Our true hunger and genuine fulfillment

IN the gospel, Christ tells us about what is involved if we want to truly love him. “If you love me,” he said, “keep my commandments.” And he makes this promise: “And I will ask the Father, and he shall give you another Paraclete, that he may abide with you forever.” (Jn 14,15-16) 

 He further explained why the Paraclete or the spirit of truth is needed. “The spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it sees him not, nor knows him; but you shall know him because he shall abide with you, and shall be in you,” he said. (Jn14,17) 

 The question to ask is, how can we manage to comply with the condition of keeping his commandments to be able to love him, and in so doing, be guided by the spirit of truth in this very complicated and confusing world? 

 Given how demanding Christ’s teachings are, we would likely struggle to live up to them. Yes, Christ’s commands and the high standard of Christ’s teachings are so rigorous that we would be in a tough spot trying to keep them. 

 I believe the secret is found in what Christ himself had recommended. That is, that we do some fasting that would induce a special kind of hunger that is not only a hunger for natural food but rather a hunger for the ultimate spiritual and supernatural food that is God himself. 

 Said another way, it should be a natural hunger that should lead us to this spiritual and supernatural hunger, a hunger for God. We need to train our natural hunger to have the greatest longing for God. 

 In other words, it should be God whom we regard as the true satisfaction of our hunger. It is he who should give us the greatest joy and pleasure. We should not get stuck in the natural level of satisfaction, joy and pleasure only, the effect only of food and other natural things. But our craving for God, while eminently spiritual and supernatural, should first of all be felt in our body. 

 This way we can manage to keep the commandments of Christ no matter how tough, rigorous and challenging they are. And by keeping the commandments, we would feel the presence of the Paraclete, the spirit of truth, as promised by Christ, who will guide us and give us the proper direction in our life, marked as it is with chaotic conditions. 

 With this spirit of truth, we would not be trapped in our temporal world only, playing the game of self-indulgence and simply pursuing self-interest, unmindful of the spiritual, supernatural and eternal destination meant for us. 

 We would know how to relate our temporal affairs to our ultimate goal. We would know how to give the proper priority to all the elements in this life, and how to be firmly guarded against distractions. 

 We really should make this serious business of developing this true hunger a top priority among the things that we need to learn. We cannot take this duty lightly. We have to learn to live in the natural and temporal world while pursuing our supernatural and eternal goal. 

 As St. Paul once said: “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” (Col 3,2) He was practically telling us that we should prioritize heaven, eternal values over temporary worldly pursuits. He was asking us for a shift in perspective to align our thoughts, actions and desires with the teachings and example Christ who shows us the way to heaven.

Synodality and the Church’s continuing mission

DURING the time of the apostles as they started to carry out the mission given to them by Christ, there, of course, were some problems and issues that needed to be resolved. One was when there were disturbances among the Gentile believers who were imposed with unnecessary burdens. (cfr. Act 15,22-31) 

 The apostles wrote a letter telling them: “For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to impose on you no further burden than these essentials: that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from fornication.” (Acts 15,29) At this, they rejoiced. 

 Somehow, this episode illustrates the synodal nature of the early Church since it involved a kind of prayerful dialogue between the apostles, on the one hand, and the Gentile believers, on the other. More importantly, it involved a listening to the Holy Spirit that underscores that true decisions arise from listening to God through prayer and a constant commitment to conversion. 

 Pope Francis brought out this need for synodality as a way to listen to the Spirit’s voice that would promote a culture of encounter and co-responsibility. In this way, synodality can be great help in the Church’s earthly journey toward her heavenly destination, the journey of the Church Militant toward the Church Triumphant. 

 In other words, synodality guides the Church Militant toward the Church Triumphant by emphasizing mission through evangelization and spreading of the Gospel, thereby aligning the Church with its ultimate goal of unity with God. It also cultivates unity and love through dialogue and shared discernment. It encourages the need for continuing conversion. 

 This thrust on synodality has, of course, received both praises and criticisms. Those who praised it see it as a way to revitalize the Church’s mission, making it more inclusive, given the more active involvement of the laity in decision-making processes. It therefore promotes the idea of a certain co-responsibility between the hierarchy and the ordinary faithful but in different degree. 

 Those who criticized it worry that it would lead to confusion and to the watering down of doctrine that may lead to doctrinal ambiguity. Some critics expressed the fear that the process can be too focused on secular or worldly ideas at the expense of the traditional teachings. Still others fear that it would undermine the authority of the hierarchy since it can lead to the democratization of the Church. 

 I suppose that in any process there are always the good side and the not so good one, the benefits and advantages, on the one hand, and the dangers, on the other. I imagine that it will always be a matter of how to go about it with prudence. 

 To balance its benefits and dangers, I believe that the discussions should be rooted on Church teachings and Scripture to ensure alignment with core values. Everyone involved should really pray, earnestly seeking the Holy Spirit’s guidance that would necessarily involve some conversion. Genuine dialogue should be fostered, encouraging respectful listening and sharing, valuing diverse perspectives while seeking unity. 

 Indeed, discernment, prayer and adherence to Church teachings can be good safeguards to keep this process of synodality achieve its real goal. So far, this process has expanded lay participation in Church governance, a fuller recognition of women’s role in the Church. It has also fostered better transparency and accountability in terms of finances and forms of abuses. 

 And yes, it has facilitated ecumenical dialogue, and hopefully, even inter-religious dialogue. It would be good if this process of synodality continues to be practiced as the Church continues with its mission amid fast changing developments in the world.

True love is always linked to sacrifice

THAT’S how true love is. Without sacrifice, love at best can only be apparent. For love to be true, it will always involve sacrifice and great effort, considering the way we really are as God’s children as well as the way we are now in our earthly condition, marked as it is by our woundedness. 

 Genuine love for one another will always involve sacrifice simply because it cannot avoid the certainty that it will always entail understanding, compassion, the willingness to bear the burden of the others, and ultimately to offer mercy and to forgive to anyone who may do us wrong. It will always involve a total self-giving that is not only gratuitous but continues to give and give even if it’s not reciprocated or, worse, contradicted. 

 For love to be true, it has to reflect Christ’s love for all of us, irrespective of how we are to him. And that’s simply because whether we are good or not to God, God will continue to love for the basic reason that we are all his children. 

 A hallmark of genuine love is when we are willing to give up our own interest for God and for everybody else, reflecting the ultimate expression of love of Christ to all of us when he made himself a sacrifice on the cross. 

 Yes, we can say that true love expresses itself in sacrifice. In other words, given our wounded condition here on earth, sacrifice is the very language of love. Love cannot truly be love without sacrifice. 

 This means that unless we love the cross, we can never say that we are truly loving. Of course, we have to qualify that assertion. It’s when we love the cross the way God wills it—the way Christ loved it—that we can really say that we are loving as we should, or loving with the fullness of love. 

 We have to be wary of our tendency to limit our loving to ways and forms that give us some benefits alone, be it material, moral or spiritual. While they are also a form of love, they are not yet the fullness of love. 

 So, let’s be clear about this point. Love will always require sacrifice. Where there is no sacrifice, there cannot be love. Love grows only to the extent that we are willing to make sacrifices. Without sacrifice, we sooner or later will be swallowed up by our own egoism, our own selfishness. 

 And this selfishness can take the form of laziness, attachment to certain things to the point of self-absorption, etc. We have to be ready to do battle against these anomalous tendencies of ours. 

 We should always remember that the very essence of love is self-giving. In love, the lover needs to lose himself in his beloved. He has to be identified with his beloved. And this will always involve self-denial. 

 The self-giving and losing that love requires would actually enrich the person in his dignity. This way of loving conforms to what Christ himself said: “Whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Mt 16,25) 

 That’s why Christ himself said that if anyone wants to follow him, that person has to deny himself and, in fact, should carry the cross also. Otherwise, he cannot love. And true love is personified in Christ himself. 

 In other words, we can only love truly when we identify ourselves with Christ who precisely commanded us to love one another as he himself has loved us. That is why, he once said: “As the Father has loved me, I also have loved you. Abide in my love.” (Jn 15,9)