GIVEN the
increasingly pressing conditions of the world
today and the permanent, ultimate and most precious goal
of ours, we
really need to be more serious and more skillful in
synergizing both
the active and contemplative modes of our life.
Yes, we have to
be immersed and get involved as much as we
can in all our worldly affairs, attending to their
requirements as
promptly and actively as possible. But we also have to
see to it that
we do not lose sight of what is most important in our
life—to be with
God and to aim at heaven. “What does it profit a man”
Christ said, “if
he gains the whole world but loses his own soul?” (Mk
8,36)
We need to be
both with God and with the world. These two
modes of our life need not be in conflict. They can and
should be put
together to enable us to live a life that is proper to us
as persons
and as children of God. We have to learn to find the
connection
between the material and spiritual aspects of our life,
between the
temporal and eternal, the mundane and the sacred.
The active and
contemplative modes of our life may each
have their own ways, but we have to develop a strategy of
how those
distinctive ways can be put together. It would not be
good for us if
we would just be active but fail to be contemplative, or
just
contemplative but not active. We have to be both.
The secret, I
believe, is to begin everything we think,
desire, speak and do with God, for after all he is the
creator of
everything, the author of what is true, good and
beautiful in the
world. With him, we get to see the unity that binds
together all the
different aspects of our life. He is the source, pattern
and end of
unity.
Thus, a period
of prayer, meditation and contemplation
should have priority over our work and other forms of
activity. Prayer
in its many forms, together with the recourse of the
sacraments and
making sacrifices, should help us to have a deep, strong
supernatural
outlook such that we can somehow feel God’s presence
everywhere and
see and abide by his will and continuing providence.
We have to
devise some means that would help us keep our
presence of God all throughout the day even in the middle
of the most
mundane activity we have. In this regard, we have to be
most inventive
and creative, flexible and versatile. It helps that to be
truly
motivated by our love for God and for others, we be
sportive and game
in our lifestyle, since everyday is actually like a game
with
endlessly varying possibilities.
To be
contemplative is usually associated with being
isolated, withdrawn from things, reflective, silent,
recollected and
far-looking, but it has to blend with our need to be with
others,
immersed in things, constantly reactive to whatever
immediate stimuli
may come our way.
If we have a
true contemplative spirit, the things of the
world would not be a hindrance in our relationship with
God. In fact,
the things of the world would become the means,
instrument, occasion
and reason to be with God. It is in them that we can and
should
develop and show our love for him and for others.
In other words,
our active life of work and other worldly
concerns is also where we can contemplate God. It is in
them that we
can and should meet God. There is no event in our life
where we cannot
meet God.
or commit mistakes or even fall into sin, we should not
forget that we
can and should still be with God. Yes, even in our worst
condition,
God would be most solicitous of us, as illustrated in the
parable of
the lost sheep, the lost coin and the prodigal son. (cfr.
Lk 15)
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