Emotivism

WE have to be aware of this way of looking and reacting to things in general that is actually ruling the lives of many people, especially the young ones, who do not know yet how to properly handle their emotions, feelings and passions. 

 As commonly defined and described, emotivism is an ethical theory that says that “it is impossible to determine right from wrong. Instead, any moral statement is simply a reflection of the speaker’s emotions.” 

 Affectivity which covers the whole range of emotions, feelings, passions and humor of a person constitutes a first approach, sometimes powerful, to the reality in which he lives. Because it is a first source of information, the affective dimension should not be left aside or considered as something accessory. Rather, our affectivity needs to be properly educated. 

 In this regard, it would be helpful if we assess which desires we want to foster, which ones we are interested in having to govern our life. Of course, for this, we need to consider what God through our faith and piety would show us about how our affectivity should be handled—that is, to discover the ways of aligning our desires according to God’s law and will for us. 

 Everyone should be made to realize as early as possible that while emotions and feelings are part of our human nature, we should not allow them to be the main guide of our life. Our emotions and the whole range of our affectivity are more a part of the animal dimension of our being. As such they are blind to the spiritual and supernatural dimension of our life, and thus, they need to be educated accordingly. 

 Obviously, the guiding principle should be our faith, hope and charity which truly define us as a person and a child of God. In other words, our faith, hope and charity tell us who we really are, what the purpose of our life here on earth is, how our freedom should be sourced and oriented, etc. They provide us the moral principles that should guide the way we use our emotions and passions. 

 The common problem we have in this regard is that many people are not clear about where we can have the ultimate source of knowledge and wisdom about ourselves. Some rely on some ideologies, fashions and trends. Others just seem to drift to wherever the world currents would take them. 

 Of course, given our wounded human condition, to educate our emotions and passions properly we need to ask for grace and rely more on the supernatural means without belittling in any way all the human means we can avail of. 

 We have to pray, offer sacrifices, avail of the sacraments, have devotion to Our Lady and the saints. Then we truly have to study a lot and go through the process of developing virtues. 

 This is how our emotions and passions help us in achieving an interior freedom in all our actuations. In this way, our emotions and passions get purified and are elevated to the spiritual and supernatural level. 

 This is also how our emotions and passions would know what is truly important and necessary in life, what brings us to our eternal joy. This is how they avoid getting stranded in our merely bodily and worldly conditions. 

 It is when our emotions are properly educated, that is, when they are properly integrated to the requirements of our faith, hope and charity, to the will of God, that we can say that we enjoy true interior freedom.

“Phubbing”

IT’S a new word I just learned recently. It refers to “the practice of ignoring one’s companion or companions in order to pay attention to one’s phone or other mobile device.” I suppose the word is an acronym for “phone” and “snubbing.” 

 We have to be wary of this danger which is fast becoming an epidemic and a world crisis. We can see it practically everywhere, in homes, offices, schools, etc. It definitely is a symptom of our increasing reliance on mobile phones and the internet. It must be some sign of addiction or obsession that now needs to be drastically addressed, since it is occasioning mental health and social issues, among others. 

 In this regard, it would be good that some guidelines be made and followed especially in the context of the family where this anomaly can first take place. Of course, parents play a crucial role in establishing some effective rules on how their children, especially the little ones, should use the mobile phones and the internet. 

 But the parents first have to give good example before whatever rules they make can be obeyed. That’s how they can earn moral authority, because the children can only follow how the parents are also using their mobile devices. Children can easily obey if their parents themselves practice what they preach or tell the children. 

 Still, parents should take the initiative in a very friendly way to ask each child how one is using the internet. This is a matter of confidence that should be handled with utmost delicacy. That’s why parents should see to it that their relation to their children is intimate and that everything should be transparent. 

 Parents and children should enter into some agreement about certain norms and practices that should be observed with regard to the use of the Internet and the mobile devices. 

 Definitely, some filters for the gadgets with internet access would be needed, since these would protect and prevent everyone from accidental exposure to pornographic things, for example. 

 Also, I think it would be advisable to limit internet connection to common areas, like the living room, kitchen or wide corridors. There should be no internet access in bedrooms where one can easily fall into anonymous and addictive use of it. 

 There should also be some kind of “digital curfew,” considering that late hours are when we are tired and quite vulnerable to our weaknesses and temptations. I think it is also a good idea to have some kind of parking area where cellphones and other gadgets can be placed during family gatherings and at night to facilitate the nocturnal rest for everyone. 

 Parents should teach their children how to budget their time, knowing that if one is left on his own, he can easily be swallowed up by the many attractions that his gadget can offer. Indeed, some discipline is needed here. 

 Parents should also think of organizing fun family events so that the children can be weaned from the dopamine effect of their gadgets. They can organize sports events and outings. They should see to it that the children are not allowed to be isolated for a long time. 

 Lastly, it would also do a lot of good if some kind of alliance be made with the parents of the children’s friends so that there would be a more coordinated effort in helping the children to learn how to use the gadgets properly. 

 Everyone should be reminded that the gadgets are not supposed to replace a direct, face-to-face interaction with others.

Keeping a purposive life

THAT’S what we should maintain in life. We need to develop a keen sense of the purpose of our life and keep it in play in every circumstance and situation of our life. Difficult? For sure. But we can always train ourselves for it. 

 We are reminded of this fact of life as we approach the end of the liturgical year which somehow signifies the end of life and the end of things in general. Thus, the gospel reading of the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time tells us of some signs of the end times and of the second coming of Christ who will judge us. (cfr. Mk 13,24-32) 

 Keeping a purposive life helps us to be realistic and to have a global picture of things, extricating us from our tendency to be easily trapped in some narrow and shallow understanding of our earthly life. 

 Especially these days when we are enjoying a flowering of technological developments that can easily put us into some silo or filter bubble, we need to have a higher sense of purpose. 

 Thing is we need to have a higher sense of purpose to truly make use of these technological marvels. I’m afraid that without this clear sense of purpose, more elevated than the usual practical level, we would end up wallowing more deeply in our own world, increasingly insensitive to the ultimate dimension of our life, which is spiritual, moral and supernatural. 

 In fact, this wallowing phenomenon is what we are seeing these days in the electronic world. What begins as humanly valid practical uses sooner or later deteriorates into inhuman, sinful modes if not animated properly by spiritual and moral values. 

 There are now a lot of inanities circulated around electronically. Subtle and even open forms of human moral anomalies like vanity, envy, sensuality, greed, egoism, etc., are having a field day in this arena. 

 These dangers can start with people, especially the young ones, to waste a lot of time and to express and cultivate their youthful weaknesses with nuclear dynamics. 

 I remember reading an article about the Google CEO warning that young people should be allowed to change their names after some time because they would already have compromised their future with the irresponsible things they have posted on the net. Their cyber past would just be too hot to handle. And with the AI, things can get really bad. 

 Some great effort is definitely needed here, since first of all, we have to break that deep-seated prejudice against religion when we engage in our earthly, mundane affairs. If we ever talk about religion, we seem to confine it only inside churches and places like those, but not in our secular concerns. 

 Our sense of naturalness seems to be twisted at the root, since it seems to be incompatible with anything spiritual and supernatural. We need to correct this irregularity, without going to the extreme of behaving in some strange, unnatural way. 

 A higher and abiding sense of purpose can help us do this. It will enable us to have a sense of unity and continuity among the different elements and the different events in our life, be they good or bad, favorable or unfavorable to us, etc. 

 When we have love of God as our abiding sense of purpose in our life, we would find it easy to go from one thing to another, no matter disparate they are from each other. We would find meaning in everything, including what we consider to be human disasters in our life.

Strengthening our sense of purpose in life

IN the gospel of St. Luke (17,26-37), we hear Christ lamenting over how people in the long history of humanity were entangled in their earthly affairs while practically ignoring the real purpose of life. 

 “As it was in the days of Noah,” he said, “so it will be in the days of the Son of Man; they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage up to the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.” 

 He continued: “Similarly, as it was in the days of Lot: they were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building; on the day when Lot left Sodom, fire and brimstone rained from the sky to destroy them all.” 

 It will definitely help us to have passion and direction in our daily life. We need to develop an abiding sense of purpose so we can avoid getting entangled in distractions or, worse, lost in the maze of concerns or stranded in idleness, laziness, loneliness, worries and the like. 

 Yes, we have the grave duty to know and live by the real and ultimate purpose of our life. Such knowledge would help us in giving the proper shape, direction and consistency to our life that is now being pushed and pulled in any which way by the many confusing elements in our life today. 

 We have to fulfil this important duty to know and live by this existential purpose of ours, since this will assure us that we are going in the right direction, even if we do it in different ways, paths, forms and manners. 

 Especially these days when many people are confused and lost as to what really should be the ultimate goal of their life, we have to make this duty more known and appreciated. We cannot deny that many people do not have yet a clear purpose in life, or that their worldview is limited, distorted, if not wrong. 

 And what is this existential purpose of ours? It’s none other, of course, than to give glory to God. It can be expressed also in many other ways. It’s about, as our Catechism would put it, knowing, loving and serving God. In fact, this is the very first point of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

 “God, infinitely perfect and blessed in himself,” it says, “in a plan of sheer goodness freely created man to make him share in his own blessed life. For this reason, at every time and in every place, God draws close to man. He calls man to seek him, to known him, to love him with all his strength…” (1) 

 It can also be expressed, according to the words of St. Paul, in always giving glory to God. “Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God,” he said. (1 Cor 10,31) We need to continually ask ourselves if indeed that is what happens in everything that we do. 

 All this business of our existential purpose is lived and summarized by Christ himself, the son of God who became man to save us. He commanded us to love one another as he himself loved us, which he did to fully carry out the will of his Father. 

 And so, it should behoove us to know more and more about Christ to such an extent that not only would we know his life, his teachings and example, but that we also would live his life, his teachings and example.

Tackling the gender issue

THIS is, of course, a very delicate topic, and so, we should be very careful with what we are going to say here. This is meant to tackle this issue in a very human and Christian way. Fact is, gender confusion has been around for a long time, and there’s a very tiny percentage of cases which in fact have some definite biochemical neurological basis. 

 Because of this confusion, there has been what we may call as “gender dysphoria”—a kind of distress that results from a discrepancy between one’s sex “assigned at birth” and one’s “gender identity”. 

 This dysphoria has so erupted such that we now hear about gender-transition procedures even on minors. These procedures can include puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and “sex reassignment surgeries” that change one’s body to align it with one’s gender identity that is at odds with one’s biological sex. 

 In 2019, the Vatican issues “Male and Female He Created Them—Towards a Path of Dialogue on the Question of Gender Theory in Education.” It is meant to provide educators guidance on dealing with the gender issues being broadly debated in today’s culture. 

 This document uses the term “gender” to refer to “the way in which the differences between the sexes are lived in each culture.” Gender in this sense is something objective and public, and yet culturally conditioned. Thus, the term “gender” is now an affirmation of the diverse ways that the real differences between the sexes are socially recognized, expressed and lived in various cultures. 

 With the emergence of what is now known as “Gender Ideology,” we have to take note of what may be considered as its errors that are mainly two. First, it treats gender as entirely separable from sex. And second, gender is understood as dependent upon the subjective mindset of each person, who can choose a gender not corresponding to his or her biological sex. 

 Of course, the document does not deny that some persons can and do experience a dissonance between their affective sense of personal identity and the sex of their bodies. Neither does it claim that this experience of dissonance is voluntarily chosen. 

 What it argues is that because of the relation of the body and soul in our shared human nature, and because of the relation of gender to sex, our subjective experience is not by itself determinative of either our sex or gender. 

 As to how to tackle this issue, the human and Christian way, I suppose, is to make as our own the attitude of Christ who offers his boundless love to each person without exception. Thus, we have to reaffirm that every person, regardless of sexual orientation, ought to be respected in his or her dignity and treated with consideration. 

 Every sign of unjust discrimination has to be avoided. And families should be given respectful pastoral guidance so that those who manifest a homosexual orientation can receive the assistance they need to understand and fully carry out God’s will in their lives. 

 Beyond the understandable difficulties which individuals may experience, the young ones especially need to be helped to accept their own body as it was created. There should be pastoral accompaniment full of mercy and patience for those concerned. 

 Thus, pastors who propose to the faithful the full ideal of the Gospel and the Church’s teaching, must also help them to treat the weak with compassion, avoiding aggravation or unduly harsh or hasty judgments.

We need to be grateful always

THIS is the lesson we can learn from that gospel episode where Christ cured 10 lepers but only one of the them came back to Christ to thank him. (cfr. Lk 17,11-19) We should never forget to thank God, first of all, and whoever else is involved in some happy event in our life. 

 And even in our sad moments, we still have reason to thank God, since we know that he takes care of everything, especially on those occasions when we find ourselves helpless. 

 We have to realize that to be thankful to God for all his blessings to us, including especially his mercy, and to everyone, is really for our own benefit rather than for any good we can give to them. 

 God does not need anything from us. What he wants is that we learn to be with him always since we are his children, created in his image and likeness. He wants to share his life with us. God loses nothing if we choose not to be with him. But without him, we are the ones who would lose everything. 

 A heart that is not thankful is an isolated heart. It’s a lonely heart that thinks it can live and do things simply by itself, in violation of our nature and what we actually feel deep in our hearts. It has no other way but to be unhappy. 

 A thankful heart will never be alone and sad. It recognizes the many blessings and good things that it continues to receive. And it knows where they come from, and also for what purpose they are given. It will always be happy. 

 To be grateful is a necessity for us. It does us a lot of good. It keeps alive the reality that we depend on God and others for everything. It strengthens our intimacy with him, and our awareness that whatever happens in our life, God is always in control. 

 Thus, we need to hone up our sense of gratitude. We need to be thankful because the most radical truth about us is that whatever we have is first of all something given to us by someone, something received, before we do anything about it. If only to be decent, the least thing we can do is to be grateful. 

 St. Paul briefly and clearly expressed this truth this way: “What have you that you did not receive?” (1 Cor 4,7) And he continued: “And if you have received, why do you glory as if you have not received it?” pointing to us the danger if we fail to acknowledge this fundamental truth. 

 To be thankful is a necessity in our life. It is what puts us on the proper foundation, on the right track toward our true goal. It sustains and reinforces our relationship with everyone, from God down to the last creature on earth. 

 It always generates good atmosphere around, facilitates friendship and harmony. It builds up a sense of unity and belongingness among ourselves, tearing away whatever walls we may unwittingly erect due to our unavoidable differences and conflicts of views and opinions. 

 To take this necessity for granted or, worse, to be neglectful of it would plunge us into the road of self-centeredness, making us vulnerable to pride, vanity, envy, conceit and the like. 

 We start to build our own fantasy world or our own bubble of a reality, even to the extent of invincible confidence of our own righteousness. We start to distance ourselves from others, until we alienate them from us completely. 

 Let’s never, never forget to be thankful always!

Beware of secularism

THE problem of secularism is that it promotes a social order this is neither connected to religion nor critical of it. It denies the influence of religion in our social order. It simply wants to be guided by a certain consensus derived from what is considered practical in the present life itself. 

 But religion is not simply a private affair. God is the author and ruler not only of individuals, but also of societies. While the relation of Church and State depends on a number of circumstances which cannot be determined by a general rule, truth is religion is a social as well as an individual and personal duty. It cannot and should not be ignored. 

 The so-called separation of Church and State should not be understood in an absolute way. While it’s correct that the State should not have a state religion nor promote or condemn any particular religion or religious viewpoint, developing a relation between State and the different religions should be promoted. The State should also respect the views of non-believers. 

 But the Church cannot renounce her mission to teach the truths she has received from her Divine Founder. While fully recognizing the value of the present life, the Church cannot look upon it as an end in itself, but only as a movement toward a future life for which preparation must be made by compliance with the laws of nature and the laws of God. 

 For Catholics and Christians in general, their belief that the present life is a preparation if not a testing ground for an eternal life that is a supernatural sharing of the very life of God, should be respected. And because of that, their moral teachings should be respected too. The government cannot impose something that is considered immoral by their religion. 

 Secularism gives an opening to certain ideologies like Wokeism, neo-Marxism, etc. that actually are harmful to social justice and order. That is why we should be careful of secularism. Rather, we should intensify our religious and spiritual life, our relation with God, so that the proper social justice and order can be obtained. 

 Of course, the Church cannot impose its teachings on anyone, but it should be given a free space to be itself, to evangelize, to celebrate the sacraments, and to do the works of education, charity, mercy and justice without undue interference from the government. 

 Besides, the Church asks—and if necessary, demands—that the State respect the “sanctuary of conscience,” so that the Church’s people are not required by law to do things the Church teaches as immoral. 

 It’s unfortunate, for example, that in the US there was this “Contraceptive Mandate” issued in 2012 that turned the Catholic Church’s charitable and medical facilities into State agencies that facilitate practices that the Church believes are gravely evil. 

 Indeed, this delicate issue of Church and State relation should be thoroughly studied by our Church and State leaders, and appropriate agreements should be made. The separation Church and State should not be understood as a mandate to ignore each other. There has to be constant communication and consultation between the two, because both work for the same people or constituents, though in different aspects of life. 

 Though there is autonomy in both of them, it should be acknowledged that “there is no realm of worldly affairs which can be withdrawn from the Creator and His dominion.”

The duty to give good example

ONCE again, we are reminded of our duty to always give good example to others in that gospel reading of Monday of the 32nd Week in Ordinary Time. This is a duty that has a very delicate part since as Christ warned us, “It is impossible that scandals should not come: but woe to him through whom they come. It were better for him, that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and be cast into the sea, than that he should scandalize one of these little ones.” (Lk 17,1-2) 

 We have to learn how to be a good example of what is truly proper to us as children of God, since these times are what may be considered as bizarro times, where what is good and right is now considered bad and wrong, and vice-versa. And given the character of the Christian message which can be regarded as a sign of contradiction, we really need God’s grace and due study and effort to make it attractive to people, especially to the young. 

 We have to realize that it is a duty of ours, as Christians, to always give good example to others. Not that we have to flaunt whatever good thing we have or do, for Christ clearly said also that we should not show off our good deed before men, to be seen by them, lest we lose our reward in heaven. (cfr. Mt 6,1) 

 We have to be aware that we always have to give good example to others for the sole purpose of leading others to God. It is to edify others, to encourage them to be holy and to pursue the path of sanctity in an abiding way. 

 This duty, therefore, should be carried out deliberately. It should somehow be planned and aimed at. It should not just be something incidental or something optional. Of course, this duty should not be done out of pride or vanity, but out of obedience to the will of God who wants to save all men. (cfr. 1 Tim 2,4) 

 Let us hope that we can echo sincerely in our heart what St. Paul once said: “Be imitators of me as I am of Christ.” (1 Cor 11,1) This should be the motive and the attitude we have in desiring to give good example to others. It is to imitate Christ, to have his mind, to identify ourselves with his will and ways. 

 For this, we truly need to have the very love that God has for all of us. It’s a love that is not scandalized by anything. It, of course, continues to maintain that what is wrong is wrong, what is sinful and evil is sinful and evil. It does not compromise the truth of things. 

 But that fact should not take away one’s love for the person who happens to be wrong not only in some matters of opinion but also in some very serious matters, like matters of faith, hope and charity. It’s a love that clearly shows one is with God and is following the new commandment Christ gave us—that we love one another as he himself has loved us. (cfr. Jn 13,34) 

It’s a love that was clearly described by St. Paul in his First Letter to the Corinthians: “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” (13,7)

Training to give our all

DEFINITELY, this is a big challenge for all of us who try to follow by what Christ teaches us. In that gospel episode where he faulted the scribes for being showy of what they were doing and praised a poor widow who put in two small coins into the treasury of the synagogue, Christ is clearly telling us that we should do our good acts in a humble way and that we should try our best to give our all to God and others. (cfr. Mk 12,38-44) 

 “Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury,” he told his disciples. “For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood.” 

 This episode somehow reminds us of another of Christ’s sayings: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” (Mt 19,24) 

 It’s definitely a tall order, but that is just how it is when we want to be truly Christian. All we can do is to say, “Amen” and then just try our best to pursue that ideal. What is clear about this matter is that it is actually a call to enter into the will and ways of God which are supernatural. We are being asked to go beyond, but not against, our natural self. This is a call for us to approximate our identification with Christ. 

 If that pursuit for identification with Christ is strong in us, for sure we will also feel assured that everything would just be ok since Christ himself said: “Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.” (Mt 19,29) 

 We need to beg God’s grace to be able to meet this Christian standard. We just cannot rely on our human powers to abide by it. It actually is an invitation for us to take a leap to the supernatural world of God where God wants us to be, since we are his image and likeness, meant to share in his very life and nature. 

 We need to develop a keen sense of generosity and self-giving that is also a result of detachment. Let’s never forget that whatever we have comes from God who wants us to work for the common good. Thus, we hear St. Paul saying, “What do you have that you did not receive?” (1 Cor 4,7) 

 We have been reminded of this need to cultivate generosity in the gospel. “Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions,” Christ said. (Lk 12,15) 

 We are told not to lay up treasures for oneself but rather to be rich toward God, that is, to be generous with God and with everybody else. Avarice, hoarding, simply pursuing our self-interest and personal welfare are actually inhuman, let alone, unchristian. 

 It’s also good for us to remember that there is such a thing as “universal destination of earthly goods.” That’s an official part of our Christian doctrine. “In the beginning God entrusted the earth and its resources to the common stewardship of mankind to take care of them, master them by labor, and enjoy their fruits. The goods of creation are destined for the whole human race.” (CCC 2402) 

 Even if there is also such a thing as right to private ownership, that right is always subordinated and is supposed to work for this more fundamental truth about the universal destination of goods.

Be both simple and shrewd

THIS is the challenge we have to face in this life. Christ told us in no uncertain terms that we should “be shrewd as a serpent, yet innocent as a dove.” (Mt 10,16) And that’s because in this life we cannot avoid having to deal with evil in many of its forms. We just have to learn how to go along with them without compromising what truly is essential in our life. 

 The parable of the dishonest steward (cfr. Lk 16,1-8) dramatizes well how these seemingly contrasting qualities can be combined. A steward was about to be dismissed by his master for squandering the master’s property. So, what he did to be able to survive was to ingratiate himself with his master’s debtors such that when he would finally be dismissed, he would still find work among the debtors. The parable ended with the master commending the steward for acting prudently. 

 Pope Francis once said that priests as shepherds should smell like the sheep. Otherwise, they cannot be considered as good shepherds. We have to know how to be worldly wise, street smart, versatile and adaptive to any person and situation, without compromising our Christian identity. 

 We need to have a good and realistic attitude toward the world. We have to love it the way Christ loved it. After all, of it he said: “For God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son; that whosoever believes in him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting.” (Jn 3,16) 

 But we also have to be careful with it because of its bad elements which are the effects of our sins. Christ's warning was in these words: “What shall it profit a man, if he gains the whole world, and suffers the loss of his soul?” (Mk 8,36) 

 We have to learn how to be shrewd, always discerning things properly and not afraid to get wet and dirty, if need be, as long as the integrity of one's Christian life is not compromised. 

 In fact, in one instance, Christ went to the extent of telling us to pluck an eye or cut an arm if they become occasions of sin. But, obviously, we have to do this with due prudence. 

 To be sure, simplicity is not naivete. It is not an excuse to escape from the world and to isolate oneself. It just means we have to know how to stick by God's laws no matter how difficult a situation may be. It's a matter of conviction that knows how to reinvent itself without compromising its essence as the need arises. It knows how to be flexible, adaptable and versatile. This is precisely the shrewdness of simplicity. 

 We get complicated when we detach ourselves from God and would just depend on our own brilliant ideas. In this case, we become very vulnerable to fall into deceit and duplicity, to having unfair ulterior motives, as we get more concerned with our own interests rather than with the common good. We get complicated when we are afraid to suffer for truth, justice, mercy, in short, for love of God and others. 

 Being complicated springs from self-righteousness as well as reinforces it. It can be so bad as to go to the extent of making oneself his own god, creating one's own reality, his own law that defines what is good and bad, right and wrong. 

 Being complicated only shows one does not have faith or, at least, has a weak or distorted faith. That's why he considers the word of God as ineffective to tackle the challenges of life.

Concern for the lost

THE lesson we can draw from the parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin (cfr. Lk 15,1-10) is very clear. We need to give special attention and exert special effort to recover those who have lost their way toward God. This is the real test of discipleship. 

 We obviously need some special training for this. But let’s not forget that the first thing to do is to beg for that grace and power of God so we can carry out this duty that is clearly beyond our human powers and condition. 

 In our prayer, we should ask God to instill in us this strong urge to be concerned for those who have strayed from the proper way, those who for one reason or another are ostracized and alienated from God and from the rest of humanity. 

 With God’s grace, let’s embark on a plan to develop the appropriate attitude, virtues, skills and practices. Yes, we have to learn how to be “all things to all men to save at least some,” as St. Paul once said. (cfr. 1 Cor 9,22) 

 Definitely this would require of us a very open spirit that would enable us to adapt ourselves to everyone in the way they are, warts and all. Thus, we need to develop the qualities of adaptability, flexibility and versatility. With our increasingly complex times, we need to learn how to flow with the tide without losing our identity and real purpose in life. For this, we definitely need to look and follow closely the example of Christ. 

 Christ, being God, made himself man and went all the way to assume the sinfulness of men without committing any sin if only to identify himself with us in our wounded condition and to give us a way of how to deal with that condition. 

 In his preaching, he used parables to make his lessons more accessible to the people. He was always compassionate, quick to forgive, slow to anger. He was always thinking both of his Father and of the people. Remember him saying, “The one who sent me is true and what I heard from him I tell the world.” (Jn 8,26) 

 He gave preferential treatment to the children, the weak, the handicapped, the sick, the sinners. He was only allergic to the proud and self-righteous whose sense of right and wrong did not come from God, but rather from their own selves in their great variety of human consensus and other subtle forms of self-assertion. But on the cross, he asked forgiveness for everyone. 

 Obviously, to have this genuine concern for the lost, we need to be tough spiritually, not squeamish, much less, self-righteous. We should not be afraid to get the “smell,” as Pope Francis once said, of the lost sheep. If we are truly involved in the life of those who are lost and far from Church, we cannot avoid acquiring that “smell.” 

 Of course, without compromising our need also to be tender and gentle, we have to learn how to be strong and tough with the strength and forcefulness of true charity that would enable us how to bend, to understand and to forgive. 

 It’s a matter of discernment and prudence. They actually can and should go together—our toughness and gentleness. But their manifestations vary according to the situation, and we just have to learn how to show and live both anytime, or highlight one over the other given the circumstance or the need of the moment.

The cost of discipleship

DISCIPLESHIP, as described by Christ, may command a very steep price since it involves a heavy cost, but it actually gives us the best deal. Yes, it demands total detachment from earthly things, even to the extent of “hating one’s father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even one’s own life.” But then again, Christ reassures us that we will have a lot more of them if we would just stick with him. 

 More than that, discipleship also requires us to carry the cross in any form it comes and just to follow Christ. To top it all, it requires us to be very good at planning and strategizing so we can come up with an effective action plan and produce the fruits expected of being a disciple of Christ. All this was described by Christ in the gospel of St. Luke 14,15-23. 

 We should just try our best, always asking for God’s grace in the first place, to meet all these requirements, convinced that they are all worthwhile. A person who professes to be a Christian but fails to be a disciple of Christ is not really an authentic Christian. 

 Of course, this will require time and a lot of effort. But as long as there is some earnest struggle, albeit not perfect, one can truly be called a Christian. Just look at the apostles themselves, starting with Peter, the head of group, and see how with their weaknesses, mistakes and failures, they still managed to be disciples of Christ. The important thing is just to try our best to follow Christ, even if our best is not perfect. 

 Let’s be consoled by what St. Paul said in his Letter to the Philippians in this regard: “Be confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (1,6) Ours is simply to try our best, since as a saying would put it, “God will do the rest.” 

 To be detached is not just a matter of emptying ourselves of earthly things. That self-emptying should lead us to be filled with the very spirit of Christ, a spirit which would make us do nothing other than the will of God. 

 Everyday, we have to make the exercise of conforming our will to God’s will by making a bold plan of how to go about following God’s will of personal sanctification and apostolate. In pursuit of these dual purpose of our life, we should try to give our all. We cannot afford to be complacent and lukewarm. We should feel driven and pro-active. 

 When we notice that we are more dominated and guided by our moods, our emotional and bodily condition which often are erratic and inconsistent, or when we notice we feel lazy and empty, we should immediately react. The ideal condition for us is to burn with zeal to follow God’s will. Absent that zeal, we would be giving a foothold to our weaknesses and temptations. That is why the cross is a necessity in our life. 

 We should also try to cultivate the skill of anticipating and planning as early as possible. It’s actually a necessity, a vital consequence of our nature that needs to work things out instead of just waiting for things to work out by themselves. It’s what is proper to us. 

 With these requirements met, we can expect to be an authentic disciple of Christ in spite of our weaknesses and mistakes along the way.

Passionate to join the heavenly banquet

THIS is the ideal condition for us. Our greatest and strongest passion should be to live our definitive eternal state of life with God in heaven, where we actually come from and where we should be at the end. It’s the definitive home for all of us. 

 We should avoid getting entangled and entrapped in our earthly and temporal affairs as dramatized in that parable narrated by Christ about a man who gave a great dinner but whose invited guests failed to come for all sorts of earthly reasons. (cfr. Lk 14,15-24) 

 Yes, even as we immerse ourselves in our earthly affairs, we should never lose sight of the ultimate purpose and goal of our life. Rather, we should make use of our earthly affairs as the very means, instruments and occasions to lead us to our definitive state of life in heaven. 

 We have to be wary of the danger of being trapped in the world of the senses, of the material and purely natural things. In fact, these days, there are many people who I consider are trapped in the world of the senses, ruled mainly by their instincts and emotions, and easily vulnerable to the mere impulses of the flesh and the usually improperly grounded worldly values and ways. 

 I don’t refer much to those who are already emotionally or mentally disturbed and even sick. I refer more to the so-called normal people, who can manage to behave well in a civil way when in the open, but cannot regulate their wild instincts and emotions when they are hidden and solitary. 

 Their imagination can run amuck. The direction of their thoughts and feelings can really go berserk. And since these are mainly hidden, then they usually go unchecked and are allowed to fester. 

 We should be more aware of the need for us to develop and sharpen our passion and hunger for heaven. Let’s follow what Christ clearly said: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Mt 6,19-21) 

 And St. Paul echoes the same sentiment. “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” (Col 3,2) We should do everything to avoid getting entangled with our earthly and temporal affairs. 

 It’s not that these worldly concerns of ours are not important. They are very important! But only as means, not as ends. They are nothing, and they can be very harmful to us, if they are not related to our true and ultimate end. 

 We have to find ways to relate everything to God, to the supernatural character of our final destination in heaven. Whether we like it or not, this is how the cookie crumbles for us, given our nature that is not only material but also eminently spiritual. 

 We don’t have to die first before we can already have a feel of heaven, if not practically touch it. By doing our ordinary daily work, whether big or small, in public or hidden at home, and doing it with real love for God and for others, we can already achieve this ideal that is proper to us. 

 For this to take place, we of course have to work with working faith and piety, since without them, we will not be aware that working with love for God and others can already connect us with our final home in heaven. It’s love that is fueled by faith and piety that does the trick, so to speak.

Total self-giving without expecting any return

IT’S the call Christ addresses to us when he told his disciples: “When you hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or sisters or your relative or your wealthy neighbors, in case they may invite you back and you have repayment. Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” (Lk 14,12-14) 

 True generosity is attained when we completely gratuitously give ourselves to others, just like God who gives himself to us completely gratuitously. Never mind if our generosity is not reciprocated, which is unlikely since when we are generous with others the tendency is also for the others to be generous with us in their own way. 

 The crucial point in this business of generosity is the gratuitousness of our self-giving. This should be the attitude in our self-giving. It has to be done without counting the cost, without expecting any reward. We should not worry about anything, because God knows everything and gives us everything that we need. And he cannot be outdone in generosity. The more we give of ourselves, the more he will reward us. 

 We just have to do our self-giving very freely. As Christ himself told his apostles, “Freely you have received, freely give.” (Mt 10,8) And the first one to live by this principle is Christ himself. He gave himself freely to us, including his own life. He did not mind the sacrifices, the insults and mistreatment he underwent. 

 This is what true love is. It is a total self-giving. But the mysterious part of it is that it actually generates more love and self-giving in others. It inspires others to give themselves in the way of true love. That is why true love has its own reward. It has the dynamic of being repaid also with love. 

 We should always be encouraged to give ourselves to others gratuitously without strings attached, without conditions. Even if instead of being reciprocated properly and requited, our love is misunderstood and rejected, we just have to go on loving. The only reason for loving is because that is what true love is. It is this love that is the real essence of God, of whom we are his image and likeness. 

 This truth of our faith about gratuitous generosity in our self-giving is also amply dramatized in that lesson Christ gave regarding the unprofitable servant. (cfr Lk 17,7-10) “When you have done all you have been commanded,” Christ said, “say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what we were obliged to do.’” 

 Loving and serving cannot and should not be quantified in terms of cost and reward. It is above all these considerations. It’s a purely spiritual operation that should not be spoiled by giving it some material and temporal value. It’s where we can approximate, keep and build up that dignity of being the image and likeness of God and adopted children of his. It’s how we become God-like. 

 This is how God serves and gives himself to us, with complete gratuitousness. He even goes all the way of still loving and serving us even if we do not reciprocate his love properly. This is how we should serve and give ourselves to the others also!

Another proof God and man share the same life

THAT’S when Christ responded to those who asked him what the greatest commandment was. (cfr. Mk 12,28-34) After telling them that the greatest commandment was to love God with one’s whole might, he proceeded to tell them without being asked what the second greatest commandment was. And it was to love one’s neighbor as oneself. 

 In other words, loving God cannot be real unless one also loves his neighbor, which actually means to love everyone else. Thus, St. John in First Letter said: “If a man says, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar: for he that loves not his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?” (4,20) 

 We need to clearly see the link between God and neighbor who should be both the object of our love. We often take it for granted. While we may appear to be close to God because we pray, we profess our faith in him publicly, etc., it may turn out to be only a sham, because how we treat our neighbor, who actually can be anybody and everybody, belies our supposed closeness to God. 

 This is because how we treat others can actually show how we treat God. If we are indifferent to the others, we can actually say that we are also indifferent to God, even if our appearance may seem otherwise. If we hate someone, we can also say that we are hating God. 

 Why? Because if we truly are believers and lovers of God, then there’s no other way but also for us to truly be lovers of everyone else, no matter, how the others are. God loves everyone, even if not everyone may love him in return. 

 What we can draw from these considerations is that for us enter and share in the very life and nature of God, we have to learn to love everyone, as Christ himself commanded us: “Love one another as I have loved you.” (Jn 13,34) He even commanded us to love our enemies. (cfr. Mt 5,43) 

 This may sound like a very tall, if not, impossible order, but it’s clear that for us to share the very nature and life of God, as we are meant to do, we have to have the same love God in Christ has for everyone. 

 This will require a lot of effort and sacrifice, but we should never forget that we can only have that love if we ourselves are receptive and responsive to the enabling grace that God himself pours and shares with us. We only have that kind of love if we truly are with God. On the part of God, he is never stinting in sharing what he has with us. Again, things depend on how receptive and responsive we are to that grace. 

 We should just learn how to truly identify ourselves with God. This we can do if we, with faith, would just follow God’s will for us, as shown to us by Christ. We need to make acts of faith especially because our reason cannot fully fathom and understand the will and ways of God. 

 Said in another way, let’s make our reason to be animated first of all by faith rather than my its natural operation which we should neither give up. Our natural reason should follow what our supernatural faith would show us. 

 This is how we can share God’s very own life and nature and manage to love everyone which is the very essence of God.

November 1 and 2 reminders

THE month of November begins with the liturgical celebration of the Solemnity of All Saints and the Commemoration of All Souls. These celebrations remind us of the wonderful reality that our life here on earth is not just limited by our space-and-time existence, but has other much more important dimensions that we often take for granted. 

 To put it bluntly, these liturgical celebrations remind us that we are all called to be holy, because being a creature of God, created in God’s image and likeness and meant to participate in the very life of God, we really need to assume the very identity of God which is what holiness is all about. We have to be reminded always of who we really are and of how we can be consistent to that identity and dignity. 

 Yes, there is a basic and inalienable equality among all of us insofar as we are God’s creatures and children called to holiness. Regardless of our position and state in life, whether we are priests, religious men and women, or ordinary lay faithful, we have the same calling and purpose in life. 

 Corollary to this truth is that there is also a basic and inalienable quality of everything in the world to be an occasion and means for our sanctification. To be holy does not mean that we only spend time praying, going to church, availing of the sacraments, etc. 

 To be sure, prayer, the sacraments, the doctrine of our faith, obedience to the Church hierarchy are important, even indispensable, but these would hang on thin air if they are not supported and made as the goal and expression of a sanctified life that is consistent to the teachings and the spirit of God. 

 To be holy also means that we have to use our ordinary work, all the things of the world, like the sciences, arts, politics, technologies, etc., properly purified, and all the other circumstances that define our daily life as an occasion and means to look for God, then find, love and serve him. 

 There’s a need to cultivate a unity of life that is inspired by love of God and neighbor and oriented toward the definitive eternal life with God in heaven. We cannot divide our life in two disparate parts—one meant for holiness, and another meant only for some worldly affairs. 

 The November 1 and 2 celebrations also remind us of the glorious truth of our faith that we are meant to form a communion of saints that is meant for all of us, since we are all children of God, and the Christian meaning of earthly suffering and death that while sobering is also uplifting, since these serve for our purification and ultimate redemption. 

 We have to be wary of our tendency to get stuck to the here and now, and to be so immersed in the drama and game of our earthly life that we fail to realize there is a lot more than what we have here, what we do and say now, what we are at present. 

 We may create all sorts of problems and chaos in this life, all kinds of ugliness. But, hey, there is hope! Christ has redeemed us with his death! Sin and death have their sting removed. Let us learn to see beauty in all the chaos and ugliness of the present, and attain redemption in our seemingly hopeless predicament. 

 Let’s remember that Christ’s all-powerful and never-fading work of redemption that culminated on the cross, can take on anything that we say, do or are, whether it is something good or something bad.

Our heavenly destination and the reality on the ground

WHEN some Pharisees told Christ to leave the area because Herod wanted to kill him, Christ refused to do so, stating that he must accomplish his purpose. (cfr. Lk 13,31-35) 

 That should also be the attitude we ought to have. Despite the earthly difficulties, challenges, trials, etc. that may tempt us to take things easy, we should stick to the task and the mission of pursuing our ultimate goal, which is none other than to attain our own sanctification and its accompanying responsibility of doing apostolate with as many people as possible. 

 We should not lose hope because as long as we stick with Christ, we would know how to persevere in pursuing our ultimate goal despite the heavy drama we may have on the ground. 

 Yes, the secret is always to be with Christ. As St. Paul said, “I can do all things in him who strengthens me.” (Phil 4,13) The moment we rely more on ourselves, we would be putting ourselves in great danger of losing our way. 

 We will always have difficulties in life. They are unavoidable. They come with the limitations of our human nature and aggravated by its condition of woundedness. Usually, they come as small disappointments and frustrations, little failures and setbacks we meet everyday. All of them, more or less, manageable. 

 But they can also be big ones that can plunge us into deep, long-running crises of fear, anger, anxiety, hatred and despair. Cases of unsolvable predicaments, at least, humanly speaking. 

 We have to be ready for them and know not only how to deal with them but also how to derive something good from them. In these instances of the hard predicaments, for example, when we seem to be at a loss as to what to do, we should just see at what God does, after we have done all things possible to solve our problems. 

 Ideally, we should not be weighed down by any worry since God takes care of everything. Some Bible passages reassure us of this truth. “So do not fear,” the Book of Isaiah says, “for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (1,10) 

 And St. Paul in his Letter to the Philippians says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (4,6-7) 

 Still, from the Psalms, we have these reassuring words: “The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?” (27,1) 

 Of course, we also have to do our part in resolving our predicaments. Yes, we may worry a bit, but it should not be for long. We may have to suffer a bit, but again, it should not be overdone. If referred and united with Christ’s suffering, ours would strike us to be meaningful, purifying, redemptive, etc. We would end up loving suffering. 

 We should never lose sight of the real goal of our life despite the unfavorable reality on the ground. We should follow what St. Paul once advised: “Since you have been raised with Christ, strive for the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” (Col 3,1-2)

Proper relation between parents and children

IN his Letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul describes what the proper Christian relation is between parents and children, between masters and servants. (cfr. 6,1-9) “Honor your father and mother,” he said. “This is the first commandment with a promise, that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life on earth.” And to the fathers, he said, “Do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up with the training and instruction of the Lord.” 

 We have to understand that parents are our first connection with God since it is through them that God created us. They are the first representative of God to us. They are the first ones to have authority over us in this world. And they exercise that authority with such tenderness and affection that we do not even realize that authority is exercised over us. We are not even aware that we are obeying and following them, especially when we are still very small. 

 Parents should then realize that their authority is no laughing matter at all. Their authority over us is always a participation in the authority of God as St. Paul once said. (cfr. Rom 13,1) They have to be aware that they have to exercise their authority the way God would exercise it over us. 

 Children should realize that since their parents gave birth to them and put them to life, their authority over them has a wider and deeper coverage than that of the other authorities in the world.

 Parents have to realize that their authority over their children does not spring simply because of their biological relation to us. That’s because from that biological basis arise many other and more important aspects of their authority. It’s not limited to the physical, material, emotional. It goes to the spiritual and supernatural aspects of our life. 

 Thus, parents as the first authority to their children are also their first teachers. And they teach their children not only how to smile, speak, walk, eat properly, especially when we are still small, but also how to think, reason out, react and behave in the different situations in life as children grow up. 

 But there is one aspect of their being teachers to their children that they should be ready to carry out. And that is to teach the children how to develop their spiritual life, how to be not only truly human but also truly Christian, a firm believer and lover of God and of everyone else. 

 More than the schools and the churches, more than the teachers and priests and nuns, who only play a subsidiary and supporting role in the education and formation of children, it is the parents who should help their children acquire the spiritual and supernatural life proper to all of us. 

 As far as the children are concerned, they are duty-bound to honor and love their parents. St. Paul already spoke clearly about this duty: “Children, obey your parents because you belong to the Lord, for this is the right thing to do.” (Eph 6,1) And, “Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing unto the Lord.” (Col 3,20) 

 Children should try their best to make their parents happy all the time. They should avoid as much as possible to give them problems, especially the unnecessary ones. They should be quick to lend a hand in the house chores. They should prepare themselves for the time when they will have to take care of their parents in their old age.

Everything can and should be a path to sanctity

WHEN Christ compared the Kingdom of God to a mustard seed and a yeast that start small and insignificant but can grow big in time (cfr. Lk 13,18-21), he was highlighting the truth that our sanctification can be achieved by taking care of the small, ordinary things in our life, doing them with love for God and for others. 

 Not only that. We also should have in mind that even in our sinful conditions, as long as we go back to God asking for forgiveness and his grace, we can and should still pursue the all-important task of sanctifying ourselves. Indeed, everything and all conditions and situations can and should be an occasion to attain our ultimate telos in life. 

 We have to learn how to see the sanctifying and salvific potential of the little ordinary things of our life, and even of our wounded and sinful condition. 

 We have to realize that it’s in the little things, it’s in the care we give to the small, ordinary, prosaic activities and concerns of the day that would prove whether we are really true to our good intentions and to our fervent affirmations of love for God and care for the others. 

 We need to train ourselves to see God in the little things. The objective reality is that God is everywhere. He’s not only in the extraordinary events in our life. He is always with us. 

 Thus, we need to learn to be contemplative even in the middle of the world, able to see God in all the good, the bad, and the ugly that the world contains. We need to learn how to be recollected so that even as we engage our senses and faculties with the many immediate things in life, we don’t lose sight of the ultimate end. 

 With respect to our sinful condition, while we should try our best to avoid committing sin, we should not fail to realize that that condition can and should occasion a stronger urge to go back to God. Let’s make these words of the psalm our own, “In my distress I called upon the Lord, and he heard my voice.” (Ps 18,6) 

 These words should be carved deep and hard into our mind and heart, so we can always remain at peace and with great hope despite our weaknesses and sinfulness, and all the many other things that can cause us anguish—difficulties, trials, failures, setbacks, etc. 

 We should not delay in going immediately to God asking for help whenever we find ourselves in situations of distress. God is our Father who will always listen to us, who will always show compassion to us, who will never fail us. 

 We may fail him many times, but he will always be understanding with us. We should be careful not to be too overwhelmed by our weaknesses and sinfulness as to fall into despair and run away from God. 

 It’s precisely when we are down when God shows his greatest love for us. We should never doubt this truth which can be validated by the mere fact that God sent his Son to us, and the Son became man and assumed all our sins by dying on the cross. 

 We obviously should not abuse the goodness and mercy of God, though we also know that somehow we cannot avoid abusing it. What we can do is to learn as quickly as possible the many precious lessons and other good things our weaknesses and sinfulness can occasion in us.

Even Christ had to pray

IT’S worthwhile noting that even Christ had to spend the night praying before he made that big decision of choosing his 12 apostles among the many disciples that he had at that time. (cfr. Lk 6,12-16) This could only mean that for Christ to be completely in union with the will of the Father, he had to pray. 

 There should be no doubt on our part that we too should learn how to pray not only from time to time but rather all the time, if we want to be completely in union with the will of God as we should. Christ is showing us the example, and we should just try our best to follow it. It’s what is proper to us. 

 Prayer should be like the breathing and the beating of the heart that we need to keep ourselves spiritually alive. It’s what would enable us to enter, start and keep sharing the very life of God as we are meant to do. Without prayer, we would put ourselves in an anomalous condition as we separate ourselves from the very source of our true identity and dignity. 

 We have to learn to pray all the time, converting everything into some form of prayer by doing it always with God and for God and not just by ourselves, motivated only by some earthly and temporal reasons. This is always possible and practicable because God has designed everything as a form to connect ourselves with him. It’s up to us to follow that design or not. 

 Ideally, everything should be an act of prayer, whether we are doing our sacred or mundane duties, whether things are good or bad for us, whether we are alone or in a crowd, etc. 

 Prayer should not be understood only in its sacred, solemn mode. It can lend itself to all the situations and circumstances of our life. It is practicable in any situation. We just have to develop the proper discipline which, of course, will require some training. 

 And just like any training, it at first has to be taught under a controlled environment. That is why, at the beginning we were taught as children to recite and put into memory some vocal prayers. We may not understand everything said there, but that at least initiates us to the practice of prayer. 

 Then further steps ought to be made. We have to learn how to exercise our faith, how to meditate and contemplate, how to find a proper place, time and even posture for it. And then how we can have presence of God the whole day, the rectitude of intention in all our actions, the habit of offering everything to God, and literally of conversing with God and discerning his will as we go on with our daily activities. 

 Let’s remember that without God who is our creator and source of all good things, we can only do evil. We would be like a branch cut off from the vine. We may manage to give an appearance of life and goodness, but without Him, we actually have and are nothing. 

 We have to be constantly aware that we cannot be simply on our own. We need God and we need to be with everybody and everything else. We have to overcome our tendency that we can afford to be isolated. We should never forget that we are always in communion and we need to make that communion alive and healthy. Prayer does that for us!

Proper relation between parents and children

IN his Letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul describes what the proper Christian relation is between parents and children, between masters and servants. (cfr. 6,1-9) “Honor your father and mother,” he said. “This is the first commandment with a promise, that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life on earth.” And to the fathers, he said, “Do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up with the training and instruction of the Lord.” 

 We have to understand that parents are our first connection with God since it is through them that God created us. They are the first representative of God to us. They are the first ones to have authority over us in this world. And they exercise that authority with such tenderness and affection that we do not even realize that authority is exercised over us. We are not even aware that we are obeying and following them, especially when we are still very small. 

 Parents should then realize that their authority is no laughing matter at all. Their authority over us is always a participation in the authority of God as St. Paul once said. (cfr. Rom 13,1) They have to be aware that they have to exercise their authority the way God would exercise it over us. 

 Children should realize that since their parents gave birth to them and put them to life, their authority over them has a wider and deeper coverage than that of the other authorities in the world.

 Parents have to realize that their authority over their children does not spring simply because of their biological relation to us. That’s because from that biological basis arise many other and more important aspects of their authority. It’s not limited to the physical, material, emotional. It goes to the spiritual and supernatural aspects of our life. 

 Thus, parents as the first authority to their children are also their first teachers. And they teach their children not only how to smile, speak, walk, eat properly, especially when we are still small, but also how to think, reason out, react and behave in the different situations in life as children grow up. 

 But there is one aspect of their being teachers to their children that they should be ready to carry out. And that is to teach the children how to develop their spiritual life, how to be not only truly human but also truly Christian, a firm believer and lover of God and of everyone else. 

 More than the schools and the churches, more than the teachers and priests and nuns, who only play a subsidiary and supporting role in the education and formation of children, it is the parents who should help their children acquire the spiritual and supernatural life proper to all of us. 

 As far as the children are concerned, they are duty-bound to honor and love their parents. St. Paul already spoke clearly about this duty: “Children, obey your parents because you belong to the Lord, for this is the right thing to do.” (Eph 6,1) And, “Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing unto the Lord.” (Col 3,20) 

 Children should try their best to make their parents happy all the time. They should avoid as much as possible to give them problems, especially the unnecessary ones. They should be quick to lend a hand in the house chores. They should prepare themselves for the time when they will have to take care of their parents in their old age.

Faith cures our natural blindness

THAT’S what we can learn from that gospel episode about the blind man Bartimaeus begging Christ to cure his blindness. (cfr. Mk 10,46-52) More than anything else, it was actually Bartimaeus’ faith that did the trick, as Christ himself testified: "Go your way; your faith has saved you." 

 In our life, in spite of our 20-20 vision, there would still be things that we can fail to see. And this is even true with respect to the material things of nature that by definition we should be able to see with less or even no effort at all. 

 But let’s remember that since our life involves spiritual and supernatural realities, that failure to see is even much greater. This is where we truly need the light of faith, which God shares with us. 

 If we can only be receptive and responsive to that faith, like Bartimaeus, there should be no problem about our capacity to see things that especially go beyond the material and natural things in the world. 

 We need to understand that since our life is 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 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. 

 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. 

 As a gift from God who spares nothing to give himself to us completely, faith is a seed planted in our soul especially during the sacrament of baptism. Parts of it or the whole of it may come to us in some other mysterious ways known only to God. 

 There is certainly a need to know the content of our faith. We have to study and meditate on the gospel, the catechism and other sources. We have to be attentive to the teachings of the Church magisterium who is empowered and guaranteed by Christ to teach the faith with authority and with infallibility. 

 With faith we enter into the very life of God!

Flowing with the rapidly evolving times

WE have to learn how to properly deal with the rapid developments of our times. We should avoid getting stuck with some system that may have been effective sometime ago, but is now increasingly showing irrelevance or inability to cope with the new demands that the evolving times are presenting. 

 In this regard, it is important that we always try our best to monitor these developments to see what new issues, challenges as well as opportunities are being presented to us, for which we should, first of all, ask God for guidance, enlightenment and inspiration. 

 Let’s hope that we can manage to sort out all these new things judiciously so as to prepare and equip ourselves accordingly. By so doing, we hopefully can make the proper adjustments, changes and innovations that these new developments require without losing sight of what is truly and absolutely important to us. 

 More importantly, we should try to make the opportune decisions that would redound not only to the temporal good of everyone, but also to the spiritual and moral growth of everyone. 

 In the end what absolutely matters would be that our decisions to adjust, adapt, innovate, etc., would lead us to give greater glory to God and better service to the common good. 

 For all of this, we should try to make ourselves persons of sound judgment. And that means that we should learn how to integrate the material with the spiritual and supernatural dimensions of our, the here and now with the eternal destiny meant for us. 

 We have to insist on living out as best that we can our faith, hope and charity, guarding ourselves from relying mainly if not only on our human sciences and technologies. 

 Remember what Christ himself said: “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his own soul.” (Mt 16,26) And so, even as we do our best in resolving whatever challenges and problems we have in our evolving times, we should not forget that “only one thing necessary” in our life, relating and subordinating everything else to God. 

 In this regard, we have to help one another develop the proper attitude and skills to be persons of sound judgment. In other words, for us not to get lost or even confused with the new, changing and fast-moving developments, I imagine that we really have to pray, to get in touch as intimately as possible with God who in the end is the real guide, since he is on top of everything. 

 Without him and simply depending on our own lights, we certainly could not cope with all the complexity of the things around us. Our current culture can only do so much. The same with our legal systems and whatever social, economic or political consensus we may have regarding what is proper and improper, fair and unfair, etc. 

 Obviously, we have to work under some human systems, but these should always be animated by a vital contact with God, with his spirit, with his will and ways, his laws and commandments. 

 This is a big challenge because many people today are unaware of the need to have a living relationship with God, let alone, having the proper attitude, practices and skills on how to get in contact with God. The usual practice is simply to rely on one’s own criteria and standards. 

 There is definitely a need for some massive catechesis, but of the kind that would really address the issues properly.