“Go out to all the world and tell the Good News”

THAT’S from the Gospel of St. Mark (16,15), words that Christ addressed to his remaining 11 apostles (Judas already quit) soon after his resurrection. In no unclear terms, he commanded them to go to the whole world and to preach the Good News, that is, the Gospel. 

 Now, if we truly feel that we are among his disciples, as we should, we should also feel that these words are also addressed to us. We are also being asked to get out of our own little world, trapped in our own personal affairs, to go global, spreading God’s word worldwide. 

 Here, Christ is giving what may be described as the Great Commission, a call to action for believers to spread the message of salvation through him. Let us remember that Christ is the only mediator between God and man (cfr. 1 Tim 2,5) 

 We need to do this with utmost care and prudence, with utmost discernment and obedience to God’s will and ways, considering that in the world we can encounter all sorts of people with all kinds of beliefs and worldview, some atheists and agnostics, others with religions that offer another god. 

 We need to learn the art of proper inter-religious dialogue to explain as best that we can the unicity and salvific universality of Christ which we have to uphold, explain, defend, etc. 

 Everything has to be done always with charity, because even in the bitterest of differences and conflicts in beliefs, it is charity that will win over. Charity upholds and defends the truth about the role of Christ in our life, and it contains the whole and ultimate truth about ourselves, despite whatever. 

 But we should cultivate the urge to reach out to as many people as possible. While it’s true that we are always limited by certain conditions, we have in our humanity blessed by God’s grace the capacity to go beyond those conditions. Yes, we may be limited by some circumstances, but through God’s grace, we can be given the strength to rise above them. 

 For this, we can use the modern technologies, such as the internet and the social media, as a “pulpit for the whole world.” We have to avoid falling into a parochial or tribal attitude toward our apostolic duty. While it’s true that because of our personal conditions, each one of us will have a particular niche in his apostolic activity, everyone should try to have a universal apostolic concern. 

 We have to be ready to get interested in everyone apostolically. We should be interested both in the rich and the poor, those in the mainstream of society as well as those in the peripheries. 

 We have to learn how to dance with the rich and crazy as well as to get wet and dirty with the poor and miserable. We should be able to do apostolate in any part of the world. We have to learn how to be all things to all men as St. Paul said. (cfr. 1 Cor 9-22) 

 For this, we need to be patient, persevering, creative and versatile. We have to learn how to “waste time” with everyone, especially those who may be very different from us in terms of temperament, social and economic status, etc. 

 We should not wait for some favorable circumstances before we do apostolate. To do apostolate should be like our heartbeat. We should feel its urge the way we feel the urge to breathe, eat and drink.

God’s initiative to draw us to him

THAT’S what Christ said very clearly. “No man can come to me, except the Father, who has sent me, draws him,” he said. (Jn 6,44) These words remind us that there is such thing as divine providence. We need to be most aware of it so we can do our part in corresponding to God’s constant intervention and guidance over us so we can attain our ultimate goal and perfection in life. 

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

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

 We need to understand that as God’s creatures, our creation is still in the making. We are still being formed and led to our perfection, which is none other than to be God’s image and likeness, children of his and sharers of his divine life in the eternity of heaven. He is continually directing and shaping us as he wants us to be. But we need to correspond as best that we can. 

 We have to realize then that God is constantly intervening in our lives, a reality that we should always acknowledge and correspond to properly. There is nothing in our life where God is not present or where he is inactive. 

This is the objective truth about the relation we have with God. For this, we have to be guided first of all by our faith rather than by our mere human powers that can only go so far. It is through faith that our intelligence, will and all the other faculties we have can discern this most wonderful reality of our life here on earth that can already give us a taste of eternal life here. 

 That is why, we need to cultivate our spiritual life, our relation with God which is otherwise called as our religion, that has to be constantly nourished through a life of piety that should be kept as vibrant as possible. 

 Otherwise, there is no other way but for us to fall into self-indulgence that has no other possible end than tragedy. We would be easy prey to our weaknesses, the many temptations around and sin itself. 

 That is why the Catechism tells us that “Jesus asks for childlike abandonment to the providence of our heavenly Father who takes care of his children’s smallest needs.” (n. 305). We should not dare to live solely on our own, something that we need effort to uphold, since our tendency is to think that we can simply be on our own. 

 This basic truth about our need to live under God’s providence should be inculcated on everyone as early as possible, giving out the appropriate means to make this ideal a reality. As the day wears on, we should be asking questions like, “Lord, what do you want me to do now, etc.?” 

 Asking this kind of questions should be like an instinct to us. It definitely would help us to make good use of our time, to have a keen sense of order that would set the proper priorities over the many things we have to deal with everyday. 

 What definitely a wonderful world we would have if all of us learn to live under God’s providence!

Always with God as times change

IT’S unavoidable. We should not be surprised by it. In fact, we should expect it. But let’s see to it that we do not get lost. We should still be clear about where we came from, what the meaning and purpose of life are, etc. We should never miss these existential and ultimate considerations even as we go along the changing fashions, trends and cultures of our times. 

 That way we can still distinguish between what is good and evil, what has absolute and relative value, what is safe and dangerous among the different elements we have to face. The important thing is that we are clear about where we are going, how we are managing to get to our real destination amid these varying conditions that can be very confusing and deceptive. 

 I must confess that I belong to the generation of the Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole songs, and a sprinkling of classical music of Chopin and Mozart. And through the years, I have been enjoying the different kinds of songs that became popular—from the Beatles, the Bee Gees, Rey Valera, Adele, etc. 

 Nowadays, I am listening to the likes of Billie Eilish and those Pinoy comedians who sing Pilipino songs (Tagalog, Bisaya, etc.) in Korean tunes. They provide innovations that elicit mixed reactions, and are often met with both admiration and disappointment, both applauded and criticized. 

 Well, that’s a fact of life. We just have to learn how to accept it and learn to deal with it properly. But we need to recognize that navigating the changing currents of life requires anchoring our souls to something firm and steady. It’s now becoming clearer that we need strong core values—our foundation—to keep us stable when life becomes confusing. In short, we need to have some kind of a ‘safe harbor’ mindset. 

 We have to be wary of the danger St. Paul once warned us about when he said that we should be “no longer like children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the sleight of men and their cunning and craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.” (Eph 4,4) 

 In other words, we should not be naïve who would just mindlessly go along where today’s current fashion and trends would bring us. Rather, we should always be circumspect, acting with careful consideration of the different elements involved in a certain matter. Yes, we have to stay guarded and vigilant as well as cultivate a practical wisdom that applies smart and realistic thinking in our daily life. 

 In all this, what is crucial is, of course, to stick with God always. Only with him can we be properly vigilant. It’s a vigilance that is an effect of keeping our love for God and others burn more and more. Without this impulse, we will surely be easy prey to the confusing, alluring and deceptive things of our times. This, of course, will always involve demanding on ourselves more and more. 

 We just have to be vigilant always. That is why the Bible is full of reminders about this need. “Be watchful,” St. Paul says, for example, “stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.” (1 Cor 16,13) St. Paul practically has given us a good program of how it is to be watchful always. 

 Let’s learn the appropriate skills and art of being watchful both in good times and bad times and also in ordinary times when things appear to be neutral yet. Let’s sharpen our skill in examining our conscience, in reading the signs of the times, in assessing the different circumstances of the day, etc.