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.

Pumping energy into our love

THAT’S practically what Christ wants of us as he said: “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!” (Lk 12,49) Obviously, we can only manage to do that if we truly identify ourselves with Christ. 

 Let’s remember that Christ left us with a new commandment that summarized and perfected the previous commandments articulated earlier. And that is that we should love one another as he himself has loved us. (cfr. Jn 13,34) 

 And how did he love us and continue to love us? Not only did he empty himself who, being God, became man, nor did he simply preach the ultimate truths about ourselves and things in general, nor did he simply perform wonderful miracles. He went all the way to assuming our sins and conquering them by offering his life on the cross and by resurrecting! 

 To top it all, he makes himself present substantially for all time especially through the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, offering himself as the Bread of Life so that even now we can have a taste of the eternal life. 

 We really need to level up our knowledge of this truth of faith, training our mind and heart to capture this wonderful reality that should fill us with joy and eagerness to correspond to his love, since love, by definition, automatically arouses in us to love also in return. 

 We need to train ourselves to love the way Christ loves us. It’s a tall order, of course, but we have our whole lifetime to learn how to love. We may not perfect it, and that’s understandable. What is needed is simply for us to try our best, since it will be God who will do the rest. 

 Remember St. Paul telling us, “He (God) who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Phil 1,6) We should not worry too much if our effort to imitate Christ in his love would sometimes be erratic. The important thing to do is simply to continue, to move on trying our best, never surrendering to the urges of our weaknesses and mistakes. 

 Yes, we are subject to certain conditionings that can slow down our self-giving. We have to contend with our temperament which will always have its erratic ways, our physical and health conditions, our surroundings, etc. 

 But we should never forget that whether realize it or not we are all involved in the supernatural work of God here on earth, where his supernatural powers are also at play. In the worst scenarios in our life, we can always beg for some supernatural help from God to enable us to do what we are supposed to do. 

 Yes, there will be sacrifices and tremendous amount of effort involved here. We should just train ourselves to develop, with God’s grace of course, the power to tackle the difficult situations in our life. 

 What can always help is that we avoid getting imprisoned in our own world and allow ourselves to simply be at the mercy of the state of our physical, emotional and mental condition. With our spiritual faculties of intelligence and will, plus of course God’s grace that will always be made abundantly available, we can transcend beyond these constraining elements. 

 So, we just have to use everything within our power to attain that ideal state of being always on the go, dynamic, eager to serve and to do things for everyone.

Our temporal affairs should serve our ultimate goal

THAT’S the lesson we can draw from that gospel parable about the faithful and prudent steward. (cfr. Lk 12,39-48) We should know how to make all our temporal affairs—from our family life to our business and politics—serve to pursue our ultimate and supernatural goal of our own salvation. It is the goal of becoming nothing less than being like God, sharers of his divine life and nature. 

 As God’s image and likeness and redeemed children of his through Christ, we are tasked to take care of God’s creation. “Be fruitful and increase in number. Fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” (Gen 1,28) That was God’s clear mandate to our first parents. It continues to be ours too, till the end of time. 

 The world has been given to us by God as the place for us to do our life’s test of whether to love him in return or not. As such, it comes to us with a certain order, direction and unity. It comes to us with laws that we try to discover and follow. 

 As the masterpiece of that creation, we are made its stewards who have to take care of it, always with the mind of God and never just with our own ideas. That’s why we need to always be in God’s presence, asking for his guidance. We can never overemphasize our need for prayer, for studying the doctrine of our faith, so we can discern God’s will and ways as we go through our earthly affairs. 

 We should be profoundly aware of our accountability of our stewardship of the many things God has given us. We have to do everything to keep that awareness active and functional, supported by the appropriate means that first of all are spiritual in nature before they are material. 

 We are reminded of this duty when in the gospel Christ said, “Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.” (Lk 12,39-40) 

 Since God has made us stewards of our own life, we need to learn how to manage the many resources entrusted to us so that we can be fruitful and productive in this life. Let’s remember that God will always ask us to account for what he has given us. 

 We have to be really good in managing our life, being clear about the proper motives, priorities and standards, especially in the use of our time. The motives should be none other than love of God and others. The priorities should always be God first, then others, then ourselves. 

 And the standards should be such that at the end of the day we can ‘harvest’ a good crop that at bottom is a matter of growth in sanctity and apostolic zeal. We should be clever enough that we do not get too entangled with the technicalities involved in the pursuit of our earthly and temporal concerns, though they have their objective value. 

 In this regard, I suppose having daily plans and strategies would greatly help us. We always need some structure to guide us and facilitate things. This way we minimize getting distracted along the way.

Why we can be hopeful

THE simple reason is that Christ has done everything to assure us of our earthly victory so we can enter heaven where we are meant to be. We need to strengthen this truth of our faith so that whatever happens—and there will always be some kind of heavy drama involved in our life regardless of our best intentions and efforts—we can remain confident and hopeful, and focused on what is truly important to achieve in our life. 

 Let us make as our own these words of St. Paul in his Letter to the Romans: “If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (8,31-32) 

 As to our ability to do what we are supposed to do despite the varying and even unfavorable circumstances, let us take these words of St. Paul to heart: “I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” (Phil 4,13) 

 We should just strengthen our hope that is based on what God shares with us. This is a crucial virtue to have. Given our condition of pilgrim here on earth, we should make sure that we are always on the move toward our ultimate, spiritual and supernatural goal. 

 We should not get distracted or entangled by our earthly affairs, whether good or bad, for as the Letter to Hebrews would put it: “For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come.” (13,14) Thus, we have to strengthen our hope always. 

 Hope is first of all not just a virtue that we produce, cultivate or keep ourselves. It is first of all a gift of God, given to us in abundance. It is the gift of Christ himself who, by the Holy Spirit, is made present in us through his words, his sacraments, his Church. All we have to do is to correspond to this wonderful reality as vigorously as possible. 

 That is why we need to be most mindful of the truths of our faith, giving time to meditate on them and to make them sink in our very consciousness. We have to be wary of our tendency to be carried away by our earthly concerns, no matter how legitimate they are. For again, as the gospel would say, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mk 8,36) 

 It’s important that just like in that management style called MBO (Management by objective), we have to have a clear vision of our ultimate goal and make it the strongest desire of our life, so that we don’t get entangled with the ups and downs and the drama of life. 

 This, of course, will require some significant effort, because especially nowadays people are getting too hooked in their earthly, temporal affairs. Some of them who are considered more in the successful side, get so immersed in them that they forget their spiritual and supernatural goal. Others, who are more in the losing side, eventually fall into discouragement and despair. They end up finding no meaning in life. 

 With this gift and virtue of hope, we are always given a sense of direction. Our goal is made clear. All the means are made available. Every event, whether humanly good or bad, always has a meaning and can be made use of to attain our eternal goal.

Going beyond the material and temporal

WE have to be most careful with our tendency to be too attached to the material and temporal dimensions of our life such that we may consider them to be our end-all and be-all. We have to learn to go beyond them, always affirming our faith that we are meant for a supernatural life with God for all eternity. (cfr. Lk 12,13-21) 

 In this regard, we have to know how to make use of the material and temporal dimensions of our life to pursue and attain our definitive state of life which is spiritual, supernatural and eternal—a life in perfect communion with God who created us in his image and likeness. 

 We therefore have to be more aware of our need to develop and sharpen our sense of transcendence. It is to help us cope with the fullness of the reality that governs us. It is the reality that includes the spiritual which we cannot see and touch because it is not accessible to the senses, and the supernatural which we cannot reach with our own natural powers alone but only with God’s grace, through faith, hope and charity that work on our natural powers. 

 We have to realize that the sense of transcendence does not mean that we ignore or have no need or simply give little importance to the here and now, to the material and natural dimensions of our life. Rather, we have to realize that our sense of transcendence can only be exercised through these natural dimensions of our life, but we need to go beyond them, not trapped in them. 

 A sense of transcendence that belittles or disregards the role of the here and now, the material and the natural dimensions of our life, will not be an authentic sense of transcendence. It would not be able to go the distance. The here and now and the material and the natural dimensions of our life are, in fact, the launching pad from which we can enter into the world of the spiritual and supernatural. 

 This power to transcend has something to do with what Christ once said: “Do not store for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and stead, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven...” (Mt 6,19-20) 

 The spiritual operations and powers involved in developing the power to transcend are crucial for us to get in touch with the ultimate dimensions and causes of what we consider to be reality, and of course, in the last analysis, to get in touch with God. We need to train our mind and heart in the art of going beyond the material and temporal. 

 Our problem is that we fail to go deep and wide enough in our consideration of things. We get stuck in some shallow levels—the sensible, material or physical, or at best, the social and cultural, etc. 

 I am afraid that the younger generations today have practically lost these capacities to abstract and to transcend. Many people are mainly guided only by their senses, their feelings and primitive instincts. They do not seem to have been weaned from that level. 

 That is why we can observe many irregularities in their thinking, judging and reasoning. If it's not rash judgments and all kinds of fallacies that they fall into, it's biases and prejudices that shape their thoughts and desires. 

 It's a big challenge to parents and teachers and to any authority, including the Church people, to recover these crucial human powers. I would say that nothing less than a miracle is needed here. Thus, we need to do a lot of prayer and sacrifices for this intention, begging God to intervene in a more dramatic way.

Beware of honors and privileges

THEY, of course, are reasons to be happy. But, given our wounded condition, we should also be wary of their tendency to spoil us. Thus, whenever they come into our life, we should exert effort to intensify our will to be humble and to make use of that fortunate status to strengthen our will to serve and not to be served. 

 We are reminded of this truth of our Christian faith in that gospel episode where two of Christ’s disciples, James and John, asked for a favored position in God’s kingdom. (cfr. Mk 10,25-35) 

 That was when Christ told them in so many words that the privilege of being close associates of Christ would always involve greater sacrifices, that they should have the mind of a servant, and that they sharpen their attitude of serving and not of being served. 

 In this regard, we should be reminded of what Christ told his disciples: “From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.” (Lk 12,48) 

 Thus, the proper attitude to develop when we enjoy certain honors and privileges should be that of becoming more aware that they actually give us more responsibilities, more tasks to carry out, more self-giving. 

 May we be generous in this department of giving back, convinced that what we seem to lose by giving is actually regained and multiplied a number of times, as Christ himself said, “For everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for my name’s sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life.” (Mt 19,29) 

 By giving back what we receive, we foster greater connectivity and communion among ourselves. This is urgently needed especially these days when, ironically, we have many more communication technologies than before and yet we seem to have more people isolating themselves from others now than before. 

 We have to cultivate a strong appetite for communion by giving ourselves to others unstintingly, not so much for what they give us as for what God has given us. 

 We need to cultivate this appetite for communion with Christ. We have to develop a holy fear of simply being by ourselves, relying solely on our human powers and resources. This is a dangerous situation to be in. 

 We need to enter into communion with Christ, which is actually what is proper to us, since our life is not meant only to be ours alone, but rather to be vitally united with God through Christ in the Holy Spirit. We are made in his image and likeness. We cannot be without him in our mind and heart, and in our life as a whole. 

 With him, we can enter into communion with everybody else as a necessary consequence, because loving God is necessarily loving others also. 

 We have to be men and women for God and for others. That’s actually the objectively proper trajectory of our thoughts and desires. We have to be wary when we get trapped thinking only of ourselves, which is a constant danger to us. 

 These considerations can truly help us avoid falling into the sweet poison of feeling entitled and put us in the proper condition to be like Christ as we should be. “The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many,” he said. That’s the standard to follow!

We are involved in the supernatural work of God

THE gospel reading on the Feast of St. Luke, the Evangelist, celebrated on October 18, talks about Christ appointing 72 disciples and sending them in pairs to places where Christ intended to visit. (cfr. Lk 10,1-9) 

 What we can immediately gather from this gospel is that the main job of Christ’s disciples, which we also try to do, is to prepare people for the coming of Christ into their lives. They are intimately involved in the work and mission of Christ. Thus, they should have this purpose clear and strong in their mind and pursue it with the best of their abilities. 

 In that gospel, Christ warned his disciples that they would be like lambs among wolves. He also specified that they should not bring with them unnecessary luggage. But he tacitly reassured them that they would taken care of. 

 What should not be lost in the consideration of this truth of our Christian faith is that since we are involved in the work and mission of Christ which is definitely not only human but is, first of all, supernatural, we should be firm in our belief that the supernatural powers of Christ would be the first elements to be at play. Yes, we have to make full use of our natural, human powers, but it’s Christ’s divine power that takes the leading role. 

 We should just strengthen our belief in this truth of our Christian faith and train ourselves to play by God’s will and ways. In fact, we should strongly remind ourselves that in the end what truly matters in our life is to know and do God’s will. That is when we can also see supernatural things taking place through our hands. 

 Thus, in any endeavor that we undertake, we have to make sure that while we should make full use of all the natural and human means we can lay our hands on, we should not forget that we need to use, first of all, the spiritual and supernatural means also. In fact, between the two, the spiritual and supernatural means should take priority over the other. 

 And that’s because our tasks and endeavors do not only have a natural and human character. Given who we really are, we have to remember that our tasks and endeavors also have a highly spiritual and supernatural dimension. 

 Our work is not just a technical thing. As long as it is not a sinful, our work is always also a work of God. It is not simply ours. It’s in our work and in our ordinary duties that God engages us, and where we should have an encounter with him. 

 We have to realize more deeply and abidingly that whatever task or work we have just do not have a natural and human goal. Again, given who we truly are, i.e., that we are image and likeness of God and children of his, our work, no matter how small, always has a spiritual and supernatural purpose. 

 In fact, we should always be aware that whatever we do is done for God and with God also. We should not just be interested in the technical aspects of our work. We have to be wary of falling into what is called as technicalism or technologism. These isms, sad to say, appear to be getting common these days.

How to keep our dignity as children of God

WE can get an inkling of the answer to that question from some words of St. Paul in his Letter to the Ephesians. He said, “He chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and unspotted in his sight in charity. He has predestinated us unto the adoption of children through Jesus Christ unto himself according to the purpose of his will.” (1,4-5) 

 Yes, our dignity as children of God is a matter of adoption through Jesus Christ who is the pattern of our humanity and the savior of our damaged humanity. And that adoption can only take place if we abide by the will of God. 

 We need to realize that it is in knowing and doing the will of God that, in the end, truly matters in our life. Everything else should just be an occasion, means or reason to know and fulfill that will. It’s in knowing and doing the will of God that would make us children of his. 

 Remember that episode where Christ was told about the presence of his mother who was in the crowd listening to him? (cfr. Mt 12,48-50) Christ’s answer was clear as to what would constitute as being brother, sister and mother of his. 

 “Look, these are my mother and brothers,” he said. “Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother!” 

 We should realize that the most important duty we have is to earnestly know and fulfill the will of God for us at every moment. We need to train ourselves for this duty, since we all know that we always tend to do our own will rather than God’s will. 

 Yes, we have to learn how to live by God’s will always. This, in the end, is what is most important to us. Otherwise, we would be undermining our very own freedom and our humanity itself. Whatever we do is done because we want it. It should be a fruit of our freedom. 

 What is most important is to conform our will to God’s will, which is indispensable to us. Otherwise, we sooner or later would destroy our freedom and our humanity itself, since God is the very author and the very lawgiver of our freedom and our humanity. 

 This is a basic truth that we need to spread around more widely and abidingly, since it is steadily and even systematically forgotten and, nowadays, even contradicted in many instances. We need to inculcate this truth to children as early as when they can understand and appreciate it. Then let’s give them the example of how it is lived. 

 God’s will is the source of everything in the universe. The whole of creation in all its existence, unity, truth, goodness and beauty starts from God’s will and is maintained by it. The entire range and scope of reality—be it material or spiritual, natural or supernatural, temporal or eternal—is “contained” there, not only theoretically but in vivo. 

 It would be absurd to believe that the whole reality can be captured by our senses and feelings alone, or by our intelligence that is working on its own and producing the arts and the sciences that we now have and that we continue to discover. 

 We need to pound it hard into our mind and heart that we need live by God’s will if we truly want to keep our dignity as children of God! We have to be wary of the many things that would now desensitize us from this need as we are prodded to go full-blast into self-indulgence.

Life in the flesh vs. life in the Spirit

IN his Letter to the Galatians, St Paul makes this distinction between life in the flesh and life in the Spirit, something that is very important to know if we want to abide by our true dignity as children of God, created in his image and likeness, and sharers in his divine life and nature. (5,18-25) 

 At the moment, there seems to be a worldwide trend toward pure sensualization or carnalization, leading us, especially the young, to be merely carnal, instead of being spiritual, to use terms defined by St. Paul. 

 It’s important that we develop a certain sensitivity to this concern because otherwise we would all be deluded by a very treacherous virus, a sweet poison that can truly harm us individually and collectively. 

 This is not at all about suppressing or disparaging in any way the value of the senses, the urges and the hormones, and the sentiments, feelings, passions that they produce. Neither the value of the physical attributes we have. 

 We just have to realize more deeply that they need to be ruled and directed by reason and ultimately by faith, hope and charity. Otherwise, we can be accused by Christ himself who once said of some people: 

 “They look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand.” And citing a prophecy of Isaiah, he said, “Gross is the heart of this people, they will hardly hear with their ears, they have closed their eyes…” (Mt 13,13.15) 

 Let’s be spiritual, not carnal. That’s the ideal that we should aim at. It’s not a matter of suppressing our material and earthly condition, but rather of going beyond that level. That’s where the road to the fullness of our humanity can be found. That’s where we are freed from the constricting world of our senses, emotions and passions. 

 St. Paul said something to this effect. “Put off your old nature which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new nature, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Eph 4,22-24) 

 In another instance, St. Paul talked about talking or preaching in a spiritual way and not just according to human and worldly wisdom. “My message and my preaching,” he said, “were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.” (1 Cor 2,4-5) 

 More clearly, he said: “We speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.” (1 Cor 2,13) 

 This is a big challenge for us all. We have to learn to think, speak and act in a spiritual way, and not just mainly conditioned by our material and worldly aspects. 

 When we see a person, thing or event, we should not get stuck in the knowing their physical appearance or external characteristics alone. We should go beyond them, discerning the spirit that animates them. In this we have to train ourselves endlessly. We need to check if the spirit behind them is of God or not. 

 We have to learn to walk in the Spirit rather than to walk in the flesh. We have to train ourselves to think, speak and act in terms of our faith, and in intimate relationship with God and the saints. This is always possible and very doable!

Hypocrisy and discretion

WHEN Christ complained against the Pharisees about their hypocrisy with these words: “Now you Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but your inside is full of rapine and iniquity,” (Lk 11,39) we are strongly reminded of the danger of hypocrisy that can easily enter into our lives. We should be ready to protect ourselves from it, but learn also how to differentiate it from our need for discretion in our lives. 

 That’s because hypocrisy and discretion can appear to have certain things in common. Some hiding is involved in both conditions. But the former certainly is an anomaly while the latter is a necessity in our life. The former goes against sincerity, truthfulness and consistency. The latter seeks to protect the truth that can easily be misunderstood by those who are not yet prepared to accept it. 

 Of course, the only way for us to be able to differentiate between the two is for us to be truly united with God. Yes, only with him can we have the power to avoid hypocrisy even as we need to live discretion in certain situations in our life. 

 Nowadays, with the plethora of data and information, we have to remind ourselves constantly that truthfulness is not simply a matter of conforming these data and pieces of information to our own designs. We need to process these raw data by leavening them with the love of God and submitting them to God’s will. 

 To put it bluntly, we can only be in the truth when we are with God. Outside of him, let’s wish ourselves sheer luck, because the most likely thing to happen is to slip from the truth. It´s like chasing the wind. For all the excitement and advantages a Godless pursuit of truth gives, everything will just turn out to be vanity. 

 And so, prayer is a must. It’s what vitally and existentially unites us with God. Without it, we will just be on our own, an easy prey to our own weaknesses, let alone, the temptations around. 

 Very vulnerable to the temptation to distort the truth and to fall into the tricks of hypocrisy and pretension are persons endowed and favored with all sorts of talents, intelligence, position, power and who may already have attained a good level of sanctity. That’s because their situation attracts all sorts of temptations. 

 This was what happened to the Pharisees of Christ’s time. They were the privileged people of the time, occupying prominent positions. Sadly, they were blinded by their so-called privileges that led them to miss the very personification of truth himself—Christ. 

 We should regularly examine ourselves to see if we are still with God, guided by the faith he shares with us, or we are already relying on our own human powers alone, that can only do so much. 

 To distinguish between hypocrisy and discretion would require us to have a proper understanding of what truth is, where to find it and how to find it. It is also a matter of how and when to present it. 

 It also involves the question of motives. Truthfulness and discretion are not just a matter of producing facts and data, blabbering them indiscriminately. They necessarily have to consider the intentions and the circumstances also. 

 Most importantly, truthfulness and discretion will always uphold charity even if in a given moment such effort would involve a lot of sacrifice. It’s charity that would dictate the terms of discretion in telling the truth. Hypocrisy fails in this requirement.

The challenge of developing a vibrant faith

IN SPITE of the many signs and proofs that point to the credibility and necessity of faith, many people of Christ’s time still asked for signs to prove Christ was the expected Messiah. (cfr. Lk 11,29-32) 

 Here is one of Christ’s lamentations over this sad condition: “At the judgment, the queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation and she will condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and there is something greater than Solomon here.” 

 We cannot deny that we are notorious for having the same condition. In spite of the many things that truly point to why our Christian faith is credible and effective, we still prefer to be guided by our own estimation of things. 

 The following point in the Catechism tells us how our faith is to be properly understood and what motives we can have for regarding our faith as credible: 

 “#156 What moves us to believe is not the fact that revealed truths appear as true and intelligible in the light of our natural reason: we believe ‘because of the authority of God himself who reveals them, who can neither deceive nor be deceived. 

 “So ‘that the submission of our faith might nevertheless be in accordance with reason, God willed that external proofs of his Revelation should be joined to the internal helps the Holy Spirit.’ Thus, the miracles of Christ and the saints, prophecies, the Church’s growth and holiness, and her fruitfulness and stability ‘are the most certain signs of divine Revelation, adapted to the intelligence of all’; 

 “They are ‘motives of credibility’ which show that the assent of faith is ‘by no means a bind impulse of the mind.’” 

 Just the same, we really need to train ourselves to be always guided by faith and not just by our own reasoning, no matter how brilliant our reasoning may sound. This, of course, will require tremendous humility and self-denial on our part, since we always tend to rely more on our human powers. 

 Of course, faith would require the full use of our intelligence and reasoning. But we need to acknowledge that there are revealed truths of our faith, the so-called mysteries, that can exceed our power to understand. In other words, we are not expected to understand everything, but rather are expected to obey and believe these revealed truths due in the end to the fact that it is taught to us by Christ himself and now by the Church. 

 To be effectively and abidingly guided by our faith, it is important that we pause from time to time to see if we truly have our faith in God as the main guide, and not just our own reasoning and understanding. 

 It’s important that we do some disciplining of our reasoning because it tends to get contented only with the sensible and the intelligible in the many forms that they come and attract us. It can willingly let itself be held hostage by these dimensions of reality. 

 We know that our reason does not create the truth. It does not create the reality. It can only apprehend, reflect, process and transmit the truth and reality. It will always depend on a reality that is outside and independent of ourselves. And that reality goes beyond the natural and enters into the world of the spiritual and supernatural.

No earthly attachment to enter heaven

THIS was clearly spelled out by Christ in that episode about the rich young man who asked Christ what he had to do to enter the kingdom of God. (cfr. Lk 10,17-30) We know how that story ended. It led Christ’s disciples to be utterly incredulous. “Who then can be saved?” they said after Christ told them that is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. 

 With all the explosion of the many attractive, tempting and riveting things we have today, we cannot deny that we really need to sharpen our virtues of prudence and detachment, otherwise there is no other way but for us to be swallowed and trapped by them and to lose our way to heaven. 

 We just have to have clear guiding ideas of how to be prudent and detached in the context of the rapid developments of the world today. For sure, the most fundamental principle that we should always remember and follow is that everything should be referred to God before, during and after the use of these worldly things. 

 Let’s never forget St. Paul’s clear advice as to what motive we should have in all our activities and affairs. “Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” (1 Cor 10,31) 

 We should check ourselves often to see if indeed that is the motive of all our thoughts, words and deeds. If we notice that we are moved to do something, like using the internet, for example, just to satisfy our curiosity, or just to acquire knowledge or anything that can only show self-interest, then we need to rectify our intentions. 

 We should only be driven by the motive of giving glory to God, which in concrete terms is translated into loving God and loving everybody else, by knowing them better and serving them wholeheartedly. 

 To be sure, this is what is proper to us, and would lead us to our human maturity and Christian perfection. Of course, to be realistic, we cannot deny that we are often hounded by our weaknesses and the many temptations around. And so, it should be no surprise to us that we need to do some struggling, some fighting. 

 When we notice that there is no struggle involved, we should have good reason to suspect that we are going the wrong way, that we are clearly succumbing to our own weaknesses and the many temptations around, and that we are actually harming if not destroying ourselves. 

 We should have constant awareness of the presence of God, of his continuing interventions in our life, of his will and ways. That’s the only way we can sharpen the virtues of prudence and detachment. The ideal situation is that the use of the modern technologies, for example, would make our knowledge and love for God and others grow. If not, then they become nothing other than dangers. 

 When we take God for granted, there is no other way but for us to be at the mercy of our blind instincts and other bodily impulses, and of the worldly trends that are insensitive to the spiritual and supernatural character of our life. These days, it’s imperative that we teach everyone as early as possible to refer everything to God. It would be good that right in the family environment, the children are already taught how to refer things to God. 

 That would not comprise as an act of brain-washing, but rather as a way of providing them with what everyone of us most need—that is, to be with God!

Training our body for eternal life

AS what our Christian faith teaches us, our body is also meant for eternal life. This is evidenced by the fact that Christ, the pattern of our humanity, rose from the dead and ascended into heaven not only with his soul but also with his body. The same with Our Lady, the perfect embodiment of how man should be, who was also assumed into heaven body and soul. 

 We need to train our body to develop a certain appetite for eternal life and for heaven, where our definitive state of life takes place. Especially these days when practically the world culture is immersed in worldliness, we need to make some extraordinary effort to extricate our body from the mire of brute carnality and animality, marked with naked sensuality, lust, greed, hatred, etc. 

 Let’s remember that there is a certain mutual relation between our body and our soul. The condition of one somehow affects the other. We should not just be concerned with our spiritual soul. Our body also needs to be well taken care of, since it is the very temple of the Holy Spirit. 

 Let’s always remember that our body is an essential part of our humanity. It’s meant to be animated by a spiritual soul whose life is always a participation of the life of God. As our catechism would put it, our body “participates in the dignity of the image of God.” (CCC 364) 

 Indeed, if we would just take this truth of our faith seriously, then we can and ought to see God in our body also! Our body need not be an obstacle in our relation with God and with everybody else. On the contrary, it should be the means and instrument to show our love God and for others. 

 Thus, we need to often ask ourselves what truly delights our body. Is it just some material and earthly things, like food, money, etc.? If God and the things of God are not its true and ultimate delight, then let’s realize that there is something gravely amiss which we should try to correct immediately. 

 The danger our body can pose to our relation with God can happen when it is left on its own, ruled simply by instincts and emotions, and by the purely worldly values and conditionings. To correct this, there is no other formula other than that spelled out by Christ himself: deny yourself and carry the cross. (cfr. Mt 16,24) Yes, we cannot over-emphasize the need for bodily mortification and discipline. 

 In fact, to be realistic, we always need to subject our body to some severe form of discipline, because our body is always weak no matter how strong it looks physically. It will always tend to indulge itself to madness, often falling into some forms of addiction and bondage. It’s our built-in potential traitor. 

 More than this, we need to teach our body to develop a strong attraction to the things of God—prayer, sacraments, sacrifices, devotions and other forms of piety. We obviously need to do this with due consideration to the need for naturalness, so we avoid unnecessary attention from others, and instead help others to be drawn also to the things of God. 

 Our Lady and many other saints can truly help us in this lifelong endeavor. Let’s see to it that we have a strong and abiding devotion to them since they have no other purpose than to bring us closer to God, to heaven, to eternal life!

We need to persevere in faith

NO matter what happens in our life, we should never lose our faith in God. We know that our life’s drama can get heavy, even to the point of being unbearable, but we should never forget that God is always around and his providence is ever active and unbeatable. We should not allow ourselves to let fear and worries to dominate us. 

 We are reminded of this point in that gospel episode where Christ told his disciples about someone who had a friend with some urgent need, who came to him in the middle of the night asking for bread. (cfr. Lk 11,5-13) 

 At first, the friend was refused since everyone in the house was already fast asleep. But then, the friend insisted so much that the one inside the house just had to give in to the request. 

 From this, Christ imparted the following lesson to his disciples: “Ask, and it shall be given you: seek, and you shall find: knock, and it shall be opened to you. For every one that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened. And which of you, if he asks his father bread, will he give him a stone? or a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?” 

 When we find ourselves in some dire straits, we should remember this precious lesson Christ taught his disciples. Things may not come as we want them to be, but we should keep in our heart of hearts the belief that God always has something better for us. With him, everything will work out for the good. (cfr. Rom 8,28) 

 When we persevere in our faith, we know that God always takes care of us. There is never any time when he is indifferent to us. And we have to remind ourselves also that even in our worst condition when we find ourselves at odds with God himself, he will do everything to bring us back to him. 

 And so, we just have to learn, through our persevering faith, how to live always under the providence of God. We need to remind ourselves strongly about this fundamental truth about ourselves. That’s because we are practically forgetting it and are increasingly suffering the dire consequences. 

 We have to live under God’s providence, understanding first of all what providence is. Many of us are ignorant of this basic truth, even if in the many fields of human endeavor, we have reached the highest limits. 

 As our Catechism puts it, providence are “the dispositions by which God guides his creation toward their perfection…By his providence God protects and governs all things which he has made…” (n. 302) 

 Furthermore, the Catechism says that “the solicitude of divine providence is concrete and immediate; God cares for all, from the least things to the great events of the world and its history.” (n. 303) 

 We have to realize then that God is constantly intervening in our lives, a reality that we should always acknowledge and correspond to properly. That is why, we need to cultivate our spiritual life, our relation with God which is otherwise called as our religion, that has to be constantly nourished through a life of piety that should be kept as vibrant as possible. That is why the Catechism tells us that “Jesus asks for childlike abandonment to the providence of our heavenly Father who takes care of his children’s smallest needs.” (n. 305). We should not dare to live solely on our own, something that we need effort to uphold, since our tendency is to think that we can simply be on our own.

Prayer is indispensable in our life

THAT earnest request of Christ’s disciples, “Lord, teach us to pray,” (Lk 11,1) should also be always ours. We may have been praying for the longest time already, but knowing how we are, with our wounded humanity, we know that we can always go through the motions of praying without actually praying! 

 We have to be humble enough to acknowledge this fact of life that should lead us to importune our Lord to teach us how to pray. We know that without prayer, we would just be a hopeless case, regardless of certain signs that may tell us otherwise. 

 Prayer is the most basic way we have to be connected with God as we should. That’s where we maintain our existential sharing with God’s life and nature. Our union with God begins and ends with prayer. 

 The beatific vision that we are told about as our ultimate way of being with God in heaven can also be regarded as the ultimate form of prayer that we can have. But while here in our earthly sojourn, we need to learn how to pray, taking advantage of everything in our life as an occasion, means and reason for prayer. 

 Yes, prayer can lend itself to infinite ways and forms, although given our human condition whose development always involves some processes and stages, we need to learn first the most basic form which are the vocal prayers. 

 In this, the most helpful vocal prayer is the one Christ himself told his disciples about how to pray. We need to study and meditate on what we now call as the Lord’s Prayer, since it was what Christ told them about how his disciples should pray. 

 We can consider that prayer as the model prayer, showing us how to address God and what we should tell and ask from him. We should try to discern and catch the spirit behind that prayer. 

 In the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, we are told that “the Lord’s Prayer reveals us to ourselves at the same time that it reveals the Father to us.” (2783) 

 In other words, we are told who we really are and who God is to us. Thus, no matter how our life here on earth goes, we should never forget that we are children of God who will do everything to bring us back to him. Psalm 129 reinforces this truth of our faith: “With the Lord, there is mercy and fullness of redemption.” 

 We just have to make sure also that, as expressed in this prayer, we also have to be merciful to everyone just as God is merciful to us. “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” 

 We have to understand that forgiveness or mercy is the ultimate expression of love which is the very essence of God and which is also meant to be essence of our humanity since we are God’s image and likeness, children of his. 

 And as if to underscore the importance of this point, Christ reiterated: “For if you will forgive men their offences, your heavenly Father will forgive you also your offences. But if you will not forgive men, neither will your Father forgive you your offences.” (Mt 6,14-15) It’s clear therefore that we can only be forgiven if we also forgive others. 

 We have to be clear that this injunction is meant for everyone, and not only for a few whom we may consider to be religiously inclined. That’s why when asked how many times we should forgive, he said not only seven times, but seventy times seven, meaning always.

Training our mind and heart to be properly focused

THIS is what we can gather as a lesson from that gospel episode about the two sisters, Martha and Mary, in their relation with Christ. (cfr. Lk 10,38-42) Both were good sisters and followers of Christ, but the former failed to take the proper priority regarding their relation with Christ. 

 While everything temporal and earthly plays an important role in our relation with God, they can be dangerous if they do not have God as their beginning and end, and are simply understood and treated as temporal and earthly. 

 We really need to train our mind and heart to be always anchored and focused on God. This will take a lifetime to achieve, and we may not be able to perfect it, but the point is simply for us to just try and try. 

 Especially these days when we are heavily bombarded with fantasies and fictions in novels and movies, we can easily be gaslighted to believe in them if our faith in God is not nourished regularly in our mind and heart. 

 We would fail to realize that these fantasies and fictions are just make-believe things that only serve as a temporary way of rest and recreation and should not be taken seriously. With a weak hold on our faith and on our spiritual life, we would fail to realize that we are just being tickled to play the game of self-indulgence that would slowly snuff out our relation with God and with others.   

These fantasies and fictions often appeal to our emotions and passions, leading us to be more carnal than spiritual, more animal-like than God-like as we should be. They usually play out the law of Talion in their storylines and narratives, making the eye-for-an -eye and tooth-for-a tooth behavior as the standard of our life. 

 It’s not a matter of considering these fantasies and fictions as bad. They can serve a legitimate purpose and can be truly helpful to us as long as we too take the necessary precautions and prudence in enjoying them. 

 We need to spend time and effort to make God truly present, acknowledged and responded to in our mind and heart. Thus, the need to spend time praying and meditating on the life of God, studying and internalizing the doctrine and teaching of Christ and of the Church, having recourse to the sacraments and other human devices that would help us live always in the presence of God. 

 When we notice that we are more attracted to the extraordinary happenings in these fantasies and fictions than on the miracles of Christ, we would already have an indication of the wrong priorities we have in life. 

 We have to remember that the miracles of Christ are real while those extraordinary happenings in those fantasies and fictions are not. The miracles of Christ are meant to draw us closer to God, to grow in our faith, to lead us to another conversion, to enter into the spiritual and supernatural world, etc., while those extraordinary happenings in those fantasies and fictions are a subtle way for us to indulge on ourselves and to trap us only in the here and now. 

 We should have a well-articulated plan of life that can foster true piety 24/7. Especially these days when the world is rapidly developing, causing a lot of confusion, if not error, this need for an effective plan of life should be considered as urgent.

Charity amid our growing differences and conflicts

CONSIDERING the rapidly growing differences and conflicts among ourselves not only in terms of age and generation, but also and especially in terms of opinions, lifestyle, culture, and even beliefs, etc., we have to be prepared to deepen and broaden our sense of charity so we can manage to love everyone, as we should, in spite of all the in spites of. 

 We can only do this if we truly identify ourselves with Christ, having his very mind and heart that are willing to go all the way to offer his life if only to love everyone, even if not all will reciprocate that love. 

 In many schools at this time, there is such a thing as retooling their programs if only to align and adapt their training to the fast-evolving developments and needs of the industry, corporations and other institutions they want to serve. What should never be neglected is how to equip the students in their spiritual and moral life, and particularly in how to live in charity, in the context of the current world condition. 

 I am particularly concerned about how the young ones especially are being prepared to face the challenges of the times. They are getting more and more exposed to highly fictionalized movies and books that show, if not promote, violence, rash judgments, the law of Talion. And they seem to be undernourished, if not starved, in their life of piety. It looks like religion to them has become an irrelevant item in their lives. 

 The challenge to face nowadays is how to teach everyone, especially the young ones, how to find Christ in everything, and how to let everyone realize more deeply that we need Christ in all our earthly affairs. This, definitely, will be a daunting task, but I believe it is all worthwhile. 

 We cannot deny that many people are trapped in the earthly systems of self-indulgence, self-assertion and self-affirmation, with their relation with God and with others practically unattended. There is a great need for everyone to learn what Christ told us about how to follow him: that we have to deny ourselves and carry the cross. (cfr. Mt 16,24) 

 This is the formula to follow if we want to live charity that has a universal coverage. Charity is not only for those who are right in something. It’s also for those who are wrong. It’s not only for the winners. It’s also for the losers. Not only for friends, but also for enemies! 

 But the universal inclusivity of charity does not do away with the exclusivity of truth. It does not do away with the distinction between good and evil, between right and wrong, between truth and falsehood. In fact, it sharpens that distinction. And yet, it still works in all that distinction. 

 Yes, charity is all-inclusive, though it is expressed, of course, in different ways. As they say, we have to have different strokes for different folks. And that’s simply because at the end of the day, whether we like it or not, we are all creatures and children of God, brothers and sisters to each other. We have been created by our Creator out of love and also for love. 

 We have to realize that our life here on earth can be described as a journey toward our ultimate home, which is to be with God our Father and Creator in heaven. It will be charity that would keep us going and that would enable us to leap to the eternal supernatural life with God.