FAMILIARITY is
a common and usual danger to all of us. It
is due to the limitations of our human condition that
lead us to take
many things, even the important ones, for granted.
Instead of
seeing God in everything and be amazed and
excited about it, we only see the externals and go
through some
routine that usually has the bad trait of deadening our
sensibilities,
if not our faith, then our hope and charity.
That gospel
episode about the townmates of Christ finding
it hard to believe that Christ could preach so well (cfr
Lk 4,21-30)
is the iconic example of familiarity. Instead of feeling
happy that
one of them was an outstanding man, they felt
uncomfortable and
rejected him.
We need to see
to it that no matter how we are physically,
emotionally or otherwise, we have to be spiritually and
morally amazed
at God in all situations of our life. This is always
possible, though
it may require some effort, even heroic, extraordinary
effort
sometimes.
It would be
good if we develop the attitude of simply
having to begin and begin again in our spiritual life,
not allowing
whatever difficulty and challenge we have to tackle to
dominate us.
Neither falling into anger, bitterness, self-pity and
sadness, nor
just drifting into familiarity, complacency and routine
could properly
handle those difficulties and challenges.
What we need to
do is to continue, without let up, having
to begin and begin again. This is a practical law of life
that we
should apply in our daily affairs. Let’s not get too
sentimental and
wait for some strong inspiration before we move. With a
simple act of
the will, let’s just do it—that of having to begin and
begin again.
We should
always begin and begin again because we are
always in need of renewal. Irrespective of the many
things that we may
already have accomplished or the high esteem we may
already have
gained among the people, we should never forget that we
need to
continue renewing ourselves.
We have to
remember that sanctity and everything involved
in it—fidelity, generosity, development of virtues,
etc.—will always
be a never-ending affair as long as we live. It will
always demand
something from us. It is the antithesis of the attitude
that says
enough to what the Holy Spirit will show us.
Given our unstable
human condition, we need to make constant
effort to conform our love to Christ’s love that goes all
the way to
assuming all our sins and offering us his mercy.
Everyday we
have to make plans and strategies of how to
make our love reflect Christ’s love better. This means
that we really
have to actively look at Christ and follow his example
more closely.
Like him, we should be willing to do a lot of good and be
patient,
understanding and merciful with those who do not practice
Christian
love.
In this, we
have to be willing to suffer. That’s why the
love for the cross is a sure sign that we are truly
loving. We have to
learn how to overcome our tendency to be self-absorbed
and
self-centered, interested more in our own good than in
the good of the
others.
The usual
events of our day actually offer us many
opportunities to renew and purify our love. There are
challenges to
tackle, setbacks and disappointments to suffer, etc.
These and many
others are good sources to conform our love to Christ’s
love. Let’s
not take them for granted.
If our love is
real, that is, if it truly reflects
Christ’s love, we will always enjoy a certain sense of
peace and joy
in spite of the suffering we can encounter. We may die
with Christ,
but we will surely resurrect with him also.
No comments:
Post a Comment