The go-bag of charity

WE are now living in very exciting times. On the one hand,

we have many developments taking place, offering us with increasing

challenges and opportunities. If we are ready for them, we can

actually take advantage of them.

            On the other hand, we are experiencing a growing number of

disasters and calamities—storms of unusually elevated categories,

earthquakes, fire, terrorism, etc. We should also be ready for them,

and always have by our side what is known as a go-bag, that contains

the bare necessities for survival during emergency situations.

            But I would say that we should always have a more

important kind of go-bag, one that is kept in our heart and soul and

is filled not with material, perishable things, but with love, which

is the only important thing in our life, the only imperishable item

that can bring us to our ultimate and definitive home.

            Make no mistake about it! This is the indispensable bag

that we should carry wherever we are, including when we are on our bed

sleeping. This should not be a problem, because this bag hardly weighs

anything. It is as light as light itself, because in fact it is not

something that we carry, but rather something that we truly are, that

is, that it marks our ultimate identity.

            Everyday, we have to see to it that this bag is not left

behind, but rather becomes more and more united, if not identified

with us. And that’s because it is not just a bag that carries

something, but rather a bag that is each one of us, created and meant

for charity, for loving God and everybody else the way Christ loves

us. We are meant to be a bag of charity, and not just a bag of bones

or of some material things.

            In our daily affairs, let’s see to it that the things we

handle, the concerns, challenges, issues and opportunities we face

would not diminish, but rather would enhance our love for God and for

others.

            This is not something impossible to do. It is very doable,

first of all because God will always give us the grace for it. And if

we correspond to that grace, we will see that our worldly and temporal

affairs, including our problems and failures, are the means and

occasions for loving. Everything, as we are told by St. Paul in his

Letter to the Romans, will always work for the good as long as we are

with God always.

            Every so often, let us examine ourselves if that go-bag

filled with charity is truly what we have and who we are. In that way,

we would not be afraid of anything, not even of death. And we can be

in a better condition to do many more good things, which is really

what matters in life. The goodness of our life is not measured by

wealth, health, power, fame and the like. It is measured by love,

period!

            It is love that brings us to heaven. It is what goes

beyond the limits of space and time and leads us to the eternal life

with God. Again, we have to examine ourselves regularly if that go-bag

is truly with us!