Concern for the lost

THE lesson we can draw from the parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin (cfr. Lk 15,1-10) is very clear. We need to give special attention and exert special effort to recover those who have lost their way toward God. This is the real test of discipleship. 

 We obviously need some special training for this. But let’s not forget that the first thing to do is to beg for that grace and power of God so we can carry out this duty that is clearly beyond our human powers and condition. 

 In our prayer, we should ask God to instill in us this strong urge to be concerned for those who have strayed from the proper way, those who for one reason or another are ostracized and alienated from God and from the rest of humanity. 

 With God’s grace, let’s embark on a plan to develop the appropriate attitude, virtues, skills and practices. Yes, we have to learn how to be “all things to all men to save at least some,” as St. Paul once said. (cfr. 1 Cor 9,22) 

 Definitely this would require of us a very open spirit that would enable us to adapt ourselves to everyone in the way they are, warts and all. Thus, we need to develop the qualities of adaptability, flexibility and versatility. With our increasingly complex times, we need to learn how to flow with the tide without losing our identity and real purpose in life. For this, we definitely need to look and follow closely the example of Christ. 

 Christ, being God, made himself man and went all the way to assume the sinfulness of men without committing any sin if only to identify himself with us in our wounded condition and to give us a way of how to deal with that condition. 

 In his preaching, he used parables to make his lessons more accessible to the people. He was always compassionate, quick to forgive, slow to anger. He was always thinking both of his Father and of the people. Remember him saying, “The one who sent me is true and what I heard from him I tell the world.” (Jn 8,26) 

 He gave preferential treatment to the children, the weak, the handicapped, the sick, the sinners. He was only allergic to the proud and self-righteous whose sense of right and wrong did not come from God, but rather from their own selves in their great variety of human consensus and other subtle forms of self-assertion. But on the cross, he asked forgiveness for everyone. 

 Obviously, to have this genuine concern for the lost, we need to be tough spiritually, not squeamish, much less, self-righteous. We should not be afraid to get the “smell,” as Pope Francis once said, of the lost sheep. If we are truly involved in the life of those who are lost and far from Church, we cannot avoid acquiring that “smell.” 

 Of course, without compromising our need also to be tender and gentle, we have to learn how to be strong and tough with the strength and forcefulness of true charity that would enable us how to bend, to understand and to forgive. 

 It’s a matter of discernment and prudence. They actually can and should go together—our toughness and gentleness. But their manifestations vary according to the situation, and we just have to learn how to show and live both anytime, or highlight one over the other given the circumstance or the need of the moment.

The cost of discipleship

DISCIPLESHIP, as described by Christ, may command a very steep price since it involves a heavy cost, but it actually gives us the best deal. Yes, it demands total detachment from earthly things, even to the extent of “hating one’s father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even one’s own life.” But then again, Christ reassures us that we will have a lot more of them if we would just stick with him. 

 More than that, discipleship also requires us to carry the cross in any form it comes and just to follow Christ. To top it all, it requires us to be very good at planning and strategizing so we can come up with an effective action plan and produce the fruits expected of being a disciple of Christ. All this was described by Christ in the gospel of St. Luke 14,15-23. 

 We should just try our best, always asking for God’s grace in the first place, to meet all these requirements, convinced that they are all worthwhile. A person who professes to be a Christian but fails to be a disciple of Christ is not really an authentic Christian. 

 Of course, this will require time and a lot of effort. But as long as there is some earnest struggle, albeit not perfect, one can truly be called a Christian. Just look at the apostles themselves, starting with Peter, the head of group, and see how with their weaknesses, mistakes and failures, they still managed to be disciples of Christ. The important thing is just to try our best to follow Christ, even if our best is not perfect. 

 Let’s be consoled by what St. Paul said in his Letter to the Philippians in this regard: “Be confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (1,6) Ours is simply to try our best, since as a saying would put it, “God will do the rest.” 

 To be detached is not just a matter of emptying ourselves of earthly things. That self-emptying should lead us to be filled with the very spirit of Christ, a spirit which would make us do nothing other than the will of God. 

 Everyday, we have to make the exercise of conforming our will to God’s will by making a bold plan of how to go about following God’s will of personal sanctification and apostolate. In pursuit of these dual purpose of our life, we should try to give our all. We cannot afford to be complacent and lukewarm. We should feel driven and pro-active. 

 When we notice that we are more dominated and guided by our moods, our emotional and bodily condition which often are erratic and inconsistent, or when we notice we feel lazy and empty, we should immediately react. The ideal condition for us is to burn with zeal to follow God’s will. Absent that zeal, we would be giving a foothold to our weaknesses and temptations. That is why the cross is a necessity in our life. 

 We should also try to cultivate the skill of anticipating and planning as early as possible. It’s actually a necessity, a vital consequence of our nature that needs to work things out instead of just waiting for things to work out by themselves. It’s what is proper to us. 

 With these requirements met, we can expect to be an authentic disciple of Christ in spite of our weaknesses and mistakes along the way.

Passionate to join the heavenly banquet

THIS is the ideal condition for us. Our greatest and strongest passion should be to live our definitive eternal state of life with God in heaven, where we actually come from and where we should be at the end. It’s the definitive home for all of us. 

 We should avoid getting entangled and entrapped in our earthly and temporal affairs as dramatized in that parable narrated by Christ about a man who gave a great dinner but whose invited guests failed to come for all sorts of earthly reasons. (cfr. Lk 14,15-24) 

 Yes, even as we immerse ourselves in our earthly affairs, we should never lose sight of the ultimate purpose and goal of our life. Rather, we should make use of our earthly affairs as the very means, instruments and occasions to lead us to our definitive state of life in heaven. 

 We have to be wary of the danger of being trapped in the world of the senses, of the material and purely natural things. In fact, these days, there are many people who I consider are trapped in the world of the senses, ruled mainly by their instincts and emotions, and easily vulnerable to the mere impulses of the flesh and the usually improperly grounded worldly values and ways. 

 I don’t refer much to those who are already emotionally or mentally disturbed and even sick. I refer more to the so-called normal people, who can manage to behave well in a civil way when in the open, but cannot regulate their wild instincts and emotions when they are hidden and solitary. 

 Their imagination can run amuck. The direction of their thoughts and feelings can really go berserk. And since these are mainly hidden, then they usually go unchecked and are allowed to fester. 

 We should be more aware of the need for us to develop and sharpen our passion and hunger for heaven. Let’s follow what Christ clearly said: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Mt 6,19-21) 

 And St. Paul echoes the same sentiment. “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” (Col 3,2) We should do everything to avoid getting entangled with our earthly and temporal affairs. 

 It’s not that these worldly concerns of ours are not important. They are very important! But only as means, not as ends. They are nothing, and they can be very harmful to us, if they are not related to our true and ultimate end. 

 We have to find ways to relate everything to God, to the supernatural character of our final destination in heaven. Whether we like it or not, this is how the cookie crumbles for us, given our nature that is not only material but also eminently spiritual. 

 We don’t have to die first before we can already have a feel of heaven, if not practically touch it. By doing our ordinary daily work, whether big or small, in public or hidden at home, and doing it with real love for God and for others, we can already achieve this ideal that is proper to us. 

 For this to take place, we of course have to work with working faith and piety, since without them, we will not be aware that working with love for God and others can already connect us with our final home in heaven. It’s love that is fueled by faith and piety that does the trick, so to speak.