Our resurrection to eternal life

THE readings on the Third Sunday of Lent remind us that we are meant for eternal life. In the first reading, from the Book of Ezekiel 37,12-14, we see how God promises to raise his people from their graves and fill them with his Spirit. 

 The Responsorial Psalm (130) practically asks us to trust in God’s mercy always, considering that we cannot avoid falling into sin. The Second Reading, from Romans 8,8-11, tells us that it is the Spirit of God that will give us true eternal life to our mortal bodies. The Gospel Acclamation, from Jn 11,25-26, reminds us that it is Christ who is the resurrection and the life, and if we believe in him, we actually will never die. 

 And the Gospel, from John 11,20-45, talks about the raising of Lazarus from the dead. It clearly shows that Christ has power over death. 

 With all these truths of our Christian faith, what we have to do is to correspond to them as best that we can. And it can only mean that we should try our best to be eternity-ready all the time. 

 We should therefore be clear about this point. Our time here on earth is a time of transit toward eternity, from where we came and to where we are heading. That’s because we are creatures of God who is in eternity. We came from him, and since we have been made in his image and likeness, we are meant to be with him in all eternity. 

 Our definitive state of life is to be with God in eternity. We therefore need to be eternity-ready in our time here on earth. And we can approximate that state of life and prepare ourselves for it by trying to be with God always, following his will and ways as we go through the drama of our earthly life. 

 We should know how to flow with the times without getting lost along the way. While there are changing things as we flow with the times, we also have to know that there are things that are not supposed to change, that will always have permanent value and relevance to us. 

 We need to see to it that our thoughts and desires are immersed in the supernatural gifts of faith, hope and charity, those theological virtues that enable our earthly and temporal affairs to acquire spiritual, supernatural and eternal value. 

 That is why, we need to study and assimilate the doctrine of our faith, make it generate hope in our earthly pilgrimage, and fuel the love that catapults us to eternity, uniting us to God and others. 

 This is how we can link our time here on earth with the eternity of our definitive life. It’s a matter of the belief that there is God and that he is our creator who gives us our very existence and that he continually, without any gap or break, intervenes in our life. 

 We have to be more aware of this truth, and more important, know how to deal with it. We often take it for granted, or worse, we can think that our life can just be on our own, completely dependent on what and how we make it to be. 

 Or we can think that we can be with God at some time and can be on our own at other times. We need to outgrow this mentality, because it simply does not correspond to reality. Ok, it’s not easy. There’s deep and vast awkwardness especially in the beginning. But it’s not a problem that cannot be solved.

No worldly algorithm can outwit divine wisdom

WE, therefore, should be wary of our tendency to rely more on our human and worldly estimation of things. Rather, we should always choose to be guided by God’s will and ways, by his abidingly loving and merciful providence, which we should try our best to discern at every moment of our life. 

 To be sure, no human plan can surpass divine guidance. Divine wisdom always outsmarts worldly logic. And God’s plan for us and for the world is above all else. We need to be clear about this and do everything to live by this truth of our faith. 

 Especially nowadays, when we are facing an increasingly complicated world, we need to strengthen our belief in this truth, and cultivate the appropriate skills and lifestyle. We obviously should try our best to make use of whatever human knowledge we can get from our human sciences, but all this should be motivated and guided by our faith, hope and love for God and for everybody. 

 This is not to mention that when one is determined to follow God in the best way he can, he has to expect to contend with the most devious ways of the enemies of God and of our soul. 

 This was articulated, for example, in the Book of Wisdom where some ungodly people said: “Let us therefore lie in wait for the just, because he is not for our turn, and he is contrary to our doings, and upbraids us with transgressions of the law, and divulges against us the sins of our way of life.” (2,12) 

 But again, we should not worry too much. As long as we try our best to stick to God’s will and ways, we know that no opposition to God and to us can dominate us. What we have to worry is when we allow ourselves to be guided simply by some worldly doctrine and standards. 

 In this, we have been forewarned by St. Paul who said, “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.” (Col 2,8) 

 And he went further to say that we should rely solely on Christ. “For in Christ,” he said, “all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness.” (Col 2,9) 

 This is, indeed, a call for us to truly develop a strong and intimate relationship with Christ. In other words, to develop an authentic and effective spiritual life, since only then can we get some knowledge of divine wisdom and be guided by it. 

 In this regard, we have to acknowledge our need for a continuing formation that, at least, would cover the doctrinal, spiritual and ascetical aspects of our relation with Christ. 

 This is how we can aspire to acquire nothing less than the wisdom of God. We have to understand that formation involves assuming the very mind and heart of Christ, the very wisdom of God. It should lead us to center our lives on Christ’s love and to assume God’s plan with creativity and initiative. 

 Thus, the capacity for reflection is necessary so as to faithfully channel Christ’s love for everyone. We need to go through some philosophical and theological study of our faith, coupled with the appropriate cultural formation so we can be effective in transmitting God’s living word in the middle of the world. 

 This is how we can acquire the divine algorithm that would lead us to discover divine wisdom, rather than just a worldly one.

The greatness of St. Joseph

IT’S definitely his humility and simplicity that built up his greatness. And because of these qualities, faith in God’s will and ways was easy for him to follow and comply. In fact, especially in some crucial moments, he attracted some kind of special divine intervention that quashed his doubts and baffled condition. 

 This was shown, for example, when he found out that Mary, to whom he was engaged, was found already with child in her womb before they lived together. (cfr. Mt 1,16.18-21) He at first thought of separating from her. But being a just man, as the gospel narrated, he planned to do it not publicly but privately. 

 That’s when some special divine intervention came in the form of an angel appearing to him in his sleep, clarifying the whole matter to him. And with that, he immediately changed his mind and, without further question, accepted Mary as his wife. 

 St. Joseph is worth emulating, worth giving more and better attention than a cursory, casual one. His condition is very much identifiable with that of the majority of the people all over the world. Like him, many of us do very ordinary simple duties, with hardly any public or social consequence. But the possibility of being great, like St. Joseph, is always there. 

 We need to strengthen our realization about the very intimate and mutual relation between humility and greatness. When one is truly humble and simple, it can only show the greatness of his heart. That mutual relation enables one to do God’s will faithfully, and eventually to share in the very life and nature of God himself. True greatness is never shown in pride and vanity. It is proven and verified in humility and simplicity. 

 This mutual relation between humility and greatness is expressed when we manage to value others, whoever and however they are, above ourselves and when we look after their interest instead of our own. (cfr. Phil 2,3-4) 

 This is what we clearly see in the life of Christ. Let’s call to mind that stunning example of his when he shocked his apostles when he started and insisted to wash their feet at the Last Supper. (cfr. Jn 13,1-17) 

 With humility and simplicity, we, like St. Joseph, would be enabled to see the sacredness of what may appear simply as ordinary duties according to our human standards. By being faithful to these ordinary duties, we, like St. Joseph, can practically manage to touch heaven while here on earth. The many ordinary little things we do can somehow acquire eternal and redemptive value. 

 Of course, it must have helped St. Joseph a lot to be keenly aware of whom he was taking care of. Proximity helps. But that should not be an excuse for us to feel not as lucky as St. Joseph. Christ is always close to us. He is always watching over us and guiding us all the time. We just have to learn how to discern and correspond better to that reality. 

 That’s why it’s important that from time to time we pause and pray so that we can have or regain our spiritual and supernatural bearing, and feel’s Christ’s continuous presence and guidance in our life and in our affairs, and be moved to react accordingly. 

 St. Joseph is showing us that the ordinary things in life, the performance of the duties inherent to our state in life, are the very occasions we can be with Christ and deal with him as we ought. 

 That’s when, like St. Joseph, we can also aspire to greatness in the very simple things of our life!