Friday, November 30, 2018

Advent asks us to begin well again


WITH the season of Advent which marks the beginning of
another liturgical year, we are reminded of our duty to begin well
again in our spiritual and moral life, in our life that is meant for
loving God and everybody else.
  
            We have to remember that our life here on earth is like a
divine project that has a beginning and an end, and a very concrete
purpose. But it’s a project that we also take active part, since as an
intelligent and free creature of God capable of knowing and loving God
and others, we are meant to knowingly and lovingly correspond to God’s
plans for us individually and collectively. We are not passive
materials in this project.
  
            And this divine project takes the form of a yearly cycle,
what we call as the liturgical year, where the working of the whole
economy of salvation that God has for us, takes place. God’s
interventions in our life are actually constant and abiding.
   
            This yearly cycle of the divine project is meant to
prepare us for our ultimate eternal destination. It would be good if
we make ourselves most aware of this truth of our faith, so that we
know what we ought to do in this earthly life of ours.
  
            For this, a prayer that can be helpful is the Glory Be,
where we find the words, “As it was in the beginning, is now, and will
be forever.” Let’s put our mind and heart into these words if only to
remind ourselves strongly that we need to have a good sense of
continuity and consistency between our beginning and end, between the
past, present and future, and between time and eternity.
  
            Let us foster the awareness of this basic truth about
ourselves and about our life here on earth. We need to encourage
everyone to have a clear and strong sense of purpose, and to know how
to pursue it given our human condition and all the means that God has
given us.
  
            We cannot deny that many of us are ignorant of this truth.
And if not, many are doubtful and skeptical. There are even those who
are openly hostile to this truth, swayed as they are by some
ideologies not based on faith but rather on some human estimation
alone.
  
            The youth especially are quite vulnerable. Often hooked to
the many isms of the times, they give little regard to the truths of
our faith. Even among those who profess the Christian faith, we can
still find many who are inconsistent. As our bishops once observed,
many of us are quite sacramentalized, but not evangelized.
  
            In this Year of the Youth, let’s hope that we can do
something to make the young people more mindful and competent in
developing and living out their authentic Christian identity and
dignity. They need to be pastorally accompanied, for sure, and very
closely at that.
  
            They have to be reassured of the truths of our Christian
faith. A lot of explanations have to be done in this regard. But more
than that, they have to be shown proofs and means of how to
effectively live out these truths of our Christian faith. For sure,
they will need models to look up to, and we just have to pray that we
won’t be lacking in this department.
  
            The youth, in general, look for authenticity in the things
that we tell or teach them. They at first may have a rather shallow
and fleeting appreciation of things, but once they get convinced, they
are capable of a deep and lifelong sense of commitment.
  
            Let us underwrite this task with a lot of prayers and
spirit of sacrifice!


Thursday, November 29, 2018

Everything can be an occasion to love


TO be more precise, everything, regardless of what and how
it is, can and should be an occasion, an instrument, a material for
loving God and for everybody else. Whether it is good or bad,
according to our human standards, or a success or failure, a win or a
loss, as long as it is referred to Christ and united to his love for
us, it can spawn and develop the love that is proper to us.

            The secret is to refer everything to Christ who has
identified himself with us in all our possible human events,
conditions and situations and has converted everything into a means
for authentic loving.

            Let’s remember that when Christ is ignored or when things
are not referred to him, whatever good we may have in this life would
only spoil us. And whatever misfortune we suffer would only destroy
us.

            With Christ, everything acquires meaning and reason. If
things are good, Christ would teach us how to keep on loving by
continually praising and thanking God and by continually serving the
others in every which way. We would remain service-oriented, never
bossy or complacent.

            When things are bad, Christ would teach us how to bear it,
how to find meaning in it by showing that it can be a means for our
purification and instrument for the salvation of all mankind. Even the
worst scenario in our life would have a positive and constructive
value. We would never feel oppressed by whatever misfortune we may
suffer.

            We should never forget this truth of our faith. We are
meant for loving. God created us for love. We ought to be in love
always—in good times and bad, or as the marriage vows would put it:
“for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in
health, until death do us part.”

            We should not allow ourselves to be trapped by the
technicalities of the drama or the ups and downs of our earthly life.
While it’s true that we have to attend to the technicalities of our
life, we should not forget that the ultimate anchor that would give
stability to our life is when we manage to love the way God loves us
as shown to us by Christ.

            We should always check ourselves if this love is working
in our life all the time. As much as possible, this love should be
felt by us. It should be the one that drives us, that gives impulses
to our thoughts, desires, words and actions.

            If we still do not have that love, if we do not feel it
yet, then it is time for us to work on it, asking and begging Christ
for it, and developing the appropriate attitude, virtues and skills.

            We should try our best that we are not guided mainly by
our own human estimations of things, like our feelings and emotions,
or even our intellectual insights, or some social or political
consensus. These cannot capture the global picture of things.

            We have to be guided by our faith that would go together
always with hope and charity. It is this divine gift that gives us the
global picture of things and the basis for hoping and loving.

            It is this living faith that would enable us to convert
everything in our life into an occasion, a means, an instrument and a
material for loving God and everybody else. In other words, there is
nothing in our life that cannot be made use of to live out the love we
are supposed to have.

            Whatever the condition, circumstance, situation, we can
manage to love! We would never have a dull moment, even in our periods
of tiredness, weakness, etc.


Wednesday, November 28, 2018

Gratuitousness


THIS should be the attitude in our self-giving. It has to
be done without counting the cost, without expecting any reward. We
should not worry about anything, because God knows everything and
gives us everything that we need. And he cannot be outdone in
generosity. The more we give of ourselves, the more he will reward us.

            We just have to do our self-giving very freely. As Christ
himself told his apostles, “Freely you have received, freely give.”
(Mt 10,8) And the first one to live by this principle is Christ
himself. He gave himself freely to us, including his own life. He did
not mind the sacrifices, the insults and mistreatment he underwent.

            This is what true love is. It is a total self-giving. But
the mysterious part of it is that it actually generates more love and
self-giving in others. It inspires others to give themselves in the
way of true love. That is why true love has its own reward. It has the
dynamic of being repaid also with love.

            We should always be encouraged to give ourselves to others
gratuitously without strings attached, without conditions. Even if
instead of being reciprocated properly and requited, our love is
misunderstood and rejected, we just have to go on loving. The only
reason for loving is because that is what true love is. It is this
love that is the real essence of God, of whom we are his image and
likeness.

            Loving in this way can only mean giving all the glory to
God. We have to be careful because we always have the tendency to give
glory to ourselves, if not totally then at least partially. Our motto
should be “Deo omnis gloria,” all the glory to God.

            We should not worry about our own glorification because
God will take care of it. This is what St. Paul said in this regard:
“For those God foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the
image of his Son…And those he predestined he also called. Those he
called he also justified. Those he justified he also glorified…If God
is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom 8,29-31)

            What a consoling thought, these words of St. Paul are!
This way of loving, of giving ourselves to others without counting the
cost and without expecting any return, is what would identify us with
God, with Christ. This is how Christ behaved.

            We have to learn to give ourselves to others and to do
good without attracting attention. We have to learn the art of passing
unnoticed. Whenever Christ performed his miracles, he would always
tell the beneficiaries not to announce to the public what he did to
them. Of course, the beneficiaries could not help but spread the word
around. But we should follow the example of Christ.

            He even taught it explicitly. “When you give to the needy,
do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the
synagogues and on the streets, to be praised by men. Truly I tell you,
they already have their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not
let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your
giving may be in secret. And your Father, who sees what is done in
secret, will reward you.” (Mt 6,2-4)

            We have to do everything to fight against our tendency to
show off our goodness and generosity. We can even do that in a very
subtle way, which is really very devious and corrupting to our own
selves. We really have to discipline ourselves to pass unnoticed while
doing a lot of good.

            There is always need for continually rectifying our
intentions and finding practical ways so that our good deeds are
solely motivated by love of God which is the proper way to love our
neighbor. Otherwise, it would just be fake love!


Tuesday, November 27, 2018

Looking back and looking forward


THE week between the Solemnity of Christ the King
(November 25) and the first Sunday of Advent (Dec 2), which marks the
end and the beginning, respectively, of the Church’s liturgical year,
is a good occasion to make a review of the year that passed and a plan
for the year to come.

            I believe this is a good practice that should be promoted
widely because our spiritual and apostolic life, as much as possible,
should march together with the liturgical rhythm of the year, so to
speak.

            We have to be aware of the different parts and seasons of
the liturgical year. There’s the season of Advent, then Christmas,
then a part of what is called as Ordinary Time, then Lent that
culminates with the Easter Triduum, then Easter itself, then back to
Ordinary Time that ends with the Solemnity of Christ the King. Within
the Ordinary Time are different solemnities and feasts related to
special events in Christ’s life and the memorials of saints.

            We have to understand that the liturgical year presents to
us the whole life of Christ and the economy of salvation, from our
creation to our glorification with Christ in heaven.

            In fact, if we understand the true character of the
liturgy, we would know that the liturgy does not only present the life
of Christ. That life and redemptive work of Christ, together with
their fruits, are made present and actual in a sacramental way. We
therefore become actors and participants, agents and beneficiaries of
Christ’s redemptive work.

            That is why we have to take the Church’s liturgy for the
whole year seriously. And as such, we have to be properly trained,
developing the appropriate attitude, and aware of the duties and
responsibilities as well as the blessings and privileges that the
liturgy affords us.

            If in the past liturgical year, we have been deficient in
our understanding and attitude toward the liturgy, then now is the
time to make a new beginning, with desires to make an improvement and
growth in our spiritual and apostolic life.

            The way things are in the world today, we cannot afford
anymore to be casual in this duty. We have to identify as specifically
as possible areas in our spiritual and apostolic life which needs
improvement. It could be in the aspects of prayer, sacrifice, or in
our faith, etc. As much as possible we have to identify the roots of
the defects and sins we often commit. We should try our best to know
ourselves well—our strengths and weaknesses, etc.

            And based on our ‘performance’ of the past year, let us
try to make the appropriate strategy for the next year. What practices
of piety should we develop or improve? What virtues do we still have
to cultivate with greater effort? What means of formation should we
avail of? We have to set clear goals.

            The way things are now in the world, we really need to be
properly equipped and armed to face the many challenges of the times.
In this regard, let us not underestimate the need to have a good
spiritual director who can help us navigate the tricky waters of
today’s world.

            There will be new things and new developments that require
from us new skills and the appropriate attitudes. We have to know how
to flow with the times without getting confused and lost. We have to
know what changes we can make in ourselves that would not compromise
what is essential in life. Remember what Christ once said: “Pour new
wine into new wineskin, and both are preserved.” (Mt 9,17)

            Yes, let’s make use of this week to look back and to look forward!


Sunday, November 25, 2018

Temperance today


MORE than ever, we need to be keenly aware today of the
need for the virtue of temperance. Why? We cannot deny that we are
constantly bombarded with many material things, all offering all kinds
of advantages and conveniences, that if we are not careful can remove
us from our proper path to God, to heaven, to the world of the
spiritual and the supernatural.

            It’s as simple as that. We now have to deliberately
exercise restraint and moderation in the use of material things,
otherwise we will be swallowed up by the dynamics of worldly forces
that would plunge us to the big, wide and smooth road to
self-indulgence, and ultimately to our perdition.

            More than practising restraint and moderation, we need to
have a clear, firm and functioning idea of what the purpose of all
these material amenities we are enjoying in the world today, is. Our
proper focus should not be lost.

            All these material developments and progress we have today
are meant to give glory to God and to contribute to the common good.
They are meant to develop in us the real essence and the fullness of
our humanity, which is love—love for God and love for neighbour, and
not self-love.

            That is why it becomes increasingly imperative that we be
properly grounded on our faith and our life of piety, consisting of
the usual things—time for prayer and meditation, offering of
sacrifices, recourse to the sacraments, availing of a continuing plan
of formation, development of virtues, forming our consciences, waging
an abiding ascetical struggle, etc.

            These are things that we today should become more experts
in as we immerse ourselves in the material and temporal developments
of our world here. These are things that keep and reinforce our true
dignity as persons and children of God. They also are what would
recover that dignity if we happen to lose it, which is what often
happens.

            Christ has told it to us very clearly. “If anyone would
come after me,” he said, “let him deny himself and take up his cross
and follow me.” (Mt 16,24) There is always a need for self-denial and
sacrifice for us because of the disorder between our body and soul,
between our reason and faith, due to our sins.

            Our catechism describes the virtue of temperance in this
way: “Temperance is the moral virtue that moderates the attraction of
pleasures and provides balance in the use of created goods. It ensures
the will’s mastery over instincts and keeps desires within the limits
of what is honourable.

            “The temperate person directs the sensitive appetites
toward what is good and maintains a healthy discretion: ‘Do not follow
your inclination and strength, walking according to the desires of
your heart. Temperance is often praised in the Old Testament: ‘Do not
follow your base desires but restrain your appetites. In the New
Testament, it is called ‘moderation’ or ‘sobriety.’” (CCC 1809)

            We need to translate these lofty words about temperance
into concrete guidelines adapted to our unique personal circumstances.
How should we live temperance when using the internet, the modern
gadgets? How should we live temperance when indulging in our business
and getting involved in politics?

            We have to have specific ways of living temperance in our
thoughts, desires, imagination, memory, and in our speech and deeds.
Temperance also in food, drinks and sex and recreation. Yes, in all
aspects of our life, including our spiritual life that can also have
its excesses and abuses.

            To be sure, this is not punishment. Rather it is to uphold
and enhance our dignity. We need to educate ourselves more effectively
about this need for temperance. The youth these days should be given
special attention, because they are often unprepared to properly
handle the new developments and allurements of the world today.


Saturday, November 24, 2018

State of the art


PEOPLE nowadays are fascinated, and even obsessed, with
getting the latest version of their gadgets. They look forward to
having the so-called state of the art. To a certain extent, it’s a
fascination that is legitimate as long as it does not deteriorate into
an obsession which is already an anomaly and also as long as their
intention is pure.

            That might be a quixotic condition, given the way many
people are nowadays. While reasons for greater convenience and
practicality are okay in having the state of the art, such reasons
many times get diluted with traces of pride, vanity, envy and the
like. And that is not okay.

            Besides, while this state of the art offers many more
conveniences and advantages, it also brings with it new dangers. That
is why we have to understand that the state of the art in our
technologies should also be matched with the state of the art in our
spirituality and morality. We should not have the former without the
latter.

            Remember Christ saying that new wine should be poured into
new wineskin and not the old one. (cfr. Mt 9,14-17) We have to update
the state of our spirituality and morality to flow with the new
developments of the state of the art.

            To exaggerate a little, we can say that we cannot apply
the medieval ways of spirituality and morality to the way things are
nowadays. While there are permanent and essential things in our
spiritual and moral lives that should not change, we should not forget
that there are also many other elements that can and should change.

            We have to remember that God, whose life we share and
reflect in ours, is both eternally old and new. With God, nothing is
new under the sun. (cfr. Ecclesiastes 1,9)  But with him, everything
is also made new. (cfr. Rev 21,5)

            We need to see to it that the new state of the art in the
technologies should enhance, not undermine, our prayer, our spirit of
sacrifice, our apostolic concern, our defenses against our weaknesses,
temptations and sin, etc.

            The new state of the art should make us get closer to God,
enable us to give greater glory to him. It should help us get a more
intimate knowledge of God’s will and ways in a more abiding way. It
should make our heart stand still at the greatness of God and his
overflowing love for us.

            It should make us more fruitful and productive in our
pursuit for holiness and apostolate. It should not just give us some
material and temporal advantages, but rather more spiritual,
supernatural and apostolic fruits. It should trigger further
development of the virtues.

            Also, it should sharpen our skills in waging the
indispensable spiritual warfare in our life. Our ability to detect
potential moral dangers should improve. Nowadays, with our much
improved capacity to access things, we have to be wary of the subtle
tricks of the devil whose business is none other than to lead us to
sin.

            Today, for example, it’s a given that a great majority of
the people, especially the young ones, are addicted to pornography and
many other vices. The new state of the art in our technologies should
help us avoid these things by installing the appropriate warning,
filtering and purifying apps and devices.

            There should be some features in whatever state of the art
is developed that would help us maintain presence of God while
immersed in our temporal and earthly affairs. Some appropriate
reminders in this regard should be made. They should help us maintain
our spiritual and supernatural bearing.

            A state of the art that ignores the presence of God is,
simply said, never a sign of progress but rather of retrogression.


Friday, November 23, 2018

Building God’s kingdom


WITH the celebration of the Solemnity of Christ the King
which marks the end of the liturgical year, we are reminded of our
duty to start building God’s kingdom here on earth. Yes, the
definitive state of God’s kingdom will be in heaven, but we have to
start building it here.

            His kingdom is actually already with us. That’s why at one
time, Christ said: “The kingdom of God is in the midst of you.” (Lk
17,21) At the same time, it is still to be perfected in some other
time, place or, better said, state of life. Thus, he also said: “My
kingship is not of this world.” (Jn 18,36)

            The celebration of the Solemnity of Christ the King
reminds us that Christ will again come a second time to reclaim and
present us as God’s children and people. We should develop a strong
sense of expectation for Christ’s second coming, adopting St. Paul’s
words, “Maranatha, Lord, come!” (1 Cor 16,22)

            Or we can repeat some pertinent words of a psalm, “Vultum
tuum, Domine, requiram.” That’s Latin for “I long to see your face,
Lord,” (27,8) that express the strongest desire we should have in our
life.

            And this duty of building God’s kingdom starts with each
one of us, making Christ our king, allowing him to reign in our mind
and heart, and in every part of our body and in every aspect of our
life. We need to submit ourselves completely to him who is the pattern
of our humanity, the redeemer of our damaged humanity, the way, the
truth and the life for us.

            We can do this, first of all, by making little conquests
in our spiritual life everyday. We need to understand that our life
will always involve some struggle. In fact, it is and should be a
daily affair. Failing in that struggle does not only mean getting
stuck at a certain point. It certainly means we have retrogressed. In
this business of struggle, if we don’t advance, we regress.

            We should therefore be reminded of our duty to hone up our
skills in spiritual warfare. Christ already hinted this much when he
said: “from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of
heaven suffers violence, and the violent bear it away.” (Mt 11,12)

            We have to understand though that to be violent in this
sense does not mean to be destructive but rather to be constructive,
driven by love and the desire to be united with God and with the
others in a way proper to us as children of God and brothers and
sisters among ourselves.

            We also have to learn to relate everything in our life to
God through Christ in the Holy Spirit, no matter how mundane and
temporal they are. The things of this world are actually the materials
we need to use to relate ourselves to God and to show our belief and
love for him.

            And from each one of us, let us make God’s kingdom radiate
into our families, communities and societies, our nation and
ultimately the whole world. Thus, we have to sharpen our apostolic
zeal.

            It corresponds to Christ’s clear command, given first to
the apostles but also meant for all of us, to go out into the whole
world, preaching the gospel and baptizing them “in the name of the
Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

            Thus, we need to reach out to everyone. We have to develop
our social skills and make as many friends as possible, so that the
work of apostolate and evangelization can be facilitated. We have to
base this apostolic work on solid prayer and sacrifice.

            Of course, we have to study the doctrine of our faith
well, so that the task of evangelization can be carried out
effectively.


Thursday, November 22, 2018

At the receiving end


THAT’S what we have to be prepared for. If we are to
follow Christ seriously, if we are to be consistent in our pursuit for
holiness, then let’s be prepared to be at the receiving end of all
forms of evil in this world.

            Christ himself practically said it. When he articulated
the beatitudes, we are given the idea that to be blessed, we should be
ready to be poor in spirit, to mourn, to be insulted, persecuted and
accused of all kinds of evil falsehoods, etc. (cfr. Mt 5,3-11)

            In spite of these evils, we should not waver in living
charity with those who may offend us. Christ explicitly said that we
have to love our enemies, to do good to them that hate us and pray for
those who persecute and calumniate us. This is how we are going to be
identified as children of God who makes his sun to rise upon the good
and bad, the rain on the just and the unjust.

            We then have to learn how to hold our horses, avoiding
those reflex reactions that are only driven by raw instincts and that
fail to capture a more global, faith-enlightened significance of any
event. Even more, we have to avoid falling into hatred. And we have to
be careful with our anger, because even if it can be regarded as
righteous, our anger usually deteriorates into hatred.

            While Christ assured us that a great reward awaits us in
heaven if we live the beatitudes, there are actually many other
practical advantages we can enjoy if we get to be at the receiving end
of all worldly evils.

            For one, we can think and react better if we remain calm
and stick to the ways of patience and charity. To be misunderstood,
insulted, persecuted, etc., is a given in this life. We should not
make a big fuss about it anymore.

            Our focus should just be how to proclaim the truth in
charity, and vice-versa, how to live charity in the truth. And this
would require a lot of calm thinking. It’s not that we should be
stoic, killing off our feelings, emotions and passions. But these
latter elements should function at the instance of right thinking that
in its turn should be enlightened by our faith and warmed by charity.

            There should be no bitterness in our thoughts, judgments
and reactions. This is not easy to do, of course. But we can always
try, and ask for God’s grace to help us in this department.

            Besides, when we manage to stay calm and charitable, we
create a better atmosphere that would be more conducive to have a more
constructive dialogue and relationship among ourselves amid our
differences and conflicts. Charity always conquers evil. The
forcefulness of goodness always prevails over the vehemence of evil.

            Of course, to be at the receiving end always is no joke.
It definitely will be painful physically, mentally, emotionally, etc.
But if united with the suffering of Christ, that condition will be
meaningful and even gratifying.

            It would strengthen our spiritual life which is what
really matters in this life. Our perspective and outlook in life
broadens and deepens. We would well be on the road to that “mature
manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,”
that St. Paul talked about. (Eph 4,13)

            Again, we have to learn to hold our horses. We should just
allow ourselves to be misunderstood and mistreated. If we have the
chance, we can always clarify things, but always in the ways of
charity in the truth.

            The desire for revenge and to get even should be shunned!


Wednesday, November 21, 2018

With groanings too deep for words


I ALWAYS feel consoled everytime I read these words of St.
Paul in his Letter to the Romans. “The Spirit helps us in our
weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the
Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”
(8,26)

            And two verses later, we read an even more consoling and
reassuring passage. “We know that all things work together for good to
those who love God, to those who have been called according to his
purpose.” (8,28)

            We know that all of us exist for a purpose designed by
God, our Creator and Father. No one exists by accident, even if by
human standards one may be considered born out of an accident, as in a
consequence of rape, for example. Therefore all of us are guided by
God’s providence where even our weaknesses, mistakes, sins, etc., can
somehow be taken advantage of to lead us to him.

            Of course, we have to do our part. We have to try our best
to know, love and serve God. But given our weakness, many times we do
not know how to relate ourselves to God. We may not know what to say
in our prayer, or worse, we may not even know how to pray at all.

            But God, in the Holy Spirit, will always come to the
rescue. As St. Paul said, “The Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we
do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself
intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”

            The working of the Holy Spirit in us is truly mysterious.
We can never fully capture the intricacies of his interventions in our
life. Even in those special, privileged instances when one goes
through extraordinary experiences like ecstasies and private
revelations, as experienced by some saints, no words, no human ways of
demonstration can fully describe them.

            But the Holy Spirit makes up for what we are unable even
to understand so that in the end we get to believe in something
revealed to us but which we could not fully understand, and we would
be led to where we should be.

            For this, we have to be born again, this time in the
Spirit and not just in the flesh. As Christ himself told Nicodemus,
“The wind blows where it wishes. You hear its sound, but you do not
know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone
born of the Spirit.” (Jn 3,8)

            So it is possible that we may not even be aware that the
Spirit is shaping our life and directing our every step and act. As
long as we are born again in the Spirit and do not make any formal
rejection of the Spirit in our life, we may commit many mistakes in
our thinking and acting, but still the Spirit will guide us to where
we should be.

            That, I suppose, is what St. Paul meant when he said, “all
things work together for good to those who love God…” (Rom 8,28) God’s
providence works beyond our human understanding, even as he expects us
to know him well and understand his will and ways as much as we can.

            This realization, I believe, should calm down our
over-anxiousness about whether everyone is doing things right. Yes, we
have to follow certain laws, rules, policies, culture, lifestyles,
etc., all meant to guide us, but let’s remember that God’s inscrutable
ways often transcend them. They do not necessarily negate them, but
they simply go beyond them.

            Again, let’s just be game in this life. When we see errors
and sins in us and in others, we of course should try to correct them
when we realize them, but let’s never forget that in God’s providence,
they also serve a purpose! So, we should not worry too much.