Let’s always be with Christ

WE have to see to it that amid all the hustle and bustle

of our life today, we do not detach ourselves from Christ who in the

end is the pattern of our humanity and the savior of our damaged

humanity. Given today’s rapid developments, we should see to it that

we do not get lost and even confused, that we keep a clear vision of

the real purpose of life, that we have a strong sense of direction.

  

            We have to realize that to be with Christ is the only

thing necessary in life. All the other things in our life simply play

a supporting role. They can be the material or the occasion to give

glory to God, to thank and praise him, to expiate for our sins and

those of everybody else, and to ask for some favor from him.

  

            We have to learn to relate everything to him, the good

things as well as the bad, the successes and the defeats, etc.

Whatever situation we find ourselves in, let us learn how to go

through it with Christ, and never just by ourselves. Yes, everything

in our life can and should be related to God.

  

            To be sure, being with Christ always does not stifle our

humanity. On the contrary, it would enrich our humanity and would lead

it to its ultimate perfection, purifying it and elevating it to the

supernatural order meant for us, since we are supposed to be the image

and likeness of God, and children of his. Our life is not just natural

human life. We are meant to have a supernatural life with God.

            Given our tendency to forget this necessity or to take it

for granted or to be easily carried away by the excitement of our

daily human drama, we really would need to develop the proper skills

to be with Christ always.

  

            This can mean that we learn how to pray, how to live in

God’s presence always, how to see him in everyone and in everything.

We have to learn how to feel always drawn to him both in good times

and in bad.

  

            This definitely will require some training, but the effort

for it would be all worthwhile. In the beginning, we have to go

through some basic and awkward exercises, like learning some vocal

prayers, trying to savor the meaning behind their words, knowing and

appreciating the importance of some acts of piety and sacrifice.

  

            We have to know more about Christ by reading and

meditating on the gospel and other relevant materials like the

catechism. We have to internalize the doctrine of our faith by letting

it affect not only our head, but also our heart and our hands. The

faith has to be translated into life itself, and not just kept in the

level of theory and principle.

  

            It would be good if we know how to sanctify our work by

always offering whatever we are doing, especially the little, ordinary

daily work we do, to God. We have to learn how not to be swallowed up

by them in the sense that they detach us from God rather than lead us

to him. Yes, even as we immerse ourselves in them, let us also know

how to be properly detached from them so as not to be detached from

God.

  

            The sense of direction and the skill of maintaining the

proper continuity during the day amid different and disparate tasks

and activities should also be developed. Indeed, some self-discipline

is needed here since we tend to get lost along the way and would just

end up reacting in a superficial way to things on hand at a given

moment. We often lose the over-all picture of things.

   

            It’s indeed good that we develop what may be called as a

“plan of life” consisting of different acts of piety during the day,

weeks, months and years, so that we can manage to be with Christ amid

the changing circumstances and situations.

Abolish the priesthood?

SOMEONE sent me an article that was proposing for the

abolition of the priesthood. The reason behind are the many clerical

scandals that have been plaguing the Church for years now, mostly in

the US and other countries but also—at least a few cases—in the local

scene.

  

            Of course, my immediate reaction was that while it is

unfortunate to hear about these scandals, abolishing the priesthood is

not the solution at all to the problem. Rather, it will make things

worse.

              And that is because abolishing the priesthood is

practically like abolishing the Church, or worse, abolishing Christ in

our life, since the priest, in spite of his unworthiness, is the

sacramental representation of Christ, head of the Church.

  

            Abolishing the priesthood is like throwing the baby

together with the bath water. Yes, we have to do something about what

is wrong in these scandals. It may be a long, painful process, but it

is all worthwhile. But what we cannot do is to abolish the priesthood.

              The priest, of course, should be constantly aware of his

sacramental identity and try his best to live up to that dignity. He

should be keenly aware that with his ordination he is conformed to

Christ as head of the Church, and not just a member of the Church

capable of participating in the one sacrifice of Christ to his Father

for our salvation.

  

            His priesthood, which is called ministerial or

hierarchical, is different from the common priesthood of the lay

faithful of the Church that is based on his baptismal status, not only

in degree but in essence. The priest acts “in persona Christi

capitis,” in the person of Christ as head of the Church.

             As such, he renews in the whole course of time till the

end the very sacrifice of Christ, and everything else that is oriented

to that sacrifice of Christ. He makes present the whole redemptive

work of Christ.

  

            The lay faithful who have the common priesthood do not

have the power to renew this sacrifice. What their priesthood empowers

them is to offer their whole life as a sacrifice to God, doing so by

uniting their sacrifice with the sacrifice of Christ as renewed in the

Mass that is celebrated by the priest.

            Of course, human as we are, the priest will always have

his own share of shortcomings, weaknesses, and yes, sin. This should

not surprise anyone. Even Christ was not spared of Judas, one of his

original apostles. But like anybody else, and in a sense, even more

than anybody else, the priest should really take extreme care of his

spiritual life.

  

            The priest should be keenly aware that the lay faithful

depend on them. How he is somehow determines how the lay faithful will

be. If he is faithful to his identity as another Christ head of the

Church, then the lay faithful will also most likely be like Christ as

they should.

   

            But such state of affairs should not make the priest feel

superior to the lay faithful, but rather should keenly feel the duty

to serve them, as Christ loved and served all of us by offering his

life on the cross. Like Christ, he should have the attitude of wanting

to serve and not to be served. (cfr. Mt 20,28)

  

            He should never feel privileged, assuming the mentality of

entitlement or falling into the anomaly called clericalism. Rather he

has to assume the mind of Christ, a servant and a willing sacrificial

lamb for all of us.

   

            He has to continually wage a personal spiritual struggle

to keep his priestly identity intact. For this, he has to continually

purify himself and renew his dedication frequently.

   

            Of course, it would be most helpful if the lay faithful

will also help in making the priest a priest through and through,

totally living out his sacramental identity as Christ head of the

Church.

Without preconditions and ulterior motives

OUR dedication and fidelity to whatever vocation or

commitment of love that we may have, be it in single blessedness or in

marriage, in priesthood or in lay life, should be so pure and

completely gratuitous that we would pursue and develop it without

preconditions and ulterior motives.

            This is what is proper to us as shown in the life of the

very pattern of our humanity and the savior of our damaged humanity,

Jesus Christ himself. He gave himself completely to us in total

obedience to the will of his Father.

            Like him, we should just give our all, in spite of the ups

and downs, the routine and surprises of our life. We should not count

the cost, nor make preconditions and keep some ulterior motives.

            We should be willing to give up everything to be faithful

to our vocation. Remember Christ saying, “Whoever does not bear his

own cross and come after me, cannot be my disciple…whoever of you who

does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.” (Lk

14,27.33)

            But given the way we usually are, i.e., since we are

always prone to count the cost, put preconditions and keep ulterior

motive, we really would need to continually purify and renew our

dedication and fidelity to our vocation. We have to be realistic about

this fact of life. We have to learn to give up things for the sake of

our commitments.

            Such dedication and fidelity can only show the

authenticity of our commitment of love, and of our faith and trust in

God and in his providence. Whatever happens, even in the grip of great

suffering and death, we simply should just stick to what we promised

to God and to the others.

            Again, let’s remember what Christ said about abandoning

ourselves in his hands when confronted with great difficulties and

trials. “Consider the lilies how they grow. They toil not, they spin

not, and yet I say unto you that Solomon in all his glory was not

arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothe the grass, which is

today in the field, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, how much more

will he clothe you…?” (Lk 12,27-28)

            We know that God will take care of everything. What we

cannot complete in spite of our efforts, he will complete. What we

cannot perfect, he will perfect it. This conviction should always be

with us.

            And by doing so, we would be invincibly convinced that we

are doing right. The ideal situation is that there would be no doubt

or hesitation in giving ourselves completely to God and the others.

Let’s leave behind any preconditions we may have in mind in dedicating

ourselves to our vocation.

            This, obviously, will require some training. We have to

aim at having the proper understanding and attitude of what a

commitment of love is. Let always remember that it is God who takes

the initiative to call. He is the one who gives the vocation. And he

takes care of everything.

            Ours is simply to correspond. This correspondence should

be based on God’s love as shown to us by Christ himself. We really

have no reason to doubt our vocation and commitments, as long as we

always refer them to God. And from there, we have to develop the

relevant virtues and skills.

            Yes, we should always have in our mind the example of

Christ’s fidelity and dedication to his mission. Our understanding of

dedication and fidelity that is short of its requirement to be

identified with Christ would not go far. It would just be creating a

bubble, a false concept of fidelity that would burst in a matter of

time.

            We have to purify our motives in dedicating ourselves to

our vocation. Love, the love of God should completely inspire us in

our dedication and fidelity. In that way, we can truly be fruitful and

at the same time enjoy peace and joy in spite of the difficulties and

sacrifices involved.

Always develop a sense of vocation

WE should all be concerned about this matter. We need to

develop a sense of vocation, for the simple reason that everyone has a

vocation. We come from God and we belong to him. He always calls us to

himself and offers us a way to go to him.

            The way to go to him, peculiar to each one of us given our

different situations in life and God’s specific plan for us, is the

vocation God gives us. We therefore should try to discover that

vocation as early as possible and correspond to it as fully as

possible also.

            To be sure, no one comes to existence by mere accident nor

by pure chance and divine caprice. God does not create us at random.

Even a person who is considered unwanted by his parents or is

conceived through rape is already a person planned and loved by God

from all eternity. This is a fundamental truth about ourselves that we

should never take for granted.

            Thus, we should try to develop this sense of vocation as

early as possible. And this can mean as early as when one is still a

child, already beginning to be aware of what and who he or she is.

This normally should start in the family, with the parents playing a

major role in this affair since they are our first teachers here on

earth.

            The parents should be quick in sowing the seeds of this

sense of vocation by making the child aware that he or she just did

not come from them but from God. And that he or she also belongs to

God. This basic truth should always be reinforced all throughout the

process of bringing up and educating the child.

            The parents should therefore plant the rudiments of piety

in their children, mainly through their example and with them doing

the appropriate catechesis. Their children should see them praying and

having a special and pious regard to God. When the children see the

love between them and feel their parents’ love for them, then the

children will find it easy to relate themselves with God in faith and

love.

            This is a big challenge for the parents nowadays since,

with so many fascinating developments around, the children can easily

fall into self-absorption and self-indulgence. The parents should be

ready to handle this danger very well. They should come out with

appropriate plans and means to help their children become God-centered

instead of self-centered.

            Only in this atmosphere of piety should the topic of

vocation be brought up directly with the children, explaining the why

and wherefore of it. The children should be made aware that God has a

particular vocation for them and that they have the duty to discover

it. Of course, this has to be done in a gradual way, without putting

pressure on the children.

            At a certain point, the parents should start explaining to

the children the different kinds of vocation, showing to them the

different conditions involved and the different requirements needed of

each kind. While parents can make suggestions as to what vocation is

most likely fit for their children, they should refrain from

pressuring their children in the choice of vocation.

            Parents should also see to it that this sense of vocation

is reinforced in the schools their children go to. And they have to be

quick to react when certain elements can tend to undermine this sense

of vocation. Nowadays, there are many of these things that can

undermine this sense of vocation. And so while always respectful of

the privacy of their children, they should always be watchful of their

children’s affairs.

            Perhaps, parents should first be given the appropriate

formation to carry out this delicate duty they have toward their

children.

A tribute to a saint

JUNE 26 is the feast of St. Josemaria Escriva who was

raised to the altar by Pope, now St., John Paul II in 2002. In his

prayer card, he is said to have been chosen by God, granting him

countless graces, to found Opus Dei, a way of sanctification in daily

work and in the fulfillment of the Christian’s ordinary duties.

            The first time I met Opus Dei, I did not know it was Opus

Dei I was getting into, and much less was I aware of the role of St.

Josemaria in it. I was only 17 then, studying in De La Salle College

Manila when the school was still an exclusive boys school.

            I had no intention of becoming a specially spiritual

person engaged in the spiritual affairs of people, and much less, a

priest. A true-blooded ‘provinciano,’ I was excited with the idea that

I was given a chance to study in Manila because of a scholarship grant

and all I had in mind was to conquer Manila and perhaps the world

later.

            I remember that in grade school back in the province

(Bohol), the nuns were always running after me to enter the seminary.

When I graduated from there, I asked my father if I could enter the

seminary. The answer was a flat no. And that was for me at that time

the end of any possibility to enter the seminary. I was not interested

anymore in becoming a priest. I was focused on more mundane goals.

            In high school, still in the province, the priests running

the school also ran after me, egging me to join them. I did not give

them any attention at all. I was focused on my academic pursuits and

my worldly goals. In college, this time in Manila, the religious

brothers again tried to invite me to be like them. No way, I said.

            But a college classmate of mine one day invited me to a

place that later on I realized was a center of Opus Dei. I remember

that day well. When I entered the place, I felt differently. I was

impressed by the cleanliness and the orderliness of the place.

            More than that, I was struck by the warmth of the people

there whom I found to be very nice and friendly in a natural way. At

that time, I was kind of aware of being able to discern whether one’s

niceness and friendliness is genuine or fake. It was my way of

protecting myself in a big city where the good and the bad can look

the same.

            I remember that I spontaneously asked the people there how

I can be part of that place. And they just told me to come around as

often as I wanted. And I was happy with that invitation because at

that time, I could not study in my boarding house. My boardmates began

to study, if at all, only after midnight, after a session of monkeying

around and drinking.

            So I frequented the place and got to know more about Opus

Dei and its founder. Little by little, it dawned on me that I was

meant for something else in my life. And when they told me to consider

the possibility of a vocation, one in which I had to give myself

totally in apostolic celibacy, I don’t know what happened but I just

said yes. I did not anymore consult my father or anyone else. I was

quite sure of what I said.

            What made me say, yes? No, it was not the cleanliness and

orderliness of the place, nor the niceness and friendliness of the

people, though they surely helped. It was what I learned from St.

Josemaria who taught about sanctification of my daily work and my full

responsibility over my Christian’s ordinary duties. I was so drawn to

that teaching I was willing to change my plans drastically. That’s how

I met Christ!

Sure-fire formula for true joy

CHRIST has told us about this formula. Let’s closely

follow the kind of equation he presented to achieve this true and

complete joy. “As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in

my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just

I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have

told you this so that my joy might be in you and your joy might be

complete.” (Jn 15,9-11)

            In other words, joy can only be an effect of love. And the

true, complete joy, not the fake, shallow and deceptive one, can only

come from a genuine love that in its turn can only come from Christ.

As he said, “My joy might be in you and your joy might be complete.”

            This genuine love that produces the true joy is a matter

of keeping the commandments of God, both the old and the new, as kept

and lived very faithfully by Christ and as Christ himself gives it to

us. Let us not be deceived by another source of joy. It can only be

fake and harmful in the end.

            How can we describe this true, complete joy? To be sure,

it is not something confined exclusively to what is sensibly pleasant

and sweet, emotionally uplifting and exhilarating or intellectually

stimulating. It is not just a matter of sentiments. It is not just a

fair-weather type of joy.

            It is a joy that covers all the possible situations that

we can be in, including what are opposed to what is sensibly pleasant,

emotionally uplifting, etc. It can thrive even in the harshest of our

human condition.

            It is a joy that while it can be felt sensibly,

emotionally, intellectually, is first of all spiritual and

supernatural. It is a gift from God that while freely given needs to

be merited by us precisely by keeping the commandments of God.

            We need to make the pertinent adjustments in our

understanding of the nature, character and source of joy. It should

not just be a function of material and temporal factors. We should not

rely on these factors which, unfortunately, many people today consider

as the main causes for joy.

            True joy has to be understood from the point of view of

our Christian faith. It has to be pursued and developed by our active

relationship with Christ, always activating our faith and making our

faith the main guide in our reactions to things and in our general

behavior.

            Joy should be a constant and permanent feature in our

life. Yes, it has to be worked on, but as long as our life in general

is inspired by faith, this true joy that Christ gives us will always

be with us.

            We need to outgrow our tendency to understand joy in

merely human, natural, material and temporal terms. Toward this end,

we have to closely follow the example of Christ who was willing to

suffer and die for our sins. Yes, it is a joy that is compatible with

pain and suffering, with ‘blood, sweat and tears.’ It is a joy that

will always give us peace and a sense of confidence even in the midst

of trials and difficulties.

            We have to actively spread this good news about true joy,

and help teach everyone how to be truly united and identified with

Christ so as to attain this joy. Let’s remember this sure-fire formula

of joy.

            Let’s hope that we can create a culture and an environment

that is marked by this kind of joy, so that in every corner of the

world, where man is found, this joy can be seen irrespective of the

circumstances of anyone’s condition. It should be such that joy

becomes a living and active feature in the world, always capable of

spreading more and more widely.

Our amazing creativity

MUSIC hath charm, they say. And its charm is so

indescribable it defies reason and rhyme. It can mesmerize us and can

bring us to places, moments and conditions that are way beyond what

our imagination can provide. It can take us into flights to fantasy

land or to heaven itself. And to think that it is at bottom composed

only of a few basic musical notes!

            It’s truly amazing that with just a few notes, we can

create a practically infinite number of beautiful songs and music,

bringing us to a borderless range of feelings and all kinds of

considerations! The possible combinations of those notes to produce

music are simply numberless.

            In the same way, it’s indeed also amazing that with only

26 letters in our alphabet we can produce all kinds of words and ideas

that can bring us to all kinds of situations, and even to the very

doorstep of eternity itself!

            Of course, we know that due to the fact that we are not by

nature simply material and biological but also and more importantly,

spiritual, we have the power to transcend the limitations of the

material things we use. We have the capacity for creativity,

productivity and fruitfulness. We can bring these material things to

another dimension.

            It’s good that we give due attention to this fact of life

and be left deeply grateful for this reality. Let us be thankful to

God, since it is actually he who shares his creativity with us, since

we are his image and likeness. Let us be aware of the many

possibilities that it provides and that we can take advantage of. In

fact, we are supposed to be responsible of taking advantage of these

possibilities.

            And let’s be reminded also that given the way we are, or

given the way God has made us, we are empowered to actually make use

of small things to accomplish great things, even things that are

actually beyond our human capacity to attain. Together with God’s

grace, even the small things we do, give or contribute in any endeavor

can acquire an eternal and supernatural value.

            Remember those gospel episodes of the miraculous catch of

fish (cfr. Lk 5,1-11) and the multiplication of the loaves. (cfr. Jn

6,1-14) The common lesson that we can learn from there is that as long

as we do or give the little that we can at the instance of God’s will,

great things can happen and what we gain is a lot more than what we

give and what we can imagine.

            Our creativity, productivity and fruitfulness are truly a

participation in the creative power of God. This is a truth of faith

that we should not forget. In fact, we should remember it because it

can greatly motivate us to be as generous as we can be, even if we can

only do, give or contribute a little.

            Christ has assured us that we can accomplish many big

things in spite of the meager ‘investment’ we put into following God’s

will. “Well done, good servant, since you have been faithful in very

little thing, you are to be in authority over ten cities,” he once

said. (Lk 19,17)

            In another occasion, he told his disciples, “Very truly I

tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing,

and they will do even greater things than these…You may ask me for

anything in my name, and I will do it.” (Jn 14,12-14)

            Let’s take comfort from these very reassuring words of

Christ. Let’s not be bothered by our limitations and by the little

things that we can only manage to do and to give. As long as

everything is done to give glory to God, it will always be creative,

productive and fruitful, even if in human standards it may appear to

have little or no effect at all.

Our need for regular cutting and pruning

“I AM the vine, you are the branches.” Christ addressed

these words to his disciples who now include us. They spell out how

our relationship with Christ is. We are actually nothing without him.

We need to be with him if we want to be what he wants us to be and

what we ought to be. May it be that we always would feel the need to

be united with Christ and always do something about it.

            Earlier, he said: “I am the true vine, and my Father is

the vine grower. He takes away every branch in me that does not bear

fruit, and everyone that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit.”

(cfr. Jn 15,1-8)

            It’s worthwhile to take note of the cutting of branches

that do not bear fruit, and the pruning that God does on the branches

that bear fruit. While it is God who does these cutting and pruning,

we actually also have a part to play in those acts. We need to do some

cutting and pruning in ourselves to do away with useless things and to

trigger more fruitfulness in our things that are already bearing

fruit.

            And we need to realize that these cutting and pruning

should be a regular thing to do, since it is undeniable that there are

things in us that would simply cease to bear fruit and therefore

should be cut away, and things that can still be more fruitful if we

would just prune them to remove the outdated and ineffective style and

practices and give way to new and updated styles and practices attuned

to the current circumstances.

            Of course, we just have to make sure that we don’t cut

what we are supposed to prune only, and vice-versa. Thus, it is

important that we be discerning in distinguishing between what is

essential and non-essential in our spiritual life, between what is of

absolute and permanent value and what simply has a relative and

passing value.

            This can mean that there are certain old things that we

have been keeping and practicing for years that we now may have to

discard since they have become irrelevant and ineffective, and other

old things that we still need to keep since they are always necessary,

irrespective of the changing circumstances.

            To be discerning in this matter would certainly require a

lot of prudence that in turn requires study, consultation,

experimentation, etc. We really need to be patient in going through

this process, but that, to be sure, would be all worthwhile. Let’s

hope that we do not get daunted by the effort it requires.

            Especially these days, when there are so many and rapid

developments, we really need to go through this business of cutting

and pruning if only to make us adapted to the changing environments.

Otherwise we would be left behind, failing to evolve with the world in

general. Of course, we have to understand evolution here as a

homogeneous one, not a heterogeneous one where we cease to be human

and Christian.

            While it is true that according to the Book of

Ecclesiastes, nothing is new under the sun since God in the end is in

control of everything (cfr. 1,9), things in life go through endless

variations that would always give us the sensation that we are always

confronted with new things.

            We cannot deny that in our digital world today, there are

many moral and ethical issues that need to be resolved yet, and we

just cannot blindly apply the laws, standards and criteria of

yesteryears to what are taking place these days. At the very least,

they need to be fine-tuned, or to be more nuanced to capture what the

Holy Spirit is telling us about what to do with these issues brought

about by the new developments.

            The cutting and the pruning should be under the guidance

of God and carried out as a common effort of everyone, according to

each one’s expertise.

End the day with a smile

THIS, of course, is the best way to end the day. Whatever

the drama during the day, we can afford to smile and be at peace in

our sleep as long as we reconcile ourselves with Christ. Yes, that is

what really matters.

            We may still have a lot of unsolved problems and issues,

challenges still to be faced, or have committed sins and suffered

failures, but as long as we go back to God at the end, we would just

be fine.

            We can manage to have a smile on our face as we sleep,

because God will take care of everything. What we cannot do, or worse,

what we have transgressed, will just be taken care of by God himself.

He is all too willing to complete what he started with us, to perfect

what we cannot perfect, to make right what we have wronged, and to

forgive us.

            Remember Christ saying, “If they sin against you seven

times in a day and seven times come back to you saying, ‘I repent,’

you must forgive them.” (Lk 17,4) If he teaches us that, it is because

he himself does and lives it in the first place.

            Thus, a psalm reassures us that God’s mercy is for always.

“For the Lord is good, his mercy is forever…” (101,1) And in the

gospel of St. John we also read, “God did not send his Son into the

world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (3,17)

            Besides, Christ himself reassured us saying, “In this

world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the

world.” (Jn 16,33) And in another occasion, he said, “Come to me, all

you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke

upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and

you will find rest for your souls.” (Mt 11,28-30)

            Of course, we should not abuse God’s goodness, even if at

the back of our mind we know that one day we will fall again. We

should just go back to God. In this, we should not hesitate to do. We

should never be afraid to go back to him. He is our Father who loves

us to madness and is even willing to suffer for us as shown in the

life and death of Christ.

            It is important that we manage to end our day with joy and

peace so that we can live our life better and be more effective in our

work and duties, especially our spiritual and apostolic

responsibilities. To be sure, we can do and accomplish a lot when we

are happy and serene.

            Being happy and serene helps us greatly in our spiritual

and moral health, and even in our physical health. It makes us more

open to everyone and to everything, and more able to properly handle

the different situations in our life. When we are happy and serene, we

tend to simplify things and to avoid being ensnared by the many false

allurements and temptations around.

            Obviously, we have to do certain things to achieve this

state of mind. We have to know how to rectify our intentions, how to

make a good examination of conscience at day’s end which should be

concluded with an act of contrition and reconciliation with God. We

also need to develop a spirit of abandonment in the hands of God,

knowing how to let go of certain things and to move on.

            Yes, we have to learn to pray, putting ourselves always in

the presence of God especially when we are alone and tired because

that’s when we are most weak and vulnerable to temptations and when we

tend to see and understand things improperly.

Be welcoming to our differences and conflicts

YES, instead of being afraid, irritated and stressed out

whenever we have differences and conflicts with others, let’s be

welcoming to them and take advantage of them. A lot of good can

actually be derived from them, even if we are not exempted from being

pained and mortified by them.

            Our differences and conflicts, which by the way are

unavoidable in our life, can actually occasion genuine love and many

other virtues to develop and grow. They can purify us, smoothing out

the rough edges of our personality, and fine-tuning our views,

opinions and preferences.

            They can give rise to the development of patience and

compassion, and the pursuit for the truth and justice is guaranteed to

be more authentic even if it is also arduous.

            They can actually expand our world of knowledge and

understanding, and trigger the dynamics of a more meaningful unity

among ourselves, not in spite of but rather because of our differences

and conflicts. The unity we are speaking of here is not uniformity,

but one that is richly nuanced and capable of accommodating everyone.

            Most importantly, they can give a tremendous growth in our

spiritual life, freeing us from being at the mercy of our personal,

earthly and temporal conditions. They contribute greatly in our effort

to make ourselves more and more like Christ who is the pattern of our

humanity and the savior of our damaged humanity.

            Our differences and conflicts are a fact of life. They can

spring from all kinds of sources—temperament, culture, socio-economic

and political status. There are racial and religious differences, etc.

            These differences and conflicts must be part of our human

condition and are an integral element in the providence of God over

all of us. As such, they are part of our life. We just have to learn

to live with them and try our best to use them according to God’s

providence. The general pattern of how to live and make use of them is

given to us by Christ himself who had to go through the most extreme

kind of difficulty and conflict.

            There is no use attempting to quash them altogether. We

may sort them out to simplify things a bit, but we should never think

that there will come a time when there will be no differences and

conflicts among ourselves. Instead, what we have to do is to refer

them to Christ to have an idea of how to handle them.

            This does not mean, of course, that there are no good and

bad things, no right and wrong, no fair and unfair situations. This

does not mean that within these categories, there are no varying

degrees of good and bad, right and wrong. This does not mean that we

should just be indifferent to these differences and conflicts if only

to achieve a semblance of unity and harmony.

            We have to proclaim, in season and out of season, what is

true, good and beautiful as defined for us by our faith, by Christ

himself, but we should not respond with anger, hatred, violence to

anything that may differ or contradict what our faith teaches, what

Christ has shown us. And so, like Christ, we have to expect to suffer

and even die for what our faith tells us about how to handle our

differences and conflicts.

            Let us remember what the Letter to the Hebrews tells: “For

this world is not our permanent home. We are looking forward to a home

yet to come.” (13,14) We should not be afraid to appear defeated and

to have lost in this world as long as we gain the permanent and

eternal home meant for us in heaven. (cfr. Mk 8,36)

            We have to acknowledge the reality of these differences

and conflicts all the way to their most extreme degrees. But they

should not make us think that it would be better that there be no such

differences and conflicts.

The curse of the gifted

LET’S be warned about this common and abidingly proximate

danger. God has given us tremendous gifts. He has made us image and

likeness of his. And so, he has given us intelligence and will,

talents and skills, and so many other endowments that we even fail to

realize.

            We always have to remember that with these gifts we are

meant to live our life with God, knowing, loving and giving him glory.

Also with these gifts, we are meant to love everybody else,

irrespective of how they are.

            We have to be most wary of our tendency to use these gifts

solely for our own purposes and interests. In other words, there’s

always the danger of using them for self-indulgence alone, instead of

giving glory to God and loving and serving others.

            This sad reality is quite rampant today as it was since

time immemorial. We cannot deny that we see many men and women who are

highly gifted with intelligence, talents, beauty, good health,

resources, power, fame, but who are simply indulging themselves with

these gifts.

            Instead of glorifying and thanking God for these gifts,

and using them to serve the others, they just enjoy themselves with

what they have. It is like they are stealing and making as their own

what actually belong to God and to the others.

            And this reality can be so self-deceiving that we hardly

would notice that we are already falling into the trap of pride,

vanity, arrogance, vainglory and the like. The charm of these gifts

can be so intoxicating that we hardly realize that we are already

splurging into some kind of sweet poison.

            This is when we can have what we may call as the curse of

the gifted, a condition of life where this anomaly becomes invincibly

embedded. What makes things worse is that precisely because of these

gifts and endowments, we can be so very clever and smart that we can

easily hide the anomalies and even mask them as something good.

            We should be constantly aware of from whom our gifts and

other endowments come, and for whom they are. For this to happen, we

have to remind ourselves of who we really are. We are not our own

creator and therefore we neither are our own creature. God is our

Creator and we are his creatures.

            Everything we have comes from him and rightly belongs to

him. We have to live our life always with God at the start, middle and

end of everything. And as a corollary, we have to live our life with

our duty to love and serve the others always in mind. We have to live

by this basic truth always.

            It would certainly require us to be humble to acknowledge

this basic truth and to start living in accordance to it. We have to

vigorously fight against our tendency to be proud and conceited that

would effectively blind us from this truth.

            In this regard, we really would need God’s grace and our

all-effort since we have to contend with tremendous enemies. The world

culture, for one, is now dominated by the evil spirit of pride and all

forms of self-glorification.

            And so, whenever we are aware of the gifts and endowments

given to us by God, especially the very special and uncommon ones, we

should not be too happy and too eager to use them unless we refer them

first to God, thanking him and asking him as to how we ought to use

them.

            We have to consider first the intention we have with

respect to these gifts. We just cannot embark on some projects and

adventure motivated only by our own purposes and interests. Such

attitude can only bring us to disaster, even if we manage, at least

for a time, to show some signs of success.

Never compromise charity

PREFER to suffer rather than compromise charity. That

should be our attitude every time we find ourselves in some heated

discussion, debate or argument, especially in matters that are open to

opinion. You can be sure you would be resembling yourselves more with

Christ than with anybody else.

            Christ preferred to suffer and eventually die rather than

defend himself or insist on the correctness of his teachings and his

actuations. He knew that man, who has been created in the image and

likeness of God, would eventually stray from the right path and would

just have to be dealt with charity. That is how man would be saved

from his—our—earthly predicament.

            Let’s remember that we are all sinners. (cfr. 1 Jn 1,8)

This predicament started even with our first parents who, in spite of

being created in the state of original justice, managed to sin. God

knows this very well, but this does not diminish his love and concern

for us. In fact, this predicament makes God to love us more by sending

his son who became man to bear all our sins and save us.

            Christ did not come to condemn us but rather to save us.

(cfr. Jn 3,17) And so he just absorbed all the mockeries, insults, the

scourging and crowning with thorns, and eventually the crucifixion.

            This is how St. Peter described the reaction of Christ in

those moments of trials: “When they hurled their insults at him he did

not retaliate. When he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he

entrusted himself to him who judges justly.” (1 Pt 2,23)

            We should just try our best, with God’s grace, to imitate

this kind of reaction in our differences and conflicts with others,

especially in matters that are open to opinion, like in our political

preferences.

            There is no need to be adamant in our views and opinions,

because no matter how strongly we feel about our thinking, we do not

have the exclusive possession of what is right and wrong, what is fair

and unfair. Even those who we are sure to be wrong in their views,

have some valid reasons for their opinions.

            Let’s never forget that in the life of Christ, even those

who betrayed him and persecuted him till death, had a role to play in

the providence of God. We can cite the example of Caiaphas, the high

priest at that time, who according to the gospel prophesized that it

was better for one man to die than for the whole Jewish nation to

perish. (cfr. Jn 11,50)

            Thus, in our effort to uphold what we think is right over

wrong, what is true over the untrue, what is fair over the unfair, let

us never fall into what is called as bitter zeal that would compromise

charity that is essential in our life.

            Yes, we can be forceful in promoting and defending our

views, but let’s never forget that in doing so, it is never licit nor

moral for us to fall into any act that goes against charity.

            This is obviously not easy to do, given our wounded

condition. That is why we have to wage a continuing struggle to

identify ourselves more and more with Christ, asking for grace,

developing the proper attitudes, virtues and skills, and learning to

make many self-denials as Christ himself encouraged us to do.

            We should be ready to suffer and to experience what is

considered as loss and defeat in human terms. Christ also ‘failed’

when he was made to die on the cross, but he resurrected and won for

us what is most important in our life.

            We should not be easily deceived by the momentary earthly

and temporal perks that can compromise our eternal salvation. We have

to learn to be sport and always constructive in our reactions.

Let’s always be friendly

WE should try our best to be friendly always with

everyone. Irrespective of how they are—and this can include those who

in our human standards we consider to be unlikable, or who have done

us wrong, or who are even hostile to us—we should just try our best to

be friendly with them.

            And the reason is because that is what Christ commanded to

do. “Love your neighbor as I have loved you,” he said, and we know

that his love covered everyone, including the enemies. His love has a

universal scope. Even in his passion and death, he managed to offer

forgiveness to those who crucified him.

            Of course, the ultimate basis for this Christian duty is

that regardless of our differences and even our conflicts, we are all

brothers and sisters. We form one family, we all come from the same

source and are meant to have a common end. We therefore are meant to

care for one another, to be responsible for one another.

            We have to develop the appropriate skills to carry out

this duty. We have to start with the most elementary requirement of

always being nice to everyone. In this regard, we have to overcome the

usual differences we have in our human condition. We have to be

pro-active in this regard, not waiting for the others to merit our

friendship. We should try to live out what St. Paul once said: “To be

all things to all men…”

            That is why we need to strengthen our will to carry out

this duty. We should not just depend on some favorable conditions

before we start to be friendly. We should not be friendly only to

those who are nice to us or to those who please us in some way. We

have to train ourselves to be indiscriminate in our friendliness even

as we also train ourselves to be discriminating in our dealings with

everyone.

            Gestures of affections, no matter how small and

insignificant, always count. Our friendship should be not only

intentional and theoretical. It should be tangible, seen and felt.

Smiling, greeting, engaging in some small talk go a long way to start

and keep our friendships going. We have to learn the many social

skills of always being warm and welcoming of everyone.

            Of course, this is easier said than done. Thus, we really

need to train ourselves, using both the supernatural and human means,

the spiritual and the material means. This may strike as something

awkward to do at the beginning, but then if we try again to consider

the necessity of such training, such awkwardness will disappear.

            Everyday we have to train ourselves to develop a keen

interest in the others, especially in those cases where due to some

natural and human reasons no big interest can be felt at the

beginning. This is the challenge we have to face everyday. But once we

manage to do this, we would be on the way to becoming friendly to

everyone irrespective of how they are.

            We may have to force ourselves to be interested in knowing

more and more about the others, even ‘wasting’ time with them since

friendship will also require a lot of time. We should see to it that

we just don’t give some cursory attention to them. Our attention to

them should be full. We have to make every effort to be directly in

touch with them, and not simply relying on technological

communication.

            Obviously, for friendship to blossom we really have to

pray and to offer sacrifices for the others. We should be willing to

be patient with them, especially if for one reason or another we are

made to suffer in some way in the process.

            Yes, we need the grace of God to learn how to be friendly

always with everyone.

Gospel-reading

WE should try our best to develop the habit of reading and

meditating on the gospel regularly, if not daily. It is the living

word of God, the record of Christ’s life and teachings meant to effect

in us our transformation into ‘another Christ,’ Christ who is the

pattern of our humanity and the savior of our damaged humanity.

            The gospel is not just a historical book nor is it only

some literary piece for our cultural enrichment. It is what the Letter

to the Hebrews describes as: “The word of God, alive and active,

sharper than any double-edged sword. It penetrates even to dividing

soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and

attitude of the heart.” (4,12)

            We have to have the proper disposition when reading and

meditating on it. We have to approach it with faith and piety,

convinced that everything that is said there, though historically and

culturally conditioned, has a transcendent quality that makes it

relevant to us at all times.

            Actually reading and meditating on the gospel or the whole

Sacred Scripture is like having an encounter with God, with Christ.

St. Jerome, one of the Fathers of the Church, expressed this truth

beautifully when he said: “Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of

Christ.” He also said: “When we pray, we speak to God. But when we

read, God speaks to us.”

            We have to understand then that gospel-reading is very

important in our lives. It should be given priority over any other

readings we may have, since it is what would guide us and give us the

proper perspective within which to consider all our other readings.

            It might be good to remit here the text of the Vatican II

document, Dei verbum (11 & 12), that explains or describes the

inspired character of the Bible, particularly the gospel, and how we

should interpret it.

            “Those divinely revealed realities which are contained and

presented in Sacred Scripture have been committed to writing under the

inspiration of the Holy Spirit. For holy mother Church, relying on the

belief of the Apostles, holds that the books of both the Old and New

Testaments in their entirety, with all their parts, are sacred and

canonical because written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit,

they have God as their author and have been handed on as such to the

Church herself.

            “In composing the sacred books, God chose men and while

employed by Him they made use of their powers and abilities, so that

with Him acting in them and through them, they, as true authors,

consigned to writing everything and only those things which He

wanted…”

            As to how to interpret the Bible, the same document has

this to say: “Since God speaks in Sacred Scripture through men in

human fashion, the interpreter of Sacred Scripture, in order to see

clearly what God wanted to communicate to us, should carefully

investigate what meaning the sacred writers really intended, and what

God wanted to manifest by means of their words.”

            Given this description about the inspired character of the

Bible and about how it has to be interpreted, we cannot help but

realize that the reading the gospel, while using all technical means

to understand it properly, like examining the “literary forms” that

can be historical, prophetic, poetic, etc., will require us to pray,

to beg the Holy Spirit to enlighten us, etc.

            We have to fight against the usual dangers regarding

gospel-reading. This can be, first of all, laziness, treating it only

as a historical or literary or cultural work, lack of faith, etc.

Definitely, reading and meditating on the gospel will also require of

us a spirit of sacrifice, since it will demand effort and self-denial.

            It might be a good idea to promote this practice of

gospel-reading first of all in the family and in the schools. Children

should be trained in it as early as possible.