“Of his fulness we all have received, and grace for grace”

THESE are words of John the Baptist that refer to our basic relationship with Christ. (cfr. Jn 1,16) Yes, let’s be clear about this basic truth about ourselves. We have received the fullness of our being from Christ. That’s when we truly become like Christ. As theologians have termed it, we are supposed to be “alter Christus” (another Christ), if not, “ipse Christus” (Christ himself). 

 As we end another year and start a new one, let’s be reminded that we are still a work in progress insofar as our over-all humanity is concerned. We should not forget that we should be heading toward the fullness of our humanity in Christ who first of all is in charge of making us like him. But we need to cooperate as fully as possible in this ongoing work of Christ in us. 

 We need to process this truth of our faith about ourselves very slowly, because it will obviously astound us to think that we are supposed to be like Christ, to be another Christ if not Christ himself. Who, me, one with Christ? We most likely would be tempted to say, tell it to the Marines! 

 We are supposed to be ‘alter Christus’ simply because, if we have been created in the image and likeness of God, and Christ is the Son of God who is the perfect image and likeness that God has of himself, then we can only conclude that we have to be like Christ. 

 In other words, Christ as the Son of God is the pattern of our humanity. If we want to know who we really are, how we ought to be, all we have to do is to look at Christ and try our best, with God’s grace, to identify ourselves with him. 

 More than that, because of our sin that defaced the original state in which we, in Adam and Eve, were created, Christ is the Son of God who became man to save us. The immediate conclusion we can derive from this truth of our faith is that for us to know how to handle our sinfulness and wounded condition, again all we have to do is to look at Christ and try our best, with God’s grace, to identify ourselves with him. 

 That identification with Christ as our Redeemer cannot but involve the acceptance of the cross through which our salvation is achieved. We have to know therefore the full meaning of the cross in our life, and embrace and die on it the way Christ embraced and died on it. 

 This is what is meant to be ‘alter Christus,’ an ideal that can be reached because insofar as God is concerned, everything is already given for us to be able to be so. Things now just depend on us on whether we would like to be ‘alter Christus’ or not. 

 All the means are made available. We have the sources of divine revelation that show us the truth about ourselves. We have the word of God. We have the Church and the sacraments, especially the Holy Eucharist. 

 We just have to make the necessary adjustments in the way we think, in the way we identify ourselves. It would not be presumptuous, even given our limitations and woundedness, to start and keep thinking that “I am another Christ, ‘alter Christus.’” We just have to try our best, with God’s grace to think and act like Christ. 

 We have to have the very sentiments of Christ who has everything that is good and proper to us. When he said, “Whoever is not with me is against me, whoever does not gather with me scatters,” it is quite clear that for us to be ‘alter Christus’ is a necessity. It’s not something optional, though it has to be chosen freely.

Integrated and wholistic development

AM happy to learn that there are now many young professionals involved in consultancy work and are providing precious services to different sectors of society, trying to connect them in some organic way if only to attain what may be termed as an integrated and wholistic development plan for a certain company, industry or even a local government unit. 

 They obviously have a good interdisciplinary training, mostly technical in nature but which is combined also with good coordinating, managerial and executive skills. I believe this is the way to go for many young professionals who truly want to make a mark in their profession. 

 We cannot deny that the world today is evolving very fast and is creating a more complicated one, generating multi-dimensional and multi-level aspects that are increasingly challenging our capacities, requiring a drastic level-up of any development plans for a company, industry or government unit. 

 I, for one, as a priest have to cope now with so many multiplying things that require and sometimes overwhelm all my faculties—physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, etc. I now have to contend with so many distractions and so much clutter and chaos around. We are pressured to go into what is now called as multi-tasking and into some kind of interdisciplinary approach to things. It’s not anymore linear thinking. 

 I, for example, get fascinated by the new things that are appearing—new pieces of information, access to different journals, newspapers, magazines, new apps and digital programs, etc. The world seems to be widening and yet is also getting closer. It is so inviting and tempting, and yet if we are not properly equipped, we can really get lost. Indeed, as Pope Francis calls it, we are now living in some “liquid” world. 

 The question of how to live order while having a wholistic view of things in this kind of world now comes to the fore. I have asked some of my friends their views about this issue, and they have responded with helpful ideas. I’m thankful to them. Some have given me common-sensical tips. Others have provided some scientific studies. 

 What comes to my mind now is that, first of all, I should be calm and react to this phenomenon with serenity. Otherwise, I cannot think properly and I would become easy prey to stray impulses. 

 This effort is sometimes not easy to do since one can get over-excited over something. And with that, the sense of perspective and objectivity goes haywire. It’s important that one gets a good grip on his feelings and passions. 

 Thus, Christ’s words that we should practice some kind of self-denial and detachment are always relevant. There’s need indeed for self-discipline and focus on what is truly necessary in life, with a clear idea of the proper priorities. 

 And in that regard, I would say that we should really begin and end with God. In fact, God should always be with us every step of the way. Otherwise, we get lost and can become the object of Christ’s reproach: “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his own soul?” 

 This will require continually rectifying our intentions, seeing to it that everything is done out of love for God and for others, and not just pursuing our own self-interest. We have to learn to discern what God’s will is behind the things that come our way. Let us remember that God always has designs in every event of our life. He’s always present, ever intervening in our lives. 

 I believe this is how we can truly achieve an integrated and wholistic development in any aspect of our life and in any level of society.

The Holy Family

WITH the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, celebrated this year on December 28, we are once again reminded of the crucial role the family plays in our life. The Holy Family is the standard and model of every human family. A family that strays from that standard has no other way but to fail in its sacred mission of forming man as a social being into a family member of God’s family. 

 We can never exaggerate the importance of the family in our life. And we should be most thankful to God that, at least, in our country, we can still observe a strong sense of the family that, sad to say, seems to be disappearing in other parts of the world. 

 We should not be complacent, however, with what we are enjoying at the moment with regard to family life in general. There are many challenges to face nowadays in this department, and we should just tackle them and continue to learn lessons and improve the quality of our family life. 

 Let us entrust this concern to the Holy Family of Nazareth who will surely guide us and keep us properly grounded and rooted as we flow with the dizzying developments of our times that have serious implications insofar as family life is concerned. 

 First of all, we have to understand that the family environment can only be a reflection of the love between the parents. That love between husband and wife, father and mother, should always grow and develop, getting more and more purified as time goes on and as more challenges appear. 

 With that strong love, the proper attention and affection to their own children, especially the young ones, would be effectively nurtured. The parents should realize that the quality of their love for themselves and for their children increases in proportion to their self-surrender, their self-denial, their willingness to make sacrifices. 

 Given the today’s condition, we should be wary of the challenges the family faces. We cannot deny that right now the family in general is beset with all sorts of problems and difficulties. Even looking at the local scene, we can already see many dysfunctional and broken families. 

 The problem is aggravated by many of today’s developments that, while giving us a lot of advantages and conveniences, are also undermining the very foundations and pillars of the family. The pace and complexity of life today has taken a toll on family life and stability. 

 In many instances, husbands and wives do not live together because one or the other has to look for work abroad. Young couples tie the knot without a clear idea of what a lifetime commitment means and requires. They often base their love on very perishable and expirable foundations, and not on God’s love. In fact, many do not know that human love has to be rooted on divine love. 

 Again, with the new developments around especially in the field of technology, more division within the family, rather than greater unity, is observed. The gaps are not anymore generational, cultural or social. They are becoming more personal and individualistic. 

 With family life given a boost during this Christmas holidays, let’s take the time to see what we can do to reinforce family life. Let’s not waste the opportunity by spending it solely on having fun. It’s a time for discerning, anticipating, planning things for the family. 

 May it be that in every level of our life, this concern for the family is taken up seriously. For the Church, for example, there should be abiding diocesan and parochial efforts to help the family in some concrete way, an effort translated into continuing prayers, sacrifices and timely reminders.

The youthful John, Apostle and Evangelist

ON the Feast of St. John, the youngest of the apostles, we are reminded of how he, with St. Peter, first discovered the resurrection of the Lord. (cfr. Jn 20,1-8) When Mary Magdalene reported to them that the body of Christ was missing from the tomb, they immediately went out, running, to check. 

 It is said that St. John, being the younger of the two, ran ahead of Peter, but strangely enough, perhaps due to some deference he gave to the older Peter, he did not enter the tomb until Peter arrived, even if he already saw the linen cloths used to wrap the body of Christ just lying around. 

 The youthfulness of St. John was not only a matter of age, but also showed itself in his faith and love for Christ. It’s a faith and love that is simple and sincere, full of impetuosity, albeit not totally perfect. But it’s a faith and love that can help us be led to the deeper and farther reaches of how our faith and love for God and others should be. A certain forcefulness is always involved. 

 Indeed, we actually cannot avoid using some forcefulness. Even with our own selves, we have to use it, because if not then we would be totally dominated by our laziness, softness, fears, doubts. Right at the start of the day, when we get up, we have to use force, and that little daily task can require heroic efforts, both mental and physical. 

 It´s true that as we age, our physical strength can wane, but not the power of the mind nor of the will. In these latter two faculties, which are our spiritual powers, there´s no such thing as aging, unless we entirely submit them to the law of our physical life. Especially with the grace of God, they can go on gaining scope and depth. 

 So, in theory, because also of our spiritual nature, we can go on living. This is the natural basis for our immortality, that capacity to continue living even after our death. But since we are a unity of body and soul, of something material and spiritual, we always experience a certain tension within ourselves which we try to bear by using some forcefulness. 

 Besides, with our weakened condition because of sin, ours and those of others, plus the historical accumulation of sin´s effects, we have no choice but to use forcefulness if only to survive as a person and as a child of God. 

 Thus, our Lord told us, ¨From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and men of violence take it by force.¨ (Mt 11,12) Ergo, we really have to train ourselves to be strong and fit for life´s continuing struggle as we journey toward heaven. 

 Then there´s that social or apostolic duty we also have that needs forcefulness. We have to continually remind ourselves that we are responsible for one another. We came to life because of our parents. We grow and develop because of the help we get from others. We cannot avoid being with others. Then we realize we also have to do things for others. 

 But our responsibility toward others should not stay only in the level of our physical and natural needs. It goes all the way to helping others in their spiritual needs. We have to pound this truth more hardly into our head, since our tendency is to take the easy route and languish in the material and shallow aspects. 

 Let’s live out the youthful faith and love of St. John for us to go on loving God and others, whatever challenges and difficulties we may encounter along the way.

Contending with the world’s evils

A DAY after Christmas, a day after that Good News of great joy about the birth of Christ our Savior, we are made to consider the Feast of the first Christian martyr, St. Stephen, that somehow reminds us that despite all the goodness God gives us, we still have to contend with all sorts of evils in this world due to our wounded flesh, the sinful allurements of the world and the devil himself who has definitively chosen to go against God. 

 That is the naked truth of our condition here on earth. Just the same, we should not worry too much since as long as our faith is strong and deep, we know that God takes care of everything. He is in full control of things and he is bent that what he started would also end with him. 

 We, of course, have to do our part of the bargain, so to speak. We really need to struggle since our life here on earth is nothing less than a battleground between the forces of good and evil, and we should just choose, with God’s grace and our all-out effort, the right option. 

 To be sure, if we have to be truly Christian, we need to be tough, really tough. Christ himself was tough, but with the toughness of love that goes all the way of assuming all the sins of men by offering his life on the cross. To be Christ-like we need to be tough. At the same time, to be tough we need to be with Christ. Otherwise, whatever toughness we may show would not be the real toughness expected of us. 

 This toughness of Christ was described by St. Paul in his second letter to the Corinthians: “For our sake, God made Christ to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (5,21) 

 St. Peter made the same assertion: “Christ bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.” (1 Pt 2,24) In other words, Christ was not afraid of sin if only to save the sinner out of his love for all of us who are all sinners. He was and continues to be willing to assume our sins, as if they were his own, if only to save us. 

 We have to understand that toughness is not just a matter of physical strength or intellectual superiority. Much less is it a question of wealth, power and fame. These only have very limited effectiveness. 

 Toughness has its roots, branches and fruits mainly in the spirit. And it’s where our spirit takes root, where it’s established and fixed that determines the quality and authenticity of our toughness, to see if our toughness can really run the gauntlet. 

 In other words, it’s in our living union with God, through grace and our will, where we can develop our true life and derive our toughness. Such toughness combines both hard and soft qualities, enabling us to be strong without being rigid, energetic without being violent. It lets us to be patient and hopeful without being inactive. On the contrary, it allows us to be creative and flexible, resourceful and enterprising, full of initiatives. 

 Such toughness distances us from the clutches of excessive worries and self-pity. It empowers us to find joy and peace even in the midst of suffering. It teaches us how to suffer with a smile, and how to wait productively. It breeds and keeps our determination to fight for the good all the way to the end!

“Today is born our Savior, Christ the Lord”

THAT’S the Good News of great joy for all of us! Let us take time to savor the significance of Christmas so that whatever happens in our life, however the twists and turns of life may take us, we are assured that we have a Savior who will take care of us in all our conditions, whether good or bad. 

 In one of the readings of the Mass for Christmas, from the Letter of St. Paul to Titus, we read the following assurance: “The grace of God has appeared, saving all and training us to reject godless ways and worldly desires and to live temperately, justly, and devoutly in this age, as we await the blessed hope and appearance of the glory of our great God and savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to deliver us from all lawlessness and cleanse for himself a people as his own, eager to do what is good.” (2,11-14) 

 May we never give in to the subtle tricks of the enemies of our soul—our wounded flesh, the allurements of the world, and the devil himself—who would urge us to fall into discouragement, despair and hopelessness. We have everything that we need to be what God wants us to be, despite whatever failings we will always have. 

 But let’s go through some process of lifelong training under Christ’s guidance, if not with Christ himself, so that we would learn to live as true children of God as God wants us to be. In this regard, let us learn how to deal with our weaknesses, temptations and all evil and negative things we have to contend with in this life. 

 That Christ allowed himself to be tempted (cfr. Lk 4,1-13) means that he wants us to know how to deal with temptations. As we can see in that episode, the temptations the devil played on Christ involved good things but poisoned with a bad intention. Temptations are always like that—they will always be based on something good since evil cannot exist without being anchored on something good and true which it tries to distort and corrupt. 

 Like Christ, what we should do is to clarify the real intent and purpose of the good and the true that the devil and the tempter want to distort. This can only happen if we refer the temptation to God himself, and not just to ourselves and much less to the tempter himself. In the temptations of Christ, Christ clarified things to the devil. 

 Once we realize the real intent of the good and the true that the tempter uses with deception, let us make use of the very urgings and promptings that the temptation provokes in us to pursue the real intent of the good and the true as defined by God and described by the many instrumentalities we have in the Church. 

 Indeed, temptations can occasion a great good if we would only know how to see the good and the true that they try to distort, and then channel their urgings to do the real good and the true as defined by our Christian faith. 

 To be sure, this way of reacting to temptations will give us peace and joy, and a drive and a zeal to do good. It will start to heal our spiritual and moral weaknesses. In a sense, temptations, if dealt properly, can be a great gift! 

 MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

The Benedictus

THIS is the outpouring of praise and thanksgiving that Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, prayed after what was told him by the archangel Gabriel that he would have a son despite his old age and his wife’s barreness, finally took place. (cfr. Lk 1,67-79) 

 It’s a joyful prayer that we should make also as our own as we approach the greatest event of human history when the Son of God is finally born to us. This prayer is the proximate prophecy of what the birth of Christ would mean to all of us. 

 “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; for he has come to his people and set them free,” the prayer begins. “He has raised up for us a mighty Savior, born of the house of his servant David. Through his prophets he promised of old that he would save us from our enemies, from the hands of all who hate us.” 

 Especially nowadays when there is a lot of confusion about what our life here on earth is all about, this prayer would clarify things for us and put us in the right condition and outlook in our life. 

 This prayer will give us a strong and abiding sense of the real purpose of our life. Indeed, with the flowering of technological developments around, we need to realize more deeply that the quantum leap in that area also calls, nay, requires, a matching quantum leap in our sense of purpose. Otherwise, we would get what is tantamount to an overdose, an overload of something that would be very harmful to us. 

 It would be ideal if we can manage to have an abiding sense of the real purpose of our life, so we can avoid getting entangled in the distractions or, worse, lost in the maze of concerns or stranded in idleness, laziness, loneliness, worries and the like. 

 And what kind of purpose can this be that would keep us going no matter what situation we find ourselves in? This could only be God, our love of God, from whom we come and to whom we belong. He is our beginning and end, our everything. 

 That’s why we need to sharpen our awareness of him, feel his presence and his abundant merciful love for us, learn to discern his will and ways in every moment, and know how to relate everything in our life to his ever-functioning Providence. 

 We need to strengthen our faith that only in God can we have the ultimate purpose in life. St. Paul said so: “Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Cor 10,31) 

 Before that, Christ himself told us to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind.” (Lk 10,27) Nothing could be clearer than this as to what our final purpose in life is. All other goals and objectives we have in life should only be secondary and instrumental to this ultimate purpose of our life. 

 We need to find ways to correspond to this clear commandment of God to us. That effort will help us to broaden our mind, to continue making initiatives, to widen our perspectives, to deepen our hope and inflame our charity. 

 It will spur us to action always, not contented with knowing things alone or having some theoretical attitude in life. It will push us to develop a universal heart, capable of dealing with everyone and of reaching out to everyone, including the most difficult personalities and enemies we can have in this life.

God’s mysterious will and ways

THAT otherwise amusing story of how the baby of Elizabeth and Zechariah was to be called John instead of Zechariah as their neighbors expected (cfr. Lk 1,57-66) somehow tells us that in our life we have to contend with certain mysteries that often defy common sense, logic, tradition and our other human and natural ways. 

 We should just be humble enough to realize that our natural certainties can never cope with all the mysteries of life. No matter how objective and scientific these certainties are derived, no matter how deep and exhaustive our philosophies, theologies and ideologies are made, our certainties just cannot take all the mysteries in our life. 

 Even in the world of nature where in theory we have the capacity to know things conclusively, we often find ourselves in situations of tentativeness and even of outright error. That is why we are always in the process of discoveries and we would not know when we can end it, that is to say, when we can say that we have known everything to be known in the world of nature. 

 This does not mean that our certainties can never know the truth, even the absolute, and not just relative truths. Yes, we can, but the best that we can do is to project ourselves to infinite possibilities, because even the absolute truths are not things that are frozen. They are always dynamic, requiring us to always deepen and grow in our understanding and appreciation of them. 

 The task we have is how to correspond to this tremendous reality of living our life within the whole mystery of God’s life. Many of us still think that we are quite by ourselves, and the decision to relate ourselves with God and others is purely optional. 

 No, sir. Our relationship with God, while an option—in fact, a fundamental option—is never optional, something we can feel quite free to have or not to have. We would be incomplete without God. 

 We need to be more aware of this marvelous truth. And from there, to start the lifelong journey of conforming our life to that of God, overcoming first our initial human awkwardness in the face of our supernatural goal, and then developing the virtues that little by little would resemble us with God. 

 It’s a process of always conquering new frontiers and defending our fronts from the enemies of God and of our soul. 

 May it be that our thoughts are also God’s thoughts. And may our words and actions not be just our words and actions, but also God’s. That’s how we are meant to be! 

 On God’s part, everything has been provided for us to reach the goal. He always gives us his grace. He sends us the Holy Spirit, our sanctifier with his gifts and fruits, so that we can concur with God’s actions and designs. 

 We’ve been given God’s word, a living and definite revelation so we can enter into the mind of God. We have been given the sacraments and the Church itself, so that God continues to be with us and in us in a very direct and abiding way while still journeying in this earthly life. 

 So, we should just learn how to live with mysteries in our whole life. They make our life assume the character of an adventure, a thriller, but a divine one, since it is directed by God himself. He plays with us and we should just be sport about it and enjoy it as much as possible even if contradictions can come along the way.

The precious lesson learned from the Visitation

IMAGINE the meeting between Mary and Elizabeth, the greatest women of all time, enjoying the greatest dignity, especially Mary! (cfr. Lk 1,39-45) The exchange of greetings between the two can only reflect the highest honor and privilege any human being can enjoy. 

 Mary, already aware of being the mother of the very Son of God, goes immediately to her cousin to offer her service. What humility she is showing us! 

And Elizabeth, the recipient of such favor, could not help but exclaim: “O, most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” And Elizabeth continues to express her overwhelming joy, saying: “And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.” 

 And then the most important part of her greeting came out of her mouth: “Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.” 

 My friends, let us again remind ourselves of how important it is to have a strong and effective faith for the will of God of be fulfilled in our lives as it was fulfilled perfectly in the life of Mary! 

 Mary is the New Eve who never violated the honor and dignity God gave her. And that’s because of her great faith that she was able to incarnate the very Son of God, again underlining a basic truth about our relationship with God—that we are meant to share the same life and nature since God wants us to be his image and likeness, children of his. 

 In spite of our weaknesses and failure, we should just try to imitate the example of Mary, ever strengthening our faith so that we too can eventually share the honor and dignity that she herself is enjoying. 

 It’s a faith that necessarily would lead us to an unwavering hope despite the confusing drama of our earthly life. More than that, it’s a faith that can drive us to an overwhelming love that is the very perfection of our humanity as it is the very essence of God. 

 Mary shows this charity by immediately making herself available to serve her cousin, practically reminding us that charity is not just sweet words and intentions, nor enjoying the honor of a privileged status. It is always expressed in deeds, in wanting to serve, just like Christ himself who once said: “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mt 20,28) 

 May it be that just as we are now a few days before Christmas, we rev up our desire to serve in a purely gratuitous way, just like what Christ and Mary did, without counting the cost and ever eager to serve in all conditions, whatever may be the cost. 

 This eagerness to serve would really identify us with Christ who is our “way, truth and life.” Definitely, to be able to serve, one has to be humble. And that’s what we see in our Lady, and of course, in Christ, first of all. Pride and all its allies would always extinguish any desire to serve others. They only are interested in serving their own selves. 

 May this Christmas fuel to the max our desire to serve, that is, to love!

“Hail, full of grace…”

THAT was how the Archangel Gabriel addressed Mary. And after a few exchanges of words, the very Son of God was conceived in Mary’s womb after she said that famous response: “Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum.” (Be it done to me according to your word.) 

 The archangel’s greeting to Mary should give us the idea of how we too can incarnate Christ in our life as we should, since we actually are patterned after him. We need to be in the state of grace, something that, of course, given our wounded condition will never be perfect but rather a lifelong work for us. 

 We should learn how to live our whole life with Christ, doing everything with him and for him. This is the ideal way to live our life. That is how we can attract and keep the grace of God and let Christ enter into our life. 

 Again, let’s come out with plans and strategies that would put this ideal into reality. We need to submit ourselves to some plan of life that includes the appropriate practices of piety like mental prayer, recourse to the sacraments, waging ascetical struggle that would enable us to develop virtues and to properly deal with our weaknesses and temptations, etc. 

 The ideal condition should be that at any given time we are conscious of the presence of God, aware of what he is telling us since he is the one who actually directs our life. His presence should fill our mind and heart with joy and peace, with confidence and clear sense of purpose, etc. We should feel the drive to do a lot of good. 

 In short, there has to be the sensation that everyday we are progressing in becoming more and more like Christ. We get to have his mind and will, eager to reach out to others for the purpose of human redemption. For this to happen, we need to repeat Mary’s response, “Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum.” 

 If handled properly with the right attitudes, dispositions and skills, the plans and strategies we make would not become a drag that would freeze us and put us in some kind of silo, but would rather enhance our capacity to cope even with surprises and other unexpected things that life can present to us. 

 We have to be careful of reacting to today’s rapid developments in an instinctive way only, Pavlovian style. While we cannot avoid having to react spontaneously in that knee-jerk way to these developments, it would be wrong if we get stuck in that level. That would make us slaves, not masters, of these developments and changes. We have to stay away from the bad habit of improvising always. 

 We need to come up with plans and strategies to give shape and direction to all these things. That way, we would have some clear vision of our goals and means and timetables involved. That way, we would have a better grasp of how to identify and handle issues, problems and challenges. That way, we would have a good sense of priority, especially nowadays when we are faced with many competing options. 

 Making plans and strategies may require some time and effort, but it’s an investment that is all worthwhile. The little time and effort required can actually multiply our time and make our efforts more productive at the end of the day. It’s like the little rudder, St. James talks about in his letter, that has the power to give direction to a big boat. (cfr 3,4)

The conceptions of Christ and John the Baptist

BOTH conceptions came about with clear divine intervention involved. Christ’s conception in the womb of Our Lady was completely virginal. That of John the Baptist involved a natural process though the parents were already in a condition where it would have been impossible for them to have a child. 

 But both came about because of the faith of the parties involved. Mary’s faith was pure and wholehearted, while that of Zachary was a bit doubtful. Still, faith played a major role in these conceptions. (cfr. Lk 1,5-25) 

 What all these tell us is that God and us truly share the same life because we also share the same nature, since God wants us to be his image and likeness, children of his. This is a basic truth of our faith that we should never forget. Rather, we should try our best to be consistent to it not only from time to time. It should be a constant truth that we act on in our daily life. 

 Again, it’s a matter of faith that would make this truth a reality in our life. Let’s try to follow the example of Mary who shows us how pure faith is. The faith of Zachary, though not quite perfect, still prevailed over his human doubts and disbelief. Because of this faith, the humanly impossible became possible. Faith does not suppress our human nature. It enables us to enter into God’s life and nature while remaining human. 

 Indeed, it’s faith that would enable us to do things that otherwise we would hesitate, if not refuse, to do. It’s faith that would enable us to do the very things of God. From the Book of Proverbs, we read a relevant affirmation: “Trust the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways submit to him, and he will make our paths straight.” (3,1-6) 

 We have to learn how to be keenly aware of this basic truth about ourselves, so that we can go on with our life without unnecessary doubts and fears, and so that we can do a lot of good instead of being hindered to do so. Remember that even without Christ telling us, there are a lot of things we need to do to uplift the conditions of everyone. 

 This awareness of our sharing in the life and nature of God here in this life should be cultivated, resorting to appropriate practices of piety and ongoing formation, so that we can live our life as it should be lived—with confidence, always with good intentions and willingness to do the very things of God which actually are for our own good. 

 Let’s try to approximate the faith of Our Lady and Zachary and of the many characters in the Bible who chose to believe God and in his ways despite the difficulties, sacrifices involved. Actually, if our faith is strong, whatever difficulty and sacrifice we make would always be regarded as meaningful and a source of joy. 

 With faith, there is really nothing to worry, and we would be on our way to our human perfection when God and us would definitely be together for all eternity in heaven. With faith, we would always feel light and happy, always optimistic despite whatever, and eager to do a lot of good. 

 Let’s see to it that everyday we can see some progress in this regard. We should feel the very effects of faith taking place in our daily life. Let’s make this promise a gift to God who gives us the best gift—the birth of Christ on Christmas Day!

God’s will and ways should always prevail

THAT gospel episode where Joseph thought of separating from Mary because the latter was found already with child in her womb before they lived together (cfr. Mt 1,18-25) teaches us that despite the big sacrifice involved, we should just follow God’s will and ways even if our legitimate human ways have to be sacrificed. 

 Joseph’s example is truly worth imitating. And it can only take place if, like Joseph, we would just follow what God would clearly tell us as to what to do. In our life, we can have our own legitimate choices. But when there are clear signs that God wants us to choose another thing, we should just try our best to follow what he wants. We can be sure that that option would be the best for us even if it would require grave sacrifices from us. 

 Indeed, God’s particular will for us can come in some dramatic ways, requiring drastic changes in our life. Yes, God can enter into our lives and make his will more felt by us in some special way. We should not be too surprised by this possibility.

 Consider St. Paul, St. Augustine, the apostles themselves, and the patriarchs and prophets like Abraham, Moses, Jonas, Jeremiah, etc. Consider St. Edith Stein, and our very own St. Lorenzo Ruiz and Cebuano saint, Pedro Calungsod. 

 Their stories are full of drama and suspense. St. Paul received his vocation while on a mad campaign to arrest the early Christians. St. Augustine, though gifted intellectually, had a colorful past. The apostles were mainly simple people, mostly fishermen. 

 St. Edith Stein was an intelligent Jewish agnostic before her conversion. And our own Filipino saints were catechists doing some domestic work for some priests. All had their defects, and sins, and yet they became and are great saints. 

 We have to feel at home with the idea that God can call us in a way different from what we have been planning, no matter how legitimate our plans are. Let’s not play blind and deaf. God’s call is actually quite loud enough. And when we are given a special vocation, let’s not be afraid, but rather go for it at full throttle. 

 Ok, we may hesitate at first, but if we are honest, we will soon see there’s nothing to be afraid about. God takes care of everything. All he needs is that we trust him, that we have faith in him, and that we try our best to cooperate. 

 We just have to learn to live by God’s will that is shown to us, thanks to God, by Christ, the fullness of divine revelation, who left us with his word and the sacraments in the Church. 

 We have to learn how to know God’s will for us at every moment. For this to happen, we need to be recollected, always putting ourselves in God’s presence, trying to discern through our daily duties and the things that we see around what God is asking of us or telling us. We have to strive to be real contemplatives in the middle of the world, able to see God in everything. 

 We may have to use some human devices to remind us continually of God’s presence and will. But we should also undertake a continuing plan of prayer, sacrifices, study of the doctrine of our faith, development of virtues, recourse to the sacraments. All these help in making us attentive and docile to God’s will.

The virginal conception of Christ

ON the second day of Misa de Gallo, December 17, the gospel reading (cfr. Mt 1,1-17) talks about the human genealogy of Christ to show that Christ is truly a man while remaining, of course, as God. 

 A question may be raised—if Christ is truly a man, why did his conception in the womb of Mary not involve the participation of a man, as any human conception would involve? 

 I am sure this question is at the back of the mind of many people, though many of them are hesitant to voice it out. But it is a good question to give rise to a very important clarification of a certain truth about our relation with God that we need to know well and to act on. 

 For me, the answer can only be that, indeed, God and man share the same life and nature. Because of that sharing, we can say that while there is the natural way of human conception, involving a man and a woman, we cannot discount the possibility of a conception achieved by both God and woman. 

 We need to strengthen our belief and sharpen our awareness of this basic truth about ourselves in our relation with God. God and us share the same life and nature not only in our definitive state of life in heaven, even while here on earth. We are expected to act on this truth always so our life develops and leads us to our definitive state of life. 

 To be sure, our life is not simply natural, ruled by reason and will alone, supported by our emotions and the whole gamut of bodily senses, organs and systems. Nor is it simply conditioned by social trends, economic and political developments, or historical and cultural factors. 

 It is also supernatural, not only in its goal or orientation, but even now, as in, here and now as we breathe. And that’s simply because there’s something spiritual in us. We are not purely material beings. 

 We are meant for a supernatural life. Our human nature, with our spiritual soul that enables us to know and to love, and therefore to enter into the lives not only of others but also and most importantly, of God, urges us to develop a supernatural life. 

 It’s a life with God always. It just cannot be exclusively our own life, taken personally or collectively. It’s a life that depends mainly on God who gives us the grace that purifies and elevates it to his, but it also depends on us, on our freedom to correspond to this loving will of God for us. 

 We have to develop a taste and even an appetite for the supernatural life with God and of things supernatural in general. In this we have to help one another, because in the end, this is our common ultimate end in life—how to live our life with God, how we can be immersed in God even as we are immersed also in the things of the world. 

 For this to take place, we need to learn to pray, to study the doctrine of our faith, develop virtues, live in God’s presence to such an extent that we would be able to see God in everything and to relate everything to him. In other words, that we would know how to be contemplatives even if we are immersed and dirtied by the things of this world.

The search for truth in today’s world

AMID all the obvious overload we have today in terms of facts and data, opinions and views, ideologies and philosophies, fiction stories and narratives, rapidly evolving innovations, etc., we cannot deny that the search for truth has become a very challenging task. 

 We certainly should not ignore them. Rather, we should give them due consideration. But we should not forget that truth can only be found in God who revealed himself and the whole truth to us in full in Christ, “the way, the truth and the life.” 

 Yes, we have to give due consideration to all these things, but we should never forget that to deal with them properly, sorting them out without getting lost along the way, we have to be firm in our pursuit for that task of identifying ourselves more and more with Christ. This is going to be an ongoing affair, a work in progress for our whole life. We can never say we have definitively and perfectly identified ourselves with him. 

 Only with Christ can we deal with these things in the best way, but seeing to it that the Christ we want to show is not a disembodied Christ, a Christ simply of doctrine and some pious practices, but the Christ who adapts himself to the way the people are without compromising the truth. It’s Christ who shows the truth always in charity. 

 Let’s remember that Christ went all the way not only to become man, but also to assume all the sins of men without committing any sin, if only to save us. So, like Christ, we have to learn how to be adaptive to the different and changing conditions of our life, to the different kinds of people, without losing our Christian identity and consistency. 

 Christ was always adapting himself to the people, being flexible to everyone, and yet managed to accomplish his mission, whatever the situation was. He was not only passively adapting himself to the environment. He was also actively pursuing his goal in different ways. He was versatile. 

 He rounded off all these expressions of adaptability, flexibility and versatility by offering his life on the cross. There he made as his own all the sins of men, died to them and rose from the dead. He turned the cross from being a tree of sin and death into a tree of life. His death conquered sin and death, and opened the door to eternal life. 

 To become Christ-like would indeed require a lifelong effort, but we can always start and develop it anytime. Let us not wait for some so-called opportune moment to be so. Any time, any situation can and should be an occasion to be like Christ. Obviously, we have to know Christ more and more. Thus, we need to be familiar with his life, his teachings and his example. 

 So, to be in the truth, we have to refer things to God. In fact, what would really assure us that we would be fully in the truth despite truth’s many levels, aspects, angles, etc., is when we are with God through Christ in the Holy Spirit. There is no other way to be truthful! 

 This means that we have to be vitally identified with Christ who told Pilate that he came to bear witness to the truth. (cfr. Jn 18,37-38) Only in Christ can we be in the truth. Only when we look, understand and react to things the way Christ did would we be in the truth!

Our baptism in Christ through the Spirit

As we enter the 3rd Sunday of Advent, we are reminded of how the people to whom John the Baptist preached, started asking what they should do to be worthy of being baptized. (cfr. Lk 3,10-18) 

 That’s when John the Baptist told them that while he would baptize them by water, there was someone else, referring to Christ, who would baptize them in the Holy Spirit and with fire. John the Baptist would refer to Christ as the Lamb of God who will be sacrificed for our sake. 

 We have to understand that the ideal condition for us to have is first to know and love Christ, because only then may we know and love ourselves and others properly. Thus, St. Augustine once said: “Noverim te, noverim me,” Latin for “May I know God, may I know myself.” It is when we know and love God, revealed fully in Christ, that we can know who we really are and ought to be. 

 God is our Creator and Father, and Christ is the Son of God in the Trinity of God who is the very image and likeness God has of himself. Since we have been created in God’s image and likeness, we can say that we are actually patterned after the Son who became man to offer us “the way, the truth and the life” we need to achieve our true dignity and ultimate identity. 

 How Christ is should also be how each one of us ought to be. This may be an incredible truth of faith before which we may feel awkward, but as long as we would just be guided by our faith, we know that that truth of faith can truly be applied to us. 

 Let’s just be like Mary, the Mother of Christ and our Mother, who simply said “Behold, the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to your word,” when she was told that incredible piece of news that she was going to be the Mother of the Son of God. 

 With faith, we can do and achieve the impossible, because it would be God who will make impossible things possible. As mentioned in the Letter to the Hebrews, it was because of faith that those Old Testament characters like Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah were able to do great, if not impossible things. (Heb 11) 

 And let’s remember that the ideal condition we ought to pursue in our relation with Christ is to gain intimacy with him. We have to do everything to have intimacy with Christ all the time. 

 It’s when we are intimate with Christ that we can really see ourselves and Christ as we truly are, in our rawest and unvarnished selves. Intimacy is where the most fundamental expressions of our humanity are made, where we become aware of our personhood, meant to enter in loving relation with Christ. It’s where we can truly feel we need Christ, and that he is everything to us! 

 Yes, intimacy is where we can achieve to the highest degree possible our unity and identification with Christ while here on earth. It’s where we can share what he has in the best way—his wisdom, goodness, compassion, patience, etc. etc. 

 We need to train all our human faculties—our reason, will, emotions, passions, appetites, memory, imagination, etc.—to get intimate with Christ. This, of course, will be lifelong process. But let’s see to it that everyday we are gaining ground in that direction. This should be the constant goal of our daily life.

The danger of getting used to the truths of our faith

THIS was what Christ once lamented about while preaching to the crowd. “To what shall I compare this generation?” he asked. “It is like children who sit in marketplaces and call to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance, we sang a dirge but you did not mourn.’” (Mt 11,16-17 

 It’s a lamentation that continues to hold true even up to now. We cannot deny that there are many people, even those who can be considered as active in the Church, starting with our own selves, who do not live in a way that is consistent to the Christian faith we profess. 

 Our usual problem is precisely that we get easily over-familiar with the truths of our faith and the sacred things. We tend to take for granted the many blessings we have. Not only do we not count our blessings, we often complain that we do not have enough. We can then elicit those reproaching words of Christ to his townmates: “A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country.” 

 This is a very common danger to all of us, and is at bottom a result of letting ourselves be simply guided by our senses, or feelings and our other ways of human estimation, without the guidance of our faith that should lead us to develop the appropriate piety. 

 We have to be more aware of this danger of familiarity and install the necessary defenses against it. More than that, we have to aggressively cultivate the art of always being amazed at God and at all his works. That should be the proper state for us to be in. 

 We have to understand, though, that this abiding state of amazement that we should try to develop is not simply a matter of sensations. Of course, it would be good if we can always feel amazed and in awe. But given the limitations of our bodily organism, we cannot expect that to happen all the time. 

 The ideal abiding state of amazement is more a matter of conviction, of something spiritual, moral and supernatural. It should be the result of grace that is corresponded to generously and heroically by us. 

 It is a state of amazement that sooner or later, of course, will have some external manifestations like an aura of serenity and confidence even in the midst of great trials and suffering. It will most likely show itself in the lilt in one’s voice, optimism in his reactions to events, a smile, a warm word of praise and encouragement to others, etc. 

 To be sure, God will always give us this grace. The problematic area is our correspondence to that grace. In this regard, we should try to pray and meditate on God’s word. Let’s see to it that we get to relish the spirit behind the word of God as presented to us in Bible. 

 We have to be wary of our tendency to go through God’s word in a mechanical way. We can produce the sound, we can use the word in some sensible and intelligible way, but still miss the very spirit of the word. We can still miss God and ignore his will, because our heart is still not in God’s word. 

 Besides, we need to develop a deepening sense of total dependence on God. Let’s see to it that our talents, faculties and powers, our achievements do not blunt, but rather sharpen this sense of dependence.

Ever ready to obey God’s will

THAT should always be the proper condition of our life. In this regard, let us follow the example of Our Lady, the perfect person, who upon being told that she was going to be the mother of the Son of God, simply said, “Fiat mihi secundum tuum,” (Be it done to me according to your word), even if she did not fully understand how that was going to be. 

 Let us remember that it is in following God’s will that we attain the perfection of our humanity, since we have been created not simply by the genes of our parents, but by God who wants us to be his image and likeness, sharers of his divine life and nature. 

 In this regard also, we should follow the example of Christ himself, the very pattern of our humanity and the savior of our damaged humanity, who said, “I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.” (Jn 6,38) Christ was so obedient to the Father’s will that even when he knew he was going to be crucified, he just prayed to the Father, “not my will but yours be done.” (Lk 22,42) 

 Getting to know and do God’s will is what actually would comprise the very substance of our relationship with him. That’s simply because that is what love is all about, what it entails, which is the very essence of God, as St. John affirmed (Deus caritas est). Love is deeds and not just sweet words or feelings. Real love is deeds done to correspond to God’s will for us. 

 God’s will can be known in many ways. He already has given us the 10 commandments, which explicitly articulate his will for us, though not yet in a perfect way. What perfects the 10 Commandments or the Old Law is the New Law or the New Commandment as spoken by Christ himself, “Love one another as I have loved you.” 

 Of course, this New Law contains a lot of mysteries even if we have many ideas of how this New Law can be carried out. It has mysteries because it involves nothing less than our total identification with Christ who, being God, will always remain mysterious to us even if he has given himself completely to us. 

 We just have to learn to go along this divine adventure that involves us in God’s mysterious ways even if on our part we try our best to know his will all the way to the littlest detail. Such is our human and temporal condition until we identify ourselves completely with Christ which can happen only in heaven when we see him “face to face.” 

 In the meantime, let’s realize that God’s will is known by studying the doctrine of our faith. What can also help is to be familiar with the living testimonies of saints who had managed to know, obey and love God’s will. 

 We can also know God’s will, at least in some generic way, by performing, as best as we can, all the duties and responsibilities as well as the rights inherent to our conditions or status in life, whether we are single or married, student or professional, etc. 

 We should also realize that God’s will can be known by having a running conversation with God all day long. We have to realize that God’s will is always manifested in any and every situation we can find ourselves in. 

 His will is known by what any situation ethically demands from us, and also by what the others have a right to expect from us or what we owe to them.

Let’s always be welcoming to Christ

THE days before Christmas usually see us frenziedly preparing for the birth of Christ. It’s a natural behavior for someone who is very special to all of us. After all, Christ is God who makes himself man to save us, to recover us from our state of alienation from God who gave us the dignity of making us like him, sharers of his life and nature. 

 This welcoming behavior should not be limited only during the Advent and Christmas seasons. It should be for the whole time, every day and every moment of our life, in fact. It is what is proper for us to do, otherwise we cannot escape the possibility of again being separated from God. 

 This should be the attitude to have in our relation with Christ. He always takes the initiative to come to us, to knock at our heart’s door. We should be welcoming to him, and more than that, we should be appreciative of his love and concern for us and learn to correspond by knowing, thanking and loving him better each day. 

 Toward this end, we may just need a few moments to touch base with this reality and to make it our guiding spirit all throughout the day. We have to feel this need for him, for without him, we can only do nothing, or worse, the only possibility left for us is to sin. 

 Christ spelled out this innate need for him when he said: “I am the vine and you are the branches. The one who remains in me, and I in him will bear much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers. Such branches are gathered up, thrown into the fire and burned…” (Jn 15,5-6) 

 Thus, we have to learn the art of praying, or spending a few moments of meditation, which is not only a matter of a technique but more, that of learning how to be with Christ. A few minutes of meditation is like the refueling and the recharging that we need to make us going properly throughout the day. 

 Remember that God first created us. And upon our creation, he took the initiative to establish a personal relationship with us. He talked to our first parents, gave them some instructions. And even if our first parents, and then us, messed up the original plan of God, he did not sever that relationship with us. 

 Yes, there was and will be divine anger and punishment because of our sins, but he will never abandon us, unless we dare to abandon him. But it is his love for us, shown most especially in his gratuitous mercy he offers to us, that would contain all the aberrations we tend to commit. 

 Let us foster the desire for Christ to come into our hearts. We have to remember that as St. Augustine said, “The entire life of a good Christian is in fact an exercise of holy desire.” 

 He said that since we don’t see heaven now and yet we long for it, we need to keep on desiring it to prepare ourselves for it. That desire not only has to be maintained. It also has to increase as time passes. The time of our life, the time of waiting to see our ultimate end, God, is a time to cultivate our holy desire to the max. 

 This is how we can always be welcoming to Christ!

The eternal value of our actions

WE have to be more keenly aware of this truth of our faith. Our actions can and should have eternal value. And this can happen when everything we do is done with God and for God. It’s when we do things with love for God and in his presence that even our most ordinary activities, like doing some household chores, can have an immense eternal value. 

 In other words, it’s when what we do is not just to achieve some temporal goals, like efficiency and effectiveness, profitability, practicality, popularity, etc. While all these latter goals have their legitimate value, they would just be useless if they are not oriented toward the real and ultimate goal which we all are supposed to pursue. 

 By doing things in God’s presence and out of love for God, we would be entering the spiritual and supernatural world of God that is also meant for us. We would already have a foretaste of the Kingdom of God here on earth. 

 We have to realize that our time here on earth is actually a time of transit toward eternity, from where we came and to where we are heading. That’s because we are creatures of God who is in eternity. We came from him, and since we have been made in his image and likeness, we are meant to be with him in all eternity. 

 We need to be keenly aware of this dual dimension of our life. We should not be too immersed in the here and now as to forget that time is meant for eternity, and we have a role to play in their connection. 

 We live both in time and eternity for now, and later, in a definitive state, in eternity with God or separated from him forever, since time would be completely taken up by eternity the moment time runs its course through our death or through the world’s end. 

 To the extent that we manage to be with God and go along his will and ways, we would be relating our time here on earth to the eternity meant for us. We therefore should avoid being carried away and swallowed by the technicalities of our earthly life, no matter important they are. They should serve only as means and occasion to be with God in love. 

 It does not mean that we should not take our worldly and temporal affairs seriously. On the contrary, we have to put all our mind and heart into them since the way we handle them determines the kind of eternal destiny that we will have. They are no joking matter at all. We are asked to be fruitful and productive in this life, but with the proper motive and intention. 

 For this, we have to continually check if our spiritual and supernatural bearing is still functioning. When driven by faith, hope and charity, we can manage to convert our worldly and temporal affairs as occasions and means to love and serve God and others. 

 This may require a certain discipline that we have to learn as early as possible and to polish it frequently, given our condition that is vulnerable to the allurements of the world and of the flesh. 

 We have to remember that time is short. (cfr. 1 Cor 7,29) We cannot afford to waste time which is a most precious resource we have in fulfilling the ultimate goal of our life.

Holiness is personal but meant to be shared

THAT’S right! While everyone is encouraged to pursue holiness, we have to understand that holiness should not just be kept to oneself. That would not be true holiness. Holiness, by the mere fact that we are all persons meant to always enter into relation with others, is also meant to be shared. 

 That’s why this business of personal sanctification cannot be separated from the duty to do apostolate. That’s because we are all in the same boat, we actually form one body in Christ, we are one family, and we just have to help one another to pursue our common ultimate goal, despite whatever differences and conflicts we may have with one another. 

 Sanctification and apostolate always go together, mutually helping each other. We cannot sanctify ourselves without doing apostolate. And our apostolate would be gravely undermined if we are not sanctifying ourselves. As one saint would put it, apostolate is the overflow of one’s interior life, i.e., one’s continuing work of sanctification. 

 This pair can never be separated, since holiness by definition involves not only loving God but also loving others with God’s love. Holiness will always be apostolic. It necessarily involves entering into the lives of others for God. That is why we are properly wired, so to speak, for this purpose, because we have been endowed with intelligence and will so we can enter into the lives of others. 

 If we would just understand well the relationship between holiness and apostolate, and work on it, for sure we would have a lot of peace and joy in our life, and the world would be a much better place to live in. Justice, mercy and the truth would be much better served. 

 In integrating the pursuit of holiness and apostolate, we have to acknowledge the indispensable role of the cross of Christ. That cross is the necessary cure for our weaknesses and what would make up for our mistakes, failures and sins. That cross is where we can truly find Christ. 

 When Christ said that he is the “way, the truth and the life,” he must have the cross in mind, since in another part of the gospel, he clearly said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” (Mt 16,24) 

 We have to learn to make the cross, in whatever form it comes, an integral and essential part of our daily life. We should not wait for it to come. We have to look for it everyday, and in every circumstance. We actually need it more than we need air. 

 And when it comes without our looking for it, let’s be quick to identify it with the Cross of Christ. Let’s not waste time suffering our life’s crosses purely on our own. We need to suffer them with Christ. Everything needs to be referred to Christ on the cross. The cross should be a way to identify ourselves with Christ who is the very embodiment of holiness and love for everyone. 

 Then there would be nothing in our life that would prevent us from pursuing holiness and apostolate with passion. Not even our sins can weaken that passion. When referred to Christ’s cross, our mistakes, failures and sins can become tremendous spurs to get us closer to God and to others. Thus, no matter how often we fail, we should just continue pursuing this business of sanctification and apostolate.

Preparation for our definitive state of life

DECEMBER 8 this year, usually marking the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, is also the 2nd Sunday of Advent which takes precedence over the Marian solemnity. 

 This happy coincidence, through the gospel reading of the day, (cfr. Lk 3,1-6) somehow reminds us that through the merits of Christ’s redemptive work, we need to prepare ourselves, as St. John the Baptist tells us, for our definite state of life as exemplified by our Lady, our Mother, who is now glorified in heaven, body and soul. 

 What our Lady is now enjoying is also what is meant for us as our definitive state of life when we truly become God’s image and likeness, sharers of his divine life and nature. We can just imagine the kind of preparation we have to undertake to achieve that status. 

 And so, we just have to pay close attention to what St. John the Baptist is telling us in the gospel of the day. “John went throughout the whole region of the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the books of the words of the prophet Isaiah: A voice of one crying out in the desert, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.’” (Lk 3,3-6) 

 We should heed this call to repentance and conversion which is a constant need of ours, especially these days when, given the temper of the times, this call has become very urgent and most necessary, because it looks like it is largely ignored. 

 We should never think that we do not need further repentance and conversion because we are already good enough. As long as we are still in this world, there is no level in our spiritual life that can be considered as good enough. It’s time we remind ourselves of that old saying, ‘the good is the enemy of the best.’ 

 We need to move on always, to continue conquering new frontiers in our spiritual life which is a matter of growing in our love for God and for others. Let’s avoid falling into self-indulgence, complacency and lukewarmness. These will put a stop, or at least to divert us, in our continuing journey toward our eternal home and they do it with some lulling and most tricky appeal. 

 With love, there is actually no limit. It will continue to make new demands on us, because life itself will also make new challenges and trials on us. Let’s never forget that our life will always be some kind of warfare. We have to contend with many enemies of our soul. 

 What may motivate us to go through this process of continuing repentance and conversion is to always consider the significance of the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady which reminds us that like Mary, we are actually meant to be sinless. By going through this process, we would be moving toward the ideal of becoming immaculate also, like our Mother Mary, as God wants us to be. 

 Mary’s Immaculate Conception should make us feel urged to persevere in our struggle to attain that state of sinlessness, which is another way of saying that we are meant to pursue our total identification with Christ, the pattern of our humanity and the savior of our damaged humanity. It is not supposed to make us feel privileged and entitled. Quite the contrary. 

It is supposed to demand everything from us, so that we can merit the effects of Christ’s redemptive work.

Faith gives us the real 20-20 vision

“HE touched their eyes, saying, ‘According to your faith, be it done unto you.’ And their eyes were opened.” (Mt 9,29-30) That’s what Christ told the blind men who begged him to cure them of their blindness. 

 We need to realize that it is faith, more than anything else, that would cure our real blindness which is not simply a physical thing but more of the spiritual and supernatural kind. Let’s remember that the reality that governs us is not simply the material and the natural, where we may have a perfect vision, but also and mainly the spiritual and the supernatural. 

 In this regard, we have to imitate the example of the two blind men who begged Christ for a cure of their blindness. Obviously, we have to first of all acknowledge our own blindness with respect to the spiritual and supernatural realities that govern our life. We cannot deny that with our proneness to fall into all forms of carnality and worldliness, we become blind to the spiritual and supernatural realities. 

 Our main problem is that we often fail to acknowledge this fact of life, especially when we happen to be gifted with high intelligence and other talents. With such condition, we fail to realize that our intelligence and will, our talents and the other gifts God has endowed us, are actually meant to enable us to enter into the spiritual and supernatural world, and ultimately to God. We are actually poised for that purpose. 

 When we use our faculties to engage only with the natural things, which we often do, we would actually be misusing them. That’s when we become very vulnerable to all kinds of anomalies and irregularities. We would have no ample defenses against the usual weaknesses and temptations we have in this world. 

 In fact, we can say that we are more blind the more gifted we are, because this latter status usually sheds some light that blinds us from the spiritual and supernatural realities rather than clarifies things for us. It tends to take us away from God rather than lead us to him. 

 We have to be most careful when perhaps because of our education, our experience, our position, among other things, we feel that we would already have enough reason to make ourselves our own standard of what is true, good and beautiful. 

 It’s always good to acknowledge our blindness so we can see things clearly through God’s grace. That’s simply because it’s when we acknowledge our blindness, deficiency and inadequacy to tackle our temporal affairs that we attract God’s grace, his light, his wisdom, his strength. 

 That is why we should always feel the need to pray, to do many other spiritual exercises, like having spiritual direction and confession, availing of the sacraments, undertaking continuing spiritual formation and ascetical struggle, to keep our natural faculties properly animated by faith and God’s grace, enabling them to enter into the spiritual and supernatural world. 

 If our worldly knowledge does not make our faith in God grow stronger, it would be a dangerous kind of knowledge. We have to correct and purify it immediately, giving it the right motive and purpose which is none other than to give glory to God. Otherwise, it would be a knowledge that would simply be at the service of our self-indulgence. 

 And when that knowledge cannot cope anymore with the challenges of our life, that’s when we would enter into all kinds of anomalies and irregularities leading us to issues of mental health, depression, and all kinds of justifications to rationalize acts and positions that usually are considered by our common sense as perversions.

Our need for deep reflection

WE have to realize that we have this need for deep reflection. Thus, we have to set aside some time where we can do that. Otherwise, we may be doing a lot of things but still miss what is truly important for us. I think it was St. Augustine who once said, what good would racer be if he runs very fast but does it out of track? He’ll never reach the finish line! 

 Especially in our increasingly fast paced world, we have this great need for reflection. We have to have some time for a period of recollection and spiritual retreat if only to have an atmosphere of reflection and prayer that help us contemplate on the mysteries of God, letting us enter into the life of the Lord and learn to imitate him according to our circumstances, with the light and strength that God grants. 

 This period of reflection would enable us to meditate on the life of Christ, the pattern of our humanity, by reading and listening to his word as recorded in the Gospels that would hopefully lead us to translate Christ’s word into action. 

 Thus, from time to time, we should withdraw from our usual activities and concerns, and go into what is called a spiritual retreat where we try to get a closer if also global picture of the current state of our life. 

 We need to see if things are going well, if we are still in the right direction, if we still have a clear vision of the over-all purpose of our life. We can’t deny that there are new developments in the world that give us new challenges, trials and other possibilities, and we just have to be ready to handle them properly. 

 We also need to see how things can be improved or even radically changed, since definitely there will always be things in our life at any given moment that need to be given such attention. In the end, we have to realize that a retreat is a great occasion to have another conversion. We have to see that. We have to feel urged by that. If we don’t feel that way, then let’s pray that we be given the relevant grace from God. 

 We have to understand that the growth and development of our spiritual life, of our relationship with God and with others which can only take place if we learn to love them more and more, will always be an ongoing affair in our whole life. It will always be a work in progress. We can never say that we have reached the point where there is no more room for improvement. 

 It is in a retreat when we can afford to savor the joy and beauty of silence and the spirit of recollection, reflection and discernment. Silence helps one to see the basic structure of his mind and heart, and the objects to which they get oriented. This is where he sees whether these human powers are in their proper condition and are properly used. 

 Silence also facilitates internalizing things, attuning our senses and faculties to their proper object. It also merges us with the stream of time, allowing us to run from the present to the past and then to the future, rectifying and refocusing things along the way, until we reach the doorsteps of eternity and infinity itself. 

 The need for the spirit recollection during the retreat simply indicates that our life consists of different aspects and levels that we have to orchestrate to be able to reach our final end.