In the world but not worldly

IN that gospel parable describing the Kingdom of Heaven as a treasure buried in a field and as a merchant searching for fine pearls for which the main characters would be willing to sell everything they had just to get that treasure and those fine pearls (cfr. Mt 13,44-46), we are clearly reminded that we should know what our real purpose in the world is. 

 We should know how to be in the world, without being worldly, trapped and imprisoned in worldly things, and failing to look, find and love God and everybody else. And the secret is to follow Christ who shows us how to be in the world without being worldly. 

 Christ who is the very essence of wealth and human dignity lived a very simple life: he had nowhere to be born or die, nowhere to lay his head, came to our world with nothing and left it also with nothing. In his public life, he sent his apostles to preach without extra luggage. 

 We need to understand that poverty and a certain detachment from earthly things are required for our hearts to be properly filled with the spirit of God and to enable us to fulfill our mission in the world and to pursue the real purpose of our life. 

 We have to be most wary of the danger of worldliness which is becoming practically irresistible these days. Yes, it’s true that we have to love the world since that is where God has placed us to test us if what he wants us to be is also what we ourselves would like to be. We should love the world the way God loves it, but we should not be held captive by it. 

 The secret, of course, is to see to it that our mind and heart are always with God. We should not allow ourselves to be fully taken by the charms and deceiving allurements of the world. We have to be completely detached from it, which does not mean that we should hate it. On the contrary, we have to be immersed in it as much as possible and yet love it but in the way God loves it. 

 Anything in the world that would separate us from God should be avoided or rejected. Let us learn the lessons we can draw from the story of Ananias and Sapphira who tried to cheat the apostles, (cfr. Acts 5,1-10) and that of the rich young man (cfr. Mt 19,16-22) 

 We have to learn how to live our life in a simple way, with enough means for us to survive and to work effectively. It should be the kind of simplicity and poverty that does not attract undue attention, and that knows how to blend earthly things with our divine mission here on earth. It should be of the kind that would enable us to truly love God and others, effectively attending to the material needs of the latter. 

 Let’s remember that our way to God and to heaven is through this world. It cannot be any other way. To think that we can know, love and serve God by separating ourselves from the world is to fall into a false spirituality. 

 Everyday we have to make a plan and strategy of how to effectively handle this tricky condition of ours. We should give our all in developing the potentials of the world in all its aspects, and at the same time purifying the world continually of the effects of our sins. 

 This is how we can love the world without being worldly!

Hope needed in our earthly journey

THE clear lesson we can learn from the parable about the wheat and the weeds (cfr. Mt 13,24-43) is that we should just have hope amid all the trials and challenges in our earthly life, since God will take care of everything. We should avoid overreaching our capacity to resolve all our problems here in life, since most likely we would end up doing more harm than good in the process. 

 If we have strong faith in God, we can manage to be hopeful and even optimistic, oozing with confidence, whatever challenges and difficulties we can encounter in life. Christ himself said that “in the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” (Jn 16,33) 

 Hope is never naivete, but is a certainty that is based on the belief that God never loses battles, since he is the Lord of history, assuring us that he will be with us, guiding us till the end of time. (cfr. Mt 28,20). 

 If we have a strong faith in God, we know that he will do things whenever he wants, sooner, more and better, and even in spite of us. We should not allow the suspense and the mysteries of our life to bother us too much. Thus, part of the signs of hope is to have a sporting spirit in our life. 

 Of course, this virtue of hope is first of all a gift from God. It’s a theological virtue for which we should never stop asking God for it. And from there, let us align our attitude, outlook, habits and practices to this truth of our faith. Let us not doubt that God is ever eager to give this gift to us. 

 With hope, we can see things better and would be more encouraged to undertake ambitious projects of human redemption in the very heart of our daily affairs. We would have clear vision of the real and ultimate purpose of our life, and the means and the path to take to reach that goal, whatever may be the circumstances at a given moment. 

 This virtue of hope also lets us see the past, the present and the future through the eyes of God. It will always fill us with joy and peace, with a deep sense of confidence, knowing that whatever the drama we may encounter in life, God will always have the last word, and that word can only mean victory. 

 We should inspire others to always have hope. We should try our best to be credible witnesses of the hope that, in the words of St. Paul, “does not defraud, because the love of God has been poured in our hearts.” (Rom 5,5) 

 With faith and hope, we can manage to endure anything and to persevere, because as St. Paul told us once: “God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” (Phil 1,6) 

 While it’s true that we are completely responsible for our life, we should not forget that life has more things to give us than what we can handle. Hope gives us that impetus to let things be and let go of certain things, abandoning ourselves in the hands of God who is in control of everything, just like Christ abandoned himself to the will of his Father and submitted himself to his own death on the cross.

Contemplative life in ordinary life

WHAT lesson can we learn from that rather amusing gospel episode of the two sisters, Martha and Mary, welcoming Christ to their home? (cfr. Lk 10,38-42) Martha was doing well in busying herself welcoming their special guest. But when she complained about her sister, Mary, who seemed to be doing nothing except to sit closely before Christ, she was roundly corrected. 

 “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things,” Christ told her. “There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.” 

 From these words of Christ, what we can gather is that Martha failed to turn her service as prayer. She was only interested in taking care of the practical aspects of her hospitality to Christ. She failed to turn her work into prayer. 

 Indeed, we have to learn how to convert everything in our life as an occasion and a means to pray, to have an encounter with God, to pursue our loving relation with him. This can only mean that we are meant to be contemplatives even and especially in the midst of our worldly concerns. And that’s simply because we are supposed to correspond God’s constant presence and intervention in our life. 

 This would mean that we have to learn how to be like Christ, the pattern of our humanity. He was always in union with the Father. Thus, we have to develop a strong desire to be with Christ and to identify ourselves with him. Let’s be like the first apostles who, upon discovering the “Lamb of God”, followed him and stayed with him. (cfr. Jn 1,35-39) 

 In this regard, we have to actively develop a life of piety that is nourished by appropriate practices like prayer, meditation, recourse to the sacraments, etc. Let’s see to it that we can really have a personal and intimate encounter with Christ, which is not an impossibility since, as Christ told his disciples, he will always be with us till the end of time. (cfr. Mt 28,20) 

 We have to learn to discern the presence of God in everything and the “quid divinum” (that divine substance) in everything that we handle and get involved in. This is not about fantasizing, but rather affirming a basic and objective reality about things in general. God is in everything. 

 We have to learn how to be recollected and to maintain some kind of silence even as we go through the hustle and bustle of our daily routine. We know that when we manage to be with God in everything, we will always experience joy and peace, we will always find meaning and great value in everything that happens in our life, whether good or bad as regarded in human terms. 

 This way, we would not get lost as to the real purpose of our life. Not only that, we would actively play our part in pursuing that purpose which, in the first place, is being handled primarily by God himself. Ours is simply to cooperate with him as far as we can. 

 To be sure, God is attentive to all the events and circumstances of our life, and would be most happy to see our correspondence to his undying love for us. Even the smallest detail of affection we give him in our daily work will never be lost in his attention. 

 In short, for us to be real contemplatives in our daily life, we need to habitually think about what God wants, about what would please him, etc.

Cheerful and confident availability

THAT gospel episode where Christ shocked his disciples when he told them that they themselves had to feed the big crowd that followed Christ (cfr. Jn 6,1-15) reminds us that we should just have confidence in the ways of God even if what we are asked to do is considered by us not only as difficult but also impossible. We just have to make ourselves available to his will and designs since in the end he will take care of everything. 

 Yes, God can test our faith. But that test is meant to strengthen our faith in him some more. What we should rather do is to make ourselves readily available, and doing this in a cheerful and confident way. 

 This testing of the faith was shown, for example, when Mary and Joseph were very worried when they lost the child Christ who stayed behind after some trip. “Did you not know that I must be concerned with my Father’s things?” the child told Mary who later on pondered on these words in her heart and made her faith even stronger. (cfr. Lk 2,49) 

 That response of the child Christ to Mary also showed how fully available he was to the will of the Father, something that he must have wanted to inculcate in all of us. We need to learn how to make ourselves fully available to God’s designs for all of us. 

 Those who were close to Christ, starting with Our Lady, made themselves available to God’s ways. “Let it be done to me according to your word,” said Mary to the Archangel Gabriel who was the messenger of God. (Lk 1,38) We see this total availability also in the case of Joseph who even had to do some drastic and difficult decisions just to follow God’s will. 

 In the gospel, many times Christ would tell his disciples to tie their waist with a belt to signify that they had to tighten their loose clothing to be ready to travel and to do a lot of things. We should also understand that to be truly available to God’s will and ways, we have to make full use of our God-given talents and powers. 

 This belt-tightening can also signify that we should free ourselves from certain attachments that would prevent us from fulfilling God’s will. Indeed, we have to make some great effort to practice a certain detachment since we all know that in this life, we often would find ourselves trapped in some worldly concerns that would make us insensitive to the things of God. 

 In this regard, it would be good to examine ourselves to see where our worldly attachments are. We need to make some working system of how to free ourselves from these attachments. This surely will be quite a challenge because more than our efforts, no matter how significant, we need God’s grace to free us from our improper attachments. 

 We need to have a certain detachment from persons and things to be able to give our heart entirely to God, and with him, we actually have everything else we need. As St. Teresa of Avila put it graphically, with God we have enough—“solo Dios basta.” 

 To be a disciple of Christ, we have to give everything of ourselves to him and to the tasks such discipleship entails. This will allow the very power of Christ to work on us. So instead of hindering our apostolic work, that detachment that Christ requires of his disciples would only enhance that apostolic work.

Let’s be the good ground for God’s word

IN that parable of the sower and the seed, (cfr. Mt 13,8-23) it’s made quite clear that we are encouraged to be the good ground for God’s word which actually represents his great love for us and our salvation. We should avoid being the wayside, the rocky ground, and the thorns where the seed of God’s word and love was sown and would just be wasted. 

 As good ground, we are meant to respond properly to God’s tremendous love for us, a response that will surely be fruitful not only for us but also for everybody else. It’s the fruitfulness that would win us the status and dignity of being true children of God, his image and likeness, sharers of his divine life and nature. 

 How should we respond to God’s love for us? Christ himself spelled it out to us clearly. When asked what the greatest commandment was, what God wanted most from us, he said: “You shall love your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” (Mt 22,37) 

 This is God’s most important desire for us and that’s because we are supposed to love him the way he loves us. And his love, as we can see clearly, nothing less than a madness of love. 

 Imagine what he had to do to recover us to him despite the fact that he would lose nothing if we choose to cut ourselves from him through our sinful ways. He had to become man, he had to do a lot of things for us, and ultimately, he had to offer his life on the cross, bearing all our sins and conquering them with his resurrection. Indeed, his love is given without measure and without conditions. 

 We need to meditate and savor on the many details of God’s abiding love for us that goes all the way. We need to feel that love as continuously as possible because that is the only way we too can be moved to love him and love others in return. We should try our best to have our love for him and others measure up to his love for us. 

 We should be eager to fill up what is still lacking in our love for God and for others. Thus, we should try our best to have a sporting spirit in this business of learning how to love the way God loves us. We should try our best, and in our successes and failures in this business, we should just move on, never giving up. 

 When we know and feel God’s tremendous love for us, we for sure would be moved to be very generous and gratuitous in our love also. We would be willing to wage a continuing struggle in growing in our love, making it more theological and supernatural, relying more on God’s grace than our mere efforts. 

 We should never give up in our pursuit to love God the way God loves us. It will be an endless affair that would convince that there will never be a moment when we can think that we have loved enough. 

 It is a love that is willing to take on anything, no matter how unfair things may appear to us, humanly speaking, as when like Christ we manage to love even our enemies and to offer our life for those who may have offended us!

Kindness and flexibility needed in our communal life

ON the Feast of St. James, the Apostle, celebrated on July 25, we are reminded of that episode where his mother asked Christ a favor. And that is that her two sons, James and John, “sit, one at your right and other at your left, in your Kingdom.” (Mt 20,21) 

 We know how Christ responded. In the end what he told the parties involved was to always have the desire to serve, rather than feeling privileged because of some blessings received. “Whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave,” he said. “Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mt 20,27-28) 

 With these words, Christ gives us the formula of how we have to treat one another in our communal life. We have to be accommodating of everyone, showing kindness and affection always, learning how to be flexible since we have to deal with our unavoidable differences and conflicts. With these traits, it would be easy for us to make the clarifications, suggestions and even corrections when they are needed. 

 This was how Christ behaved when he was with other people. He made them feel comfortable. He avoided projecting a domineering and intimidating presence. Children wanted to come close to him. His manner of preaching and of treating everyone so aroused enthusiasm and admiration that at one point it was said that everyone was looking for him. (cfr. Mk 1,35) 

 In fact, many wanted to make him king. (cfr. Jn 6,15) And they did not hesitate to visit him even at night (cfr. Jn 3,1-21) or engaging with him on the road as happened with the two blind men who heard Christ was passing by. (cfr. Mt 9,27) 

 We should try to adapt this character as shown to us by Christ, since it would greatly help us in our apostolic mission. The way we present ourselves to others would greatly determine whether we can click with others or not. 

 We have to know the kind of temperament we have and see what needs to be polished or even scrapped if only to approximate the character and personality of Christ who is actually the pattern of our humanity, and the savior of our damaged humanity. 

 As much as possible, we should try to echo what St. Paul once said: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Gal 2,20-21) 

 With this in mind, we know that we can make ourselves kinder, more affectionate and attentive to the needs of others. We should try to improve our listening skills, our ability to be more understanding of others, avoiding rigidity and small manias, etc. 

 In this regard, we have to learn to deal and truly love the others as they really are in real time, warts and all. Of course, we have to maintain the distinction between right and wrong, good and evil, but we have to learn how to live and love each one individually and personally, helping them as much as we can in their various needs, material or spiritual, etc. 

 This is how Christ loves us. It’s a love that is individualized and personalized, kind of adapted to the way each person is.

The duty to transform the world

THAT gospel parable about the sower and the seed (cfr. Mt 13,1-9) somehow reminds us that we have to be the good ground that would readily receive the seed of God and make it grow to its fullness. Only then can we aspire to transform the world the way God wants it transformed in Christ through the Holy Spirit. 

 Let’s remember that only in Christ is the mystery of God’s will for us known. Only in Christ would we be able to “recapitulate all things, those of heaven and those of earth.” (Eph 1,9-10). That is to say, that only in Christ would all things be gathered together in unity under God, things that have been scattered and divided because of our sins. 

 We need to return to God. And we have to bring the whole of the world to God also because everything comes from God and belongs to God. In Christ, we have been given the way and the means so that God may be “all in all things.” (1 Cor 15,28) That is why God took on human flesh in Christ. By becoming one of us, Christ has transformed the world from within. 

 Since we are patterned after Christ, we should feel the duty to collaborate with him in his work of transforming the world. We need to realize that the world ought to be prepared for the coming of the Kingdom of God. 

 How will we do it? By becoming more and more intimately identified with Christ, living out his very essence and mission which is driven only by love. It is only with this love that we can manage to transform the world. 

 Let us see to it that we more and more grow in that love shown and shared with us by Christ. Like Christ, we should love everyone, including our enemies. It is his love that would enable us to want and to work for the good of others, irrespective of how they are to us. It is his love that would keep us always interested in the welfare, both the material and spiritual, of the others. 

 Obviously, if we have this kind of love, we would do everything for God and for the others whatever it may cost. And we would do it gratuitously, without expecting any reward. Of course, we all know that God cannot be outdone in generosity. The more generous we are in our love, all the more generous would God love us in return. 

 To be effective in this mission of transforming the world, we have to make ourselves credible witnesses and collaborators of Christ. In this regard, we cannot overemphasize the need to thoroughly master the doctrine of our faith as revealed to us in full by Christ. We have to learn the dynamic art of how to win true and deep friendship and confidence of the others. 

 We should try our best that we can earn what Christ once told his disciples—that “whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; but whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me.” (Lk 10,16) 

 This, of course, will require of us constant struggle and recourse to all the means that Christ, and now the Church, has made available. May we always feel the urge to follow Christ as closely as possible so that with him and in him, we can truly transform the world, bringing the world back to God, its creator.

Our Lady, proof we belong to God’s family

THAT gospel episode where somebody in the crowd told Christ that her mother was around (cfr. Mt 12,46-50) can only tell us once again that as long as we follow the example of Mary, we too can be members of God’s family. 

 And what is this example of Mary? It was she who perfectly fulfills this criterion of how to be a member of God’s family. And this standard was clearly spelled out by Christ when he said, “whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother.” 

 Mary personifies the ideal human person who, as originally created by God in Adam and Eve, is supposed to be in the state of original justice. Thus, Mary was greeted by the Archangel Gabriel during the Annunciation as “full of grace.” But unlike our first parents, she kept that state intact all throughout her life, from her own conception in the womb of her mother, Anne, until her departure from the world. 

 Mary proves that man is capable of completely and perfectly identifying himself with God as God wants man to be. She definitely was given some special privileges and graces from God, but these special gifts did not spoil her like what they did to our first parents and like what we tend to fall into also. 

 She was ever faithful because of her deep humility, her abiding conviction that everything good comes from God and should therefore be enjoyed always with God and never without him. 

 Thus, during the Annunciation when it was explained to her how she was to conceive the very Son of God, she described herself in this way: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to your word.” (Lk 1,38) 

 That response of Our Lady to the archangel clearly traces the organic relation between humility and obedience to God’s will, between humility and fidelity. This humility of Our Lady was also highlighted in her Magnificat prayer when she said: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.” (Lk 1,46-48) 

 All these considerations should tell us that if we would just have a bit of common sense, we would know that it is always wise to go to Mary in order to get to Christ. As a saint once said, Mary is the shortest, surest and safest way to be with Christ. 

 Let’s see to it that our devotion to her grows. And if it is practically dormant if not dead, then let’s stir it up to life again. She is important to us. In fact, she is indispensable to us. She cannot be treated as an optional feature in our spiritual life, nor something decorative or appendical only. 

 While she is not God and, therefore, not to be accorded with the worship that is only due to God (latria), she rightly deserves to be given the highest form of veneration (hyperdulia) among all the saints who are already with God in heaven. 

 She never competes nor undermines our relationship with God. If anything, all she does is to bring us to God and to help us fulfill the will of God. Thus, in that episode of the wedding at Cana where she noticed that the hosts were running out of wine, she told the servants, “Do whatever he (Christ) tells you.” (Jn 2,5)

Our need for continuing conversion

THE Feast of St. Mary Magdalene on July 22 reminds us that we all are in need of conversion. Yes, even if we have been trying, for the longest time already, to be good and saintly, we know that our wounded human condition would always find us in need of continuing conversion all throughout our life. 

 That is why, one of the constant topics Christ preached about throughout his earthly mission was that of conversion. “Convert and believe in the Gospel,” he said one time. (Mk 1,15) Other gospel passages that talk about conversion are the following: 

     - “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.” (Mt 3,8) 

     - “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (Lk 5,32) 

     - “I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” (Lk 15,7) 

 The case of St. Mary Magdalene should encourage us to go through the process of conversion because in spite of her colorful past, she received the mercy of Christ. The same with the repentant thief who was crucified with Christ. God’s mercy is always available if only we do a conversion from whatever irregular and sinful state we may be in, no matter how grave our sins may be. 

 This preaching of Christ about conversion is, of course, quite demanding, for it requires a lot of courage to acknowledge our sins and to ask for forgiveness. But God’s grace that can help us to ask for forgiveness is never lacking. All we have to do is to ask for that grace. Let’s never forget that conversion is first of all a grace of God, a gift, to which we should try our best to correspond. 

 We cannot deny that all throughout our life we will always be hounded by our weaknesses and the many temptations around. We will always have a certain attraction to evil—what is otherwise known as concupiscence. But God knows this and is ever willing to welcome us back to him. Let’s try to be like St. Mary Magdalene and the prodigal son who, after wasting his father’s inheritance, decided to go back to his father. 

 God will always welcome us back, even if we appear to be already abusing the goodness and mercy of God. We should just put our mind and heart to this fact of life that we are all sinners and that we need to convert. 

 Let’s follow the logic of St. Paul who once said that “it is when I am weak that I am strong” (2 Cor 12,10) precisely because he used his weaknesses and sinfulness as a strong motive to go to Christ, instead of running away from him out of fear or shame. Obviously, this kind of attitude can only be an effect, first of all, of grace that is corresponded to with humility and great faith in God’s mercy. 

 We should just get up as quickly as possible after every fall we make. We should not get tired of having to begin and begin again. The patience of God is forever. We should never lose hope. We should just try our best to be truly sorry for our sins and to have a strong resolve to avoid sinning, though we know that one day we will fall again. 

 When we convert, we would be putting ourselves on the right path which we often lose amid the many confusing conditions of our life here on earth.

The need for continuing formation

IT’S interesting to note that despite the heavy and tight schedule Christ had during his public life, he always managed to find time to take care of the formation of his disciples. In fact, he invested a lot of time in training them. 

 St. Mark, in his gospel, noted that “in his public ministry he (Christ) never taught without using parables; but afterward, when he was alone with his disciples, he explained everything to them.” (Mk 4,34) 

 Christ took care of the formation of his disciples knowing that after living with him, they would be sent to proclaim and explain the Gospel, the Good News, to the people. In that way, the living Word of God would be transmitted from generation to generation. 

 We need to realize then that we have to take care of our Christian formation if we want to be consistent with our Christian identity as apostles also. A true disciple of Christ cannot but be an apostle also. 

 Toward this end, we have to realize that we have to acquire nothing less than the wisdom of God as revealed to us by Christ in the Holy Spirit. We have to understand that formation involves assuming the very mind and heart of Christ, the very wisdom of God. It should lead us to center our lives on Christ’s love and to assume God’s plans with creativity and initiative. 

 Thus, the capacity for reflection is necessary so as to faithfully channel Christ’s love for everyone. We need to go through some philosophical and theological study of our faith, coupled with the appropriate cultural formation so we can be effective in transmitting God’s living word in the middle of the world. 

 For this, it is vital to acquire a deep and broad vision of the reality in which we live, taking care of studying and reading, and keeping an intense interest in what is happening in the world. 

 Of course, to be effective in this endeavor, we should be earnest in the pursuing true holiness, a keen love for God and for souls, always remaining simple and humble, because as Christ himself said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to the little ones.” (Mt 11,25) 

 This is how we can truly get the proper understanding of the doctrine of our Christian faith which can be interpreted in any which way depending on where our heart really is. Pursuing our formation as a function of our own sanctification would prepare us to carry out our duty to do apostolate. 

 Of special interest these days is how to transmit the living word of God in the media which are now the most powerful tool for evangelization. We need to be good content creators who can manage to attract others because what we tell and show are truly coming from heart that is intimately in relation with God, and not just abstract or impersonal considerations, much less, empty and frivolous stuff. 

 There is need for us to know how to relate the doctrine of our faith to our daily affairs and to our very serious and big projects and plans, and vice versa. At the moment, this expertise is hardly known, its need hardly felt. 

 This is the challenge we are facing today as we tackle the increasingly rapid, complex and complicated developments. Let’s hope that we can overcome whatever biases we have that hinder the appreciation of our basic need for Church doctrine in our human affairs.

The true freedom that comes from God’s love

THAT gospel episode about some Pharisees who dared to tell Christ that his disciples did not observe the Sabbath law since they were plucking corn in a field during Sabbath (cfr. Mt 12,1-8) somehow reminds us that if we are not truly with Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life for us, we end up having a very restrictive, and even erroneous understanding of things, compromising our freedom and our ability to love. 

 It’s only when we are with Christ that we can truly be free, with the freedom that channels the very love of God for us. It’s when we would be in the truth that, as the gospel also tells us, would make us really free. (cfr. Jn 8,32) 

 We need to understand that our true Christian life can only be developed in the ground of freedom. It’s a freedom that will break any earthly and improper attachments, like egoism and sin. It’s a freedom that would enable us to love God and others whatever the conditions and circumstances may be. It’s a freedom that would really spring from inside us, from our most intimate part. It would not just be a façade. 

 We can develop this kind of freedom when we truly pray, when we have an intimate connection with Christ. We can develop this kind of freedom when we live our life according to God’s will and plan as attested by Christ himself who said: “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (Jn 8,31-32) 

 We should see to it that our heart is really given to Christ. How important therefore it is to conquer our heart for Christ. This will require great effort on our part and that humility to ask always for the grace of God to work on us. 

 The heart, as we all know, is actually the very seat of our thoughts, desires and conscience. It’s that part that contains our whole being, and therefore the most precious part we have. Our whole identity, both in its stable and dynamic states, is found in the heart. 

 It’s the source of what our mouth would say. “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” (Mt 12,4). It is what gives the motives for our thoughts, desires, and words and deeds. 

 It’s also where we hear the voice of God as well as that of the devil, where we discern the spirit of God and that of the evil one. It’s where we make our decisions, promises and commitments. 

 It’s where the dynamics of our faith, hope and charity is played out. But it can also be where merely worldly values, passing and relative, can dominate. Thus, it is where our interior struggle is done, where our choice of either God or ourselves is made. 

 When our heart is truly identified with the heart of Christ, we would realize that true freedom that springs from God’s love would always respect the opinions, views and solutions that others maintain or propose even when they are different or even in conflict with ours. True freedom somehow respects plurality and diversity. 

 Even when there are doctrinal and moral errors involved in the views and opinions of others, the freedom that comes from the love of God would know how to deal with them, even going to the extent of offering one’s life for the others.

“Learn from me for I am meek and humble of heart”

TREMENDOUS and incredible words coming from Christ himself, perfect God and perfect man. He showed this humility and meekness of his in Bethlehem, in Nazareth, in his public life. He showed this even more graphically when he washed the feet of his disciples, when he bore all the cruel torments of his passion. Finally, he continues to show this in his silent presence in the tabernacle located in some corner of a church. 

 What we can gather from these considerations are that humility and meekness is a matter of lowering or humbling oneself, considering others as better than us (cfr. Phil 2,3). It is also a matter of being humiliated, misunderstood, etc. And in spite of that, we respond with magnanimity and mercy, willing to bear whatever afflictions are involved. 

 We need to realize that the true virtue of humility is never a synonym for imperfection, for weakness or sinfulness, since the most sacred humanity of Christ is perfect. Humility and meekness, on the contrary, are clear signs of greatness, the very greatness of God. 

 To be sure, Christ is most happy with simple and humble people who believe in him and accept him, and who do not rely on their own wisdom. This truth of our Christian faith can be drawn from what Mary said in her Magnificat: “he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate.” (Lk 1,28) 

 This can also be seen when Christ himself said: “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.” (Lk 10,21) 

 It’s when we acknowledge our weakness that we attract God’s tremendous help, as articulated in one of the psalms that says: "a contrite and humiliated heart, my God, you do not despise" (Ps 51:19) 

 St. Paul gave an eloquent testimony about this when he said: “God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus.” (2 Cor 7,6) This he said when he was in middle of a rigorous work of evangelization marked with so many trials. And St. Peter said something similar: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” (1 Pt 5,5) 

 Of course, Christ himself gave this comfort and mercy to the repentant thief who was crucified with him. (cfr. Mt 27,38) The same attitude of Christ giving comfort and mercy is shown in that parable of the proud Pharisee and the humble publican who were praying in the temple. (cfr. Lk 18,10-14) 

 When we truly learn from Christ how to be meek and humble, we will always have the eagerness to serve and not to be served. We will welcome every opportunity to serve God and others. We will not be afraid of the sacrifices involved. 

 In very concrete terms, we can show this attitude of serving and not wanting to be served if even at the end of the day, when we are already tired from work and all the pressures of the day, we can still manage to be of good disposition and even keep good humor during family dinners and evening get-togethers. 

 As can be easily gleaned, cultivating this attitude to serve and not to be served can be done in our ordinary daily events. It does not wait for extraordinary occasions for it to be set in motion. The daily happenings are enough—in fact, more than enough. 

 We would be Christ to one another if we live out this attitude consistently.

How to develop prudence or practical wisdom

THE secret is to be like a child, simple and humble. We can draw that conclusion from the words of Christ himself: “I confess to thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to the little ones.” (Mt 11,25) 

 The “wise and prudent” cited in that quote refers to the worldly wisdom and prudence that do not come from God. True wisdom and prudence can only come from God as attested in this passage from the Book of Proverbs: “The Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” (2,6) 

 In other words, it’s when we follow God in Christ through the Holy Spirit that we can have true prudence, the same prudence of the wise virgins (cfr. Mt 25,1-13). It’s the prudence that would lead us to heaven in our earthly journey, just like the wise virgins were able to join the wedding party when the bridegroom finally arrived at midnight. 

 Prudence, understood as practical wisdom, allows us to think, evaluate and decide properly amid the varying and often confusing conditions of our life. It prepares us to discover the true good in all circumstances and to choose the appropriate means to achieve it. 

 True prudence would allow us to have an abiding sense of the ultimate purpose of our life and how to relate all the elements, circumstances and conditions of our life to this purpose. It enables us to escape from being trapped in our earthly and temporal concerns. It is what is truly and urgently needed these days when we see a lot of people, especially the young ones, practically held captive in their earthly obsessions and addictions. 

 One effect of prudence is to receive the gift of counsel from the Holy Spirit. It’s this gift that would enable us to discover what is truly good for us in a given situation. With prudence, we can manage to be attentive and discerning of the hints of God, the promptings of the Holy Spirit who actually intervenes in our life all the time. 

 Yes, to be prudent in these confusing times of ours today would indeed require us to study things thoroughly, do the proper research, and undertake a widening web of consultations. We have to learn to refer ourselves to more and more branches of knowledge, sciences and technologies to be able to arrive at more enlightened judgments, opinions and views. 

 The virtue of prudence does not stop only at the level of study, research and consultation. It has to go all the way to making judgments and decisions. And when that time arrives, we can either withhold our judgment for mere lack of bases for such judgment when the circumstances would not allow it, or we can make a judgment when we feel we have enough bases or when we somehow are forced to make one. 

 In all these possibilities, we should see to it that we form these judgments in the presence of God, asking for his light and grace. This is always indispensable, the only thing necessary actually, because even if we have done our best to be prudent, we can still be wrong, and yet if we have made that judgment in “bona fide,” it would still work out for the good, since with God all things, right or wrong, will work out for the good. (cfr. Rom 8,28)

The mercies of God

THAT lamentation of Christ because some people did not ask for forgiveness for their sins in spite of the many blessings given to them (cfr. Mt 11,20-24) should strongly remind us that no matter how sinful and helplessly wretched we feel we are, God is always eager to forgive us if only we ask for it. 

 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida!” he cried. “For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes.” 

 We should never fail to contemplate and praise God’s merciful attitude toward us and his endless wonderful things he has done for us. Let’s hope that we can make as our own what a psalm articulated: “Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things; his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him.” (98,1) 

 Let us follow the example of Christ himself who, in contemplating the action of his Father through the apostles whom he had sent to preach, broke out in thanksgiving. “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,” he said, “because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.” (Mt 11,25) 

 We should never doubt the tenderness and power of God. We should never hesitate to go to him asking for help and mercy. We should rather feel his great love for us which, ideally, should be a constant feature in our life. That’s where we get the power of his love. 

 Let us try to grow more in intimacy with Christ, like what the apostles experienced after the Resurrection. As we know, Christ continued to stay close to them, as when they were fishing. Christ showed them great affection by giving them a good catch of fish and a hearty breakfast on the shore. (cfr. Jn 21,1-20) 

 We should never fail to realize that Christ continues to take care of us and to lavish us with his love and affection. What we have to do is to correspond as best that we can to this divine outpouring of God’s love. And given our condition that is wounded by sin, let us never hesitate to ask for forgiveness which, we are assured, will always be given us. 

 Whenever we feel the sting of our weaknesses and sinfulness, together with their antecedents and consequences, their causes and effects, let’s never forget to consider also God’s mercy that is always given to us, and, in fact, given to us abundantly. 

 Let’s strengthen our conviction that Christ has a special attraction to sinners, that he is ever willing to forgive us as long as we show some signs of repentance that he himself, through his grace, will stir in us. 

 Let’s play the part of Peter who, after denying Christ three times, realized his mistake and wept bitterly in repentance. Christ looked kindly on him and forgave him and even made him the prince of the apostles. 

 Let’s avoid playing the part of Cain and Judas who, after committing their crimes, ran away instead of going back to God repentant. Of course, in saying this, I am not at all judging that they are in hell. That judgment belongs to God alone. 

 We just have to make sure that we do not get spoiled by God’s abundant mercy, because even if his love and mercy is eternal, his justice is never sacrificed. His mercy and justice always go together, in proportions, if we have to speak in human terms, that are just right.

Identifying with Christ on the cross

WHEN Christ told his disciples these shocking words: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword,” (Mt 10,34) the upshot is actually that he wants us to identify ourselves with him through the cross, through a lot of suffering that is due to all of our sins. 

 He wants us to realize that the mystery of the cross is where we can find the infinite and unconditional love of God for man. When we encounter the cross of any kind—physical or moral pain, etc.—we are actually given an opportunity to be like Simon of Cyrene who, without any obligation to carry the cross, offered to do so if only to help out of love for the redemption of man. 

 When we carry our crosses with the mind of following Christ, we actually become glorified also in Christ. We can indeed echo St. Paul’s words, “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” (Gal 6,14) 

 It’s when we embrace the cross that we deny ourselves so we can be filled with no other intention than to follow Christ. This much, Christ himself said it clearly: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Mt 16,24) 

 It’s when we carry the cross with Christ that we would experience what Christ told his disciples, “My yoke is easy and my burden light.” (Mt 11,30) It’s when we would experience peace and joy despite the pain and suffering. It’s also when we have the chance to purify ourselves and to atone and make reparation for the all the sins of the world. 

 We should have the same attitude of St. Paul with regard to any form of suffering when he said: “I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the Church.” (Col 1,24) 

 We need to realize that given the unavoidable sinfulness of man, we should be eager to put this love for the cross the way Christ and the saints loved the cross, as an essential part of our spirituality. 

 We need to make the cross of Christ attractive to everyone. It’s the Good News that would liberate us from a narrow understanding of all the sufferings in this world. It is what makes our love real love, a vital participation of the very essence of God which is love. 

 We really have to know why the cross is essential and indispensable in our life. And by knowing the purpose of the cross, we mean that we need to refer everything in our life to the passion, death and resurrection of Christ where the cross plays a crucial role. 

 Yes, that’s right. We need to refer everything to the cross because that is how everything in our life, whether good or bad, big or small, spiritual or material, would find its true and ultimate meaning and purpose. 

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

 This is the purpose of the cross in our life. It is to instill in us the proper attitude and virtues with respect to our sin, before it is committed and also after it is committed.

We need a big and compassionate heart

WHEN Christ summoned his 12 apostles, sending them out two by two and giving them authority over unclean spirits, he clearly told them also to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick—no food, no sack, no money in their belts, etc. (cfr. Mk 6,7-13) 

 The instruction may seem harsh and even inhuman, but for sure Christ had a good reason for that. We can only surmise that Christ wanted his apostles—and now us—to depend solely on him, on divine providence which, as we all know, is governed by nothing less than pure and gratuitous love, a love that springs from complete faith in God’s will and ways. 

 Christ wants us to give our heart completely to God. Thus, in the Book of Proverbs, we have this passage: “My child, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways.” (23,26) We need to realize that our heart actually has a certain hunger and thirst that can only be completely satisfied by the infinite love of God. 

 But often we do not realize it, since this infinite love of God would involve, given our wounded condition, certain sacrifices and sufferings, things that we tend not to realize that they can be good occasions to show and develop the true love that comes from God. 

 We have to realize that to give our heart to God is to grow in our capacity to love the others. This giving our heart to God is to have a new heart, a heart of flesh, truly capable of loving, to replace the heart of stone. (cfr. Ez 11,19) 

 It’s when we give our heart to God through Christ in the Holy Spirit that we would find it easy to put our heart in all the tasks that we do. It’s when we can deal with anyone with great understanding and magnanimity. It’s when we can live out what St. Paul said: that we have the very mindset or sentiments of Christ. (cfr. Phil 2,5) 

 It’s in this context that some of those who are given a special vocation from God choose to live in what is known as “apostolic celibacy” so they can give themselves more to the others. 

 It’s when we give our heart to God through Christ in the Holy Spirit that we can also have the very merciful heart of Christ, willing to bear all the burdens of everyone, including their miseries and sins, doing this with determination and commitment if only to gain pardon and the ultimate victory of our life.

 It’s when we give our heart to God through Christ in the Holy Spirit that we can expect the purification of all sins, and the regeneration of hope and human love. It’s when we attain the fullness of our humanity, when God will give us “grace upon grace” (cfr. Jn1,16) 

 How important therefore that we learn to engage our heart with the right treasure, the ultimately genuine one, the one that lasts forever, and not the many pseudo-treasures that the world offers. 

 Thus, we should often echo those words in Scriptures in our ears: “My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes delight in my ways.” (Prov 23,26) Or, Christ’s words: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart…” (Lk 10,27) Here God both begs and commands us to give our heart to him. 

 This is when we can have a truly big and compassionate heart especially when we do apostolate.

Confidence and abandonment

GIVEN the fact that we in this world will always have to contend with complicated situations, challenges, difficulties, trials and the like, we need to follow what Christ advised his disciples once: “Be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves.” (Mt 10,16) 

 In this way, we can manage to go through our life with a deep sense of confidence and a healthy spirit of abandonment. We should just stick ourselves as closely as possible to Christ. We should just rev up our faith that would enable us to share the very power of Christ. This is what we see in the history of salvation where we see how the faith of the saints redounded to their fidelity. 

 Let us remember that it is through faith that everything becomes possible. Even that which is unattainable to us can be achieved, since it will be God himself who will do it for us and with us. 

 In a world that is steeped in sin, what we need is a strong faith, “fortes in fide” (1 Pt 5,9) The complexities of our life here on earth, with their accompanying pains and sufferings, should not surprise us. To live a consistent Christian life, we should somehow expect some misunderstanding, persecution, even martyrdom. Let’s just try to be sport with and in Christ in this condition. 

 Let’s be edified by the example of St. Paul who, in all his trials, did not give up in his mission. Let’s try to echo his words: “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” (2 Cor 4,8-10) These trials are actually meant to heal our weaknesses, and to make us a better person, a better Christian. 

 Anyway, Christ already assured us that though we will always have troubles in this world, he already has conquered everything. (cfr. Jn 16,33) Christ will calm down whatever storms we will have in our life. He assures us that even if our efforts would seem to be insignificant, we will not work in vain. (cfr. Is 65,23) 

 The parable of the wheat and the weeds (cfr. Mt 13,24-43) somehow tells us that we should just continue working and doing a lot of good even if some bad elements continue to hound us. Anyway, there is the last judgment where God always has the last say, and the good will always prevail. 

 The ways of God may be too mysterious for us to comprehend. But let’s never doubt that God can “write straight with crooked lines.” St. Paul assured us that with God, everything will always work for the good. (cfr. Rom 8,28) And in that Easter vigil hymn, the Exsultet, we are told about the “felix culpa” (happy fault) where our sinfulness has led God to give us a greater good—God became man for us! 

 We have to learn how to unite ourselves in an active and creative way to the will of God before all the uncertainties of our life. That’s when we can manage to feel secure and confident. 

 We have to remove ourselves from that state mentioned by St. Paul in his Letter to the Ephesians: “children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the cunning of men, by their craftiness in deceitful wiles.” (4,14) We have to move on. There are a lot of things to do. 

 It’s important that we be confident and at peace always, because that would put us in the proper condition to do the things we are supposed to do. It will make us bold and courageous, fruitful and productive.

The temporal aspect of the Church’s mission

GIVEN the obvious fact that the Church has to carry out its spiritual and supernatural mission in an earthly and temporal setting, it behooves everyone of us in the Church, both clerics and lay who should work in the spirit of coordinated and synergized synodality, to see to it that we practice utmost care in managing this tricky and delicate financial and temporal administration of the Church’s goods to pursue its proper life and mission. 

 It’s a matter of maintaining the proper systems for a responsible stewardship of the Church goods, giving it its true spirit of Christian generosity of total self-giving while also living total detachment and spirit of poverty. It has to be pursued according to what Christ told his disciples, “Freely you have received, freely give.” (Mt 10,8) 

 We should avoid commercializing whatever services are done in the Church in every level. As much as possible, we should even avoid giving any impression, no matter how slight, that we are commercializing things. 

 While we should give our all in doing the spiritual works of mercy, we should never be remiss in also doing the corporal works of mercy. The Church have to be clearly seen as Church of the Poor even as we may have majestic churches built solely for the glory of God. 

 Also, while we make certain rules and protocols for the sake of order and efficiency, we should always realize that exceptions can always take place and we should be prompt in accommodating them. 

 In this regard, it would be good that while things should be done as professionally as possible, there has to be regular review and auditing of the systems employed in every level of the financial and temporal administration of the Church’s goods. 

 There has to be periodic strategic planning so issues can be resolved and areas and sectors to be reached out can be identified. The appropriate accounting and administrative structures should be in place, and good governance practiced. 

 Considering our wounded human condition and the varying, let alone, confusing developments in the world today, the Church should be in the forefront and should be the ideal example of how the financial and temporal administration of earthly goods in general should be properly done. 

 In other words, the Church should do things in this aspect of Church life and mission in such a way that its civil and ecclesiastical implications are deemed above any trace of suspicion. There has to be at least full compliance to pertinent civil laws regarding the financial and temporal administration of Church goods. 

 There has to be such total transparency that we can defend any question that may be raised in this regard. And more than just defending, we can make the Church’s systems be an inspiration to other institutions in the world in general. 

 I imagine that for this to happen, constant benchmarking within and outside of the Church should be done so as to come out with the best practices possible. We know that in our temporal affairs, there is no perfect system that works well all the time. We have to be quick in adapting the most appropriate systems needed in any given situation or condition. 

 And also considering that in the world, we always have to contend with some unavoidable forms of evil, the doctrine of the tolerable material cooperation in evil, never the formal cooperation in evil, should be properly learned and lived. 

 For this, some form of checking has to be done to assure that things are done as they should. The spirit of collegiality and accountability should be lived in every level of Church structure.

We are meant to give life to others

WHEN Christ chose 12 apostles to work closely with him in his mission of human redemption, (cfr. Mt 10,1-7) we are reminded that Christ actually wants all of us to continue with his work of human redemption, imparting the true life meant for us to everyone. 

 This can be gleaned from the very words of Christ himself: “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (Jn 10,10) Let’s always remember that God wants to share what he has with us, image and likeness of his that we are. 

 Toward this end, we know that Christ looks for us in all the circumstances of our life. He always intervenes in our life—teaching us, healing us of our illnesses, nourishing us, leading us along the right path, and correcting us when necessary. He actually guides us, listening to us and prompting us what to think, say and do. Yes, he also consoles us when we are in trouble and gives us strength to face our challenges and trials. 

 As St. John in his gospel put it, “In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.” (1,4) We have to understand those words as Christ being the source of light for us, of doctrines that tell us the whole truth about ourselves. 

 That’s what happened to the two disciples on their way to Emmaus. (cfr. Lk 24,13ff.) And also, to that fellow who wanted to know who his neighbor was whom he should love, occasioning Christ’s parable of the Good Samaritan. (cfr. Lk 10,25-29) 

 We need to realize that we too have been called by Christ to communicate to the others what truly matters to all of us in our relation with God. We ought to carry this task in all the circumstances when we are with others, always trying to win their friendship and confidence. 

 We have to learn how to let others know that they can have the true life with God by praying, by availing of the sacraments, and by doing everything in their daily routine with God and for God. Like Christ, we can give the others accompaniment, understanding, consolation and encouragement in their daily drama. 

 If we look closely at the lives of saints, we will discover that Christ was the source and root of their lives. Because of that, we should see and be inspired by their generous self-giving to others, in spite of their limitations. 

 Their heroic virtues that cost them a lot reflected the ever-available mercy and care of God for them and for everybody else. This would also lead them to see Christ in others. 

 Thus, they would put the necessities of others before their own, transmitting their love and enthusiasm for the things of Christ and of the Church. In fact, their heroism consisted in sharing their own life with God, to the point that, like Christ, they were willing to offer their life for others. 

 To be truly heroic, what is simply needed is that we are truly burning with love for God and for others even in the most ordinary things in life. This kind of heroism can even be more heroic and meritorious since it would require constant prodding of our will which can easily fall into complacency and into all kinds of rationalizations. 

 This is how we can give the real life of God to others.

We are laborers of God’s harvest

“THE harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so, ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.” (Mt 9,37-38) These words of Christ should remind us that we actually all called to be laborers of God’s harvest. 

 In whatever state of life we are, whether we are married or single, clerics or lay, etc., the mere fact that we are human persons and are baptized in Christ, we have to realize that we have the duty to take care and love one another. And the ultimate form of love is when we help one another to be with Christ. In other words, we are all called to do apostolate. 

 This duty to do apostolate is inherent to a human person, let alone, to a faithful Christian. We need to realize this as early as possible. We should echo the way St. Paul, for example, identified himself, as he articulated in his Letter to the Romans: “I, Paul, am a devoted slave of Jesus Christ on assignment, authorized as an apostle to proclaim God’s words and acts.” (1,1) 

 Reiterating this truth of our faith, we can recall Christ’s words when he said: “You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever you shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.” (Jn 15,16) 

 We therefore have to realize that this duty to do apostolate is a mandate clearly given to us by Christ. It is not our own idea or initiative. And it has to be followed or carried out always with Christ, and not just by ourselves. 

 May it be that whatever we do, even in our most mundane activities, we somehow can manage to preach and show Christ to others. Christ should be the perennial object of our thoughts, words and deeds. We should feel the urge for the name of Christ to resonate well in the mind and heart of others. 

 This apostolic duty should arouse in us the strong desire for fidelity, reminding us always of the ultimate purpose of our life here on earth. We should therefore be apostolic all the time, whether we are with others or are alone. 

 We should at least be thinking of others always. Whatever we do should always be oriented toward this apostolic duty. Let’s remember that our love for God is concretized by our love for others. 

 We should try to give our all in this duty. And when we feel that we have reached our limits, let’s never give up or say enough, since it will always be God who will finish and perfect everything with his grace. He will make everything we do fruitful. Ours is simply to do whatever we can. 

 The upshot here is that our apostolate can only be an overflow of our love for God that is translated to our love for others. It’s this overflow of love that would lead us to make ourselves totally free and available to God’s will, whatever it requires us and wherever it will lead us. 

 It is this sense of freedom, the freedom of the children of God, that would help us to be freed from anything that would tie us down. It frees us from anything that would restrain us in our apostolic work. It enables us to be ever creative and adaptive to the varying conditions of our life. It’s a freedom that would lead us to make constant renewals and reaffirmations of our commitments.

Everything starts with God’s love

THIS is very fundamental and indispensable for us to know. Otherwise, we would have a wrong idea of what our life is all about. God loves us first before we learn to love him and everybody and everything else in return. Thus, we need to know what that divine love involves and, more, to feel it so that we would know how to love properly. 

 That’s because, in the end, everything that happens in our life and everything that we do, from our thoughts, intentions, words and deeds, should be ruled by the law of this divine love. After all, our very existence is the fruit of the love of God, and it is also this divine love that is the origin and goal of our life. 

 This divine love should urge us to respond with a most generous self-giving that is done without any calculation. That’s because that’s the way God loves us, and how God loves us should also be how we should love him and others in return. Love is always repaid with love. 

 That God loves us so much is due to the fact that we are his very image and likeness. We are meant to share his life and nature. We can say that how God loves his own self is also how he loves us. That’s how important we are to him. 

 That is why in the Psalms, there is an expression about the great wonder why God loves us much. “What is man that you are mindful of him, human beings that you care for them?” (8,4) 

 This love of God for us covers everyone, irrespective of how we are. He does not reject the sinners. In fact, it’s them that he shows a special kind of love. In the gospel, we see Christ looking after tax collectors, he listened to the good thief who was crucified with him and promised heaven to him, he showed mercy to the woman caught in adultery, etc. 

 Of course, God does not love sin itself. He loves the sinner, but not the sin. What he desires is our conversion and invites us to it. That is why it is good that we always look at his loving and merciful care for us. He is not one who is hell-bent to punish us for our sins. If he gives us some form of punishment, it is for us to be more cleansed and to put us in a better condition to love God and others in return. 

 On our part, the sorrow we feel because of our guilt should not just be a matter of feeling dirty or weak or fragile. Rather it should be an expression of how good God is to us and of how our sins actually pain us. Our contrition, weaknesses and failures should be converted into a motive to unite ourselves more with God to seek his mercy. 

 What we ought to do is to go immediately to God and to refer things to him. He will be the one to reassure us that everything will just be fine. Nothing happens without him knowing and allowing it to happen. And if he allows it to happen, it is because there is a greater good that can be derived from it. In God’s math, the gains far outweigh the losses. 

 Of course, what this greater good is can escape our understanding, given our limitations. And that’s why we have to activate our faith. Otherwise, we would confine ourselves to our own limited understanding of things that can make us suffer unnecessarily.

Rediscover God through faith and love

THAT rather amusing gospel episode about those who were so amazed at the preaching of Christ in the synagogue that they could not believe that someone just like them, coming from the same place and whose family they knew, could preach the way Christ did (cfr. Mk 6,1-6), tells us that we have the tendency to take Christ for granted. 

 Yes, we have the tendency to fall into overfamiliarity and complacency with regard to our relation with Christ. Especially these days when we are so highly stimulated by earthly and temporal things that we forget about the spiritual and supernatural dimensions of our life, we need to make some extra effort to rediscover God by revving up our faith and love. 

 Let’s always remember that being the image and likeness of God whose very essence is love, we need to realize that it is to love the way God loves, as shown to us by Christ, is the fundamental option of our life. It is what constitutes the real dignity of our humanity. 

 We have to realize then that to be truly human, let alone, Christian, we need to have a real encounter with Christ. That is when we can truly be on the path toward our transformation into the fullness of our humanity, since that’s where we can see how much Christ loves us. 

 We should find time to have a very personal encounter with Christ, strengthening our friendship with him, since that would constitute as the fundamental experience that would sustain our Christian life. 

 And if at times due to our weaknesses, tiredness, etc., we lose him, we know that he always waits for us, and even looks for us or facilitates our finding him even if we do not look for him. 

 We should realize more deeply that loving God through Christ in the Holy Spirit should be the first priority in our life. We can do that if we develop a working life of piety made up of certain practices of piety that would fire up our love for God and for everybody else. 

 Let’s remember that whatever little effort we do to develop our life of piety will always attract God’s tremendous love for us, as articulated in that passage in the gospel of St. Matthew: “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.” (25,21) 

 We should stay away from anything that would cool down our love for God and for others or that would lead us to spiritual lukewarmness. We have to be wary of our tendency to be driven by egoism or the thought that we are our own God which only shows that we have the strong tendency to fall into pride. 

 Spiritual lukewarmness is a very common spiritual illness. What’s so dangerous about it is that it often passes as something ordinary and normal. It hardly causes any worry, much less, alarm. It lulls many of us to think there’s no problem. 

 It’s an attitude, a mindset, and, worse, a culture that is stuck with the minimalist virus, contented with what is practical, convenient, popular, profitable, etc., and goes no further. It justifies itself by saying, “Why do I need to go any further? Things are already ok as they are.” 

 It is the perfect expression of the adage, “The good is the enemy of the best.” And so, it fails to submit itself to the law of love that requires self-giving without measure, a total self-giving whose language is generosity and heroism all the way to death.

God calls us despite whatever

THAT intriguing story of how St. Matthew, a tax-collector, was called by Christ to be one of his apostles (cfr. Mt 9,9-13) brings out the truth of our Christian faith that God can choose anyone to pursue a special vocation and ministry, irrespective of how that person is. 

 It should be clear to us that it is God who will enable and empower us to carry out what God has in mind for us. On our part, we should just try our best to be as receptive and responsive to God’s call and designs. We all know that we can only do so much, but we are assured by St. Paul that “he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Phil 1,6) 

 Let’s never forget that God is ever eager to share what he has with us, we being his image and likeness, meant to share his very own life and nature. He, of course, will allot what is proper to us according to his plans for the world and for the whole of humanity. We should just be open and welcoming to whatever he shares with us. 

 We, of course, have our own limitations, let alone, our strong tendency to fall into sin and into all sorts of anomalies. But then again, as St. Paul reminded us, “I (we) can do all things through Him who strengthens and empowers me (us)…” (Phil 4,13) 

 Indeed, as St. Paul mentioned, we can manage to be all things to all men. (cfr. 1 Cor 9,22) And we can handle any situation in life, whether good or bad in human terms, as long as we do everything with God and for God. If our faith in God is strong and abiding, we know that everything will work out for the good. (cfr. Rom 8,28) 

 So, there’s really no reason for us to be overly concerned and worried about anything. On the contrary, we have every reason to be serene, confident and hopeful. Yes, we can manage to be cheerful, with a smile that never leaves our face. 

 We should just be quick to receive whatever God gives or shares with us. And be very generous in corresponding to God’s will and designs for us. For this, we have to learn how to be ambitious and bold in setting up goals that are relevant to God’s will for us. We should also be creative and resourceful in coming up with the relevant means and instruments we need to pursue God’s will. 

 There is really no reason for us to feel insecure in carrying out God’s will for us. We know that more than us, it is God who will do things for us and with us. Victory and success are guaranteed, although we are not exempted from going through a lot of trials and sufferings. 

 But then again, if we would go through these trials and sufferings with Christ, we know that they are occasions for us to identify ourselves more with Christ, the pattern of our humanity and the savior of our damaged humanity. Those trials and sufferings are occasions to learn what true love is, expanding our very restrictive idea of what love is. 

 We should often ask ourselves, “Lord, what do you want me to do now?” And from there, let’s embark on a most exciting divine adventure meant for the good of all men and for the glorification of our Father God!