Staying calm amid life’s storms

THAT’S what we can learn from that gospel episode about Christ’s disciples caught in a storm while in the middle of the sea. (cfr. Mt 8,23-27) They, at first, were gripped with fear, a very understandable reaction. 

 And when they noticed Christ simply sleeping in the boat, they woke him up, expressing their fear. That’s when Christ simply stood up and calmed the turbulent sea, leaving them greatly astonished. But Christ faulted them for their lack of faith. 

 Yes, we too can easily be frozen in fear when we encounter the different forms of life’s storms. But like Our Lord’s disciples, we should just go immediately to him and ask for his help. And to be sure, he will always be there to help, but maybe in ways that may escape our understanding. In this, we should not be surprised and start to loosen our faith in God’s powerful and wise ways. 

 There’s really no reason to be too worried and anxious when we encounter some difficulty in our life. In fact, we have every reason to be confident and at peace, focused on what we are supposed to do. And that’s because we are always in God’s hands. 

 Whatever situation we may be in, we can be sure that God will always provide for what is truly needed by us, and it may not be what we want. We just have to trust him completely for he knows better than we do, and what we want may not be what we need. It may not even be what is good for us. 

 God always knows what to do in any situation we may find ourselves in. He may allow some evil to come to us, an evil that can do us no harm unless we let it, but God knows how to draw good from evil. 

 Ours is simply to trust God completely, and out of that trust, we should always feel confident and courageous to do what we are supposed to do. We should not waste our time lamenting and feeling like a victim, or wallowing in doubts, passivity and self-pity. 

 We have to remove ourselves from that state mentioned by St. Paul in his Letter to the Ephesians: “children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the cunning of men, by their craftiness in deceitful wiles.” (4,14) We have to keep going. There are a lot of things to do. 

 Yes, there will always be challenges, problems, difficulties that humanly speaking may be impossible for us to tackle. But as long as we have trust in God, we can sincerely echo St. Paul’s words: “I can do all things in him who strengthens me.” (Phil 4,13) These words have been verified to be true in the lives of all the saints, especially the martyrs. 

 It’s important that we be confident and at peace always, because that would put us in the proper condition to do the things we are supposed to do. It will make us bold and courageous, fruitful and productive. 

 It is a confidence that is not presumptuous. It goes together with prudence, discretion and tact. It is meek and humble, not pompous, arrogant and vain. It reassures and inspires people. It would make us credible in our witnessing to Christ’s saving message. 

 It is a confidence that is both in heaven and on earth. It happily blends eternity and time. It is not simply theoretical. It is also realistic and practical.

From human weakness to greatness

THAT’S what can come to mind as we celebrate the Solemnity of St. Peter and Paul on June 29. They were men with their share of human weaknesses and imperfections and yet they became the pillars and foundational columns of the Church. 

 We all know how St. Peter was. He denied Christ three times. He received from Christ that most severe and corrective rebuke, “Get behind me, Satan” (Mt 16,23) when he tried to prevent Christ from fulfilling his redemptive mission of offering his life on the cross. 

 St. Paul was hardly any different. Before his conversion, he aggressively attacked the early Christians. And even after conversion, he continued to be hounded by his weaknesses that at one point, to prevent him from being conceited, he was given a “thorn in the flesh.” (cfr. 2 Cor 12,7) 

 But what made them great was their faith in Christ and in the power of grace that always triumphs whatever human frailty they had. St. Paul articulated this when he said: “Where sin abounded, grace abounded much more.” (Rom 5,20) 

 The lesson to learn here is for us to know how to convert our weaknesses into the occasion to grow in strength. And the secret is to assume the identity of Christ and his attitude toward all forms of human weaknesses and limitations. He himself assumed our human weaknesses even to the extent of making himself like sin without committing sin, if only to save us from our fatal predicament. (cfr. 2 Cor 5,21) 

 If we would just open ourselves to the possibility of taking that leap of faith to become like Christ who gives us all the means to be so, what may appear to us as an impossibility due to our weakness and limitations can become possible. 

 We should make St. Paul’s words, “For when I am weak, then I am strong,” (2 Cor 12,10) also as our own, and feel reassured and consoled every time we are hounded and burdened by all sorts of difficulties and troubles, including when we are tempted and fall into sin. 

 We have to know what exactly St. Paul meant by those words. What we can readily see is that he made all these predicaments a reason for him to go to Christ, to identify himself more closely with Christ who went all the way to making himself like sin without committing sin just to save us. (cfr. 2 Cor 5,21) 

 We have to learn how to react to all these negative and evil elements in our life from the point of view of our Christian faith, and never just from our own estimation of things that would often lead us to be scandalized, to feel bad and discouraged, and to run away from the one who can resolve everything for us, including those problems we cannot anymore resolve. 

 Our faith in God can still work and function even if we are down spiritually and morally, because it is, first of all, a gift from God who will always give it to us irrespective of how we have been behaving. We should just try our best to receive it and to correspond to it as best that we can. 

 We need to trust in God’s providence and mercy. We have to learn to live a spirit of abandonment in the hands of God. Yes, if we have faith in God, in his wisdom and mercy, in his unfailing love for us, we know that everything will always work out for the good. (cfr. Rom 8,28) Our weaknesses can be the gateway for our greatness, the greatness of the children of God!

Christ above and before all else

THAT’S what Christ meant when he said: “He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not up his cross, and followeth me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life, shall lose it. Ad he that shall lose his life for me, shall find it.” (Mt 10,37-39) 

 Scary words, to say the least! But if we study and meditate on them with our faith and piety, we know that we are actually given the best deal. That’s because by making Christ the first and our everything in our life, we would know how to properly love everyone else and to deal with whatever situation and condition we find ourselves in this life. He is “the way, the truth and the life” for us. 

 He is giving us the proper order of love. We cannot deny that if we are not guided by our faith, our loving can only replicate the love among animals. In spite of some signs of tenderness and care, it would simply be wild and raw, hardly going above the instinctive level that can be brutal. 

 We need to always look for Christ, to be with him and to follow him. That’s where we can find what is good for us in any situation we can find ourselves in. If that is not yet our greatest desire, then it’s about time that we train ourselves to acquire such desire. 

 What is that? The simple answer is because Christ already conquered what is not good for us. More than that, he has made all the negative elements in our life as a way to our salvation and eternal joy. He gives us the strength that we need, as expressed once in the Book of Isaiah who said: “They that hope in the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall take wings as eagles; they shall run and not wear; they shall walk and not faint.” (40,31) 

 Even in our difficulties and suffering, such condition of lightness, peace, etc., should be felt. After all, it would be Christ who would be bearing them more than us. We simply share a little of the weight. And when we share it with him, we would know that such difficulties and suffering have some positive value. 

 We should be wary when we are complacent in this duty of looking for Christ in everything that we do. We have to look for him, so we can find him and be with him, and share what he has with us. 

 We have to be wary when we would just allow ourselves to be dominated or ruled by our earthly condition—our moods, bodily health, the temper of the times, etc. We should be guided always by our faith which, by the way, is a gift God gives us always in abundance. The gift of faith is no problem. It’s never in short supply. 

 Right at the start of the day, let’s take the decision to be ruled by our faith, and not simply by our earthly condition, and to start looking for Christ. With him, we are assured of a happy life despite whatever. Our outlook in life would always be marked by optimism and confidence. Yes, Christian life is always a happy life!