Praying from the heart

THIS can only mean that our communication with God should be genuine, sincere and authentic. It’s about being honest about our thoughts, feelings and struggles. It should express our true intentions and desires. 

 It should not be about using fancy language or trying to impress. It’s about being real and open with God, connecting with God on a personal and emotional level, and speaking from a position of humility. It should be freed from pretenses, using the so-called “right words.” 

 This much we can gather from that gospel episode where Christ told his disciples: “When you pray, speak not much, as the heathens. For they think that in their much speaking they may be heard. Be not you therefore like to them, for your Father knows what is needful for you, before you ask him.” (Mt 6,7-8) And from there he proceeded to give the ideal prayer which is the Lord’s Prayer or the “Our Father.” 

 In our quest to be true souls of prayer, we should see to it that our prayer really comes from our heart that is full of faith and humility. We have to be wary of our great tendency to be dominated by worldly and temporal concerns such that we fail to properly pray. That would be a disaster since that would be like being deluded that we are doing well in life when in fact we are failing big time. 

 We have to start to pick up the rudiments of prayer and begin the process of becoming authentic souls of prayer, such that wherever we are, whatever situation we may be in, somehow we are always praying, we are always in touch with God. 

 This should not be difficult because we know that God is always around. He is everywhere. Besides, he is always solicitous of us. He cannot fail to love us. We may fail him and earn his anger, but that anger would only be for a while, since his mercy is forever. We can always manage to pray any time and in any place if we just would have the proper disposition. 

 Definitely, we need to exercise our faith and be willing to exert effort and make sacrifices. That is how we can aspire to make our prayer alive always. We should put ourselves in God’s presence always so we avoid anonymity in our intimate conversations with him. 

 What can also help is to train and use our imagination in our prayer. In fact, we have to use all our human powers and faculties—our intelligence and will, our feelings and memory, etc.—in our prayer. 

 And we should be ready to handle the unavoidable difficulties in our prayer. There will be times when we would feel dry and uninspired or when we would be tempted to think that our prayer is going nowhere. 

 Those difficulties are actually opportunities to improve our prayer and to grow in our spiritual life. If we persevere in praying, using all the means that are always available, we will see how this improvement and growth are taking place, and be filled with joy and satisfaction. 

 We really need to learn to pray from the heart, which also means that prayer should be second nature to us. As such, prayer becomes a constant activity. We can and should turn everything into prayer. 

 Even our work and mundane affairs should be an occasion or even a means of prayer also. We should end up praying as we breathe, and as our heart beats. Thus, St. Paul once said: “Pray without ceasing.” (1 Thes 5,17)

“Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life”

THAT’S from the Gospel of St. John (6,63) and is used often as a Responsorial Psalm in many Masses. It reminds us that God’s words, though written also by men and use human elements with all their limitations, have a transformative power that gives spiritual nourishment and guidance to us. In the end, we are reminded that God’s words are what would actually give us the real life meant for us. 

 We need to understand that God’s words should take precedence over any human reasoning, philosophy or ideology. And that’s because God’s words are obviously divinely inspired that originate from a higher power and not limited by human understanding. They have a timeless and universal scope that will always be relevant across eras and cultures. They are actually infallible and contain wisdom that is beyond human comprehension. 

 In contrast, human philosophies and ideologies are limited by human perspective, shaped by individual or cultural biases. They are imperfect, prone to errors and flaws. And they usually are relevant only to specific contexts or times. God’s words offer, on the other hand, a broader, deeper and more enduring truth, transcending human wisdom. 

 Let’s remember that God’s words as spoken to us by Christ are no ordinary words that would just come and go. His words are eternal, effective and ever relevant to everything that happens in our life. His words will always shed light and give meaning to every event, situation and predicament we can have in this life. 

 The Letter to the Hebrews says as much: “The word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to the dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” (4,12) 

 The Letter to the Hebrews continues by saying: “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” (4,13) 

 We have to realize that we need to be guided by God’s words rather than by our own thoughts, reasoning and estimations of things alone. No matter how brilliant and clever we are, we can only go so far in understanding things in this world, many of which are very mysterious to us. 

 We have to develop a fondness for the words of God. This we can do as long as we exert due effort and continually ask, with humility, for the grace of God. Without these requirements, we can easily be swept away by the many alluring ideologies in the world. 

 It’s when we listen and live by God’s words that we attain our human and Christian maturity. And as St. Paul would say, we would then be like infants no longer, “tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of the people in their deceitful scheming.” (Eph 4,14) 

 It’s important that we spend time developing a liking and an intimacy with the words of God. We have to read and meditate on them daily, and use them as the spirit behind all events, activities and concerns that we have during the day. 

 Let us promote a culture of gospel-reading and meditation everyday. A few minutes with the gospel daily can go a long way in putting our life on the right path. We should not miss the great treasure we have in the gospel. We can use the new technologies to promote this culture.

Man does not live by bread alone

WE, of course, need to eat bread also. After all, we are also material beings that need to be fed and nourished by material food, such as bread. But since we are also spiritual and supposed to be a supernatural being—in fact, eminently so—we should not limit ourselves to natural food. We should look more for the spiritual and supernatural food that is more proper to us. 

 This could be the reason why from time to time the Church asks us to do some fasting. It’s meant to draw us closer to God, seeking spiritual growth and self-reflection. It is also a good way to practice self-discipline and self-control, the contrary of which we are quite notorious in. It effectively expresses repentance and humility which is the antidote for our tendency to be proud and vain. It helps us to focus on prayer and spiritual nourishment. 

 In short, fasting can deepen our faith. It can prod us to seek guidance and wisdom instead of just relying on our own ideas. It makes us follow clearly what Christ told us with respect to self-denial. We should do everything to make fasting a regular feature of our life. 

 This means that we should always be on guard against gluttony. We cannot deny that, especially in our current world culture, we tend to overeat, consume large amounts of unhealthy or luxurious food and drink. 

 We even give the highest priority to food and drink over other aspects of life. It is also likely that gluttony leads us to ignore health and social duties due to excessive eating and drinking. 

 We really have to make fasting a regular practice in our life. With fasting, we would be more aware of our real needs. It certainly would strengthen our willpower and discipline. 

 More importantly, it helps us to shift our focus from food to spiritual growth and the other more important aspects of life. This is not to mention that fasting somehow cultivates a stronger sense of gratitude as we would be more appreciative of the food we have. Besides, fasting can develop in us a keener sense of empathy as we join in spirit with those who also fast or who go without food. 

 Fasting can also make us more resistant to the temptations of the devil and to the many allurements of the world. And it would make us more attentive to what really matters in our life—listening and living out the word of God. (cfr. Mt 4,4) It certainly would make us more able to dominate our animal self to bring us to our ideal spiritual and supernatural self. 

 Let’s never forget that we also are an animal ruled merely by instincts, hormones and other biological elements. The animal in us should be dominated by our human rationality which also ought to be guided by the spiritual and supernatural will of God in whose image and likeness we have been created. 

 We therefore have to undertake a lifelong process of integrating the animal in us with the rationality of our human nature that in the end should be purified and elevated to the spiritual and supernatural life and nature of God. And fasting, together with prayer and other ascetical means, plays an important role in this. 

 The challenge therefore is how to carry out this very tricky and demanding task of integrating all these aspects. And for this, we should first of all rely on the grace of God, always asking for it even if it is readily given to us. That’s because we often take God’s grace for granted, and thus make ourselves the improper ground unable to take advantage of the grace that is sown on it.

A time for fasting and for feasting

CHRIST explained it well as to when it is proper to fast and when to feast. “Can the children of the bridegroom mourn, as along as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then they shall fast.” (Mt 9,15) 

 I suppose Christ was referring to himself as the bridegroom. In fact, in his Letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul referred Christ as the groom of the Church, that is, us. (cfr 5,22-32) 

 Christ can be regarded as the bridegroom who actually is with us always, but also not yet fully with us, given our human and temporal condition as of yet. We are still on our pilgrim way on earth toward our eternal destiny in heaven where Christ will be fully with us. 

 That is why Christ can be considered somehow as not yet with us, and that’s the reason why we have to fast. It is to train ourselves to seek him. It is to make us realize we need him, and that we actually will find our true and lasting joy with him. At the moment, we are still kind of mourning, as Christ said, because we are not yet fully with him. 

 We have to be clear about the reason why we fast. We should not just fast because we have been commanded to do so. We have to fast because, especially at these times when we are easily carried away by earthly pleasures, we need to sharpen our longing for Christ. 

 Fasting has a dual effect. One is the passive or the negative effect, which is that of disciplining ourselves—especially our senses and our other bodily faculties. This is the self-denial part. And the other is the active or the positive one, which is that of honing our hunger for Christ. This is the following part, as illustrated in the very words of Christ: “If any man wants to follow me, he must deny himself, carry the cross, and follow me.” 

 These two should go together, mutually affecting each other. One without the other would distort the true character and purpose of fasting. 

 And nowadays, we have to understand that fasting should not be limited to matters of food and drinks. It has to be extended now most especially in the use of the many conveniences that we now enjoy, like our new technologies, that have an effective way of enslaving us and blunting our love for God and for others. 

 We need to concretize our resolutions with regard to this need for fasting. This may mean that we have to set aside our cellphones from time to time, that we use the gadgets with clear rectitude of intention, that we refrain from complaining when these same gadgets give us problems as they often do also, etc. 

 We have to understand that everyday, the element of fasting as a sacrifice is actually a necessity to all of us. It’s certainly a time-honored practice that has deep roots in the Bible and in Church tradition. Together with prayer and almsgiving, fasting is the usual pious tool to transform our heart, detaching it from itself so it can give itself totally to God and to others, as we are meant to be. 

 We can never overemphasize the need for fasting. In fact, it should be an abiding practice, and not just a Lenten thing. Given our wounded human condition, fasting offers a continuing corrective to our ever-unstable state of being.

What we need to follow Christ

The gospel of the Mass on Thursday after Ash Wednesday (cfr. Lk 9,22-25) talks about Christ telling his disciples that He must suffer and be rejected, and calls his followers to take up their cross daily and deny themselves to follow him, for losing one’s life for his sake leads to eternal life. 

 There, in a nutshell, are the requirements of what we need to do to follow Christ. If we truly follow Christ, then like him, we should not only expect suffering and death but also welcome them. That’s because in the first place we cannot avoid suffering and death in this life, no matter how much we try. But more importantly, if we have the same attitude Christ had toward his suffering and death, we know that our own would have a positive and redemptive value. 

 This is what Christian suffering and death is all about. It is a consequence of all our sins but is now converted into a means of our salvation, that is, if we suffer and die with Christ. 

 We need to understand well this basic truth of our faith so that we can avoid suffering unduly or suffering more than we ought. In other words, this truth of our faith enables us to suffer and die properly. 

 We all need to be reminded that all our sufferings have a positive and favorable aspect. They are not all entirely bad and negative, though in themselves they will always be bad. But if viewed and lived through our Christian faith, that is, with Christ, there is something in them that can give us a greater good. 

 Our pains and suffering are always the result of sin, ours and those of the others. They are the necessary consequence of our separation, whether temporary or permanent, from God from whom all good things come. (cfr. Ps 16,2; James 1,17) We may not be the direct cause of our own suffering, but in this world, we cannot escape the effects of sin, and so we must be ready for them just the same. 

 We have to remind ourselves that we are not meant to suffer. Our original as well as our ideal definitive state in heaven excludes suffering. Our first parents, Adam and Eve, were in the state of original justice, where everything was in order and in harmony. No pain and suffering touched them, until they fell into sin. 

 And as the Book of Revelation would put it, in our definitive state of life in heaven “He (God) will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (21,4) 

 In this life, we have to expect and be prepared for the unavoidable pain and suffering. And this means that whether we are guilty or not of our pains and suffering, all we have to do is to go immediately to Christ who shows us how to handle our pains and suffering and who is ready to forgive us if ever we are guilty due to our sins. 

 We should have this Christian attitude toward all our suffering and death in this world! If we are guided by our Christian faith, we know that suffering actually perfects love. And so, not only would we welcome it, but we would also look for it. This is the true mark of love. Short of this, our love is actually only apparent at best.

The season of Lent

WITH Ash Wednesday, we once again begin the season of Lent when as a way to pursue spiritual growth, self-reflection and preparation for Easer, we are encouraged to go through the process of repentance and conversion, deepening our relationship with God through prayer, fasting and self-discipline, and focusing on caring for the poor and the marginalized. 

 Lent can be regarded as a journey towards Easter that helps us to renew our faith so as to prepare us for the celebration of Christ’s resurrection. It also helps us to grow in holiness, striving for spiritual maturity by becoming more and more like Christ. 

 Lent can motivate us to grow in humility, strengthening our dependence on God. It stimulates the desire to build habits that lead to spiritual growth by developing self-discipline. It, of course, spurs us to deepen our love for God, focusing on what truly matters. 

 This liturgical season of Lent highlights a basic need, that of conversion, from the inmost part of our being, our heart and mind, to the most social and global dimension of our life. 

 This is the be-all and end-all of Lent, supposed to be a permanent feature in our consciousness, not to serve as a wet blanket, but rather as a stimulus for us to return to the orbit proper to us. It’s like a corrective maintenance for us. 

 We have to be wary of the many factors, especially in our current culture and world environment, that tend to weaken our awareness of this need, and even to distort and annul it. 

 We have been warned so many times before by saints and Church leaders that our sense of sin down the ages has been quite skewed and left out of sync with our faith in God’s plan for us. 

 Directly said, we need conversion because we have fallen away from our God, our Creator and Father. Yes, it’s time to remind ourselves that we come from God, not just from dust, and that we are meant to live our life with him and to return to him. 

 Lent is a time to recall how sin entered into the world, how it tampered with our nature and our life, how it has been cured, and how we can attain that cure. In a manner of speaking, Lent supplies a crucial missing link in the understanding of our life. 

 It gives us a more complete and realistic picture of our life, since we tend to disregard some not-so-pleasant aspects of it. Thus, it’s not just dark and hard things that it connotes. It actually points to a human triumph, to joy and peace. 

 This is because while Lent tells us to grapple with sin and everything that it involves—temptations, effects and structures of sin from the personal level up to the most social and global level—it also reassures us of victory due to God’s endless mercy. 

 Lent guides us through the way of conversion and transformation, from sin to grace, from moral anemia to radiating vitality, from spiritual death to life. It teaches us that with grace we have to undertake ascetical struggle. 

 “Where sin abounded, grace abounded even more,” St. Paul tells us. (Rom 5,20) Many other references in the Gospel give us reasons to be hopeful and optimistic about our human condition that is immersed in sin. 

 Our sins, failures and weaknesses should not be a deterrent in our relationship with God. With faith in God’s mercy, with humility, we can make them an occasion to get to God even more closely. He always waits for us and is very eager to forgive us.

How to endure temptations

WE get this happy assurance from the Letter of St. James. “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he hath been proved, he shall receive a crown of life, which God hath promised to them that love him.” (1,12) 

 God can allow temptations to come to us. But when that happens, it’s because it can occasion a greater good for us, as long as we make use of our temptations to go to God rather than to run away from him. 

 St. Paul assures us that God is always in control of things. This is what he said: “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind.” These words somehow reassure us that there is nothing new about temptations. We should not over-react when we are tempted. 

 And St. Paul continues, “God is faithful. He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” (1 Cor 10,13) What better deal can we have when we have to deal with unavoidable temptations? We should just stick to God, to his ways. We should just enliven our faith, and not allow ourselves to be dominated by our own estimation of things. 

 The first thing to do when tempted is to immediately go to God, to run to him, to stick to him as closely as possible. That’s simply because God is our rock and fortress, the ultimate source of strength. Missing this reaction, we open ourselves to a long, tortuous episode that can end badly. 

 Missing this reaction is actually a common thing to happen because in the first place our relation with God is not strong. If ever there is some relation, it is more on the theoretical level and hardly on the practical, much less something that involves our feelings and instincts. 

 And so, we have to work hard in building up this relation with God if we want to keep some safe distance from temptations. If our love for God is hot, the devil will find it hard to get near us, just like a fly would not get close to a hot soup. 

 Our usual problem is that we tend to be by ourselves when temptations come, and to rely simply on our powers which actually are already heavily compromised since our wounded flesh is an ally of the enemies of our soul. We always have a Trojan horse in our personal lives. 

 Without God’s grace we simply cannot do anything except to fall, if not soon then later. It would just be a matter of time. But when we are with God, we get to see the whole picture, and can distinguish the poison embedded in the many good, beautiful, true and sweet things that temptations come with. 

 From there we would know what strategy to take. Very often, what can be effective is simply to ignore the temptation and to pour scorn on the evil spirits behind the temptation. This is effective if in the first place our spiritual life is healthy, with faith and love for God and for souls vibrant and strong. 

 But then when such faith and love is not that strong, the temptations can gain some foothold in us. When we notice this, our reaction should be just to stay calm and not to dare to get overexcited. When there is a storm around, we usually would stay home or at a safe place to ride it out, and avoid going around. In the end, let’s always be with God.

When we ask for a sign from heaven

THERE are two ways of asking for a sign from heaven—the good one and the bad one. The former is when we do it to see if what we intend to do is really what God wants us to do. This happens when we are not sure whether the initiative we are making is really coming from God. The bad one is when we are doubting the divinity of Christ, just like what some Pharisees did in the gospel of St. Mark (8,11-13). They did it to tempt Christ. 

 We need to see to it that our faith in Christ, in God, is beyond question. Only then can we start to perceive the loving guidance Christ is giving us at every moment of our life. We should not question the divinity of Christ. We need to understand that it is Christ who guides us and cares for us, directing us toward our ultimate perfection. 

 But for that to happen, we should truly be humble to capture this reality. It is humility that is the gateway for God’s grace and Christ himself to enter into our lives, empowering us to do what God himself, who is all love, does. Humility involves a certain giving up, a certain dying that actually gives rise to a better life, just like a seed has to die before it bears fruits. 

 Remember what Christ said about this point. “Truly, truly, I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a seed. But if it dies, it bears much fruit.” (Jn 12,24) And he continued: “Whoever loves his life will lose it, but whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life…” (12,24) 

 How important it really is to learn how to be humble, unafraid of the many inconveniences it would surely involve! To humble oneself is actually never an act of cowardice nor the misfortune of a defeat. On the contrary, it requires a lot of courage to leave behind the nest of our comfort in order to fly to far distances, pursuing nothing less than heaven. And success and victory are assured, since Christ himself promised it. We should just have faith in Christ. 

 Humility is emptying ourselves that would strengthen our faith, since we would fill ourselves with nothing less than God himself, of whom we are supposed to be his image and likeness. Humility enables us to receive grace, and with grace we are enabled, in spite of our weaknesses and differences and conflicts among ourselves, to do what is impossible for us to do. It would be Christ doing it for us and through us. 

 We need to be humble to attract and receive God’s grace that would enable us to do what we cannot do on our own—to be able to love everyone, including our enemies. Christ has told us, nay, commanded us to love our enemies, and that is just impossible for us to do unless we have God’s grace. 

 But the grace of God, which is always made available, cannot enter into our heart and would have no effect in us unless we humble ourselves, denying ourselves of our own likes and preferences and willing to carry the cross of Christ, which is the cross that signifies everything that we do not want and also all the sins of man.

Reset by lifestyle change

“Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!” (Ps 119,1) This psalm clearly expresses how we can have a reset by going through lifestyle change. Nowadays, we often hear this prescription from doctors due to the surge of chronic diseases affecting even young people. We cannot deny that there is now a growing trend of chronic diseases like diabetes, heart disease and obesity. And some serious studies today urgently recommend a lifestyle change that would consist of eating a balanced diet, regular exercise, getting enough sleep and stress management. They also recommend quitting smoking and limiting alcohol consumption. But if this is so insofar as our physical health is concerned, it is more so with regard to our spiritual health. Many are now neglecting their spiritual duties and responsibilities resulting in the weakening of faith with matching effects on our morals. We need to feel the urgent call to return to God by cultivating habits and practices that nurture our soul and deepen our relation with God. Definitely we have to learn to pray and to meditate if only to enter into the most important dimension of our life that is spiritual and supernatural. What can also help is to sharpen our sense of mindfulness that would enable us to dominate the many distractions around. Spending time appreciating the beauty of nature that would stir our sense of awe and wonder can aid us to go deeper and beyond appearances of things. There certainly is a crying need to develop the fundamental virtue of piety. The practices that foster this virtue can cover a lot of things: prayer, sacrifice or mortification, recourse to the sacraments like confession, Holy Mass and communion, visit to the Blessed Sacrament, rosary, examination of conscience, spiritual reading, etc. They should correspond to all the different aspects and needs of our spiritual life as it impacts on our daily activities and concerns. They can be described as guideposts in our journey of life full of challenges, problems, pressures and other confusing elements. Or they can offer us the needed respites in our activities, giving us moments to recharge ourselves spiritually so we can maintain a supernatural outlook in life. They are like home bases in our pilgrimage of life where we can recover our spiritual and moral strength. There we can have God in a more direct and intimate condition. They are supposed to be vital organic parts of our day that comprise mostly of mundane activities that need to be sanctified and offered to God and to others. Like meals and our sleep, they are supposed to be availed of by us in a most natural and regular way. We should just flow into them, since in the end all our activities should be oriented toward the ultimate goal of our life, and that is worship of God. These practices should not be considered alien to our daily routine. This is the task we have to do—developing an attitude of relating everything to God by letting all our activities to lead us to these practices. We just have to find a way, with God's grace, to cultivate a spiritual hunger or urge for these practices. What is needed is a certain plan, much like a regimen to which many of us willingly submit when we work out our physical fitness, so that a working and fruitful piety would really take root in our life. We have to go from the fundamental to the more complex levels of spirituality, from the amateur to the professional, from the beginner's stage to the veteran's, until we reach what St. Paul once described as the “fullness of God” to which we are destined. (cfr. Eph 3,19)

How to keep the flame of love burning

THERE’S a Gospel Acclamation that can give us the idea of how to keep the flame of love, notorious for being fickle given our wounded condition, ever burning. It’s from the Acts of Apostles where it says: “Open our hearts, O Lord, to listen to the words of your Son.” (16,14) 

 God, whose very essence is love, has made this love known to us by its incarnation in the Son made man, Jesus Christ. More than that, this love can also be ours as long as we precisely would open our hearts to listen and make as our own the words, the teaching and example of Christ. 

 It’s a love that goes all the way, and remains unfazed regardless of whatever condition we may have in this life. Yes, it’s a love for all seasons, always taking the initiative to reach out to others, again regardless of how the others may be toward us. 

 As St. Paul would put it, it’s a love that is patient, kind, does not envy, does not boast, is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, not easily angered, keeps no record of wrongs. It does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. (cfr. 1 Cor 13,4-7) 

 In other words, it’s a love that would lead us to always think well of others, to be willing and happy to serve others, again regardless of how they are to us. It’s a love that would enable us to love even our enemies. 

 It always thinks ahead of what to do for the others. It does not wait for some favorable conditions to come before it is given. Yes, it is given gratuitously, without counting the cost nor expecting any reward. It’s quick to forgive and to ask for forgiveness. 

 With this kind of love, we will never have a dull moment in our life. We would never run out of ideas and initiatives. We would always feel hot and energetic, if not always bodily or emotionally, then always spiritually and morally. It will always keep us going, irrespective of the varying circumstances of our life. 

 It’s a love that goes beyond the limitations of our natural powers, since it can only be generated and kept with the grace of God. That is, if we listen to Christ’s words, follow his example, and incarnate him in ourselves through the sacraments, etc. 

 This means that we should animate our human powers with God’s grace, and not let them remain on their own, relying only on natural elements. For this, we need to wage continual struggle since we cannot deny that we also have a strong tendency to depend solely on the natural rather than on the supernatural. 

 To be sure, this kind of love would keep us always calm, happy and cheerful, confident and hopeful. It would always prod us to be generous in our self-giving. It is this kind of love that would already give us a foretaste of the bliss we can expect in our definitive home in heaven when we become truly one with God as we should. 

 We need to spread this Good News more widely and think of ways of how this kind of love can be pursued effectively by all. We have to assure everyone that our ideal condition, the perfection and fullness of our humanity would be achieved if we learn how to have this kind of love.

When God tests our faith

WHEN that happens, the thing to do is to stick more strongly to our faith in God and in his loving and merciful providence. We should never over-react by worrying, fearing, and worse, by losing our faith. We should never doubt God’s love and care for us all. 

 When God tests our faith, we should consider it as an opportunity to grow more in our faith. Let’s follow the example of the Syrophoenician woman in the gospel whose request for the healing of her daughter was at first denied. (cfr. Mk 7,24-30) 

 When Christ told her: “Suffer first the children to be filled, for it is not good to take the bread of the children, and cast it to the dogs,” she answered, “Yes, Lord, for the whelps also eat under the table of the crumbs of the children.” 

 That’s when Christ was so happy with her response that he told her: “The devil is gone out of your daughter.” And true enough, when the mother went home, she found her daughter already well.

 We should always feel the need to sustain and ever strengthen our faith which is the bedrock of our Christian life. Without it or with a weak faith, we most likely will compromise our entire life. 

 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. 

 We have to remember that in developing and strengthening our faith, we need to commit our whole selves to God. We should not just be sentimental, emotional or intellectual about it. We have to give our whole selves in good times and bad, 24/7. We have to involve all our powers and faculties, our past, present and future. 

 Faith is not simply an intellectual assent to some truths. It is an act of our entire being wherein we integrally and entirely commit ourselves. If we truly have faith, we will show it in every action of our life. 

 We will consistently refer everything to Christ, look for him, find and talk to him, seek his guidance, follow his will and ways, and put him as the goal of all of our activities. This has to be distinguished from fanaticism, because faith requires a living union with God, while fanaticism can mimic the appearance of faith, but is not based on that living union, but rather on something else. 

 If we truly have faith, we will always make Christ present wherever we are. Irrespective of our human condition, we can always exude a certain aura of wisdom, goodness, charity and kindness, mercy and justice, and power, etc. 

 Faith is something much deeper and more complete than a simple affirmation of some truths. It produces an effective and operative presence of the love of Christ among men. It makes us plant the seed of love in each heart. It leads us to discover all the good things in the world where God himself has placed us so that we may be holy. It also points us where the dangers are. 

 Let's strengthen our faith always by spending some moments everyday in mental prayer, living always in the presence of God, waging continuing ascetical struggle to develop virtues and fight against our weaknesses and temptations, studying and assimilating the doctrine of our faith, pursuing a lifelong plan of formation, etc.

Inner purity more than just following rules

THAT’S what we can gather from the Gospel of St. Mark (7,14-23) where Christ said, “There is nothing from without a man that entering into him, can defile him. But the things which come from a man, those are they that defile a man.” 

 Further down, he explained: “Everything from without, entering into a man cannot defile him, because it enters not into his heart, but goes into the belly, and goes out into the privy, purging all meats.” Rather, he said, what can defile a man are the things which come out from him. 

 That’s when he listed what can come out of the heart of men: evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, and evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. 

 This gospel episode teaches us that in order to have inner purity, we should take care of our heart, making it clean, pure and full of love, compassion, and the whole gamut of virtues. 

 Thus, in the Book of Proverbs, we have this invitation from God, “My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes delight in my ways.” (23,26) This invitation should be clear in our mind and heart, and we should do everything to be able to correspond to that invitation properly. 

 Nowadays when our heart is glutted with so many worldly things, it is really a tall order to say, yes, to this invitation. But with God’s grace, which we can always receive with due humility on our part, there is no doubt that we can do it. 

 We have to remember that our heart 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 as articulated by Christ once when he said, “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” (Mt 12,4). It is what gives the motives for our thoughts, desires, 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. 

 Obviously to get a handle on our heart, we need to go to God. Our human estimations can never be enough. They can even be dangerous, since they are often very limited and, worse, biased. We have to be wary of the powerful pull these worldly and human estimations can exert on us. 

 This is where strict self-discipline is most needed. We cannot deny the fact that we are often dominated by passions inside us and fashions outside us. We have our usual weaknesses of pride, laziness, attachments, etc. Thus, we need to undertake a continuing struggle, using all kinds of spiritual armory to wage this daily battle and aim at nothing less than conquering our heart for Christ. 

 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 to be with God or to be by ourselves is made. 

 Let’s see to it that our heart is always with Christ. Let’s make it a habit of doing regular examination of conscience in God’s presence. For this we would need some moments of silence and recollection, distancing ourselves for a while from the din of the world and the madding crowd.

Love protects us

EVER wondered why some crazy thoughts would just enter our mind and it would just be a matter of time before we fall into sin? And this despite our desire to be good? 

 The quick answer to that question is because we are not truly in love. Instead of thinking of the others, of what good we can do for the others, first with God and then with everybody else, we would just be thinking of ourselves, or worse, thinking of nothing and just allowing ourselves to drift wherever the condition of our body and the things around us would bring us. 

 We really should learn how to love all the time, because without it, we would just be giving an opening to our weaknesses and the many temptations around to dominate us. What is worse is when these weaknesses and temptations have already made a foothold in our system because we are doing nothing with respect to loving which is what is proper to us. 

 When we notice that we are feeling dry and passive, it is a sure sign that we are not in love. Of course, there are also times when we feel hot and driven but still not in love, that is, true love, because what stir our passions are our egoistic urges. It’s not genuine love. It’s fake love. 

 When we are truly in love, we would always be thinking of the others, of what good we can do for them. We would be willing to serve them, to understand them and to forgive them whenever some mistakes are committed. 

 We need to look closely at the example of Christ who is the very personification of love and who, by the way, is the pattern of our humanity. We are supposed to be like him since we have been created in God’s image and likeness, and endowed with the proper powers, like our intelligence and will, plus God’s grace in the first place, so that we can enter into nothing less than a true communion with God and with the others. That’s how true love works. 

 Christ precisely was always thinking of all of us, telling us how to distinguish between good and evil, truth and falsehood. He did a lot of good to others, performing some miraculous healings. Ultimately, he bore all our sins by offering his life. And as the gospel tells us, there is no greater love than he offers his life for his friends. (cfr. Jn 15,13) 

 This is how we should train ourselves in loving. It will take time and effort, but we are assured already that we can have it as long as we stick and cling to Christ no matter what happens along the way. This way, we would be protected from our own weaknesses and the many temptations around. 

 And when can we say that we are truly in love with the love of God for us? I guess the answer can be derived from what Christ himself told us clearly. 

 And that’s nothing other than when we can manage, with God’s grace, to love not only our neighbor, but also our enemy. Of course, it is loving with the love of God as shown to us by Christ himself who bore all our sins by offering his life on the cross. 

 Yes, let’s train ourselves to be truly in love, thinking of God and of everybody else, thinking of what good we can do for them, which in the end is a matter of giving our whole selves, including our very own life, to God and to everybody!

Charity knows no bounds

WE have to be ready for the challenge of charity which is actually the perfection of our humanity. It is what would make us like Christ and fulfill the ideal meant for us as God’s image and likeness. 

 In the gospel, we see Christ performing all sorts of miraculous healings. The more healings he made, the more people needing some cure would come to him. (cfr. Mk 6,53-56) And he did not run away from this, even if he also had to find time to do his prayer in some isolated place. 

 We have to be prepared to tackle the arduous side of love which, as we all know, is given without measure and without expecting any return. It’s purely gratuitous. That’s just how true love is. That is to say, if it is the love that flows from the same love which is the very essence of God and that is also meant for us. 

 We just have to do our part which, of course, will take some time and some process. The important thing is that we should try to put our mind and heart into this responsibility, and no matter how things go, we should just move on. God is always understanding and patient with us, “quick to forgive, slow to anger.” 

 We need to realize that true love has a universal scope. It is all inclusive. We are meant to love our neighbor, who is actually anyone and everyone, including those we do not know, and those who are strangers and are even our enemies. 

 Let’s remember also that our love for God is expressed and is proven by our love for the others. St. John in his first Letter said as much, “He who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.” (4,20) 

 In this regard, we have to see to it that we are always thinking of the others, and of how we can serve them in any way. This will prove our love for God, since love is deeds and not just sweet words. 

 Obviously, to pursue this ideal will always be a work in progress, requiring a lot of patience and prudence. Before anything else, it will require that we be more and more Christ-like because only then can we really have this inclusivity of charity. Let’s hope that we be game with that. 

 Obviously, if we are to rely only on our own powers, there is no way we can have this kind of self-giving. This can only take place if we are truly identified with Christ, if we have his grace and are corresponding to it with all that we have got. 

 It’s only in this condition that we can go beyond the limits of our natural self and above the usual drama in life. We of course have our limitations, physical, mental, emotional, etc. And yet, as long as we are truly with Christ, we can still manage to give ourselves unstintingly. The spiritual and supernatural in us through Christ would enable us to give ourselves despite our natural limitations and worldly conditions. 

 That is why Christ commanded us to love even our enemies, to offer the other cheek when we are slapped in the one cheek. That’s because true love does not count the cost. Let’s remember that Christ in loving us assumed all our sins and conquered them by dying on the cross and rising from the dead. He even asked the Father to forgive those who crucified him.

Like Christ, we have to be the world’s salt and light

IF we want to be like Christ, we need to be the world’s salt and light. This, in fact, Christ said so very clearly in the gospel of St. Matthew (5,13-16). We have to seriously figure out how we can conform ourselves to what Christ wants us to be. We know that salt somehow gives a certain flavor to our food as well as helps in preserving highly perishable fool items. Light, of course, enables us to see things clearly. 

 We can readily conclude that what Christ wants is for us to provide Christian flavor in a world that is fast evolving as well as help in preserving the true Christian spirit in a world that is so exposed to a lot of confusing changes, many of them with their luggage of dangers even as they also offer a lot of benefits. 

 We also are meant to give light to the others by giving good example and by actively doing apostolate, leading people to God along the right if prudent, tortuous and treacherous paths of this world. With rectitude of intention, we have to inspire others to follow us so that with us they can come to Christ. 

 Let’s be like St. Paul who, with rectitude of intention, said: “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” (1 Cor 11,1) These words are a corollary to what Christ said about us being light of the world: “Your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.” (Mt 5,16) 

 Let’s try our best that we too can echo another of St. Paul’s words: “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” (Gal 2,20) This is the ideal to aim at, because Christ himself said, “I am the light of the world…the man who follows me will have the light of life.” (Jn 8,12) 

 Let’s remember that since we are not only individual persons but also social beings, always having some relation with others, we cannot avoid having this duty. We are not meant to be alone, indifferent and detached from others, and especially from God. We are meant to live in communion with others and pumping goodness always to the system, so to speak. 

 We therefore should not be afraid to be in the limelight. In fact, we have to foster a holy desire to be there. Our understanding of humility and that delicadeza of passing unnoticed should not exclude this need for us to give good example and be models of virtues for everyone to see and to hopefully be edified, especially in a world that is increasingly sinking in darkness and confusion. 

 Obviously, we have to do it properly and with the right intention. And that’s because we also know very well of our warped desire to be in the limelight for the wrong reasons. We have the tendency to show off our vanity and frivolity, and to act out our pride, greed, envy, etc. Instead of sowing good things, we can be spreading our unfortunate motives to others. 

 Perhaps what can be helpful here is for us to regularly bring this topic to our prayer so we can come up with relevant daily strategies in the presence of God and with the right intention. We can also make a regular review of how we are faring in this aspect by considering it in our daily examination of conscience. That way we can hopefully keep the right intention as we give ourselves as an example to the others.

Martyred for the silliest reason

THAT’S what happened to St. John the Baptist. (cfr. Mk 6,14-29) Just because he did not want to lose face before his guests, King Herod finally chose to give in to the request of a dancing girl who, advised by her scheming mother, asked for the head of St. John. 

 We should also somehow expect this kind of ending of our life here on earth. We face sinfully complicated situations and evil schemers in our lives, making us vulnerable to suffering like St. John the Baptist. We always have to contend with sinful situations and wicked plots and suffer the consequences. We should just be ready for this eventuality. 

 In this regard, we have to learn to lose the fear of suffering and death. If we believe in Christ and follow what he has taught and shown us, we will realize that there is nothing to be afraid of suffering and death, and all the other negative things that can mark our life. 

 He bore them himself and converted them into our way for our own salvation. Yes, even death which is the ultimate evil that can befall us, an evil that is humanly insoluble. With Christ’s death, the curse of death has been removed. “Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” (1 Cor 15,54-55) 

 So, we just have to be sport and cool about the whole reality of suffering and death in this life. What we need to do is to follow Christ in his attitude toward them. For Christ, embracing suffering and ultimately death, is the expression of his greatest love for us. We have to enter into the dynamic of this divine logic and wisdom so we can lose that fear of suffering and death. 

 Let’s just remember that death definitely does not have the last word. It’s life, everlasting life with God in heaven, or God forbid, eternal condemnation in hell. Neither are pain and suffering the main ingredient or the ultimate goal of our earthly life. It’s joy, peace, victory, success, offered to us by Christ himself, our savior. 

 We need to be clear about these fundamental truths, so we be guided properly in our life, making the right choices, since our life is also not a matter of fate or luck, but rather of choice, first that of God who chooses to love us in spite of whatever, and that of ours. But we have to learn to choose properly. 

 Whatever situation we may find ourselves in, including the worst scenarios possible in our human, earthly condition, we can always manage to find joy and peace if we allow ourselves to be guided by our Christian faith, rather than by our human estimation of things alone. 

 We have to look at death from the point of view of faith. This gives us the ultimate measure of reality. Objectivity is not only a matter of the senses nor of the intellect. We cannot simply rely on our feelings, our hunches, our reasoning. We have to use our faith, which our Lord in the first place gives us abundantly. 

 We need to overcome any fear we may have of death. Any fear of death is actually without basis. If we are consistent with our Christian faith which we should not only profess but should also live out, we know that when it comes, however it comes, it is the time when God, our Father and Creator, wants us to be with him.

“The Kingdom of God is at hand”

THAT’S from the Gospel of St. Mark (1,15), words spoken by Christ himself when he went into Galilee and proclaimed the Good News of God after John the Baptist was put in prison. After saying this he immediately said: “Repent and believe in the good news!” Yes, the way to the kingdom of God is when we repent of our sins and believe, nay, live the very message and spirit of the gospel. We often think of heaven or of the kingdom of God as so inaccessible here on earth that we think it only exists in our dreams, in our fantasies or in our desires. It cannot be here and now. And because of that, we often fail to consider it in our thoughts, words and deeds when in fact it is a very important and indispensable parameter in the way we live our life here on earth. Truth to tell, heaven is and should be a constant element to consider so we would know if we are still doing right, if we are still on the right track. We should never ignore heaven in any way, because that is the final destination for all of us. Yet in all the supposed ineffableness of heaven, Christ described it in very down-to-earth terms. In Chapter 13 of the Gospel of St. Matthew, we are given a series of parables that Christ said to describe the kingdom of heaven. In these parables, Christ compared the kingdom of heaven: - with the man sowing seeds on different kinds of ground; - with the man who sowed good seeds of wheat only for his enemy to sow weeds also; - with the mustard seed that is small and yet grows into a big tree; - with a leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour till it was all leavened; - with a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field; - with a merchant in search of fine pearls and finding one of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it; - with a net which was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into vessels, but threw away the bad. Hardly anything can be more down-to-earth, matter-of-fact, realistic and practical than these descriptions of heaven. And the lessons they impart are actually simple. They are no rocket-science lessons, though we have to admit that to live these lessons we need nothing less than God’s grace and our all-out effort. Another consideration is that while we should be immersed in our earthly affairs, we should see to it that such immersion should actually enrich us spiritually, that is, lead us to God, or make our love for God and others grow, because the earthly things are precisely for that purpose. That is the law and disposition God has imbued in the earthly things that are made available to us for our use. We have to see to it that love for God and others should always be the motive of everything that we do—from our thoughts and intentions, to our words, and to our work. It should also be the motive when we have to go through the different circumstances of our life, the good ones as well as the bad ones, our fortunes and our misfortunes. That’s how we can feel that truly “the Kingdom of God is at hand.”

When Christ leaves us incredulous

WE should not be surprised by this phenomenon. In the gospel, there are many instances when Christ would leave even those close to him questioning and skeptical about his teachings and ways. 

 When he went to his hometown, for example, and entered the synagogue and started to preach, those who heard him could not believe that someone of their own could preach the way he preached. “Where did this man get these things? What’s this wisdom that has been given him?” they asked in disbelief. (Mk 6,2) 

 Even among the apostles who had spent a lot of time and were already familiar with Christ’s will and ways were left shocked when Christ told them, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” To which they could only respond, “Who then can be saved?” (Mt 19,24-25) 

 Christ’s will and ways and the whole range of our Christian faith definitely would go beyond our normal process of understanding things. The simple reason is that God’s will and ways are supernatural that would go beyond but not against our natural power of understanding. 

 In the face of all this, all we have to do is to humble ourselves knowing that even in the natural level of things, we already would have difficulty understanding everything. How much more when we consider the mysteries and the supernatural truths of our Christian faith. 

 Just the same, even if we cannot fully understand everything of our faith, there should be no stopping in our effort to understand it. But as St. Augustine once said, we should first believe so we may understand. “Credo ut intelligam” (I believe so that I may understand). And St. Anselm coined this expression that says the same thing—“Fides quaeres intellectum” (Faith seeking understanding). 

 I suppose the thing to do is study well the Bible, exploring the context, genre, and message of each book. Then we should try to do some theological reflection which can be aided when we engage with theologians and scholars to deepen our understanding of the Christian doctrine. Of course, we need to pray and do some contemplation by seeking a personal experience of God’s presence and guidance. 

 Though our Christian faith is supernatural that contains truths that are beyond our human understanding, we can still bank on some strong motives of its credibility. To mention a few, we can cite the glorious resurrection of Christ which can only show us a definitive sign of his divinity. 

 Then we have the miracles performed by Christ and the saints. There is also the fulfillment of the prophecies made about Christ and by Christ himself. There is also the sublimity of the Christian doctrine which can give proof that it is of a divine origin. There is also the sanctity and spread of the Church, her fruitfulness and stability that despite, temporary problems, would tell us that the faith, despite its mysteries, is worth believing. 

 Obviously, what is needed here first of all is the grace of God which is always poured on us abundantly. Things would just depend on how receptive and responsive we are to that grace. That grace would help us to humble ourselves so we can open ourselves to the light God gives for us to believe and start understanding the content of our faith. 

 So, when Christ would leave us incredulous, we should deepen our humility for the grace to penetrate more deeply into our consciousness, enabling us to act accordingly.

“Christ took away our infirmities and bore our diseases”

THAT’S a verse from the Gospel of St. Matthew. (8,17) It’s actually from the Book of Isaiah (53,4) expressing a prophecy that Christ fulfilled through the many miraculous healings he made while going around preaching. 

 It’s a truth of faith that we need to cultivate and keep deeply and strongly in our mind and heart, especially when we find ourselves hounded by all kinds of infirmities and suffering all kinds of diseases. This way we would not waste time suffering unnecessarily and would just learn to bear all the inconveniences, convinced that in the end Christ would take care of everything. 

 We should just have a sporting spirit, spiced with a good sense of humor as we go through the unavoidable sufferings we would encounter in this life. We need a sporting spirit because life’s true failure can come only when we choose not to have hope. That happens when our vision and understanding of things is narrow and limited, confined only to the here and now and ignorant of the transcendent reality of the spiritual and supernatural world. 

 Besides, life involves a till-death struggle against all sorts of enemies, starting with our own treacherous self, the ever-seductive world, and most of all, the spiritual enemies who certainly are more powerful than us. 

 Finally, life involves pursuing a goal that is much greater, yes, infinitely greater than ourselves. We should not be a bad sport who gives up easily without even trying, or who surrenders in the middle of an exciting and suspenseful game. 

 We therefore have to develop a strong spiritual sportsmanship in the tenor expressed in some words of St. Paul: “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.” (1 Cor 9,24) 

 Aside from a strong sense of self-discipline and submitting ourselves in a continuing training program, an indispensable ingredient of this healthy sporting spirit is the sense of acceptance and abandonment that we need to deliberately cultivate. This does not come automatically, as if it’s part of our genes. We have to develop them. 

 We have to learn to accept things the way they are or the way they can be. Yes, it’s true that we can shape things and events in our life. We can even shape persons to a certain extent. 

 While some heavy drama may be involved, let’s be convinced that we are given a game plan that assures us of victory. It’s the game plan of hope in the ever wise, omnipotent and merciful providence of God. What is needed here is precisely a healthy sense of acceptance and abandonment in the hands of God. 

 Added to that is a good sense of humor which definitely has very salutary effects and advantages. It makes us see things better. It makes us more flexible and more able to handle varying situations. 

 It gives us some space and distance from events so that we would be able to assess and judge things calmly and properly. And all this aside from its immediate effect of making everybody feel good, which is already a tremendous thing. 

 In the face of severe trials, joy expressed in wit and humor is a precious element to have. It can only show one’s deep trust and confidence in the providence of God. There’s absolutely nothing to be afraid of. There’s the conviction that everything, including martyrdom, is an organic part of God’s saving plan for the person concerned and for everyone else.

A lesson of obedience and humility

THAT’S what we can gather from the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. Imagine Christ, the very son of God, submitting himself to some ritual when it would have been unnecessary for him. 

 Obviously, the child Jesus could be exempted from this law, and we can suppose that both Mary and Joseph would know this. Still, they proceeded to follow the law, giving us the precious lesson that like them, we should try to behave like any ordinary person, following the just laws and customs of the time and place, and choosing to forgo certain privileges that we may have. That’s humility in action. 

 That’s how we should behave. We may be quite privileged in life because of the many gifts and other endowments God and others may have given us, but we should never feel entitled to anything. Instead, our attitude toward these privileges should be one of willingness to serve more, doing a lot of good while passing unnoticed, and all for the glory of God and for the good of all. 

 It is something worth emulating, since this is a clear expression of humility, an indispensable virtue that would enable us to stick with God and his will and ways. We have to be most wary when we happen to enjoy some privileged positions or status in life because we tend to think that we deserve more entitlements. And not only would we expect them. We may even demand them for us. Without this humility, we in the end would separate ourselves from God. 

 Let’s be reminded that whatever privileges, favors and blessings we may enjoy in life are meant for us to strengthen our desire to serve God and others, and not to be served. But as it is, we should try to avoid them, since they tend only to spoil and corrupt us. Rather, we should try to follow what Christ himself once said—that we enter by the narrow gate instead of preferring the wide gate and the broad road that can only lead us to our destruction. (cfr. Mt 7,13-14) 

 This is also the example of Christ himself who, as St. Paul noted in one of his epistles, being God emptied himself to become man and went all the way to offering his life for all our sins. (cfr. Phil 2,7) This was also shown when Christ went ahead to pay temple tax when he obviously would have been exempted from it. (cfr. Mt 17,24-27) Seemingly impossible for us to do, we should just try our best to imitate that example, relying on God’s grace and on our all-out effort. 

 The Feast of the Presentation of the Lord also reminds us that we have to give not only the best that we have to God first, but also everything that we have. We have to remember that our life ought to be spent as an offering. It has to be lived as a gift, because it is first of all a gift also from God to us. This is a fundamental attitude to develop toward our life, because absent that, we would have a gravely handicapped understanding of life, prone to all sorts of anomalies. 

 The feast of the Presentation of the Lord can also be considered as another epiphany, another manifestation of Christ as our savior. This time, the manifestation is done not to the three magi anymore, but to two characters, Simeon and Anna. 

 The feast is a good reminder to all of us, Christian believers, that we have a duty to present Christ to everyone as he truly is to us—the pattern of our humanity and the savior of our humanity that has been damaged by sin.

The intriguing message of the Beatitudes

ONCE again, we are presented with the paradoxical teaching of the Beatitudes in the gospel reading of the Mass of the 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time. (cfr. Mt 5,1-12) We, of course, wonder how these Beatitudes, which flip conventional wisdom, can be the source of blessedness for us. 

 They obviously are not simply about promoting suffering or hardship, but rather about revealing the true, ultimate and heavenly values that are meant for us. Yes, we can find strength in weakness, joy in sorrow and power in humility if we would try our best to depend wholly on God, rather than simply on our own selves. 

 Without God, all the negative elements in our life will remain negative and harmful to us. But with him as we should, all things work for the good. (cfr. Rom 8,28) Even all our earthly suffering and death can lead us to our eternal joy and life in heaven. 

 The Beatitudes actually reveal God’s heart and values that should be reflected and lived by us also. They show the path to true happiness and fulfillment. They challenge societal norms and expectations that are based only on worldly and temporal values. In short, the Beatitudes tell us that the world’s way is not the only way. God’s ways are different, and they are the path to true joy and satisfaction. 

 Said another way, the Beatitudes convert what we usually consider as human disasters or clear disadvantages and inconveniences according to worldly standards into a source of joy, a means of our redemption, a path to heaven, narrow and difficult though it may be. 

 They expand our understanding of what would comprise as our true happiness by including those situations which we normally regard as unsavory and therefore to be avoided as much as possible, if not hated. 

 To learn to live the Beatitudes is definitely a lifelong task and journey. We really need to pray and reflect, begging God to tell us where we can grow and become more and more his image and likeness. For this, we need to study and involve ourselves in a lifelong program of Christian formation, monitoring our progress regularly and without let up even if we encounter mistakes and failures along the way. 

 And to be sure, we can live those beatitudes, because Christ himself would give us all the necessary graces. We just have to train ourselves to have the appropriate attitudes, skills and virtues. 

 We have to learn to be patient, which is an integral part of the virtue of fortitude that in the end can only be animated by genuine charity. We have to be ready when we are bombarded with worldly goods that can take us away from God, cool down our piety, and lead us to sin. 

 Or when we cannot help but mourn not only because of the death of someone but also because of some failure we commit or a misery we cannot shake off. Or when we get misunderstood and provoked in our daily exchanges of ideas and opinions with others. Or when we have to rein in our curiosity and raging hormones to keep our heart pure and in its proper orientation toward God. 

 Let’s always remember the beatitudes, and continually ask for the grace to believe and live them to the hilt. Christ’s promises cannot be frustrated. We have to strengthen our faith in his word. And start to live calmly, oozing with confidence and focused on what really matters in life! 

 The beatitudes should always be in our mind, heart and lips!

Enough with one-upmanship!

IT’S actually a very shameless thing to do. But it’s just amazing that many of us resort to this clearly anomalous thing to push our particular view and opinion, especially in the field of politics. As defined, one-upmanship is when someone tries to outdo or one-up others, often by boasting or showing off their achievements, skills or possessions. It can be playful, but it can also come across as annoying, destructive and harmful if taken too far. And this is especially so with regard to politically partisan one-upmanship that is common nowadays. This can take place when there is some kind of competitive posturing. That is when politicians and their supporters try to appear more committed or passionate about their party’s cause. Apart from that, this politically partisan one-upmanship takes place when some outrageous claims are made, that is, when exaggerated or unsubstantiated statements are made to gain attention or support. It is also done through virtue signaling, that is, when one’s own moral superiority or commitment to a particular cause is publicly displayed. This usually goes together with bashing anyone or any party with a different or opposing position if only to appear stronger or more favorable. With this shameless politically partisan one-upmanship, we can only expect polarization and division among the people that can only lead to lack of constructive dialogue and compromise. Its only purpose is to win rather than solving concrete problems and resolving specific issues. The approach is always competitive and aggressive. Obviously, to counter this politically partisan one-upmanship, a thoughtful approach is needed. This can mean that we should be focused on issues, rather than on ego, emphasizing the issue at hand, rather than getting drawn into competitive posturing. It would be better if we would just ask questions rather than to quickly accuse those with different or conflicting opinions. Yes, critical thinking by asking questions so as to clarify positions or challenge assumptions should be encouraged, and done always in a courteous manner. More than anything else, everyone should try to seek common ground, knowing that despite differences and conflicts in opinions, we can always share something in common. We should rather highlight shared values or goals so as to build bridges and foster collaboration among the different parties involved. Also, we should not shy away from calling out in a polite way a questionable performative behavior of a person or party. Everyone should be reminded to focus the exchanges on substance rather than on virtue signaling and gaslighting. We should try to come up with respectful dialogue among the different groups, showing that this constructive conversation is possible by listening actively and responding thoughtfully. We need to clean up the field of public opinion, injecting with the spirit proper to our dignity as persons and brothers and sisters who have to care for one another despite our differences and conflicts. Let’s always remember that our freedom of speech and expression can never do away with the requirements of charity. Even in the bitterest of our conflicts, we should always be charitable, ready to understand the others, to ask for pardon if we commit some mistake and to forgive when others commit them, etc. We cannot deny that in matters of opinion we will always have differences and conflicts. We just have to learn how to be civil in arguing our points and in sorting out the differences. We have to learn this art, now so relevant and urgent given the growing complexity of our times.

The exponential character of love

THAT’S what we are reminded of in that gospel episode where Christ said: “In what measure you shall mete, it shall be measured to you again, and more shall be given to you. For he that has, to him shall be given; and he that has not, that also which he has shall be taken away from him.” (Mk 4,24-25) 

 That, in a nutshell, is the very nature of love, if it’s true love, one that is a vital participation and reflection of the very essence of God which is also meant to be our own essence, since we are God’s image and likeness. 

 It’s a love that never says enough in spite of our obvious limitations and weaknesses. When we reach those limits, like Christ we would just commend ourselves to God’s own ways that go beyond our natural powers, making the impossible possible. As God’s image and likeness, the supernatural powers of God are also shared with us. 

 This duty of loving knows no bounds. As St. Francis de Sales said, “The measure of love is to love without measure.” And we might ask, is this possible, is this doable? The answer, of course, is yes. In the first place, there is in us a spiritual capacity that would lead us to the world of the spiritual and supernatural, the world of the infinite. 

 And that is possible in us because of our spiritual faculty which is made actual due to God giving us his grace, that free gift that would enable us to actually enter into the very life of God and to share his power. We are reassured that this grace is given to us in abundance. Even if sin abounds, God’s grace will still abound even more, St. Paul tells us. 

 With his grace, we can manage to have a supernatural life with God, the kind of life meant for us since we are God’s image and likeness, children of his. Our very human nature is meant to have a supernatural life in God. It is not meant to a merely natural human life, much less, an animal life ruled mainly by instincts and emotions alone. 

 With his grace, what is impossible for us to achieve by relying only on our natural powers is made possible, for nothing is impossible with God. (cfr Lk 1,37) St. Paul verified that when he said: “I can do all things in him who strengthens me.” (Phil 4,13) Yes, we can do all things with Christ in spite of our limitations. 

 We have to remember that we are meant for the infinite, for the spiritual and the supernatural. That’s a goal that we can never fully reach in our life here on earth. But we are meant to keep on trying. 

 What can keep us going in this regard is certainly not our own effort alone, much less our desire and ambition for fame, power or wealth. It’s not pride or some form of obsessions. These have a short prescription period. A ceiling is always set above them. In time, we will realize that everything we have done was just “vanity of vanities.” 

 It is God’s grace that does the trick. It’s when we correspond sincerely to God’s love for us that we get a self-perpetuating energy to do our best in any given moment. That’s when we can manage to do the impossible. 

 It’s a correspondence that definitely requires a lot of humility because we all have the inclination to be proud of our accomplishments that would kill any desire to do better. It’s also a correspondence that is always respectful of our human condition, given our strengths and weaknesses, our assets and limitations.