From zip to zapped

WE have to be most wary of this particular predicament

that, sad to say, is becoming more common these days. This is not

about the usual and normal aging and deterioration we can expect as we

grow old after a life of very active work. This is about the aging and

deterioration of our spirit that is supposed to be always new and

young, despite the aging and deterioration of our bodily organism.

            This aging and deterioration of the spirit can even affect

young people who in spite of their bodily health and general good

human condition find themselves sad, depressed, indifferent, tired,

practically zapped. They seem to find no more meaning and purpose in

their life. They could not get any motive to move on. In the worst

scenario, they even commit suicide.

            Fortunately, I also have met old people who, in spite of

their depleted strength and vitality, continue to show zip and a zest

for life precisely because of their healthy spiritual life. They are

cheerful, optimistic, positive and constructive in their views and

reactions to things. They even are eager to lend a hand when they can.

            We really have to take care of our spirit which can only

be properly animated if it is vitally engaged with the spirit of God.

We come from God and we belong to him, meant to share in his very

life, starting here on earth, until we reach our definitive state in

heaven.

            Our spirit should not just be pegged on the spirit of the

flesh or of the world only. These spirits cannot go the distance.

Neither should our spirit be allowed to be unclear about what inspires

and animates it, because that condition would just expose it to the

most vicious of spirits, which is the spirit of the devil.

            The earlier this basic truth about ourselves is known and

acted on, the better for us. Thus, it is recommended that right when a

person is still a child, he is introduced to the world of religion, of

faith, of the spiritual and the supernatural, of God. Of course, this

has to be done in a gradual way, depending on the capacity of the

child.

            As soon as the child can understand it, he has to be

taught that he has to enter into a personal relationship with God who

is everything to us, showing him some practical ways of how this

relationship is established and developed—through prayer, little

sacrifices, the sacraments. They have to be taught to know more about

God through the appropriate books, and to develop love and devotion to

him.

            Some people might ask and even complain that this might be

treating children improperly, since children do not know yet the full

meaning of all these acts. They may even go to the extent of accusing

us that we are compromising the freedom of these children.

            My standard reply to these points is that we give children

what they need even if they do not ask for it. They may even resist

and not appreciate what they actually need, as in the case of the

little child who refuses to eat because he wants to play, or he just

is not interested, etc. But we would always try to find ways to make

the child eat, because he needs to eat.

            We have to realize that the greatest need of man is God.

So, we should introduce God to everyone as early as possible and

practicable. That way the child can already have some familiarity with

religion and the different acts of piety which can always be developed

and enriched as he grows older.

            In that way, he will realize early on that he needs his

spiritual soul to be animated by the spirit of God to keep himself

going regardless of the circumstances and conditions in his life.

Never suffer alone

WE have to remind everyone that when we suffer, we should

see to it that we avoid suffering by our own lonesome. That would make

our suffering, whatever may be its cause, whether it is self-inflicted

or caused by others, a useless and purely negative event.

            Truth is our suffering can have tremendous meaning and

positive effect on us if we go through it always with Christ. If we go

by our Christian faith, we are sure that Christ is ever willing to

suffer for us and with us, and to convert our suffering into the very

means of our salvation, in fact.

            There is no human suffering that Christ is not willing to

make also as his own. And he does it because he loves us, he wants to

save us, he wants to bring us back to him. Let’s remember that his

love is first of all gratuitous. He loves us first before we can learn

to love him in return.

            Christ loves us even if, according to our human standards,

we do not deserve to be loved. Let’s never forget that because of this

love, he, being God, emptied himself to become man, and still went

further by assuming all our sins by going through his passion and

death on the cross and by his resurrection.

            It is in the nature of love, as revealed and lived fully

by Christ, that the lover identifies himself with the beloved, and

leads his beloved to the highest good. That’s what Christ precisely

did for us and continues to do. He adapted himself to us in all the

possibilities of our human condition to lead us to himself, our

highest good since he is the pattern of our humanity and the savior of

our damaged humanity.

            What St. Paul said about being “all things to all men”

(cfr. 1 Cor 9,22) can first be applied to Christ. Christ went all the

way to become like sin, even if he did not commit sin, if only to save

us. (cfr. 2 Cor 5,21) He was not averse to any kind of suffering

caused by our sin. In fact, he embraced the cross to assume all the

suffering that we can have in this life.

            All these truths of our faith should reassure us and fill

us with peace, hope and joy. We have to continually process these

truths so that they can really enter deep in our consciousness and

become the very germ of our attitude toward any kind of suffering we

may encounter in life.

            So let’s not waste too much time lamenting over our

sufferings which are unavoidable in our life. What we have to do is to

immediately refer our suffering to Christ, asking for forgiveness for

ourselves and for others, since suffering is always a consequence of

sins, ours and those of others.

            Then let’s try to assume the attitude of Christ toward his

own suffering and death. He, in fact, looked forward to his passion

and death, embraced it with all his heart in spite of the pain,

because that was the will of the Father for the salvation of man.

            That should also be the attitude we ought to have.

Otherwise, our suffering gets trapped in the world of pure negativity

and misfortune. If we are consistent with our Christian faith, we get

to see this peculiar aspect of the reality of human suffering. It’s an

aspect that is spiritual and supernatural that goes beyond our human

and worldly standards and criteria.

            Here we see again how indispensable it is to relate

ourselves to God always. In fact, we are being asked to unite and

identify ourselves with Christ to such an extent that we truly become

‘alter Christus’ (another Christ) or even ‘ipse Christus’ (Christ

himself). Our suffering can be a path to be identified with Christ.

            To be sure, this is not falling into some kind of

perversion or a psychological anomaly. This will lead us to the

fullness of our humanity that can transcend our earthly and temporal

conditions.

Assuming Christ’s identity

THERE’S no doubt about it. We are meant to assume the

identity of Christ, because he is the pattern of our humanity and the

savior of our damaged humanity. We can only be as we ought to be when

we assume Christ’s identity. That is to say, when Christ and us become

one.

            A fantasy? A gratuitous exaggeration? Would we not fall

into some grave presumption here or some psychological disorder? Such

reactions, of course, are understandable. As they say, we are only

human (sapagkat kami’y tao lamang), and so we can never aspire to be

like Christ, much less, to be Christ himself.

            But Christ himself said so in so many words. “He who hears

you hears me,” he said, “and he who rejects you rejects me, and he who

reject me rejects him who sent me.” (Lk 10,16) Though spoken directly

to his apostles, such words can also be addressed to all of us.

            More than that, his ardent prayer before he entered into

his passion and death was that we be one with him and he is one with

his Father. “…that all of them may be one, as you, Father, are in me,

and I am in you. May they also be in us…that they may be one as we are

one, I in them and you in me, so that they may be brought to complete

unity…” (Jn 17,21.23)

            That is why St. Paul went to the extent of saying he had

the mind of Christ. “For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he

may instruct him?” he asked. “But we have the mind of Christ.” (1 Cor

2,16)

            And what is to have the mind of Christ? St. Paul offers

some ideas. “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus,”

he said. “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality

with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made

himself a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in

appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to

death—even death on a cross!” (Phil 2,5-8)

            To be like Christ, to have his mind, to assume Christ’s

identity, to be “another Christ” as some theologians have described

what the ideal is for us is to be humble, to be obedient, to love

everyone, including the enemies, to be willing to suffer for all, to

preach the truth, to have the attitude of wanting to serve and not to

be served, etc.

            To be sure, for us to be ‘another Christ’ is not our

initiative. It is God’s initiative for which he has given us all the

means for it to take place. He has given us his word and his

sacraments. He has given us the Church and the many instrumentalities

it possesses.

            In the end, he has given us Christ himself, the living

Christ who offers his life for us, in the Holy Eucharist. Christ makes

himself so available to us that we can have him for the taking.

            We really have no reason why we cannot assume Christ’s

identity. Of course, we have to do our part. We have to want and to

love him. Before that, we have to know him more and more, perhaps

through regular reading and meditation of his life and teaching as

contained in the gospels. Not only should we be familiar with his

words and deeds, but should also make those words and deeds as our

own.

            This will require a certain plan of life that will always

bring us to Christ whatever the situation and circumstance of our

life. But it would not be wrong if very often during the day we remind

ourselves, “I am another Christ. I have to see things, understand them

and react to them, as Christ would!” We have to overcome the initial

awkwardness to enter into the ultimate reality meant for us.

Tough and strong

THAT’S how priests, and others in similar position, should

be. They, we—me included—have to be tough and strong because aside

from bearing our own personal burdens, from contending with our own

personal demons, we also have to bear the burdens of the others. It is

no joke to serve like the receptacle of the problems of the others and

to find ways to help them.

            Since we priests usually hear confessions and give

counseling and spiritual direction to others, we cannot help but be

affected somehow by what we hear. And the problems of some people can

be so heavy and heart-wrenching that we end up exhausted, practically

emptied of any strength and energy.

            The worse part is what to say as advice and how to say it.

It indeed is a big challenge to be able to present the mercy and love

of God when the people’s problems seem to have no human solution or

when their miseries and weaknesses seem to be persistent and

insurmountable despite their efforts.

            In these cases, the challenge is how to present God’s love

in such a way that his love and mercy is seen as soothing, acceptable

and meaningful. The challenge is how to present God’s love such that

even if pain and suffering are unavoidable, people can see that God’s

love takes care of everything. They would realize that what they

cannot solve, God will always solve it for them in his own mysterious

ways.

            There is no doubt that a lot of spiritual and supernatural

means are needed here. We have to pray that the people’s faith gets

stirred and enlivened, that their hope gets reaffirmed and

strengthened, that their love for God gets enkindled.

            Aside from prayer, a lot of sacrifices are also needed.

Prayer and sacrifices vitally unite and identify us with Christ who is

the one to give us all the strength and light we need. Let’s remember

what St. Paul said in this regard: “I can do all things through Christ

who strengthens me.” (Phil 4,13)

            Yes, it’s only with Christ and in him that we priests can

truly be tough and strong as we should be as we carry out our ministry

of helping people in their spiritual and moral life that can be filled

with all sorts of problems and challenges.

            Our toughness should be the toughness of Christ who was

and continues to be willing to bear all the problems of men, and goes

all the way to offer his life for the salvation of men.

            With Christ and in him, our toughness would also know how

to be tender and gentle, how to be understanding, compassionate and

empathetic, as described in this passage from the gospel of St.

Matthew: “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he

will not extinguish, till he leads justice to victory.” (12,20)

            While our toughness will always be a fruit, first of all,

of God’s grace, it will also depend on our proper attitude, skills and

virtues. What we have to do first is to rein in but not suppress our

emotions and passions, subjecting them to the tenets of our faith

rather than just the impulses of our hormones.

            We have to learn how not to overdramatize the pain and

suffering involved in bearing the burdens of the others. This is

important because this will help us to think more objectively, and

therefore enabling us to make better judgments and assessments of

things.

            What can also be helpful is the consideration that when we

exert the effort—sometimes the heroic effort—to bear the burdens of

the others with Christ, we are actually already helping them greatly.

It is the truth about the communion of saints that assures us that

whatever we suffer for the others will always redound to their own

good.

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust

THAT’S the title of some pop songs, the most notable of

which was the one written by Dennis Lambert and performed by the 5th

Dimension in 1973. It was a top hit with a catchy tune, though the

lyrics definitely are not mainly religious in character. Rather it

expresses angst over our tenuous and fragile human condition in this

world.

          Just the same, the song cannot help but borrow some

religious expression that is at the fore and center of Ash Wednesday,

the beginning of the liturgical season of Lent. Such is life. No

matter how secular and worldly things can be, the religious sentiment

would always manage to come out. Thus, I believe that there is always

hope in life no matter how far south it falls from God.

          Yes, it’s true that a constituent part of us came from ash

and dust and that we would one day end up also there. But let’s never

forget that there is also another constituent part of ours that is

spiritual and as such is above the fate of our material condition.

          These two components form one organic whole with the

mortality of the material part taken up by the immortality of the

spiritual part which is our soul. More than this, our spiritual soul,

being rational and capable to being elevated to the supernatural

order, actually originates from the Spirit of God, its creator, and is

kept properly alive by that Spirit if we only freely connect ourselves

with the Spirit.

          What the celebration of Ash Wednesday and the whole season

of Lent signifies is that our body and everything related to our

material, temporal and earthly condition should be properly animated

by the Spirit of God so that our bodily and earthly condition can also

participate in the spiritual, supernatural and eternal life meant for

us.

          Given the condition of our body and everything related to

it, we need to discipline and purify it so that it can enter into the

spiritual and supernatural world. This point was articulated by Christ

when he said: “The Spirit gives life. The flesh profits nothing. The

words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.” (Jn 6,63)

          More graphically, Christ said regarding this point: “If

anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross

and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but

whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Mt 16,24-25)

          Let’s try our best to take these words of Christ seriously,

putting them into action especially during this season of Lent. We

should be generous in going through the practices of prayer, fasting

and abstinence, and the other means of self-denial and mortification,

and works of mercy, since these are what Christ recommends and what

the Church now encourages us to do. Let’s do them with all our heart,

and not just out of compliance.

          Let’s see to it that these practices would really give us

the sensation that we are getting closer to Christ, that we are

getting to be more and more like him, sharing his mind, his intentions

and desires, his fate. Let’s be convinced that this is what is truly

proper to us.

          We need to realize more and more deeply that in this life,

suffering and the need for purification are not only unavoidable but

are first of all necessary, given the weakened, wounded and sinful

condition of our humanity. If we go through them with Christ, assuming

his attitude toward all this, then all our suffering would have a

great redemptive value.

          Let’s remember that the Lenten season is actually a happy

season. It is like taking a shower with all the amenities given to

make us truly clean and presentable to God and to everybody else. Yes,

Lent is a season of smiles, of a great hope for an assured victory.

The homily

PEOPLE have been asking me about how the homily in the

Mass should be. I, of course, find it difficult to answer that

question, knowing that behind that question are often critical

observations people make, and that every priest has his own style, has

his own merits and limits which should be respected.

            But what I can say is that, first of all, the homily is an

integral part of the Mass, and as much as possible, should not be

omitted, especially on Sundays and holy days of obligation. It should

be given its due importance and understood properly by both the

priests and the faithful attending the Mass.

            Pope Francis said that the homily “is not a casual

discourse, nor a conference or a lesson, but a way of ‘taking up anew

that dialogue which has already been opened between the Lord and his

people.’” In other words, the homily is a continuing dialogue that

Christ initiates with the people, applying the perennials truths of

faith to the current circumstances of the people.

            The homily is not therefore some kind of class or lecture,

but rather Christ continuing his redemptive work on us, inspiring and

edifying us. Pope Francis said that priests should deliver good

homilies so that the “Good News” of the Gospel can take root in

people’s hearts and help them live holier lives.

            What is clear is that the priests in delivering the homily

should be very conscious that he is assuming the very person of Christ

as head of the Church. He has to project and channel Christ there, not

himself. He should be careful not to “steal the spotlight” from

Christ.

            And the priest should be most aware that he is speaking to

the people with the view of helping them to become more and more like

Christ, who is pattern of our humanity and the savior of our damaged

humanity. He is not there to entertain them, or to give them a class.

            While the priest, of course, can and should make full use

of whatever would help the people to listen to him during the homily,

the net effect should be that it is Christ whom the people listen, and

not just him. The priest should regularly examine himself if such is

the case when he delivers the homily.

            In this regard, it might be helpful to make use of some

words of St. John the Baptist who said, “He (Christ) must increase,

but I must decrease.” (Jn 3,30) Or some words of St. Paul who said,

“It is no longer who lives but Christ lives in me.” (Gal 2,20)

            The priest should find a way of how he can put these words

into his life, into his over-all attitude toward things, and

especially when he is giving the homily. He should know well the art

of passing unnoticed so that only Christ would shine out.

            Indeed, he has to spend time meditating on how he can

assume the mind and the presence of Christ wherever he is and

especially when he is celebrating the Holy Mass and giving the homily.

He should try his best never to depart from this state of mind, since

he is already sacramentally conformed to Christ head of the Church

whether he is saying Mass, walking in the street, or doing sport, etc.

            Yes, he has to spend time studying the gospel thoroughly

so that he can truly incarnate it in himself and express it in ways

that can really present Christ who would like to continue his

redemptive dialogue with the people of our times.

            There should never be room for improvisation. And when for

some reason one is caught unprepared because of some emergency

situation, he should implore the Holy Spirit to guide him, and let the

tremendous wonder of the Spirit speaking through him take place.

The indispensability of the cross

THAT’S right. The cross, given our human condition, is

absolutely necessary in our life here on earth. We cannot even be

human, much less, Christian, without the cross.

            Without the cross, we think that we can be absolutely on

our own. Without the cross, the only possibility we have is to sin, to

go against God, to demean our dignity as a human person and a child of

God, meant to be in God’s image and likeness.

            Without the cross, our freedom would easily go haywire,

get unhinged and proceed to pursue false, albeit quite attractive

goals. Without the cross, pride, vanity and their cohorts would easily

dominate us. Humility and the privations and sufferings that it

occasions automatically become a disvalue and are thrown out of the

window.

            That’s the reason why Christ, who only has our own good in

his mind and heart, commanded us that if we want to follow him, we

should deny ourselves and carry the cross. (cfr. Mt 16,24) We need the

cross more than we need air to breathe, food to eat.

            We have to understand then that the cross is not something

optional, though it has to be embraced as freely as possible. We

should avoid thinking that since the cross is necessary, we should

just force ourselves to accept it. That would be a wrong and dangerous

attitude to have.

            Thus, we have to spend time meditating on this

indispensability of the cross in our life so we can form the proper

attitude and the relevant skills. We cannot deny that our human

condition at the moment is quite averse even to the mere mention of

the cross. But this condition has to be overcome, with God’s grace, of

course, but also with our own effort.

            Just like anything else in life that we want to master, we

need some training here. Thus, instead of just waiting for the cross

to come, we should actively look for it. At the beginning, it is

understandable that we take on small crosses so we can be prepared for

the big ones. There has to be gradual assimilation of the importance

of the cross in our daily life until the cross becomes an organic part

of our life.

            I remember a saint who wrote on the first page of his

personal diary the following words: “In laetitia, nulla dies sine

cruce.” (In joy, there is no day without the cross.) I think it’s a

good motto to have and to guide us. We really should try our best to

look, find and love the cross everyday.

            The cross, of course, can come in many forms. There are

the physical ones, the internal and external ones, the emotional and

mental ones, the spiritual and moral ones. There also are the

ordinary, small ones and the extraordinary, corporal and special ones.

            We can start with the small crosses like eating less of

what we like, guarding our senses like our eyes and mouth. We can put

a tighter grip on our imagination and judgments, etc. Perhaps a

relevant mortification would be to limit our use of the internet and

the many gadgets that tend to distract us from our more important

duties.

            The more subtle forms of mortification are to develop the

ability to put order into all the things of our day, observing the

proper priorities, while at the same time, trying to be as productive

as possible by learning how to put together in some kind of synergy

the different tasks we have during the day.

            When we are faithful in bearing these little crosses, then

we can be more ready for the big ones, as when we are severely

misunderstood and mistreated, when we fall into some serious sickness,

when we suffer some crisis of one kind or another.

            That’s when we can be ready for the final one: when we

face our death and our transition to eternal life.

The key to fidelity

IT’S love, of course. But the real one, not the fake ones

that are proliferating around these days. It’s the love that comes

from God, is a participation of God’s love for all of us, irrespective

of who and how we are. It’s a love that goes all the way, without

counting the cost, and unafraid of all the sacrifices involved.

            It’s the love that will always make us young, new and

refreshed, in spite of the passing of years. It is self-renewing and

creative, and never runs out of initiatives to look and try new ways

of expressing that love in deeds. But it is also respectful of

tradition and faithful to commitments made in the past and meant to

last till death or forever.

            It’s the love that is not afraid of problems, challenges,

trials, failures, mistakes, difficulties, suffering, etc. It does not

surrender to them even if death overtakes it. It regards them as

opportunities and occasions to grow more in love, to grow more in

trust in God’s loving providence where everything works for the good

as long as we cooperate with him. It’s a love that will always fill us

with peace and joy whatever the situation.

            We have to understand that this kind of love can only be

had if we try our best to be with God, to identify ourselves with him

through Christ in the Holy Spirit. This kind of love can only be had

if we pray always, if we constantly look for Christ, find him, serve

him and imitate him, making him direct and shape our daily life.

            This kind of love can only be had if we have recourse to

the sacraments, especially the Holy Eucharist where we have Christ

offering himself as the bread of life. In that way, our love acquires

a supernatural power that goes infinitely beyond our natural powers.

With him, what we cannot do or solve are all taken care of.

            Yes, we have to do our part, and we, in fact, should give

our all. But we do it always with Christ. With him we would not be

afraid where our love and our life will take us. He takes care of

everything. What he simply expects from us is to trust him and to try

our best to cooperate with him. We therefore would always have hope.

And we would always find meaning in everything we experience in life.

            Let us see to it then that we are with Christ always. He

is real and alive, and not just a figment of our desire to believe. We

do not make him up in our mind. More than that, he is full of love for

us, full of solicitude toward us. He always has us in his mind and

heart. And he is actually actively intervening in our life at every

moment. There is no moment when he is indifferent to us. If we are

lost, he, like the Good Shepherd, will take the pains to look for us

and rescue us.

            We have to learn to discern his presence and his constant

interventions in our life. That is why, we need to develop certain

practices of piety so that we also can properly and actively

correspond to his constant interventions of love for us.

            Perhaps, we can make use of a certain plan of life that

would include, for example, some moments of mental prayer, so that

right from the start of the day, we can already feel the intimacy of

his presence and actions in our life. Then, having a recourse to the

sacraments, especially Confession, the Holy Mass and Communion, would

definitely be helpful.

            Let us have those practices that would help us live always

in his presence: regular spiritual reading, some devotions like the

Holy Rosary, the Angelus, etc.

Tolerating but not condoning

TO be realistic about the concrete conditions of our life

here on earth, we need to know how to be tolerant of certain

unavoidable evils without condoning them. The distinction may be

difficult to make, but we simply have to learn it if we want to

survive the drama of our earthly life. I believe this is a basic skill

we all have to acquire, given the way we and the world are.

            We cannot deny that in our life, we will always be hounded

by evil in all its forms. We have our own weaknesses to contend with,

in the first place. St. John already warned us about the “lust of the

flesh, lust of the eye, and the pride of life.” (1 Jn 2,16)

            Then we have to cope with the many temptations and

structures of sin now proliferating in the world. This is too obvious

and conspicuous to merit further elaboration. Just think of the

network of corruption, deception, pornography around!

            Worst of all, we have the devil, the trickiest and

smartest of all evils, to grapple with. And he is very good in the art

of conspiracy, putting snares and traps at every move we make. It is

really important that we know how to deal with this fact of life

without unduly compromising what is truly essential in our life.

            We have to learn to be tough and be ready to get dirty

somehow without surrendering the essential. And we should not lose the

hope of overcoming evil, fighting it out till the end of our life, if

needed.

            To be tolerating is to assume an attitude of allowing some

evil or something that we do not like, to exist or to occur without

interference from our part, at least in the meantime.

            It is to suffer that evil or negative element if only to

give more attention to something that is of higher value.

This may involve a certain material, not formal, cooperation in evil.

            It should be a function of a divinely inspired sense of

practicality, reflecting the lesson we can learn from the parable of

the unjust steward. (cfr. Lk 16,1-13) and from the example of Christ

himself who fraternized with the sinners more than with the

self-righteous persons.

            It, of course, does not mean that we do nothing about

these negative elements, nor be indifferent to them, turning a blind

eye toward them. Much less, does it mean that we approve these bad

elements, regarding them as somehow good and acceptable, giving false

excuses for them. That would already be condoning evil.

            In this regard, we have to remember that if we cannot help

it, we should be willing to lose whatever is necessary to lose if only

to save the essential, as articulated by Christ when he said:

            “If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and

throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than

for your whole body to be thrown into hell.  And if your right hand

causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for

you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into

hell.” (Mt 5,29-30)

            To be sure, for us to be able to distinguish between when

to be properly tolerant of certain evils and when we would already be

falling into condoning them, we would need God’s grace and our vital

union with Christ, no less. The spiritual and supernatural means

should always be given priority over the human means.

            On our part, we should study well the moral doctrine of

our Christian faith, especially on the principles regarding material

cooperation in evil, and to make proper consultations with the right

people. It would be helpful if we can have regular spiritual direction

where we can air out our experiences in this matter.

Stay humble and simple despite…

AMID the complexities of our life today, we have to learn

to stay humble and simple because that is the basic way to precisely

handle these complexities well. When we are humble and simple we would

know how to blend openness, tolerance and versatility on the one hand,

and to stick to the truth in charity on the other hand.

            Remember Christ telling his disciples: “Look, I am sending

you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore, be as shrewd as snakes and

as innocent as doves.” (Mt 10,16)

            We can interpret these words as Christ telling us that we

can only be shrewd and clever like snakes, capable of being open,

tolerant and versatile to any kind of worldly complicated situations

today when we remain humble and simple like doves. A humility and a

simplicity that would not lead us to be shrewd and clever like

serpents would not be true humility and simplicity. They would simply

be the fake ones.

  

            It is genuine humility and simplicity that would enable us

to face the complexities of our life because these are the virtues

that liken and identify us with Christ. And with Christ, we can manage

to tackle anything.

            Remember that we are told that with God nothing is

impossible. In other words, only with these virtues can we be “capax

Dei,” capable of being like God, sharing his power and wisdom. With

God, we can handle anything.

            Perhaps that is the reason why Christ said: “Learn from

me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for

your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden light.” (Mt 11,29-30)

            Of course, this is a mysterious and intriguing kind of

reasoning that Christ is telling us. And that is simply because he is

telling us something that is mainly spiritual and supernatural in

character. He is not giving us an indication that is meant to tackle

purely natural situations and predicaments.

            We have to realize that our life does not only have

material, temporal and natural dimensions. It has an eminently

spiritual and supernatural character for which the spiritual and

supernatural means are more important and necessary than the natural

ones.

            We just have to activate our faith to be able to put

ourselves in the proper condition to face the challenges of our life.

And that faith tells us to be humble and simple always even as we wade

through the complexities of today’s life.

            Humility and simplicity are the virtues that would make us

acknowledge that we are nothing without God. They sort of open our

soul for the grace of God to enter. And it is this grace that

transforms us, irrespective of our human impotencies, mistakes and

errors, into becoming children of God.

            And with God’s grace in our soul because of our humility

and simplicity, we can manage to receive the gifts of faith, hope and

charity. We can believe natural truths that not only are difficult to

discover but also to understand. Even more, it is humility and

simplicity that would enable us to believe supernatural truths where

there is no way for us to fully understand them, much less, explain

them in a human way.

            It is humility and simplicity that would enable us to be

like Christ, to be ‘alter Christus,’ who is the pattern of our

humanity and the redeemer of our damaged humanity. It is when we are

humble and simple that we can manage to bear and to suffer all things,

and to love even our enemies, offering forgiveness to our offenders,

just like what Christ did and continues to do.

            It would be a disaster to us if we respond to the complex

challenges of our times with our own version of convoluted

self-justifications. This happens when we start thinking, judging,

reasoning and concluding without God or, worse, when we think God's

clear commandments are already obsolete, irrelevant, a drag to our

interests, etc.

Preparing for the future

I AM very happy to note that there are serious agencies

that are concerned about preparing people, especially the young ones,

for the future. They are talking about the need for upskilling and

reskilling them to cope with the demands of the future.

            What is more, they are providing pertinent training

programs as their way of walking their talk. They have programs, for

example, for critical thinking, creativity, entrepreneurship and

analysis, etc., that definitely will be helpful to them as they enter

a fast evolving and very dynamic world.

  

            The other day, I made a quick overnight visit to some

relatives in Manila and spent some time bonding with my nephews and

nieces who are already young professionals and the little ones.

            Frankly, I was amazed at the way these young ones are

now—very knowledgeable about technical things and full of

self-confidence. But at the back of my mind was the question whether

they would know how to relate themselves and the things that they do

to God.

            My fervent wish though is that together with these

indispensable technical skills is the more important ‘skill’ of

relating everything to God. We should not just remain in the practical

and technical levels, since everything would just end up of no value

when God is not involved.

            In fact, God has to be the prime motive and the ultimate

goal of all the new skills people today have to learn. He should not

be exchanged for something merely technical, material and temporal.

Rather, these material and temporal things should be the means for us

to get to God.

  

            We all should learn how to offer everything that we are,

that we have and that we do to God. Our work, for example, should not

just be a technical affair with purely earthly and temporal goal. It

has to be an expression of our love for God, our way of adoring,

praising and thanking him.

            To be sure, everything can be related to God, since

everything comes from God and belongs to him. And if we follow the

example of Christ, we would know that all our earthly affairs can and

should be an occasion or means to relate ourselves to God.

            Even our mistakes and sins, if we have the faith and the

proper attitude, can be an occasion to go to God who is full of mercy

and compassion. Going to him with repentance will surely draw his

forgiveness and will bring us back to his good graces. There is really

nothing in our life that cannot be related to God.

            This basic truth about ourselves and our life should

always be in our mind. The real problem we have is when we ignore God

or when we are indifferent to him, which is just one step away from

going against him.

            There is indeed a great and urgent need to make especially

the young people aware of the importance of God in our lives. Everyone

has to know how to relate themselves and everything in our lives to

God. I believe this is the great challenge facing all centers of

learning.

            To prepare people for the future, we need not only

reskilling and upskilling the technical things, but rather and most

especially the spiritual and moral aspects of our life. We need to

find ways of how to effectively train people to be with God right in

the middle of their technical work.

            For this, we cannot underestimate the importance of a

certain plan of life that should include first of all some acts of

piety and a program of continuing spiritual and moral formation.

            Yes, we should learn to spend some time daily in prayer

and meditation, in getting to know more about God through reading the

gospel and other spiritual books. We should have recourse to the

sacraments, etc.