THIS is
something that we should always bear in mind,
never daring to take it for granted. This is the basic
reality about
our life, about our human condition here in this world.
It is what
should shape the basic attitude we have toward ourselves,
toward God
and everybody and everything else in our life.
We will always
be hounded by our human misery that can
come to us in many, many ways. Remember St. Paul saying,
“I see
another law at work in my body, warring against the law
of my mind and
holding me captive to the law of sin that dwells within
me.” (Rom
7,23)
We should never
forget this fact of life. No matter how
much we try, the tentacles and claws of evil will somehow
catch us or
at least threaten us. But instead of getting trapped in
anguish,
sadness or going wild because of it, we should use that
reality as a
strong reason to go to God, appealing always for his
mercy.
We should just
apply that Pauline advice: “It’s when I am
weak that I am strong. (2 Cor 12,11) And that’s because
St. Paul used
his weaknesses and all the evils that hounded him as the
very reason
and stimulus for him to go to God.
We should
neither forget that God’s mercy will always be
around too. As St. Paul also once said, “Where sin has
abounded, grace
has abounded even more.” (Rom 5,20)
Given this
fundamental reality of our human condition
here, what we should try to do, if only to minimize the
incidence of
evil, sin and temptations, is to be always aware of our
weaknesses,
our miseries, and to use them as the reason to always be
with God.
Our usual
problem is that many times we dare to be on our
own, and to regard God as not so important, not so
relevant and useful
in our life and our activities. We can even go to the
extent of
considering God as a hindrance, an obstacle to our quest
for
development, for freedom, for self-fulfillment.
This is the
attitude that we should try our best to
discard. It simply does not conform to the basic truth
about who we
are. We are nothing without God. We are supposed to live
our life
always with God. Without God, we would be living in some
fantasy world
that cannot hold on for long. That would be our misery of
miseries.
Precisely
because of this attitude, we fall into some kind
of bipolar life. When things are bad, we would easily
fall into
anguish, self-pity, depression and the possibility of
committing
suicide. And when things are good, chances are we get
spoiled via
pride, vanity, arrogance, greed, etc.
What we should
try to develop is the attitude that would
make us always aware of our miseries and our need for
God. These two
aspects of our life should be together. Whether times are
good or bad,
this should always be in our mind: I am nothing without
God. Even in
my good fortune, I will always end up corrupted if I dare
to be
without God.
It would be
good if we could install some means or
strategies in our lifestyle that would sustain this kind
of attitude.
Thus, there is always need for a time for prayer, and to
meditate on
the basic truths about ourselves that are spelled out in
our Christian
faith.
And then
develop the appropriate attitudes, skills and
virtues. In this regard, we need to realize more deeply
how God makes
himself tangibly accessible to us through the Church,
especially
through the sacraments, and among the sacraments,
especially the Holy
Eucharist.
These
facilities are often taken for granted, since they
are not properly understood and appreciated. It is indeed
a pity that
that seems to be the prevalent condition even among
Catholics at this
time...
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