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.