We share in the kingly function of Christ

CHRIST, being the pattern of our humanity, should be the focus of our whole life with the view of becoming more and more like him to such an extent that we can be rightly called as “alter Christus” (another Christ), if not “ipse Christus” (Christ himself). 

 This is no gratuitous presumption. A proof of this can be found in his priestly prayer before his passion and death when he said: “That they (we) may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us…” (Jn 17,21) 

 St. Paul in his Letter to the Galatians also alluded to this truth when he said: “There is neither Jew or Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you all are one in Christ Jesus.” (3,28) 

 Now, since Christ is our ultimate King in the sense that he is our Redeemer who reigns over all creation, we should also understand that for us to be like Christ and to be one with him, we should also share in his kingly function. 

 This can only mean that we participate in Christ’s kingly authority and rule over sin and everything that is evil. This can only be made possible when we strive to live a life of obedience to God’s will, following his commandments and, as a consequence, living a life of holiness. This sharing of Christ’s kingly authority and rule is also exercised with we strive to serve others, using our gifts and talents to build up the body of Christ. 

 Some key aspects especially of the laity’s kingly function are, first, that of servant leadership. This means that the we should serve others, especially the poor and marginalized, in a way that would reflect Christ’s servant leadership. 

 Second, we should be in the forefront of transforming the temporal affairs, bringing Christian values into our work, family, social and political life, etc., always promoting justice and virtue. 

 Lastly but not the least, we should always be giving witness to Christ in all our words and deeds in such a way that we in effect would be proclaiming the Gospel and inviting others to follow Christ. 

 This can only mean that we really should make Christ our King, first of all. We can do this by making little conquests in our spiritual life everyday. We need to understand that our life will always involve some struggle. In fact, it is and should be a daily affair. Failing in that struggle does not only mean getting stuck at a certain point. It certainly means we have retrogressed. In this business of struggle, if we don’t advance, we retreat. 

 We should therefore be reminded of our duty to hone up our skills in spiritual warfare. Christ already hinted this much when he said: “from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent bear it away.” (Mt 11,12) 

 Our life here on earth cannot but be in some form of struggle. Aside from our innate urge to grow and develop that requires some effort, we also have to contend with enemies whose sole intent is precisely to bring us down, to divert us from our proper path toward holiness. This is not to mention that our ultimate goal is to reach heaven, which definitely will require effort and struggle, and of course God’s grace. 

 This is how we can make Christ truly our king, and in the process make ourselves share also in his kingship.

The sin that cannot be forgiven

CHRIST mentioned this kind of sin in that episode where he was accused by some scribes that he cast out devils by Beelzebub, the prince of devils. (cfr. Mk 3,22) He said: “All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men…but he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Spirit shall never have forgiveness, but shall be guilty of an everlasting sin.” (Mk 3,29) That’s because they accused him of having an unclean spirit. 

 Obviously, it is an unforgivable sin since it involves a deliberate and complete rejection of God’s mercy, making it impossible for the person to repent and receive forgiveness. This kind of sin is committed when we attribute God’s miracles to the devil, when we refuse to acknowledge Christ as the Messiah, and when we reject God’s offer of salvation. 

 This unforgivable sin is precisely the sin of the demons themselves who refuse to believe in God in spite of everything God would do to help them. In other words, one who commits this unforgivable sin, that is, who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, is like the demon himself. 

 Let us always remember that God always likes to forgive. Remember Christ offering forgiveness to those who crucified him just moments before his death: “Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do.” (Lk 23,24) 

 In this case, those who crucified him did not really know what they were doing. And, in fact, they were converted when after Christ died, they confessed that he was truly the Son of God. (cfr Mt 27,54; Mk 15,39) But in the case of those who saw the miracle on the Sabbath, they persisted in their disbelief. 

 We have to see to it that we avoid falling into committing this unforgivable sin. We may not understand everything in our life and that is why we commit sins, but let us not directly, formally and openly reject God in the face of the many good things and blessings that we also enjoy. 

 Let us make our sins an occasion to get closer to God instead, to understand better his will and ways, and even to attain sanctity. Sin, of course, does not cause sanctity. But if handled well, it can occasion the way to holiness. It can trigger a strong impulse toward developing a greater love for God and for others, which is what holiness is all about. 

 It’s really a matter of how we react to our sinfulness. If we are sorry for our sins and try to make up for them, then sanctity would be at our reach. God, always a loving father to us, will never deny his mercy. Neither will he deny his grace to make us as we ought to be—true image and likeness of his, and a good child of his. 

 In fact, if we go by the reasoning of St. Paul, God seems to have the habit of choosing the foolish things of the world, the weak, the lowly and the despised, in order to confound and shame the wise, the strong and the proud of this world. (cfr 1 Cor 1,27-28) Along this line, He can also choose a sinner to confound those who pride themselves in a worldly way as saints. 

 Let’s be quick to ask forgiveness the moment we realize we fall into sin. And when faced with a mystery that is hard, if not impossible, to understand or to cope despite all our efforts, let’s be humble enough to abandon ourselves in God’s hands, in God’s providence.

“The Lord is my light and my salvation”

THAT’S from Psalm 27,1 and is often used a Responsorial Psalm the readings of many Masses. It’s a verse that deserves to be written deep in our heart and mind to remind us, especially nowadays when we have a lot of atheistic, agnostic and heretical tendencies, that it is in Christ where we have the true guide in our earthly sojourn. 

 We need to strengthen our faith in him, nourishing it daily with many acts of piety if only to counter the strong forces around that tend to take us to another path that would actually lead us nowhere even if it promises to give us a lot of earthly perks. 

 And this nourishment should not only be a personal duty but also a social one, starting with the family which is the basic cell of society. Let’s always remember that as persons, we are not meant to live by our own selves alone. We are meant to enter always in relation with others, starting with God, and in fact, develop a culture of intimate communion with everybody else. That is the ideal meant for us. 

 In this regard, parents should realize the importance of the great responsibility they have of forming their children to be strong in the faith to such an extent that they would always feel the need to help their children not only to be well-fed, well-clothed, well-provided, but also and most importantly to be good and consistent Christians, even to the extent of making them canonizable saints. 

 Indeed, there’s a certain urgency to make the family today an effective center of formation. With all the growing developments and complicated challenges of our times, we cannot afford to sit pretty and just allow blind fate to take its course. 

 We need to remember that the family plays a very strategic role in the development of a person and of society in general. It should be able to handle the duties and responsibilities inherent to its nature and purpose. 

 We cannot deny the fact that many people have inadequate, if not erroneous understanding of what the family and its closely related institution of marriage are. In the US today, for example, they are now legalizing and are openly promoting the so-called same-sex marriage and open marriages. 

 It’s no wonder that we have many broken marriages and dysfunctional families nowadays with matching complicated consequences. Of course, the recourse to divorce does not solve the problem. It can even make things worse. 

 Everything has to be done to address this fundamental problem. And all the subsidiary institutions and offices—the parishes, government, schools, NGOs, etc.—should lend a hand. 

 Continuing formation and evangelization about marriage and family has to be pursued without letup. Of course, the Church can take the lead in this, but this can be done also by many other people in the secular field. In this regard, the laity should also take a lot of initiative, since this matter concerns them more than the clergy, and they have the experience and the competence to talk about this matter. 

 For one, couples planning to marry should be made to realize clearly that their marriage brings with it the duty to make their family the basic center of formation for their children. They should be prepared and equipped to carry out this delicate duty. 

 As the basic center for formation, the family that is led by the parents should know how to lay the foundations of the human virtues and the life of faith and piety of the children. It should be well-versed with the doctrine of faith and the traditions of piety so that as early as possible the children would have the right attitudes and outlook in life.