Conversion needed to do God’s will

NOW that we in the month of October, let’s remind ourselves of the importance of the Holy Rosary. It’s a very helpful prayer that lets us go through the life of Christ, the pattern of our humanity, with Mary who is the best teacher and guide in knowing Christ whose life we should try to reflect in ours. 

 The month opens with the liturgical celebration of the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time whose gospel reading talks about that parable of the two sons who were asked by their father to work in their vineyard. (cfr. Mt 21,28-32) 

 The first son at first refused his father’s request but later on changed his mind. The second said, yes, but actually did not go. Obviously, the first son did the father’s will, but only after some conversion. The second was just full of intention and words but failed in the action part. 

 The lesson that we should draw from this gospel parable is that we are always in need of conversion for us to do God’s will. We cannot deny that we can have a lot of what is called now as political or social correctness, but still fail to do God’s will, the real good for us. 

 We have to realize deeply that conversion is a continuing affair for all of us in this life. We can never say, if we have to follow by what our Christian faith tells us, that we are good enough as to need conversion no more. 

 We are all sinners, St. John said. And even the just man, as the Bible said, falls seven times in a day. (cfr. Proverbs 24,16) 

 Besides, it is this sense of continuing conversion that would really ensure us that whatever we do, whatever would happen to us, including our failures and defeats, would redound to what is truly good for the parties concerned and for everybody else in general. 

 That’s because conversion brings us and everything that we have done in life to a reconciliation with God, from whom we come and to whom we go. 

 In one of the post-resurrection appearances of Christ to his apostles, that time when it was said that Christ “opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,” our Lord told them clearly: 

 “Thus, it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” (Lk 24,46-47) 

 Yes, repentance for the forgiveness of sins has to be preached far and wide and constantly. These words show how much Christ is bent in saving us, in bringing us to our true dignity of a functioning child of God. This is his will for us. We just have to learn to correspond to that will, which is actually for our own true good. 

 The mark of true saints is precisely this hunger and thirst for repentance and conversion. Whatever good they did humbled them instead of leaving them proud. They knew who and what was behind all the accomplishments they made, and were more keenly aware of their inadequacies, their mistakes, faults, infidelities, etc. 

 It’s not that they led a miserable life of having a dark outlook in life and a negative attitude toward their own selves. They were a happy lot, whose joy sprang from their living and faithful union with God, their father, but aware of their total dependence on God. 

 Let’s always feel the need for conversion!

Dealing with spiritual beings

THE Feast of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, celebrated on September 29, reminds us of our need to learn how to deal with spiritual beings. We cannot deny that they exist and that they play an important role, for good and evil, in our lives. 

 That’s because there are good spirits and bad spirits. We know that originally all spirits are created by God and are therefore good. However, some of them rebelled against their creator, abusing the freedom God gave them, and put themselves in enmity against God, the source of all goodness, forever. 

 We have to be more aware of their existence and the influence they have on us. It’s ironical that many of us get to talk about spiritual beings only when we are bothered by some evil spirits, as in cases of possession or infestation. Hardly do we talk about the good spirits who actually can be our great allies in pursuing the real purpose of our life here on earth. 

 We have to be aware of the presence of angels and demons, and of their purpose, function and activities in our life. They, for sure, are real beings, as real as you and me. They are not fictional characters, or some merely literary devices meant to make a point or teach us a lesson. 

 They are always around. Their interventions and interferences in our life are not restricted to some extraordinary occasions. They actually get involved in our daily affairs. And we just have to be more perceptive of them so we would know to whom to run and from whom to run away. 

 Let us remember that we are not purely material beings. We also are spiritual, with a spiritual soul, and not just a plant or animal soul. As such, our life cannot help but be in the loop of the spiritual beings also, like the angels and the demons. We need to be more aware of this reality and learn how to live with it properly. 

 We have to remember that in the gospel, there are many references to angels and demons. We have no basis to think that in today’s world, their presence has diminished or has been eliminated. They are very much with us! 

 Strangely enough, some people think that way, with the reason that since Christ has already assured us of our redemption because of his passion, death and resurrection, the role of angels and the danger of demons are practically made obsolete. 

 That is not quite so. It can also be argued that precisely because Christ has completed his work of our redemption and just waits for us to do our part, the workings of the angels and the demons have also become more relevant. The demons’ evil interest in us has spiked, and our need for angelic help has increased. 

 That’s why, when we get closer to God, making an effort to sanctify ourselves seriously, we can also experience more vicious and subtle attacks of the demons. We should not be surprised by this phenomenon, but rather feel confident that what we are doing must be good. 

 Angels are our tremendous friends who would help us in all our needs. Demons are our worst traitors. They indeed can appear to be very friendly too, but only to turn us in, so to speak.

No evil without the good

INDEED, evil cannot exist by itself. It has to refer itself to something that is good which it denies, distorts, corrupts, etc. And if we are smart enough, we should not worry too much about all the evils we can encounter in our life. As long as we know how to refer them to the good and the true that they stand on, we would know how to deal with these evils properly. 

 We are somehow reminded of this truth of our faith in that gospel episode where Herod the tetrarch had a consuming desire to know and to see Christ whom he did not meet yet. (cfr. Lk 9,7-9) “Herod said, ‘John I beheaded. Who then is this about whom I hear such things?’ And he kept trying to see him,” the gospel narrates. 

 As we can see, despite the seething evil of hatred Herod had in his heart against the early Christians, he was eager to know and see Christ, somehow validating what our Catechism tells us that there is always in man a natural and inherent desire for the good. 

 Yes, despite our weaknesses, mistakes, sins, etc., we have in our heart of hearts an inherent desire for the good, for heaven, for God. As the Catechism would put it, “This desire (for happiness) is of divine origin: God has placed it in the human heart in order to draw man to the One who alone can fulfill it.” (1718) 

 This truth of our faith is also illustrated in that gospel episode where a rich young man approached Christ, asking what he had to do to gain eternal life. (cfr. Mk 10,17-27) As that gospel story unfolded, Christ told him first to follow the commandments, and when the young man said that he had observed all those, Christ then told him to “sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” 

 We should always bear this truth of our faith in mind whenever we are assailed by evil in any form it may come. It always has to refer to something true and good which it tries to twist, distort or outrightly deny. It cannot stand on its own. It offers nothing new, nothing original. 

 Knowing that fact gives us the effective way to deal with it, so we avoid falling for it. What we have to do is to refer ourselves to the truth and to the source of all goodness who is God. 

 This was how Christ dealt with the devil who tried to tempt him. (cfr. Mt 4,1-11) In that episode in Christ’s life, the devil quoted passages of Scripture to lure Christ to go into the devil’s will and ways. But those passages were all twisted and distorted to suit the devil’s interest. Christ, of course, knew this and quickly clarified things to him. Eventually, the devil left Christ in peace. 

 This episode clearly shows us that it is the truth that will make us free. (cfr. Jn 8,32) It is our intimate relation with the God, the source of all goodness, who will protect us from the very subtle tricks and wiles of the devil. 

 To defend ourselves from evil that will always hound us in our earthly life, we need to really know the truth well and to always keep in touch with God, never allowing ourselves to stay far from him. In this regard, we can never overemphasize our need for God.

Be aware of the power God shares with us

OUR Christian faith tells us that we are meant to share the same life and nature of God in whose image and likeness we have been created. That is why we are all called to be holy as God is holy, as well as to love everybody as God is all love. This love for everybody is expressed in doing apostolate which we have to understand as meant for all of us. Yes, we are all meant to be apostles also in our own way. 

 We are somehow reminded of these truths of our faith in that gospel episode where Christ, after choosing his apostles in some random way, gave the tremendous powers, a sharing in the powers of Christ himself. “Jesus summoned the Twelve and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them to proclaim the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick.” (Lk 9,1) 

 We have to be most aware of what we all have in our hands. We may feel unworthy of all this, as we should, but the undeniable truth is that Christ is sharing his powers with us. Let us do our part in corresponding to this stupendous truth of our faith. 

 And the only way to do that is give our all to God. Let us be generous and magnanimous as God is overwhelmingly generous and magnanimous to all of us. There has to be that mutual dynamic of love and self-giving that has been initiated by God himself. God loves us first, and we have to learn to love him in return, a love that is also expressed in loving everybody just as God loves everybody irrespective of how they are! 

 This is a call to generosity. “Without cost you have received, without cost you are to give,” Christ told us. (Mt 10,8) Christ himself embodied this principle when he, being God, became man, and not contented with that, he went to the extent of offering his life to conquer all our sins. He finally gave himself to us in the sacraments, especially in the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, which is a real madness of love. 

 Everyday, let us grow in our identification with Christ. Let’s hope that slowly but steadily we can feel the conviction that we are becoming “other Christ” (alter Christus), if not “Christ himself” (ipse Christus). 

 Let’s not be afraid of the effort and the sacrifices involved in this process. It will all be worthwhile. If we truly try to identify ourselves with Christ, we would be confident that Christ himself would give us the same peace and joy that he had as he went through his own passion and death on the cross. 

 We are, of course, aware of our limitations and many times we have to say enough. And that’s good to do. It shows we are humble and realistic enough to acknowledge them. 

 But there’s one area in our life where we should never say enough. And that’s in our spiritual life, in our duty to love God and others as Christ himself has loved us, that is, all the way to death on the cross. 

 The duty itself of loving knows no bounds. As St. Francis de Sales said, “The measure of love is to love without measure.” And we might ask, is this possible, is this doable? 

 The answer, of course, is yes. In the first place, there is in us a spiritual capacity that would lead us to the world of the spiritual and supernatural, the world of the infinite.

Christ defines who can belong to God’s family

HE said it very clearly. “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it.” (Lk 8,21) 

 If we want to belong to God’s family as we should, since we are meant to be his image and likeness and sharers of his divine life and nature, we should follow what Christ is telling us. 

 And why should we believe in Christ’s words? That’s because he is the very Son of God, and is God himself, who became man to offer us “the way, the truth and the life” that is proper to us. 

 Remember that episode of his baptism in the River Jordan? A voice was heard from heaven, clearly telling us who Christ was. “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” (Mt 3,17) And in the transfiguration of Christ, again a voice was heard from heaven: “This is my beloved Son, listen to him.” (Mt 17,5) 

 Let’s never forget that God always intervenes in our life. He actually is the main shaper and director of our life. But he always needs our cooperation, because he always respects our freedom. 

 Thus, we should realize that the ideal condition for us is to unite our will with God’s will. It should identify itself with God’s will and channel it as faithfully as possible all throughout our earthly sojourn. 

 We have to realize more deeply that God’s will is the source of everything in the universe. The whole of creation in all its existence, unity, truth, goodness and beauty starts from God’s will and is maintained by it. 

 The entire range and scope of reality—be it material or spiritual, natural or supernatural, temporal or eternal—is “contained” there, not only theoretically but also ‘in vivo.’ It would be funny if we think we can cope with all the demands of our life by simply relying on our own powers. We have to follow God’s will all the time. 

 We, therefore, have to do everything to polish and sharpen our sense of obedience to God’s will, especially as we head toward maturity since the years tend to deaden our need for obedience. We have to be more aware of those factors that tend to dull our duty to obey. 

 In fact, the older we get, and the more accomplished and experienced we feel we are, the sharper should be our sense of obedience and more attentive to its finer demands. 

 Otherwise, we would simply spoil whatever achievements we have gained. It’s like we are gaining ground on the outside but losing ground on the inside, an echo of “what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul.” A terrible collapse would just be a matter of time. 

 We need to be strongly reminded about this, since we have to contend with formidable undermining forces—culture, lifestyle, media, the scandalous examples of many in politics, business, and even in the church. We have to be ready to do continuing constructive battle of peace and love in this area. 

 The model for all this is Christ who frequently said, “My food is to do the will of my Father.” And he did so all the way to the cross. Thus, St. Paul said that Christ was obedient until death.

The call for transparency

“THERE is nothing hidden that will not become visible, and nothing secret that will not be known and come to light.” (Lk 8,17) With these words of Christ, we are obviously told to be transparent in all our thoughts, desires, intentions, words and deeds. Yes, there is such need also for discretion and tact, but these should not be an excuse or a cover to be any less transparent. 

 As to how we can be both transparent and discreet and tactful, Christ also gave us an idea. And that is that we should just try our best to be the light for others, to give good example to others, edifying them always with God or with the right intention. “No one who lights a lamp conceals it with a vessel or sets it under a bed,” he said. “Rather, he places it on a lampstand so that those who enter may see the light.” (Lk 8,16) 

 To be sure, if we manage to be a light to others by being transparent without compromising the need for discretion, our life would be much lighter and happier. We would unload ourselves of unnecessary burdens. What is more, we would keep our good relations with God and with others. Our life would be much simpler and properly focused on its true ultimate purpose. 

 We should really work on our need for transparency and sincerity. We cannot deny that many are the elements nowadays that can undermine that need. Signs and even structures of hypocrisy, deceit, corruption and the like are all around us. Sad to say, they seem to be the mainstream culture today. 

 Consider again what benefits a good sense of transparency can give us. It will help us develop and sustain our integrity in life. It means that everything that we do is good, that is, morally good. Of course, this sense of transparency can only take root when it is based on our faith in God who sets all the laws in our life, and therefore, all that is good for us. 

 We have to realize more deeply that before God, nothing can be hidden. We therefore have to adapt a lifestyle that would make us do everything in his presence. In fact, we are not simply meant to do things in his presence. It is more to do everything for God’s glory. Thus, when we do things without God in mind, let us be warned that we are already doing things wrongly. 

 We should not base our sense of transparency on human, natural and worldly criteria alone. These latter standards do not capture all the good that is proper to us. At best, they may just be silent about the finer nuances and consequences of what is generally good for us. We have to remember that many mysteries shroud our understanding of things. 

 But what is bad nowadays is that our human laws and worldly standards have started to go against God’s will. This, of course, can be due to our limitations in truly understanding God’s law. But it can also be due to our sinfulness and malice. Nowadays, I believe it is the latter that has led us to make laws that are openly against God’s law. We need to do something drastic about this predicament. 

 And we can start by being sincere in our confessions and spiritual direction. It is indeed necessary that we be brutally sincere when we go to confession and to spiritual direction. We have to learn to lay all our cards on the table so that the human instruments used by God to help us in our spiritual life, can truly help us.

Careful with the danger of envy

THIS danger usually arises when we are not contented with what we have or with what is promised to us. It arises when we tend to compare ourselves with others in an improper way—that is, not for the glory of God but rather for our own self-interest only. 

 We are reminded of this danger in that gospel parable about a landowner hiring workers in different hours of the day. (cfr. Mt 20,1-16) The landowner saw idle people around and decided to hire them, promising to pay them a certain amount of money. When he saw other idle people in the latter part of the day, he also decided to hire them, promising them to pay them something. 

 As it turned out, when the time came to pay them, the landowner decided to pay the same amount to everyone, irrespective of the time they were hired. That’s when those hired in the first hour thought they would receive more than what was promised, obviously because they rendered longer time of work. 

 But the landowner noticed that those hired in the first hour grumbled about their pay, and so, he corrected them saying, “Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what is yours and go. What if I wish to give this last one the same as you?” 

 That’s when the parable ended with the intended concluding lesson with these intriguing words of Christ: “Are you envious because I am generous? Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last.” 

 Indeed, we need to be most wary of this danger of envy that would lead us to feel entitled just because we came ahead of the others, or more gifted and privileged than them. That would lead us to think that those who came later than us or who are less gifted than us to be better rewarded by God than we are if they were given the same treatment. 

 What we should rather do is to be contented with what we have as given by God through his different ways, and just focus on what we have to do to fulfill our duties and responsibilities. Anyway, in the end God knows what to give us in return, and he can never be outdone in generosity. 

 We should just be generous in our self-giving without feeling entitled. This was the example of Christ himself who, being God, emptied himself to become man and to bear all the sins of men by dying on the cross, all for the purpose of saving mankind. (cfr. Phil 2,7) 

 He reiterated this point when he lamented about the domineering sense of entitlement of some of the leading Jews of his time while praising the poor widow who put all that she had into the temple treasury. (cfr. Mk 12,38-44) 

 While it’s true that we obviously are entitled to our rights, we should not feel entitled to privileges and favors that are above our rights and needs. If they come and we cannot avoid them, then let’s be thankful. 

 But let’s be reminded that these privileges, favors and blessings are meant for us to strengthen our desire to serve more and not to be served. But as it is, we should try to avoid them, since they tend only to spoil and corrupt us. 

 We have to be most wary when we happen to enjoy some privileged positions or status in life because we tend to think that we deserve more entitlements. And not only would we expect them. We may even demand them for us.

Be eager to proclaim the Good News

LIKE Christ, we should be very eager to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God. As the gospel narrates, Christ went from one town to another village to preach. And with him were his apostles and some women, somehow reminding us all that this duty of proclaiming the Gospel is incumbent on everyone of us. (cfr. Lk 8,1-3) 

 We should deeply feel this urge to carry out this Christian duty. We should follow what St. Paul said once, “preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction.” (2 Tim 4,2) 

 We just have to learn how to master the gospel in the sense of truly imbibing its spirit. This will, of course, involve a lot of study and the lifelong effort to incarnate the living word of God in us. And we also have to study how to present this living word of God with the gift of tongue, such that we can effectively connect with all kinds and classes of people—the young and the old, the intellectual and manual workers, men and women, etc. 

 While there is always a need to come out with some serious and deep presentation of the Word of God, properly supported by the auxiliary sciences of philosophy, theology, etc., we should also know how to present the Word in the common language of the people today, especially the young ones. 

 Like Christ who used parables and other literary devices to convey the sublime doctrine of our faith, we should also know how to use certain devices—memes, the so-called ‘hugot’ lines, stories—that are appropriate. 

 And nowadays, let us make use of the many powerful technologies that can be used as the pulpit for the whole world. We should be active in the cyberworld which is practically the new Areopagus today. 

 And just as we spend a lot of time studying and meditating on the gospel or the catechism, for example, we should also spend some ample time with the people in general to know how they are, what their concerns are, how they are thinking, etc. Only then would we know how to proclaim the Gospel in an effective way. As St. Paul told us, we should try our best to be “all things to all men.” (cfr. 1 Cor 9,22) 

 Definitely, a lot of experimentation and trial-and-error would be involved here. And so, we should just be game enough to handle this unavoidable condition. As long as we pray, as long as our spiritual life is strong, we would not get lost even if we commit some mistakes along the way. 

 Everyday, we should determine a specific doctrine of our faith, drawn from the living word of God, that we can present to our friends and to people in general. In fact, we should make a daily plan of how to carry out this duty of proclaiming the Good News effectively. 

 For this, we need to look for the appropriate time and place. We have to be wary of our tendency to be dominated by a lifestyle of activism and pragmatism that would blunt our need for recollection and immersion in the life of Christ. 

 The drama of Christ’s life here on earth has to continue in our own life. Thus, we need to continually conform our mind and heart to the Gospel, an affair that demands everything from us. Only then can we proclaim the Good News effectively.

The universal call to the apostolate

YES, just as there is the universal call to holiness, there is also the universal call to the apostolate. This is what is to be an authentic Christian. No one can be a true Christian if he fails to pursue this dual goal of holiness and apostolate. In a way, we can say that a Christian is both a saint and an apostle. 

 We are somehow reminded of this truth of our faith in that gospel episode of the call of Matthew to be one of the apostles. (cfr. Mt 9,9-13) As the gospel narrates, Christ was just passing by a certain place when he saw Matthew at the customs post. He just told Matthew to follow him, and, wonder of wonders, Matthew just stood up and followed him! 

 We do not exactly know the dynamics of how this event came about, but for sure there must have been the interplay of God’s grace and human freedom. That Matthew followed Christ, despite being regarded at that time as a sinner for being a tax collector, clearly shows that anyone, and in fact, everyone can be called by Christ to follow him. 

 To be sure, everyone of us has a vocation to holiness and to the apostolate. God calls all of us to be with him. He invites us to share his life and his work. We are all co-operators of his abiding providence. That’s why we are told that we have to “listen to him.” He always intervenes in our life. We just have to learn how to hear him and work with him. 

 This is what vocation is all about—living and working with God. Everyone’s vocation has been forged from all eternity, and we too have been wired for that. That’s why we have been created with intelligence and will. Besides, God gives us his grace, so we can live with him in a supernatural way. We can and should enter into a living relation with God. 

 Thus, it behooves all of us to develop a sense of vocation in our life. We need to exert the effort to know God and his will more and more by praying, meditating on the gospel and his doctrine, now taught by the Church, fulfilling the usual duties we have which are part of God’s will, etc. 

 The universal call to the apostolate stems from the basic human need of ours to be concerned always with everybody else. As persons, we are not meant to be by ourselves. We are meant to be always in relation with the others. And that relation should be one that is good and helpful to one. 

 And from the human need to be good and helpful to everyone, we are asked to elevate that concern to the supernatural level where we can be with God. That means that our relation with others should not just remain in the human and natural level, but should be developed in view of our common supernatural goal to be with God, to be holy and truly love with one another as Christ himself as loved us. (cfr. Jn 13,34) 

 We need to train ourselves to be apostolic all the time. We have to realize that if we simply are aware of this universal call to the apostolate, everything in our life can and should be an occasion to do apostolate. Even when we are isolated, we can still do apostolate by simply praying and offering sacrifices for the others, etc.

True wisdom always springs from faith

THAT, in effect, was what Christ told some people of his time. In spite of what Christ taught and did, they refused to believe him. “We played the flute for you, but you did not dance. We sang a dirge, but you did not weep,” he said. 

 “For John the Baptist came neither eating food nor drinking wine, and you said, ‘He is possessed by a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking and you said, ‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’” (cfr. Lk 7,31-35) 

 Christ concluded this lament by saying that “wisdom is vindicated by all her children.” It’s his way of saying that everything that he said and did were proven true by all those who cared to listen and follow him. 

 We have to strengthen our belief that true wisdom can only come to us if we believe and follow Christ through our Christian faith. We have to be wary and be properly guarded against the strong pressure to acquire our wisdom from our own estimation of things and from other sources. 

 We are always in need of faith. We can never say that we have enough faith. We should never be complacent in this regard. Faith is an ever-dynamic thing that needs to grow and grow as well as to inspire us more deeply, thoroughly and consistently. 

 We need to make it grow to cope with our natural needs. In this level alone, we always need faith to make things very clear for us, even if in theory we can handle the natural challenges and difficulties we can encounter in life. 

 We cannot deny that there are just too many of these natural challenges and difficulties for us to handle with a certain ease and confidence. Especially these days when the pace of development is faster, and the developments themselves are more complicated and tricky, we need the light of faith to see things properly. 

 Besides, it is faith that gives the ultimate meaning and proper direction to all our human knowledge and endeavors. It is what gives the original perspective to all events, good or bad, in our life. Otherwise, we would end up confused and lost. 

 We also need to make our faith grow to cope with the multiplying infranatural consequences of our human condition that is weakened by sin. There’s no other way to manage and survive the consequences of sin, ours and those of others, than by relying first of all on our faith. Without faith, we will find no exit, no relief from this wounded status of ours. 

 That’s why St. Paul said: “Above all, take the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.” (Eph 6,16) Faith holds pride of place in our armory to wage that lifelong battle with our wounded flesh, the temptations of the world, and the tricks of the devil. 

 Thirdly, we need to make our faith grow to cope with the tremendous goal of attaining our supernatural goal in life, that of becoming the true image and likeness of God in which we have been created. Our human and natural powers simply cannot handle this aspiration. It would require nothing less than God’s help which starts by giving us the gift of faith which we have to receive and make full use of.

Compassion channels God’s love to men

THAT’S what happens when we show compassion to anyone in need. We channel God’s love to others. We become more and more like God. We act out our being a person who by definition is meant to relate us with others. By being compassionate, we avoid getting trapped in our own world, putting ourselves in some kind of silo, isolated from God and from the others. 

 We are reminded of this truth of our faith in that gospel episode where Christ was moved to resurrect a dead man, the only child of a widow. (cfr. Lk 7,11-17) It did not take time for him to do what he did. He immediately took pity on the widow. He took the initiative without being asked. 

 This gospel episode teaches us the lesson that like Christ we should try our best to be quick in showing compassion to everyone, especially to those in great and urgent need. For this, we have to train ourselves in the art and virtue of compassion which is a matter of entering into the very lives and drama of the others with the spirit of Christ. 

 If we really want to be “another Christ,” we should be quick to show compassion to others who are in need of one thing or another. This is typical of Christ. Wherever he went, though he had to convey difficult and hard-to-understand messages to the people, since these messages were mainly spiritual and supernatural in character, he never neglected their more immediate human needs. 

 His heart always flowed with compassion, quick to notice the needs of others and to respond to them. And all this in all simplicity, telling the beneficiaries who were so bursting with gratitude that they wanted to broadcast what they received to the whole world, to keep quiet instead. 

 It’s an example that we should all try to imitate. One deep desire we should have is that of making as some kind of default mode that attitude of always thinking of the others, wishing them well all the time and doing whatever we can to help. 

 It’s obviously not easy to do, but we can always try. With God’s grace and with our persistent effort, we can little by little and day by day hack it, such that it becomes second nature to us to think and feel for the others. That’s what compassion is all about. We just have to learn to be tough to take on whatever effort is needed. We have to learn to be all things to all men. (cfr. 1 Cor 9,22) 

 Compassion starts in the heart, in our thoughts and desires. In this level, there is no limit in what we can do. Obviously, when we try to translate these prayers, thoughts and desires into action and material things, we can be greatly limited. But insofar as prayers and sacrifices are involved, the possibilities are unlimited. 

 We need to examine ourselves more deeply to see if indeed we are always thinking, praying and wishing others well. We have to be wary of our tendency to let our thoughts and desired be dictated only by self-interest, usually done in a most subtle but effective way. For this, we have to do regular examination of conscience. 

 Compassion should not be exclusively associated with the sweet and tender moments of pity, sympathy and empathy. It demands sacrifice and self-denial which we should be willing to give.

Faith always works wonders

INDEED! That gospel episode where a centurion begged Christ to cure his dying slave (cfr. Lk 7,1-10) simply shows us that with a strong faith like that of the centurion, miracles can happen. 

 “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof,” was the response of the centurion when Christ said he was going to his house. “Therefore, I did not consider myself worthy to come to you; but say the word and let my servant be healed,” he continued. It was this manifestation of the centurion’s great faith that Christ immediately did what was requested. The slave got cured at that instant. 

 We need to understand that since our life is meant to be a life with God, a life in the Spirit which is a supernatural life more than just a natural life, our Christian faith has to be taken care of, nourished and developed to full maturity. 

 We need to be more aware of this duty and develop the appropriate attitude and skill to carry out this responsibility effectively. We have to go beyond mere good intentions or being merely theoretical in order to be truly practical and be vitally engaged with this obligation. 

 Faith is a tremendous gift from God who starts to share with us what he has, what he knows about himself and about ourselves. It gives us the global picture of reality, covering both the temporal and the eternal, the material and the spiritual, the natural and supernatural dimensions of our life. 

 It is what gives permanent value to our passing concerns, the ultimate, constant and unifying standard to all the variables of our life. The perishable things of life can attain an imperishable quality when infused with faith. What is merely earthly and mundane can have a sanctifying effect when done with faith. 

 By its very dynamics, it prepares us for a life of charity which is how our life ought to be. It is also nourished and is the effect of charity, indicating to us that faith is organically united to charity, the very essence of God in whose image and likeness we are. 

 Besides, given the character of journeying of our earthly life, faith is also what nourishes our hope, that principle that enables us to move on before all kinds of possible situations and predicaments we can encounter in our life. It gives us the reason, the basis, and the vital impulses of our hope. 

 Especially these days when many people are confused, if not lost, in the complex drama of life, faith is what would give us the proper light to guide us as we navigate the waters of life. 

 Faith contains the medicine and the remedy to all our spiritual inadequacies and illnesses. It is what is required for miracles to happen, as attested many times in the Gospel. 

 When one has faith, even if it is just little, we can see the marvels of God taking place all around everyday. That one perseveres in prayer, or decides to confess his sins after a long period of sinfulness, or a husband being faithful to his wife in spite of the strong temptations, etc., these are miracles too. 

 They are miracles because these situations often defy human logic and worldly wisdom. But then again, they can only be acknowledged if one has faith. Faith enables us to see beyond appearances and the reality painted only by human and worldly values. 

 It is faith that lets us enter into the spiritual and supernatural world. It brings us to share in God’s wisdom and power. Remember those stirring words of Christ: “If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, Remove from there, and it shall remove, and nothing shall be impossible to you.” ((Mt 17,20)

Why do we always have to forgive?

MANY reasons can come to mind to answer that question. One is that Christ himself said so. When asked by Peter how many times one should forgive, he stretched to practically infinite times the suggestion of Peter of 7 times to 70 times 7. 

 On another occasion, Christ also said that we need to forgive others if we want to be forgiven ourselves. “Forgive and you shall be forgiven,” he said (Lk 6,37) He reiterated this injunction when he said: “For if you will forgive men their offences, your heavenly Father will forgive you also your offences. But if you do not forgive men, neither will your Father forgive you your offences.” (Mt 6,14-15) 

 It’s clear therefore that we can only be forgiven if we also forgive others. This injunction is meant for everyone, and not only for a few whom we may consider to be religiously inclined. 

 That’s also why he easily forgave the woman caught in adultery. And to those whom he cured of their illnesses, it was actually the forgiveness of their sins that he was more interested in. 

 To top it all, Christ allowed himself to die on the cross as a way to forgive all of our sins, and to convert our sins through his resurrection as a way to our own redemption. What he did for us he also expects, nay, commands that we also do for everybody else. 

 If Christ can offer forgiveness to those who crucified him—and there can be no worse evil than killing Christ who is God—why do we find it hard to offer forgiveness to others? 

 It is presumed that all of us sin one way or another. That’s why St. John said: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1 Jn 1,8) I am sure that our personal experiences can bear that out easily. 

 No matter how saintly we try ourselves to be, sin always manages to come in because of our wounded humanity and the many temptations within and around us. As St. John said, we have to contend with three main enemies: our own wounded flesh, the devil and the world corrupted by our own sin. 

 But the most important reason why we should always forgive is, I believe, the fact that forgiving others likens us with God, with Christ, who is the pattern of our humanity and the savior of our damaged humanity. Forgiving is the ultimate act of love which is the very essence of God and which is also intended for us since we are supposed to be God’s image and likeness. 

 Thus, we have to learn to be forgiving always of others, no matter how undeserving we feel they are of forgiveness. That’s how God forgave us. He took the initiative. He offered forgiveness and continues to do so if only to bring us back to him. 

 The awareness of this truth should also help us to develop the attitude to forgive one another as quickly as possible, since that is the only way we can learn to love. When we find it hard to forgive others, it is a clear sign that we are full of ourselves, are self-righteous, proud and vain. 

 We have to continually check on our attitude towards others because today’s dominant culture is filled precisely by the viruses of self-righteousness, that feeling that we are superior to others, etc. We have to do constant battle against that culture that undermines our duty to be always forgiving.

When in grief, run to Mary

SEPTEMBER 15 celebrates the Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows, a most relevant memorial that tells us that the best way to handle our unavoidable sorrows in this life is to go to Mary. 

 She is not only the best teacher of how to handle our sorrows but also the best company we can have when we find ourselves in some dark and painful moments in our life. 

 She can tell us that whatever sorrows and pain we can have in this life can be converted into something good and positive, something that will lead us to our repentance and purification. 

 And that’s because she will reassure us that as long as we refer all these sorrows and pains to God, as we should, and even if these sorrows and pains are self-inflicted as they usually are, God can make wonders out of them. 

 It’s a divine way of handling our sorrows and pains as articulated by St. Paul in his Second Letter to the Corinthians: “Our sorrow was used by God, and so we suffered no loss…The sorrow God sends us produces a repentance that leads to salvation, but worldly sorrow brings death.” (7,9-10) 

 We should imprint these most reassuring words in our mind and heart so that we can avoid falling into unnecessary bad consequences when we find ourselves in this situation of sorrows and pains. Nowadays, since many people do not have the theological mind in handling their sorrows and, thus, fail to have recourse to our Lady, the cases of emotional, mental and psychological illnesses have grown. 

 Our predicament today is that our attitude towards this unavoidable element in our life is taken out of its fundamental context of faith and religion. We just look at it in a purely human and natural way. We just look for the human and natural causes as well as for their human and natural solutions or remedies. But they can only go so far. 

 Thus, we often exaggerate or worsen our sufferings, as we fail to know their ultimate whys and wherefores. Thus, we often would not know how to suffer them, since we would merely rely on our physical, emotional or psychological stamina, or some external material resources like drugs. The spiritual and supernatural way is not resorted to. 

 Our Lady of Sorrows can help us see the over-all picture of things that would give us the proper perspective and context in which all our sorrows and pains should be seen and understood. 

 Looking at her closely at the foot of the cross would certainly help us to get at least an inkling of the positive value of our sorrows and pains. And especially praying the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Holy Rosary with her would certainly be helpful also. 

 Let’s learn to handle our sorrows and pains with Mary who will teach us to develop a spiritual attitude and supernatural outlook in life, based on our faith in God that has to grow stronger everyday. That faith, of course, has to give rise to hope and be nourished by charity. 

 They are the ones that give the full picture of our life, and thus, integrate all the other aspects, including all the negative things in our life, putting them in one organic and redemptive whole. They are the ones that connect us with God our Creator and with everybody and everything else.

Why should we love the cross?

THE quick answer to that question is because the cross, that is, Christ’s cross, constitutes the supreme act of love Christ has for us. And if we love Christ as we should, and he clearly said that we have to love one another as he has loved us, then we should learn how to love the cross the way Christ loved it. It’s how we can truly become Christ-like, or God-like as we should. 

 Loving the cross is how we can truly love which is the very essence of our humanity as it is the essence of God in whose image and likeness we have been created. 

 The cross signifies that total self-emptying of ourselves just like the Son of God emptied himself to become man to save us. It turns our unavoidable sinfulness into a “happy fault,” a tremendous ransom God pays for us out of sheer love. It is the fulness of redemption, the fulness of love. 

 We are reminded of this crucial truth of our faith on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, celebrated liturgically on September 14. In a sense, we can say that with this feast, we are urged to love the cross of Christ. 

 We have to be wary of our tendency to limit our loving to ways and forms that give us some benefits alone, be it material, moral or spiritual. While they are also a form of love, they are not yet the fullness of love. They are not the real love meant for us. 

 We need to know the purpose of the cross because the cross, through Christ’s passion, death and resurrection, is where everything in our life is resolved. Christ’s passion, death and resurrection is the culmination of Christ’s redemptive mission on earth. 

 Yes, Christ preached. He performed miracles. But in the end, he had to offer his life on the cross because no matter what he did, our sins are such that they simply cannot be undone and forgiven through the preaching of the truths of our faith and the tremendous effects of the miracles. Christ has to offer his life on the cross! 

 If we have to learn how to truly love, then we have to follow Christ all the way to the cross. It would be helpful that everyday we have this instinct to always look for the cross of Christ. Christ himself told us that to follow him we should deny ourselves and the carry the cross. (cfr. Mt 16,24) 

 To be sure, the self-denial asked by Christ is not of the kind that leads us to our self-annihilation. Far from it. It will rather lead us to our self-fulfillment. It is asking that instead of our own selves, we should have Christ as the center of our attention always, the very core and substance of our consciousness. We need, of course, to exercise our faith to live by this divine indication. 

 And the reason is simple. Christ is the very pattern of our humanity in its original state and the redeemer of our damaged humanity. It’s him in whom we can have our ultimate fulfillment, our true and lasting joy and peace. That’s why Christ said he is “the way, the truth and the life” for us. We cannot go to God, our Father and creator, except through him. 

 We need to be wary of certain current ideologies and lifestyles that would put Christ aside. To be with Christ always, we need to love the cross.

Incarnating the Beatitudes

ONE of the most intriguing teachings of Christ are the Beatitudes. (cfr. Lk 6,20-26) They make us wonder why it is blessed to go through all kinds of suffering here on earth—to be poor, hungry, persecuted, etc. 

 The answer, of course, is that the Beatitudes clearly tell us what to expect in this life, filled as it is with all kinds of challenges, difficulties and the like. They assure us that as long as we go through all these sufferings with Christ, we indeed would be blessed! That’s because Christ offers us a way of how to convert our human suffering into a means of our own salvation. 

 The great task we have at hand with respect to the Beatitudes is how to incarnate them in our life. We all know that we have a natural aversion to any kind of suffering, and that we hardly go beyond the natural or the infranatural aspects of our sufferings. We fail to see their purifying and redemptive potentials. 

 That is why we really need to discipline our mind and heart, our understanding and feelings, so as to align them to the saving ways of Christ. And one way of doing this is to develop in a proactive way a spirit of sacrifice, a spirit of self-denial and mortification. And this done and lived on a daily basis. 

 We have to understand that we need to make sacrifices simply because Christ himself commanded us so. “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” (Mt 16,24) These clear words of Christ do not limit our need for sacrifices to the facts that suffering and pain are inescapable in life, or that we are willing to suffer for something or someone we love. 

 Our need for sacrifice is first of all based on the fact that Christ commands it. We should not wait for suffering and pain to come before we make sacrifices. Neither should we wait to be moved to suffer for something or for someone we love before we make sacrifices. 

 We make sacrifices simply because Christ said so, and he said so because it is necessary for us. More than expiating for our sins, the sacrifices are a clear expression of a total self-giving which is the essence of love. 

 Sacrifices, as iconized by the Cross of Christ, are what distinguish a Christian. The cross is the sign of the Christian because it is the center of the saving life and action of Christ. It shows how much Christ obeys his Father out of love, and how much he loves us. 

 We have to learn to sanctify our sacrifices by uniting them with the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. That is how we make our sufferings and pain divine and with redemptive value. 

 It is by uniting our sacrifices with that of Christ that we can find the meaning and value of suffering and pain in this life. As a Church document puts it: “Through Christ and in Christ, the riddles of sorrow and death grow meaningful. Apart from His Gospel, they overwhelm us.” (Gaudium et spes, 22) 

 We should not doubt that the cross has a tremendous saving power. We have to learn to love it and therefore to look for it and to carry it, as Christ himself commanded us. We should not just tolerate it.

Vocation is for all

INDEED, everyone has a vocation! The idea of a vocation is not meant only for a few who may feel that they are called to the priesthood or to a consecrated religious life. It is not meant for those who may be generally regarded as inclined to do some missionary work. 

 We are reminded of this truth of our faith in that gospel episode where Christ, after a night of prayer, chose 12 persons to be his apostles. (cfr. Lk 6,12-19) Ever wondered why Christ chose his apostles practically randomly? He, for example, would just pass by Matthew in his tax collector’s table and say, “Come, follow me,” without as much checking on Matthew’s background. 

 Same with brothers Peter and Andrew, and James and John. Christ would just call them, and without asking any question they simply left their nets, for they were fishermen, and followed Christ. 

 In the end, he would also call Judas Iscariot who would later betray him. Christ, being God, would have known that Judas would turn him in. But that did not deter him. He called Judas to be one of his 12 apostles just the same. 

 The only reason I can find for this behavior of Christ is that he has the right to call anyone and everyone to follow him. And that’s simply because, as God, he has that right since all of us come from him and belong to him. As redeemer, he calls everyone to follow him. 

 Everyone has a vocation simply because God calls all of us to be holy, to be like him who created us in his image and likeness. Everyone is called to holiness. The call to holiness is universal! 

 That’s what a vocation is—it is a calling from God who puts us here on earth to be tested, to see if what God wants us to be is also what we would like ourselves to be. Thus, everyone should be aroused to develop a sense of vocation as early as possible, and pursue it with the strongest sense of commitment, since our vocation is the most basic commitment we ought to have. 

 We have to realize that our vocation is meant to cover all our life, in all its aspects, and not just some parts of our life. Our vocation gives meaning to our whole life, and projects us to our proper destiny. 

 Nothing is excluded from it, since God’s presence and interventions in our life are constant and abiding, and not just from time to time, nor from case to case. It covers our whole life, from beginning to end. 

 A person without a sense of vocation is actually an anomaly. He may be described as a freeloader who ignores a basic truth about himself and enjoys or suffers the many things in life without knowing what these things are really meant for. 

 Obviously, each one has to find out the specific vocation meant for him. Our common vocation lends itself to various specific vocations with their own spirituality and charism, supported by their corresponding way of life or culture. Each one of us should just study and see which one he is more suited. 

 There’s, of course, a vocation to the priesthood and the religious life. But for most of the people, their vocation is to remain in the secular world as lay faithful who use all the events and circumstances of his life as a way to live out his vocation. They, of course, would need a supporting plan of life that can sustain their sense of vocation.

Caring for our mental health

IN the gospel, many instances are recorded where some leading Jews would make many rash judgments on Christ and his disciples. One such instance was when Christ cured a man with a withered hand. (cfr. Lk 6,6-11) 

 These leading Jews were quick to observe if Christ would heal that man on a Sabbath, which to them was a no-no, according to their rigid and self-righteous laws. And when finally Christ cured the man, they were enraged and discussed among themselves about what to do with Christ. 

 This, to me, is an example of what we can consider, at the very least, as a mental health issue. The whole affair certainly is more serious than that, involving as it does matters of faith and spiritual life, but the mental health aspect, I would say, plays a crucial role in it. 

 We have to give due concern to this aspect of our life because nowadays we can observe increasing cases of mental health issues. Many people are falling into anxiety, depression, burn-out, addiction, psychosis, delirium, bipolar disorder, etc. The increasing pressures and complexities in today’s life can easily give rise to these disorders. 

 The ideal mental health, I imagine, is when one is at peace with everyone, first with God, and then with everybody and everything else. Despite the unavoidable differences, conflicts, difficulties and challenges in life, one manages to be at peace and confident in tackling whatever situation one may be in, certain of where he is going. He has a clear vision of the real purpose of life, and does everything to be on track. 

 Obviously, this ideal mental health can only be achieved when one is with God who, in Christ, offers us the “way, the truth and the life” proper to us. Thus, to develop a good mental health, we really should go to Christ who makes himself available to us all the time through the many instrumentalities he himself has provided us. 

 The significance of our mental health lies in the fact that it is there where we can have greater control of our own selves, enabling us to direct our thoughts, desires, feelings, etc. to their proper objective. 

 If we make the effort to develop our mental health in Christ, we can manage to understand many things and to cope with any situation we may find ourselves in. We can avoid making rash judgments, negative thoughts, and having a critical spirit, always looking for faults in others. More than these, we would always feel driven to do good, whatever may be the circumstances. 

 Of course, that’s easier said than done. We have to realize that to develop a good mental health, we need to do certain things—praying, developing the virtues like humility, prudence, order, fortitude, etc. In a sense, there is a certain regimen to follow also, one that is fitted to one’s concrete conditions. 

 This is where the value of piety comes in, playing a crucial role in keeping us healthy mentally, emotionally, psychologically and even physically. Piety is our relationship with God. It is nourished by God’s gifts of faith, hope and charity to which we have to correspond knowingly, freely and lovingly. 

 We have to realize more deeply our need to have a genuine life of piety to be truly healthy, first in the spirit and then in the body. We have to spread this Good News widely. It hardly involves money or some material things. What only is needed is an act of faith, which is something spiritual, a matter of our will and intelligence.

Developing the true spirit of Christian fraternity

CHRIST describes for us what true fraternity among ourselves should be. It’s in that gospel episode were Christ told his disciples what they should do when one of them would sin against another. (cfr. Mt 18,15-20) 

 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone,” he said. “If he listens to you, you have won over your brother. If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, so that every fact would be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses.” 

 True fraternity as taught and shown to us by Christ will always be filled with affection, understanding, compassion, patience, etc. It should never be a cold or something like an officious charity. It should always be warm and cordial, despite the inevitable differences and conflicts among ourselves. 

 But it should never compromise the truth which should also be shown and lived in charity. If need be, to proclaim and defend the truth, we may have to resort to making suggestions and fraternal corrections. But all this should be done without bitter zeal. That is, without charity. 

 We should see to it we are always mindful and thoughtful of others, learning how to be “all things to all men,” as St. Paul said. (1 Cor 9,19-23) Thus, it pays that we learn the art of listening, empathy, entering into the drama of the lives of others. We have to learn how to be flexible and versatile, resilient in adapting to the different temperaments and personalities of people. 

 And while we have to be delicate in our dealings with others, we should also cultivate a certain toughness so as to enable us to absorb the unavoidable sacrifices involved in developing true Christian fraternity. 

 Christian fraternity lives out what St. Paul once suggested. That is, that we should bear one another’s burdens. (cfr. Gal 6,2) In this, we have to learn how to take the initiative, not waiting for things to be forced on us. This may start in very little details like lending a hand in the tasks of others, or visiting and giving a warm accompaniment to a sick person, etc. 

 Another aspect of Christian fraternity is, again as St. Paul suggested, to regard the others as better than us. “Be humble,” St. Paul said. “Think of the others as better than yourselves. Don't look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.” (Phil 2,3-5 

 We should have the eagerness to serve the others in the spirit shown by Christ himself when he washed the feet of his apostles. (cfr. Jn 13,1-17) We have to go that extent without thinking that we are doing something great or extraordinary. This should be something ordinary to us. 

 In a world where relations among people are becoming increasingly toxic, we should provide the happy antidote of living out true Christian fraternity. In this, of course, we should expect to do a lot of self-denial and sacrifices, but these are precisely what Christ told us to do if we want to follow him. 

 Let’s be thoroughly convinced that by developing this spirit of Christian fraternity, we are actually helping ourselves first in our own spiritual lives. And in that way, we become more effective in radiating far and wide this true spirit of fraternity among ourselves.

Mary, the perfection of humanity

ON the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, celebrated on September 8, we are reminded of the unique place Mary occupies in the history of human salvation. The entire household of God in heaven definitely rejoices at her birth. She carried out the highest mission ever entrusted to a creature. And now, Christ himself gave her to be our Mother too. What supreme joy we have! 

 We should develop a deep devotion to her, fully convinced that she will be a great help to us. As one saint would put it, she is the surest, shortest and safest way to God. She is the most effective and powerful intercessor for us. As dramatized in that episode of the wedding at Cana (cfr. Jn 2,1-12), when it would be our Lady who would intercede for us, Christ would have a hard time to refuse. He most likely would give in. 

 We have to understand that Mary symbolizes humanity in its fullness and perfection. Conceived without original sin, that is to say, she was conceived and born in the state of grace, which was the original state our first parents had, until they fell into sin, she personified the true nature of man as God’s image and likeness, sharers of his divine life and nature. 

 She retained that condition even as she navigated the tricky waters of the world, filled with all kinds of evil. Her secret? She was fully and abidingly identified with her Son. Even in the things that she could not fully comprehend, as when she was told that she was going to be the mother of the Son of God, she just obeyed and said ‘yes’ to the designs of God. Her heart and mind were always focused on her Son and on the will of God. 

 She obviously gives us a way and an effective example of how we too can be identified with Christ and with God’s will all the time as we should. And being a mother to us, as Christ himself gave her to us as a mother (cfr. Jn 19,25-29), she is always solicitous of our condition here on earth as we too navigate its tricky waters. 

 Thus, we have to learn how to be intimately close to her. Indeed, we have to learn how to pray and deal with Christ through Mary. Contrary to what may be largely implied by our seemingly mainstream attitudes and actuations in these dizzying times, Mary has not fallen obsolete in our life. If anything, she has acquired greater relevance. 

 We have to find a way to be near her and intimately close to her. We need to learn how to read her mind and catch the slightest insinuations she makes, because all these are a tremendous help in our spiritual life, in our relation with God. 

 That’s precisely because with all the bombardment of things we are subjected to these days, Mary, the Mother of Christ who gave her to us to be our mother too, shows us how to be spiritual and supernatural in the midst of our glutting human affairs. 

 Let’s remember that the present mad race to technological progress can stimulate us wrongly, pressuring us to succumb to mindless activism and to drift to uncharted territory guided only by ignorance, confusion if not outright error. 

 In this way, she shows us how to live our life to the full, not reduced to the purely earthly and material levels. She shows us how to fall in love properly, how to be truly and fully human!

Developing the apostolic zeal

“Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.” (Lk 5,4) Famous words of Christ addressed to Simon Peter which should also be addressed to each one of us. These are words that tell us to be bold, creative and zealous in our apostolic duty, and to have a universal mind insofar is apostolate is concerned. 

 Peter at first was hesitant to follow what was told him, saying that he and his companions tried to fish the night before and caught nothing. But then he corrected himself and did as told, and voila, a huge amount of fish was caught that floored him in amazement. 

 He could not help but tell Christ to depart from him since he was a sinful man, i.e., he felt so unworthy of Christ. And that’s when Christ told him that from then on, he would be fishing men, i.e., he was clearly told to do apostolate and to win new apostles. 

 This moving scene in the gospel should urge us to learn to trust God, and in his word and in his ways, no matter how they seem unreasonable, impractical or impossible. For this, we have to go beyond our own understanding and estimation of things, and open our mind and heart to the light of our faith and love for God and for others. 

 While it’s true that we have to use all our human faculties in dealing with our earthly affairs and concerns, that is, our intelligence and will, our sciences and arts, our common sense and cultural and social wisdom, we should not forget that all these would have no real value unless they are engaged with our faith in God. 

 We also should sharpen our apostolic skills, training ourselves to enter into the lives of everyone we meet. It always pays to be friendly with everyone, despite our unavoidable differences and conflicts. Smiling, having a warm and open disposition, will go a long way in carrying out this apostolic duty. 

 But even before all this, we should bring to our prayer our apostolic plans and desires, since only then can we be divinely inspired to carry out this apostolic duty as Christ wants. Only then would we be bold enough to talk about God, about things spiritual and supernatural, about vocation, with everyone. 

 We have to be ready to get interested in everyone apostolically. We should be interested both in the rich and the poor, those in the mainstream of society as well as those in the peripheries. 

 For this, we need to be patient, persevering, creative and versatile. We have to learn how to “waste time” with everyone, especially those who may be very different from us in terms of temperament, social and economic status, etc. 

 We should not wait for some favorable circumstances before we do apostolate. To do apostolate should be like our heartbeat. We should feel its urge the way we feel the urge to breathe, eat and drink. 

 Of course, to do apostolate is not a biological urge, but a spiritual one, to be triggered by an act of our will that is animated by God’s grace. We do not do apostolate because we happen to have some extra time. We do it because we are supposed to be apostles, and we always look for time to do it. 

 We should neither forget that first of all we should ask for God’s grace, since only then can we be truly effective in our apostolate.

Christ is never indifferent to our suffering

LIKE those who went to Christ for healing, (cfr. Lk 4,38-44) we too should immediately go to our Lord especially when we find ourselves in some form of suffering, be it a matter of sickness or some difficulty in the different aspects of our life, financial, professional, social, etc. 

 We should never suffer by our lonesome, coping with our problems through some human ways alone. This method can only go so far. What we need to do is always to go to Christ who teaches us and enables us to suffer with meaning. 

 With Christ, there is even the possibility of solving our problems while here on earth. We can be cured of any illness we may have. And if these problems cannot be solved anymore in our life, Christ can turn them into a way of our purification and salvation. Christ can always derive from it something good for us. 

 We need to develop in ourselves the instinct to go to Christ immediately. We have to be wary of our tendency to get stuck in the human level when some suffering comes our way. Christ always listens to us and gives what is best for us at the moment and in the long run. He is never indifferent to our needs. 

 Of course, his ways may not be what we specifically would want to happen. In this, we have to be ready to develop the appropriate attitude of acceptance and abandonment in the often-mysterious providence of God. We should just strengthen our faith that whatever happens, as long as we have begged God for help, everything would just work out for the good. (cfr. Rom 8,28) 

 We should avoid unnecessarily dramatizing our predicaments. Obviously, we have to learn how to suffer which can be done as long as we learn how to suffer with Christ. That is why a certain toughness in us should also be developed. 

 And we can have that toughness if we follow what Christ one time spelled out for us. That is, if we want to follow him, we have to learn to deny ourselves and carry the cross. (cfr. Mt 16,24) And that, on a daily basis. 

 We just have to follow the example of the many characters in the gospel who, feeling helpless in the many predicaments they were in, earnestly rushed to Christ for some succor. They went to him unafraid and unashamed and they got what they wanted. 

 There is no denying that life always has more to offer us than what we can understand, let alone, cope. And they can come in all shapes and sizes, good and bad, pleasant and unpleasant, likeable and hateful. There are surprises and moments when we seem to rot in expectation and still things we long for don’t come. 

 In the face of all this, I believe the attitude to have and the reaction to make is to be calm, pray hard, and while we do all we can, we have to learn to live a certain sense of abandonment in the hands of God. 

 In those situations, I believe we just have to allow ourselves to play in God’s game plan, in his abiding providence whose designs are beyond reckoning, or are way beyond our comprehension and appreciation. 

 In this life, we need to develop a sportsman’s attitude, since life is like a game. Yes, life is like a game, because we set out to pursue a goal, we have to follow certain rules, we are given some means, tools and instruments, we train and are primed to win and do our best, but defeats can always come, and yet, we just have to move on.

God shares his power with us

THAT’S right! God shares his power with us. If we are truly God’s image and likeness, sharers of his divine life and nature, then it should come as a no-brainer that we too can share in his tremendous power. 

 We are somehow reminded of this wonderful truth of our faith in that gospel episode where people were amazed both by Christ’s teaching which they considered as being with authority and by the driving out of the devil that possessed a man. (cfr. Lk 4,31-37) 

 That God shares his power with us can also be shown by the fact that he gave his apostles, who were then his closest helpers at that time, great powers like the authority over unclean spirits, and the power to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. (cfr. Mt 10,1) 

 Eventually, Christ gave them such powers that, as he told them, “whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever they loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.” (Mt 18,18-20) 

 Thus, Sts. Peter and Paul, despite their human weakness, were able, for example, to heal a crippled beggar, raise the dead, exorcise a demon, etc., all recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. And throughout the history of Christianity, saints had been performing many miraculous deeds that only showed they shared the powers of God. 

 There’s hardly any better way to show that indeed we are meant to share also in the tremendous powers of God! The condition, of course, is if we truly identify ourselves with God through Christ in the Holy Spirit which is what we should try to do since that is the ultimate purpose of our life. And God has provided us with all the means that we need for this purpose. 

 In other words, things just would really depend on us. Are we willing to do our part and go along with God’s will and ways, or do we prefer to be and to do things simply by our own selves? 

 This is a truth of faith that we have to slowly process in our mind and heart, since definitely it’s a truth that is very incredible for us to accept. Usually, given our natural limitations when referred to the supernatural dimension of our life, our reaction would be disbelief to this truth of our Christian faith. 

 This is then where we truly have to humble ourselves to let the light to faith to guide us rather than keep ourselves to our own human estimations and ways. God is ever willing and eager to share his power with us. Our sharing in God’s power starts with our faith in God, but for that faith to take root in us, we need to be humble. 

 We should spend time meditating on this truth of our faith, and we should try to overcome whatever awkwardness and disbelief we have about it. Truth is, given the way the world is developing today, with so much drifting away if not rebellion against God, we need some divine powers to put ourselves afloat in our true dignity as children of God. 

 To be sure, if we have the right intention to share God’s power, we would always remain humble and ever eager to help others. Otherwise, we would be playing the game of the devil!

This serious business of becoming like Christ

WE need to be clear about this very fundamental truth of our Christian faith. We are meant to be like Christ for the simple reason that he is the very pattern of our humanity and the savior of our damaged humanity. Everything in our life should be made an occasion, a means, a reason to pursue that goal of ours. 

 We have to be wary of getting trapped in the technicalities of our temporal affairs that would desensitize us from this ultimate purpose of our life here on earth. If ever, these technicalities, while given our utmost attention and care, should only be a way to become more and more like Christ. 

 Especially in these days of the new technologies that can so mesmerize us as to be wholly dominated by them, we need to develop a certain mechanism that would always keep us in the proper spiritual and supernatural outlook in this life. In other words, we need to be real contemplatives even while immersed in the things of the world. The ideal is to have an abiding intimacy with Christ. 

 One clear way is to be and to do everything with Christ and for Christ. That’s because Christ is everywhere. Being God, he is the foundation of all reality. We are not fantasizing if we look for him everywhere to find, love and serve him. And being God who became man, he offers us “the way, the truth and the life” proper for us. 

 What can be very helpful in this regard is to develop the practice of saying ejaculatory prayers or aspirations all throughout the day. They are very helpful in quickly and easily putting ourselves in Christ’s presence, especially when we immerse ourselves deeply in the things of the world as we ought. 

 They help us relate ourselves and everything that happens to us to Christ, again as we ought. They help us in keeping a spiritual and supernatural outlook as we go through the different events of the day. In short, they help in keeping us spiritually alive, and not just alive in the body and to the world. 

 They help us see things better in the sense that we just would not see them with our senses and our human understanding alone, but also and more importantly with our faith, which is what is ideal and proper to us. They somehow put us in an intimate relation with Christ. With them we will never feel alone nor distant from Christ. 

 My personal experience with ejaculatory prayers shows that they are very helpful even in making me calm and rested even in the middle of a tense situation for the mind or for the body. They help in making me breathe more deeply and thus give some relief. 

 Also, not to forget is that they are very helpful in protecting and defending us from temptations and sin. They make the spiritual combat and ascetical struggle, so unavoidable in life, more manageable. 

 They also help in preparing us for the more serious forms in our relationship with Christ as when we have to do our prayers, our sacrifices and our recourse to the sacraments. 

 We should all do our best to make it a habit to say ejaculatory prayers often during the day. Any short and earnest expression of our faith and piety will do. And also in this regard, the many vocal prayers that are already available can be very useful. The “Our Father’s,” “Hail Mary’s” and “Glory be’s” are truly helpful.