should

always be praying for souls and thinking of how we can help them get

back to God.

            Like Christ, we have to offer everything in our life to

God. We have to learn to give up everything for God, to live true

detachment from earthly things even as we continue to use them. We

have to reach that point that we are willing to offer our life to God,

unafraid of death and all the suffering that goes with dying. All

these to a heroic degree!