Always go to Christ

ESPECIALLY when we find ourselves in some difficult, if not impossible, situations, we should readily go to Christ to seek at least some relief. He always gives it, perhaps not in the form we want, but always in a way that would be beneficial to us. 

 This can be the lesson we can learn from that gospel episode where Christ went to St. Peter’s house where he was presented with Peter’s sick mother-in-law whom he readily cured. After that, all those in the neighborhood who had some sickness were brought to Christ for curing. And he did! (cfr. Lk 4,38-44) 

 We have to learn how to deal with the difficult and the impossible things in our life. Let’s remember that as long as we are here on earth, we have to contend with all sorts of difficulties, trials and temptations. 

 And as if these are not enough, we also have to contend with the truth of our faith that tells us that we are meant to pursue a supernatural goal that definitely cannot be achieved simply with our own human powers, no matter how excellent they are. 

 The secret is always to go and to be with God through Christ in the Holy Spirit who can make the impossible possible. In all our affairs and situations in life, we should always go to God to ask for his help and guidance, and to trust his ways and his providence, even if the outcome of our prayers and petitions appears unanswered, if not, contradicted. 

 This should be the attitude to have. It’s an attitude that can only indicate our unconditional faith and love for God who is always in control of things, and at the same time can also leave us in peace and joy even at the worst of the possibilities. 

 We just have to remember that Christ never abandons us and is, in fact, all ready and prompt to come to our aid, albeit in ways that we may not realize, at first, just like what happened in that story of the two disciples who were on their way to Emmaus. (cfr. Lk 24,13-25) 

 We should not allow our feelings of sadness to be so dominant and pervasive that we shut off Christ’s many and often mysterious ways of helping us. If we do not pose a deliberate impediment to Christ’s ways, there is always hope. In our darkest moments, some light will always come piercing and dispelling the darkness away. 

 In so many ways, Christ will remind us, as he did to the two disciples, about the meaning of all human suffering, and of how our suffering can be a way to our joy, to our fulfillment as a man and as a child of God. He will explain to us why we have suffering in this life and how we can take advantage of it to derive something good from it. 

 Our difficulties and problems, including our failures and sins, can be good occasions to get close to God and to draw his mercy and grace to keep us moving on with renewed spirit. 

 God is always with us. He continues to guide us all throughout our life. As creator and savior, he is actually shaping our life. Anything that happens in our life, including the negative ones, serves some purpose in God’s loving providence over us.

Beware of demonic assaults

THAT gospel episode where a demoniac approached Christ who was at that time preaching in the synagogue, asking him, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God!” clearly shows us that devils exist, but they can do no harm before the power of Christ. (cfr. Lk 4,31-37) 

 We should therefore not be too alarmed about this possibility of demonic possessions, cases of which seem to be increasing these days. But neither should we just sit pretty before this possibility. We have to be most wary of it, especially when we happen to enjoy a lot of privileges, power, fame, etc., that, unless referred to God and to our duty to love everyone, can only spoil us and make us vulnerable to the devil’s tricks. 

 We should never take the devils for granted. They are always around, ever scheming and plotting against us in many, many ways, and often in a manner that is so subtle that we may not even notice him. As St. Peter would put in his first letter: “Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.” (5,8) 

 We should never consider the devils as a myth, or as some kind of literary device only to highlight a point in the drama of our life. They are as real as you and me. Our problem is that we think lightly or, worse, falsely of them. And so we become completely unprepared to deal with their antics. 

 But in spite of that unfortunate fact of life, we should remember that the devils cannot do anything against us unless allowed by God. And if allowed, it is because God in his mysterious providence can always draw a greater good from any evil the devils may cause in us. 

 Just the same, we should always be guarded against them, especially when we happen to enjoy a lot of privileges in life. That’s because these privileges, like some power we may wield, if not referred to God and to our duty to love everyone, irrespective of how they are, can only spoil us and make us vulnerable to the antics of the devils. 

 These privileges have to be handled most delicately, with great humility. In other words, they always have to be related to God from whom all power and authority on earth comes. (cfr. Rom 13,1) They should be used always with God in mind and in heart. Otherwise, there is no way for them to go other than to be abused. Let’s remember that the only thing we are capable of doing without God is to sin. 

 Let’s never forget that when we are vested with power, with better endowments than those of others, we have to see to it that such privilege will always attract temptations of abusing it. It is like a magnet for temptations. Thus, we have to be prepared for this condition in our life. 

 To know how to exercise whatever power and authority we have according to God’s will and mind, all we have to do is to look at Christ, imitate him and unite ourselves to him. From him we can learn that precious lesson that whatever privileges and power we have are meant for us to serve and not to be served. This is how we can avoid demonic possession.

Let’s become another Christ

“Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Lk 4,21) With these words, Christ was identifying himself as the one the Jews had been expecting as their Redeemer. And the Jews could not believe him. “Is this not the son of Joseph?” they asked in disbelief. 

 We have to make sure that we truly acknowledge Christ as the Son of God who became man in order to save us. He is the Redeemer of all mankind. Not only that, he is the pattern of our humanity. We are supposed to be like him. In fact, we are meant to be “another Christ,” having the same identity as Christ which we can achieve, first, because of God’s grace, and then, of course, because also of our all-out free effort. 

 Everyday we have to see to it that we are becoming more and more like Christ because we share the same spirit of love and everything that is good that Christ has. In this regard, we should realize that our knowledge of God is always made alive, updated and renewed, and our eagerness to be like him burning. 

 Let’s hope that at the end of each day, as we make some kind of accounting of how the day went, which is what we should be doing, we can truly say that we are becoming like Christ because we are becoming more patient, more compassionate, more apostolic, more hopeful, etc., etc. This should be a never-ending exercise until God himself will take us to himself. 

 We have to be clear about this point. We are meant to assume the identity of Christ. And that is not a gratuitous, baseless assertion, much less, a fiction or a fantasy. It is founded on a fundamental truth of our faith that we have been created by God in his own image and likeness. 

 And this truth of faith has been vividly shown to us since it is acted out in the whole history and economy of salvation that culminated in Christ offering his life and his very own self as the Bread of Life so we can have the eternal life with him, and so that he and us can be one. 

 We have to arrive at that point where we can make St. Paul’s words as our own too: “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me.” (Gal 2,20) 

 We just have to learn to set aside whatever difficulty or awkwardness we may have in dealing with this basic truth of faith about ourselves. We have to try our best to know Christ and to adapt his very own mind and will, his own ways, behavior and reactions to whatever situation we may find ourselves in. 

 What is also clear is that Christ is actually already living with us. He is in us as the pattern and perfecter of our humanity, and the savior of our damaged humanity. We just have to learn to live with Christ. 

 He is never far or indifferent to us. Even in our miserable and wounded condition, he continues to be with us, showing us with greater solicitude. It’s rather us who tend to ignore and contradict him. We need to do something about this predicament of ours.

Be increasingly responsible

THAT gospel parable about the talents (cfr. Mt 25,14-30) should remind us that we have to be truly responsible in handling the many blessings, talents, endowments, resources, etc., God has given us. We should make them bear fruit and avoid wasting them by using them only for some form of self-indulgence. These blessings are meant to show and develop our love for God and for others. 

 Let’s remember that we are stewards of God’s vineyard here on earth. As such we have been given enough powers to undertake our work. We have intelligence and will, very powerful faculties that would enable us to do a great variety of things. 

 Just like the servants in the parable of the talents, we have been given by God, our master, enough talents and gifts for us to make use of. Let’s try our best to be like those servants who managed to trade with those talents and gained also as much. Let’s remember that with what God has given us, we are quite powerful! 

 Since God has made us stewards of our own life, we need to learn how to manage the many resources entrusted to us so that we can be fruitful and productive in this life. Let’s remember that God will always ask us to account for what he has given us. 

 Among these resources, our time occupies a prominent and crucial place and plays a strategic role. It has been said that time is very precious because once it has passed, it can never be recovered. Some saints have regarded time not only as a treasure but also as glory, depending on how it is used. 

 We have to be really good in managing our time, being clear about the proper motives, priorities and standards in the use of time. The motives should be none other than love of God and others. The priorities should always be God first, then others, then ourselves. 

 And the standards should be such that at the end of the day we can ‘harvest’ a good crop that at bottom is a matter of growth in sanctity and apostolic zeal. We should be clever enough that, though they have their objective value, we do not get too entangled with the technicalities involved. 

 In this regard, I suppose having daily plans and strategies would greatly help us. We always need some structure to guide us and facilitate things. This way we minimize getting distracted along the way. 

 We need to spell out as clearly as possible our goals, both the immediate and the long-term, as well as the means that we need. We have to know how to distinguish between what has absolute value to us and what only has relative value. 

 What we should avoid at all costs is to waste time when we find ourselves idle and not knowing what to do, and in the process inviting all sorts of temptations to feast on us. This is a common phenomenon that we have to learn to overcome. 

 We should always be on the move, promptly doing what ought to be done in any given moment. This can require us to be fit physically, mentally, emotionally, for which a certain time may be allotted to do the appropriate exercises in the different aspects of our life. 

 That’s why we really have to be good at planning and strategizing our day, so we can attend to this need without compromising the other more important activities, or without getting confused and eventually lost.

Preparedness and accountability

IF we have to learn a precious lesson from that beautiful parable about the 10 virgins (cfr. Mt 25,1-13), it could very well be that we should always be prepared to meet our Lord who can call us to himself anytime, and be ready to settle accounts with him who has given so many blessings, talents, resources, etc. 

 We have to realize that we need always to put ourselves in a state of preparedness which is mainly a matter of spiritual preparedness more than anything else. All other aspects of preparedness can only serve as a means or instrument for this ultimate state of spiritual preparedness that everyone should develop. 

 Spiritual preparedness is what integrates everything else that also requires some preparation. It is what brings us over the inevitable things in this life and world to reach our final destination. 

 Sad to say, hardly anyone talks about this. And if ever it’s taken up, it most likely will be handled by a priest in a strictly religious environment or some weirdo who makes it a hobby to talk about the end of times. 

 This should not be so. I feel that everyone should be not only aware of this necessity, but should also do whatever he can to help the others attain this state of spiritual preparedness. In short, everyone should take care of his spiritual preparedness and should do all to make this concern widely discussed. 

 For this purpose, we should infuse ourselves with the deep sense of accountability. We should all have an abiding concern for accounting everything that we are and that we have. We just cannot go on with our life as if we are not answerable to anybody, especially to God, from whom we all come and to whom we all belong. 

 This is an indispensable part of our life, an unrelinquishable duty to perform. Our problem is that many still are ignorant of this duty, and of those who already know about this, the tendency is to take it for granted or to do it badly or to avoid it if given the chance. 

 We need to find a way of instilling this duty in everyone, starting with our own selves and then encouraging others to do the same, in the context of the families, schools, parishes, offices, etc. 

 We always have to remember that what we are and what we have are not self-generated but are always given to us one way or another, if not by someone or by some other institution and authority, then by God ultimately. 

 Yes, we are always answerable to some people in varying ways and degrees. These people can be our parents, teachers, friends, neighbors, public officials, etc. In the end, we are all answerable to God who has given us everything, starting with our life and all the endowments that go with our life. 

 We need to smash the thought that what we are and what we have are just our own. That is a thinking that is completely false, that stands on no objective foundation. It needs to be corrected drastically and urgently. 

 We have to learn how to be accountable to God and to others. One concrete way of doing that is by making a daily examination of conscience before going to bed. This will allow us to see how we fared during the day, whether we were fruitful or not, and to make the necessary plans for the following day, so we be on track to our final destination.

Vigilant and productive

THAT’S what Christ urges us to be. (cfr. Mt 24,42-51) “Stay awake,” he said, “For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.” These words clearly are an appeal for us to be watchful, vigilant and on guard always. Later on, he said, “Who, then, is the faithful and prudent servant whom the master has put in charge of his household to distribute to them their food at the proper time?” These words can only imply that we have to productive and faithful to our duties. 

 To properly motivate us in this regard, let us always be clear about what the real purpose of our life is, for which we have to be vigilant and productive. We should avoid being lulled and trapped in the dynamic of our earthly concerns without relating them to our life’s ultimate goal. 

 We need to be vigilant always, in good times and in bad times, and most especially in ordinary times which we still would not know whether it would be good or bad. We should never let our guard down. 

 This is simply because we have enemies to contend with all the times. First of all, it is our own selves, our own weakened flesh that will always lure us to do things against God’s will and against what is truly good for us. 

 Then we have the world with all its sinful attractions and temptations. And, of course, the devil himself. Never discount him. He’s always around, prowling like a lion looking for someone to devour. (cfr 1 Pt 5,8) 

 In what may seem to be good times, when things are more or less ok, let us thank God and do our best to make use of all the blessings and good opportunities made available for us. 

 But let’s not forget that the good things can also occasion dangers for us if we are not careful. We should know where those dangers lie in the good things that we may enjoy at the moment. In that way, we avoid falling into complacency that will practically spoil us, and take away the goodness of the blessings we are enjoying. 

 And in what may seem to be bad times, let us never forget to look for the one good thing in those situations. There will always be one or two or even more good things on these occasions and turn them into the vehicles for our redemption. 

 Everyday, we should also be keenly aware that we need to be fruitful and productive. That’s simply because even from the beginning of our creation in Adam and Even, this has always been God’s will for us. 

 “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it,” (Gen 1,28) God told our first parents, clearly outlining his mandate to them. It’s a mandate that continues to be repeated up to now. Christ himself said as much. 

 In his parable of the three servants (cfr Mr 25,14-30), a master clearly told each one to trade with the amount given to them. He was happy with the first two who gained as much as was given. But he was mad at the third one who did nothing with the amount given. 

 We have to realize that God has already given us everything that we need, not only to survive but also to improve our lot that ultimately translates into realizing the fullness of our dignity as image and likeness of God, as children of his.

Sanctity vs. sanctimony

THAT series of “Woe-to-you’s” that Christ addressed to some of the leading Jews of his time (cfr. 23,27-32) should remind us that we have to learn the art of passing unnoticed while doing a lot of good. That way of acting can only mean that we are sincere in our pursuit for holiness and that our intentions are pure, not corrupted by some ulterior motives. 

 In all our thoughts, words and actuations, we should see to it that we feed our faith, that we are led to God, that in the end we manage to live true charity that includes all the other virtues. 

 We should do our best to avoid getting hijacked in the purely material or practical aspects of our life. We should imitate Christ in his discretion and restraint, in his art of passing unnoticed, in his effort to avoid grabbing unnecessary and dangerous attention from others, by seeing to it that our thoughts, words and deeds truly lead others to God, and not simply to us. 

 At best, we should simply be conductors to bring others to Christ. We should avoid making ourselves something like idols, objects of interest. The ideal situation would be that all who see and hear us should see and hear Christ, as he himself said it clearly to his apostles. Remember him telling his apostles, “He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me.” (Lk 10,16) 

 We have to learn to pass unnoticed while doing things that would lead others to Christ! That’s how genuine sanctity is, and not just any form of apparent and fake holiness that is proliferating in the world today. It may require heroism, but it is highly practicable, with God’s grace. It need not be lived and achieved in some extraordinary situations. It can be attained even in the very ordinary things of our daily life, but pursued in utmost heroism in following God’s will and ways. 

 In other words, it does not flaunt its performance and achievements. In fact, it likes to pass unnoticed. It’s never showy, although something in it will always attract the attention of those who have faith. Of course, it may turn off those who are hostile to the faith. 

 This is the sanctity that comes from Christ who, in spite of the many wonderful miracles he made, tried his best not to show off because of them. Rather, he preferred that people get attracted to him when he would already be on the cross, as testified by his words: “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” (Jn 12,32) 

 Genuine sanctity can never sit well with complacency, laziness, self-satisfaction, the attitude that we can say enough in our self-giving and the like. It will always demand more and more from us, and we correspond to that demand with utmost freedom and love, never feeling pressured or coerced to do so. 

 It is something done, developed and lived gratuitously, reflecting the very gratuitousness of the love of God for us. The dedication and devotion involved in sanctity is freely given, with no strings attached, even if we know that God will richly reward such self-giving. 

 Sanctimony is the opposite. It likes to show off its good works. It’s driven by self-righteousness, not the righteousness that comes from God!

God is attracted to the guileless

THAT amusing story about how Nathanael or St. Bartholomew became one of the apostles can only tell us that God is attracted to persons who are simple, childlike, without guile, and are so transparent that they are unashamed, like little children, to show their warts and other forms of human weakness. (cfr. Jn 1,45-51) 

 “Can anything good come from Nazareth?,” he retorted when told by Philip that they have found the one foretold by Moses. For that response, Christ who could read the minds of people, could not help but say, “Here is a true child of Israel. There is no duplicity in him.” 

 And it’s very interesting to note that this dubious quality of Nathanael must also have led him to quickly recognize Christ as the one foretold by Moses when Christ told him something. 

 Nathanael embodies the ordinary person who, in spite of warts and all, still has that basic, irreducible trait of exposing his heart, no matter how defective, to the truth. He does not run away nor hide from it. 

 He is truly a man with no guile, no pretensions, no need for covering. Except for the normal need for discretion and modesty, he is completely transparent. What you see is what you get. 

 More, he is willing and eager to know the truth, and to make the necessary changes and adjustments that such truth would require of him. He is humble enough to accept things as they are, never bending them to make the pieces fit his own ideas. Rather, the contrary. 

 That’s why you immediately feel good every time you meet such persons. They always exude such welcome and wholesome aura about themselves in spite of their imperfections. They contribute in making society more at peace and in harmony. 

 Children are such persons, though their being guileless is due to their innocence and lack of exposure to the world. When you see such quality in a person who is already exposed to the world, then you would really feel good. 

 Let’s remember and imitate St. Bartholomew in his simplicity of heart and sincerity. His story shows that before we look for the truth, it is God first, Truth himself, who looks for us. And we should just try to correspond as best that we can. 

 Once we find it, let’s earnestly engage ourselves to it, never playing around with it to serve our self-interest, but rather conforming ourselves steadily to its requirements. 

 This is when we can see more things, just as our Lord said: “Blessed are your eyes because they see…. For amen I say to you, many prophets and just men have desired to see the things you see, and have not seen them…” (Mt 13,16-17) 

 Otherwise, we would get our just deserts. Let’s remember St. Paul’s warning: “Because they receive not the love of the truth that they might be saved, God therefore shall send them the operation of error, to believe lying.” (2 Thes 2,10) 

 Let’s see to it that even as we immerse ourselves in the increasingly complicated world of our temporal affairs, we should remain and deepen our childlike simplicity, staying away from any trace of self-righteousness. 

 It’s actually only then that we would be more able to properly deal with whatever complications and complexities the world presents to us, since we would be with God, and therefore in the side of truth and charity.

Purity of intention

IN the gospel, there’s a part where Christ lambasted some of the leading Jews for their hypocrisy. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You lock the Kingdom of heaven before men. You do not enter yourselves, nor do you allow entrance to those trying to enter.” (cfr. Mt 23,13-22) 

 Somehow with those strong words of Christ, we are reminded that we should always have purity of intention in all our actuations. We should be very careful with our intentions. Since they are hidden, we can easily play around with them. We can appear good outside but bad inside. Our deeds may be considered as acts of generosity and compassion, but the intentions may be those of envy, conceit and the like. 

 We have to be most careful in handling our intentions. They play a strategic role in our life, for how and where we direct them would determine whether we want to be with God or simply with our own selves. 

 Our intentions express who and where in the end we want to be. Do we choose God, or do we simply choose ourselves, or the world in general? It’s actually a choice between good and evil. 

 Even if we are not aware, or refuse to be aware, of this choice, which is usually the case, the choice between God and us, between good and evil is always made with every human act we do. 

 We need to realize then that we have to take utmost care of our intention, making it as explicit as possible, and honing it to get engaged with its proper and ultimate object who is God. 

 We should try our best to shun being simply casual or cavalier about this responsibility. We can easily play around with it, since intentions are almost invariably hidden from public knowledge. We are urged to be most sincere in directing our intentions properly. 

 In anything that we do, let’s see to it that our intentions are pure. That is to say, that we have to be motivated always by love for God and neighbor. And by love, we mean that we follow God’s commandments as clearly articulated by Christ himself: “If you love me, keep my commandments.” (Jn 14,15) 

 And the epitome of this obedience to God’s commandments is Christ himself, who said: “I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but to do the will of him who sent me.” (Jn 6,38) The secret therefore of love, which is obeying God’s will, is to have the mind and heart of Christ. That is to say, to be ‘another Christ’ which we can always attain because Christ himself has given us all the means. 

 We should be most careful nowadays because it is now easy to stray from God’s commandments and feel convinced that we are still ok. With our man-made laws that are supposed to reflect the spirit of God’s will and ways but often fail, at least partially if not completely, it is now easy for us to hide and justify such anomalies as greed, pride, vanity, envy, corruption, etc. 

 If we are not clearly with Christ, there is no way but to succumb to the tricks of the devil who is the father of lies. (cfr. Jn 8,44) He is so clever and manipulative, using every trick in the book and beyond, that if we engage him in a dialogue, we would surely lose.

A call for consistency

IN the gospel, there is a part where Christ gave a stinging rebuke of the leading Jews at that time. “Do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you,” he said, “but do not follow their example. For they preach but they do not practice.” (cfr. Mt 23,1-12) 

 It’s Christ’s call for us to practice sincerity and consistency in our life, avoiding even the slightest trace of hypocrisy and double life. In fact, we should develop what is called as unity of life, rooted on our earnest effort to identify ourselves with Christ who is the pattern of our humanity, the savior of our damaged humanity. 

 We have to understand that only with Christ can we aspire to have unity and consistency in our life, one that is not rigid. Rather it is a consistency and unity that knows how to adapt itself properly given the different and changing conditions and circumstances of our life. 

 So, we really have to earnestly pursue the effort of living and defending our Christian identity all the time. We should not be afraid to show our Christian identity at all times and in all situations. We should not be Christian by name only, but also by our thoughts, desires and deeds, and in all aspects of our life. We should not be Christian in good times only, but also, and most especially, in bad times. We should not be Christian only in our sacred moments, but also in our mundane activities. 

 This does not mean that we have to flaunt our Christian identity or to exude some kind of a triumphalistic aura. In fact, we have to be most natural and discreet about it. But it should not be hidden because of fear or shame. 

 Remember Christ saying: “Everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father in heaven.” (Mt 10,32-33) 

 That Christ is the Son of God who became man to redeem us means that God in Christ through the Holy Spirit identifies himself with each one of us at all times. This is the basis for keeping a consistency in our Christian identity. 

 This is what our Catechism teaches us clearly: “Christ enables us to live in him all that he himself lived, and he lives it in us. ‘By his Incarnation, he, the Son of God, has in a certain way united himself with each man.” (Catechism 521) 

 We have to understand that everything in our life can only have its proper meaning and purpose when referred to Christ. Our mundane activities and concerns can only acquire their ultimate meaning and divine value when related to Christ. Even our weaknesses, errors, failures and sins can only be taken care of properly when referred to Christ. 

 We need to spread this truth of our faith, so crucial in our life, as widely as possible. Let’s listen to St. Paul in this regard: “Preach the word. Be prepared in season and out of season. Reprove, rebuke, and encourage with every form of patient instruction. For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires.” (2 Tim 4,2-3)

We are meant for loving

THAT’S what we are really meant for. That’s what would bring us to the fullness of our humanity. That’s what would make us God’s image and likeness as he wants us to be. That’s why loving God and everybody else in the way God loves everyone, is the greatest and the second greatest commandments God has for us. 

 This was said very clearly when someone asked Christ what God’s greatest commandment was for us. (cfr. 22,34-40) Loving God and everybody else is the proper formula for our own development. To the extent that we are always thinking of God and of others, finding ways to love and serve them, we achieve our own fulfillment. That’s when we would be on our way to our human and Christian maturity and perfection. 

 To be persons for God and for others is written in our nature. The structure and features of our life, especially our intelligence and will, all demand that we actually need to get out of our own selves, otherwise we get short-circuited. This is what a person is. He is always mindful and thoughtful of God and of others. 

 We need to be mindful because we have to know what’s going around us. We should never be aloof and indifferent. We have to be aware not only of things and events that are taking place, whether near or far, but also and most especially of persons, starting with the one right beside us. 

 We also need to be thoughtful. We should think ahead of how things are developing and of what we can do to help shape its proper evolution. Life is always a work in progress, and there are goals, the ultimate and the subordinate, to reach. We should not get stuck with the here and now. 

 Our joy, our fulfilment is in God, and because of God, it’s also in others, since loving God always passes through loving others. The gospel tells us that. “The greatest commandment is to love God with all your might... and the second greatest commandment is to love your neighbour as yourself.” (Mt 22,38-39) 

 We need to be prepared to do serious and constant battle against our tendency to get self-centered and self-absorbed. This, of course, is a very likely possibility, easily and quickly verifiable around. That’s because we actually contend with a great number of hostile or negative elements. 

 We can sometimes wonder if we can truly know and love God who is so supernatural and mysterious as to make us doubt whether we can have that possibility. We should wonder no more, because no matter how hard and apparently impossible that endeavor may be, all we have to do is to know and love our neighbor. 

 Let’s always have recourse to what St. John said in his first letter: “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ but hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And we have this commandment from him: whoever loves God must love his brother as well…” (4,20-21) 

 Said in another way, if we want God to love us, all we have to do is to love our neighbor. In this we have these words of Christ himself: “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven…For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.” (Lk 6,36-38)

Be ready for Judgment Day

THAT gospel parable about a king asking his invited guests to come to the wedding banquet of his son (cfr. Mt 22,1-14) reminds us that God can call us anytime and we should be ready to correspond to his call and to face him on Judgment Day. 

 In that parable the guests refused to come, and so the king asked anybody to join him in the banquet, but some of those who came were not properly dressed. This only shows that God surely calls all of us to join him in heaven. We should heed that call properly, ever ready to face him as he settles accounts with us. 

 That is why we should see to it that at any given moment we should be eternity-ready and not just future-ready. We know that we like to give ourselves adequate preparation for the future in terms of our human needs for security, health, etc. But we seldom give any due consideration to the preparation we always need in order to face God on Judgment Day and to start to live our definitive life with God for all eternity. 

 We know that it is among the many important duties of any serious business enterprise to settle or at least balance the accounts in a regular fashion. Retail stores, for example, have to monitor their stocks at the end of the day. Failure in that can mean disaster for them in a day or two. 

 In our spiritual lives, it is also important that we settle accounts with God regularly. In fact, saints and the Church herself have recommended that we make a daily examination of conscience just before going to bed. 

 This is to see if the day went as it should, that is, if love for God and neighbor is really the motive of all our actions, and so that we at least can be reconciled with God no matter how the day went. We should at least say sorry to God, even if we still have to do things to make up for our mistakes and sins. 

 This is an important task, because more than just resting physically, mentally or emotionally, we need to be at peace with God at the end of the day. God is everything to us. Regardless of our status at the moment, whether good or bad, moral or immoral, God not only will tell us what to do but also will give us what we need at that time. 

 God is always available, and what he gives us is also what we actually and ultimately need. What he gives us is at least the actual grace that we need to be able to act properly. If corresponded to properly, the actual grace can bring back the state of grace to us. 

 While present in every good act that we make, this actual grace is far beyond what any human solution to our human problems—health, financial, etc.—can give. This grace infuses the spiritual and supernatural character of our actions. 

 Again this is something that we have to be more aware of. We often understand our actions as purely human, if not purely material or of economic, political, social coverage only. Our human acts have a spiritual and supernatural character because first of all we are persons, and then we too are made children of God created in his image and likeness.

Be happy with what we have

WE may still be lacking many things, we may still be struggling in our poverty, but with what we already have we should be happy and thankful. If we want to improve our lot, which we normally do, let’s do it without falling into bitterness and falling into anomalies like envy, self-righteousness, etc. 

 I guess this is the precious lesson being imparted in that parable of the landowner hiring workers into his vineyard at different hours of the day and giving them the same wage as agreed upon. (cfr. Mt 20,1-16) 

 The parable simply tells us at bottom that God cares for everyone of us. He does not make distinction of persons insofar as loving is concerned. His love is universal. It covers all despite the vast differences among ourselves. 

 This is the thought that should be with us everytime we see the differences and the great variety of conditions we have among ourselves. Yes, we have to acknowledge our differences, our advantages and disadvantages, etc., but we should not forget that God loves all of us and that we too should love everybody else the way God loves all. 

 Let us remind ourselves that our differences are meant to develop, if not enrich, everyone through the dynamics of complementation and supplementation. Let’s see to it that we are not unduly entangled with the unavoidable tension and conflict, and that we manage to go past them and see the bigger picture. 

 What is incumbent on us is to give what we have, what has been entrusted to us by God—our talents and other gifts—as much as we could for the common good. This is where our true joy and self-fulfillment are. It’s in giving that we truly love, and that we truly get blessed. 

 We should never think that our talents, gifts, blessings and other privileges and advantages we can have in life entitle us to lord it over others, or to be proud and vain, or to expect more privileges. They are never meant to make us feel superior to others, turning us into conceited persons. 

 If ever, these things should only make us more aware of the greater responsibility we have to contribute to the common good. That consideration, which we should try to be with us always, should sober us and stop us from making fantastic, baseless ideas of ourselves. 

 These gifts and blessings should make us more humble and more responsible, as well as more discerning as to what God has in mind for their proper use. That’s because when not referred to God, these things can have no other effect than to spoil us. 

 We have to be most wary of the danger of envy. It’s that uneasy feeling that others are better than us in some respects. We can even be envious of others who we know are doing evil and yet appear to be having a better time than us. Or it can come as a result of some personal frustrations, defeats and losses while others appear to only have successes and victories. 

 Envy is usually accompanied by sadness and sometimes by hatred, anger, bad thoughts and impulses of revenge, fault-finding and bitter zeal. It comes as a result of comparing oneself with others without God in the middle. The standards used are highly subjective and restrictive. 

 We can effectively and rightly do things when we go along with the ways of God’s love for everyone!

Christian poverty

“IT will be hard for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of heaven. Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God.” (Mt 19,23) 

 For sure, everytime we read these words of Christ, we can have the same reaction as his disciples had. “Who then can be saved?” To which, Christ answered, “For men this is impossible, but for God all things are possible.” 

 We need to understand this message from Christ well, especially nowadays when there are many indications we are not living this Christian spirit of poverty. Many of us are trapped with their perishable treasures on earth when the real treasure is in heaven. 

 The big problem of the rich of this world is his attachment to his wealth such that he cannot give himself fully to God. He may give the appearance that he is giving a lot, but if it is not the whole of himself, then it is not total self-giving which God deserves and expects from each one of us. 

 Let us always remember that God wants the whole of ourselves. He wants our entire heart, not a divided heart. He wants to be everything to us, the first and the last, the Alpha and the Omega. He wants to be given priority over everything else, including our own life. 

 This is not selfishness on his part, an act of ego-tripping. It is simply in recognition of the basic truth that everything, including our life, comes from him and also belongs to him. We have no right whatsoever to expropriate as our own what actually comes and belongs to God. 

 We need to understand that our intelligence and will, our freedom and rights that enable us to be and to do what we want, and to be rich in many ways, also come from God and belong to him. They can only be properly exercised when used in accord with God’s will and ways. 

 And to be rich here does not mean only those with a lot of money and resources. It can mean those who are well-endowed in the other aspects of life—power, fame, health, intelligence, luck, etc. 

 We need to remind ourselves constantly that even if we can say we are the owners of such wealth, resources, talents, power, fame, and indeed of our whole life, we actually are at best only stewards who have to give account to the absolute owner and source of all these things that we possess. 

 Our total self-giving to God and to others is when we start entering the supernatural character that our life possesses, since we are the very image and likeness of God, children of his, meant to share in God’s very life that obviously is supernatural. 

 We are not meant to live a purely natural life. There is no such thing. Our nature opens us to make a choice between a supernatural life with God or an infranatural life. But make no mistake. Our supernatural life with God does not eliminate or suppress what is natural in us. What it does is to purify and elevate to the supernatural order what is natural in us. Christian poverty actually enriches us. That’s when we achieve our human and Christian perfection!

The rich young man

THAT gospel story of the rich young man who asked Christ about how to gain eternal life (cfr. Mt 19,16-22) provides us with a great lesson on total self-giving since only then can we fully identify ourselves with Christ, the pattern of our humanity and the savior of our damaged humanity. 

 For this, we have to be willing and ready to leave everything behind. We should not only be generous in giving away things. Rather, we should give our very own selves, convinced that by doing so we would be completely emptied of ourselves and filled only with the spirit of Christ. This is what is proper to us. 

 We have to be vigilant so as not to be trapped by our human and temporal concerns, no matter how legitimate they are when viewed only with our human and natural ideals. When not pursued with Christ, they can only spoil us. Yes, the pursuit of effectiveness, efficiency, profitability, wealth, good health, and the like, if not done with and for Christ, can only spoil us. 

 That’s because the things of this world are meant only to be the means, the occasion, the instruments we have to use to show our faith, hope and love for God and for others. 

 That is why Christ in his priestly prayer before his passion and death said, “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.” (Jn 17,15-16) 

 What is clear is that while being in the world, we should be detached from the things of the world. Our heart should be completely with God. This is what is meant by being ready to leave everything behind for Christ. And with God, we would have everything else actually! 

 Let’s always remember that clear indication of Christ: “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Mt 6,33) Christ even illustrated this point more graphically through parables, as when he said that the kingdom of God is like a treasure found in a field or when one finds a pearl of great price that would provoke one to sell all he has to buy that field or pearl. (cfr. Mt 13,44-45) 

 St. Paul lived this indication well when he said, “I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ.” (Phil 3,8) 

 We should also remember what Christ said was the greatest commandment, and that is, that we have to love God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind. (cfr. Mt 22,37) In other words, we have to give God everything, assured that what we give away, we will regain many times more. 

 And it’s not just things that we have to give, things that we can spare to give away. In the end, it’s really our whole selves that we have to give. This was dramatized in that episode about a poor widow. 

 “Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all.” Christ said. “For all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.” (Lk 21,3-4)

The Assumption of Our Lady

AUGUST 15 is, of course, the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It reminds us that by a special divine privilege, Our Lady was assumed body and soul to heaven at the end of her earthly sojourn. That, I suppose, is due to the most special role she played in the economy of human salvation, being chosen as the mother of our Redeemer. This dogma was defined by Pope Pius XII in 1950. 

 Many spiritual considerations can be derived from this solemnity, but for now we can focus on the truth of our faith that our body too, and not only our spiritual soul, is meant for heaven where we have our definitive home with God for all eternity. 

 This solemnity reminds us that we need to take care of our body as a necessary consequence of our care we ought to give to our soul. That’s because as human persons, we are both body and soul, and not just one or the other. 

 Let’s always remember that our body is an essential part of our humanity. It’s meant to be animated by a spiritual soul whose life is always a participation of the life of God. As our catechism would put it, our body “participates in the dignity of the image of God.” (CCC 364) If we know how, we can and ought to see God in our body! 

 We have reason to even glorify our body since in it we can glorify God. St. Paul explains it this way: 

 “Your bodies are the shrines of the Holy Spirit, who dwells in you. And he is God’s gift to you, so that you are no longer your own masters. A great price was paid to ransom you. Glorify God by making your bodies the shrines of his presence.” (1 Cor 6,19-20) 

 Still in another part of the same epistle, St. Paul teaches: “Your bodies are not meant for debauchery. They are meant for the Lord, and the Lord claims your bodies...Have you never been told that your bodies belong to the body of Christ?” (6,13) 

 The current and dominant attitude toward the body and the material world in general, I am afraid, has suffered a dangerous mutation, a radical reversal of God’s designs for them. We seem to be falling into two extremes. 

 One is to consider the body as completely evil, as when the distinction between the body and the soul becomes exaggerated that they by nature become hostile to each other. This mindset is prevalent among those who may be regarded as too spiritual in their life. These are the puritans and the like. 

 The other extreme, the more common one, is to consider the body alone as completely good, with no more need for spiritual animation and direction. This is the case of a variety of people—the hedonists, the naturalists, etc. 

 While there is a distinction between the body and the soul, between the material and the spiritual realities of our life, we should not forget that both make up our nature. They cannot and should not be separated. 

 We should realize that we need to have our body properly animated by the spirit of God. It should not just be left to follow purely biological and other natural laws. It has to be spiritualized and supernaturalized with the grace of God and our effort of loving God all the way! We should learn how to materialize the spirit and spiritualize the material.

The gender and human sexuality issue

WE are all familiar with that gospel episode where some leading Jews tested Christ by asking him if it was lawful for a man to divorce his wife. (cfr. Mt 19,3-12) That is where Christ clarified about man being created as male and female, and about the indissolubility of marriage. It’s a gospel episode that somehow clarifies for us about the current hot-button issue of gender and human sexuality. 

 We therefore have to realize that in any effort to clarify certain aspects of our humanity, especially nowadays when all sorts of man-made ideologies are being forwarded to explain things, we should first of all approach Christ through the Church which he founded and endowed with enough powers for it to authoritatively transmit the teachings of Christ. 

 After all, Christ is the God made man who is the fullness of divine revelation so we would have the right knowledge of things that, in our case, include spiritual and supernatural realities. We just cannot depend our own estimation of things, no matter rigorously scientific that estimation is made. 

 In this regard, it definitely is good to refer ourselves to a Vatican document issued in 1995 entitled, “The Truth and Meaning of Human Sexuality.” It needs to be brought out more in the open. Given the many issues in this area that have managed to generate a lot of confusion and complications, the document offers a basic and comprehensive primer especially to parents who are the first teachers and formators of their children. 

 What we have in society only reflects and is a result of what we have in the families. If the families do not do well or even fail in the education of their children in human sexuality, we cannot expect a society to have a healthy attitude toward this very important aspect of human life. 

 The naked truth is that problems in this area have multiplied not only in number but also in kind. Wherever we go, even if we just take a cursory look around, we can immediately see that there are things that are not quite right or, shall we say, that at least raise eyebrows, provoke questions and concern, etc. 

 Pornography is now so easily accessible that even little innocent children can already get exposed to them. Teen-age pregnancy is on the rise, together with casual sex and hook-ups, STD, abortion, contraception, and illegitimate children. This is not to mention the rise of problems related to the confusion in sexual identity and gender. 

 There is a tendency not to talk about these issues, except when they involve people who are supposed to be the teachers, defenders and models of healthy human sexuality either in the state of marriage or celibacy. 

 In a way, there is good reason not to talk too openly about human sexuality, because it touches on very private, personal, confidential matters. Besides, it’s such a sticky thing that it would require some precautions before talking about it. 

 But we really do have great need now, more than ever, to talk about this topic both openly and discreetly, realistically and prudently. Obviously, the more proper venue for this talk would be within the family, and personal conversations between parents and children, the father with the boys, and the mother with the girls. 

 Discussions of this topic in public should be done in subsidiary roles, focusing more on explanations and reminders of relevant moral principles than on displaying certain techniques, more on appeal to virtues than on simply enumerating a list of do’s and don’t’s.

Let’s always be forgiving

“Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?” (Mt 18,21) Peter asked this question to Christ. Peter was actually being very gracious by suggesting that one should forgive seven times. But Christ went beyond all that. “Not only seven times, but seventy-seven times,” which actually means always! 

 Christ wants us to be forgiving always as he himself has been and will always be forgiving to all of us. If we understand our humanity as being patterned after Christ, then we have to realize that like Christ, we have to be forgiving always. Even if some offenders of ours have not yet asked forgiveness from us, like Christ just before he died on the cross, we should offer forgiveness to them. 

 We have to remember that we can only be forgiven of our sins if we also forgive others of theirs. Christ made this point clear when he said, “Forgive and you shall be forgiven.” (Lk 6,37) He reiterated this injunction when he said: “For if you will forgive men their offences, your heavenly Father will forgive you also your offences. But if you do not forgive men, neither will your Father forgive you your offences.” (Mt 6,14-15) 

 It’s clear therefore that we can only be forgiven if we also forgive others. This injunction is meant for everyone, and not only for a few whom we may consider to be religiously inclined. That’s why when asked how many times we should forgive, he said not only seven times, but seventy times seven, meaning always. 

 That’s also why he easily forgave the woman caught in adultery. And to those whom he cured of their illnesses, it was actually the forgiveness of their sins that he was more interested in. 

 To top it all, Christ allowed himself to die on the cross as a way to forgive all of our sins, and to convert our sins through his resurrection as a way to our own redemption. What he did for us he also expects, nay, commands that we also do for everybody else. 

 If Christ can offer forgiveness to those who crucified him—and there can be no worse evil than killing Christ who is God—why do we find it hard to offer forgiveness to others? 

 All of us sin one way or another. The awareness of this truth is not meant to depress us but rather to keep us humble and always feeling in need of God. We should be wary when we would just depend solely on our own resources to tackle this predicament. We need God. 

 The awareness of this truth should also help us to develop the attitude to forgive one another as quickly as possible, since that is the only way we can be forgiven. When we find it hard to forgive others, it is a clear sign that we are full of ourselves, are self-righteous, proud and vain. It is a clear sign that we are not yet with Christ. 

 We have to continually check on our attitude towards others because today’s dominant culture is filled precisely by the viruses of self-righteousness, that feeling that we are superior to others, etc. These viruses make it hard for us to be forgiving to others. We have to do constant battle against that culture. 

 We have to be forgiving always because at the end of the day, no matter what sins and offenses we commit, we are all brothers and sisters in Christ, obliged to love one another. And forgiveness is the ultimate sign of love.

On fraternity and fraternal correction

“IF your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother…” (Mt 18,15) 

 With these words, Christ is encouraging us to make fraternal corrections. It’s a practice that has to be made more popular and more often, since we cannot deny that we commit mistakes, if not offenses, not only against others but also against God himself. Let’s hope and pray that this practice becomes part of our culture, and should not anymore be considered as some kind of taboo. 

 We just have to overcome the usual spoilers like fear, shame, laziness and cowardice in carrying out this Christian duty. But more than that, we should deepen and strengthen our spirit of fraternity and charity with one another. Such spirit would definitely make us to feel urged to make these fraternal corrections when they are needed. 

 To strengthen our spirit of fraternity and charity, we should see to it that we are always friendly to everyone in spite of our unavoidable differences and conflicts. Our friendships should be truly human, complete with generous details of affection and ready understanding and compassion. But it, of course, has to be based on the supernatural love of God that is fueled by his grace which we should always ask for. 

 If we would have such spirit of fraternity, then we would find it easy to fraternize with everyone, including those who are clearly in error or are great offenders and sinners. That’s what Christ did, even to the extent of ruffling the sentiments of some people who considered themselves to be without sin. 

 For example, he chose Matthew, a tax-collector, another name for big sinner at that time, as one of the apostles. He dined with Zaccheus, another rich man regarded also as sinner at that time. 

 Fraternizing with sinners is what we all have to cultivate in ourselves also. We have to replicate Christ’s attitude towards sinners, who actually are all of us—of course, in varying degrees. We have to give special attention to the lost sheep and to the lost coin. We have to open all possible avenues to be in touch with all sinners. 

 This capacity to fraternize with sinners is first of all a gift from God which we have to take care of and develop. It’s meant to mature us and to involve us in the continuing work of redemption of Christ. It’s not meant, of course, to dilute the teachings of Christ and the very essence of goodness and true holiness. 

 But our dealings with them should lead to the correction of what is wrong. This obviously will require a certain skill. Definitely, it will require the grace of God, since we have to learn what to say, when to say it, how to say it, such that the correction is truly done in charity and effectively. 

 We have to take the initiative to love everyone, regardless of whether they ‘deserve’ to be loved or not. In fact, we have to give special attention, like what Christ did, to those who seem far from God—the atheists, agnostics, heretics, etc. These are the ultimate “poor and marginalized” or the real “least of our brethren,” even if they may appear rich, powerful and famous according to human standards.

Die to have the fullness of life

YES, in a certain sense, we need to die in order to live, and live not just some ordinary life, but rather the very fullness of life, which is none other than living the life of God. This is no gratuitous affirmation. This is based on what Christ himself clearly said: 

 “Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat. But if it dies, it produces much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life.” (Jn 12,24-25) 

 We have to remember that we are meant to live our life with God, since we are supposed to be his image and likeness, children of his, and sharers of his divine life. For this, we have to extinguish our notorious tendency to live simply on our own, relying only on our own powers that in the end also come actually from God. 

 Let’s realize more deeply and constantly that the only possibility we have if we do not live our life with God is to sin, if not now, then later. It will surely come. It would simply be a matter of time before we fall. 

 We have to learn the art of dying according to what Christ meant by his words to be able to live a life proper to us. We have to find ways to die a little everyday so that little by little also we can achieve a certain degree of the life that God meant for us, he who created us to be his image and likeness. We have to avoid simply developing our life purely according to our own designs. 

 We need to chisel out those parts in ourselves that are not in conformity with God’s designs for us—our sins, our defects and weaknesses. We have to render death to our pride, vanity, lust, greed, laziness, etc. 

 These of course will require a lot of time and effort, but before anything else, we would need nothing less than the grace of God to conquer them or at least to have control over them. And God himself gives us this grace abundantly. 

 This is what is meant by dying a little every day. We have to pray and make sacrifices, denying ourselves of something, even the legitimate ones, like food and drinks and some means of comfort without compromising our health, spiritual, physical and otherwise. 

 We have to learn to detach ourselves from earthly things while using them, so that our heart can only be filled with love for God, and with that love, we can love everybody and everything else properly. 

 We have to see to it that while we die a little everyday according to what is suggested above, there should also be some kind of awareness that we are being purified, liberated from some burden, etc. In other words, while there is some pain, there should also be a corresponding feeling of joy and peace, otherwise our dying would be dying for nothing. 

 There definitely should be some feeling that we are getting more intimate with God and with all the others, irrespective of how they are to us. This is how we ought to die so as to live the life proper to us. 

 That’s why Christ said that if we want to follow him, we should deny ourselves and carry the cross. That can only mean that we need to die to ourselves to be with Christ.

Both in the world and in heaven

WHEN Christ asked Peter about who should earthly kings require census tax, from the subjects or from the foreigners, obviously the answer which Peter gave was from foreigners. Christ was somehow insinuating that being the son of God, he should be exempted from that tax. But no. He also paid the tax so as not to make offense to earthly kings. (cfr. Mt 17,22-27) 

 With this gospel episode, we are somehow reminded how we ought to live by our earthly and temporal condition but without losing sight of our eternal goal. In other words, we have to learn, even now, how to live both in the world and in heaven. 

 This is, of course, a big challenge since we always have the strong tendency, due to our wounded human condition, to be trapped and swallowed up by our earthly affairs and forgetting our ultimate eternal goal. 

 Resolving this predicament would require of us, first of all, that we be clear about the unity of heaven and the world according to the mind of God, our Father and Creator. We are in this world as the training and testing ground to see if we too want to be with God. That’s what God wants us to be. But he does not force us to be so because we have been given freedom due to our being image and likeness of God. 

 We have to learn how to be in this world while directing ourselves towards heaven, where we actually come from since we come from God and not just from our parents, and where we are supposed to go as our definitive home. 

 This is where we have to develop the virtue of naturalness. It is something to do with how to handle our human condition considering what we ought to be and what we are at the moment. Fact is, we have a supernatural goal, nothing less than to be united with God, which we have to pursue in the context of our human and natural world. 

 Naturalness is about how to mix the spiritual and material dimensions of our life, our personal and social aspects, and other elements in our life that, given the way we are, appear to compete with each other. How to integrate and harmonize them is the task of naturalness. 

 Naturalness is a very active affair, lived day to day, moment to moment, as we grapple with the continuous flow of our concerns. It’s the front man who does the dirty job of the bigger virtues of discretion, prudence and ultimately charity, the foot soldier who does the hand-to-hand combat, the peddler who does the door-to-door selling. 

 The big danger we have nowadays is precisely to get trapped in the many wonders that we are enjoying these days, in spite of the pandemic. We have tremendous technologies, and the amount of knowledge and skills derived from our sciences, though with their limitations and imperfections, is huge and intoxicating. We always have the tendency that these things can be considered as our be-all and end-all. 

 To be sure, to meditate on heaven often does not take away our sense of realism and objectivity. The contrary would be the case if it is done properly. We would know the relative value of everything good and lovable in this world. 

 And if our loving would involve suffering, as it usually does, our meditation on heaven would convince us that such suffering is worthwhile!

Humility strengthens our faith

WE know that for miracles and some extraordinary divine interventions to take place for our very difficult if not impossible situations we can encounter in our life, we need to have a strong faith. This is validated many times in the gospel where Christ would only respond to those requests that are backed up by strong faith. 

 For example, in that episode of a father of a lunatic who was possessed by a demon, Christ reproached his disciples for being unable to drive out the demon because of their lack of faith. (cfr. Mt 17,14-20) 

 “Why could we not drive it out?,” the disciples asked Christ who said, “Because of your little faith. Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” 

 Faith, a strong faith, is always needed for miracles to happen. But to have a strong faith, a deep and solid humility is also needed. There is no way such faith can come to us unless we are truly humble. 

 We need to be humble to attract and receive God’s grace that would enable us to do what we cannot do on our own—to be able to love everyone, including our enemies. Christ has told us, nay, commanded us to love our enemies, and that is just impossible for us to do unless we have God’s grace. 

 But the grace of God, which is always made available, cannot enter into our heart and would have no effect in us unless we humble ourselves, denying ourselves of our own likes and preferences and willing to carry the cross of Christ, which is the cross that signifies everything that we do not want and also all the sins of man. 

 It is humility that is the gateway for God’s grace and Christ himself to enter into our lives, empowering us to do what God himself, who is all love, does. Humility involves a certain giving up, a certain dying that actually gives rise to a better life, just like a seed has to die before it bears fruits. 

 Remember what Christ said about this point. “Truly, truly, I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a seed. But if it dies, it bears much fruit.” (Jn 12,24) And he continued: “Whoever loves his life will lose it, but whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life…” (12,24) 

 How important it really is to learn how to be humble, unafraid of the many inconveniences it would surely involve! To humble oneself is actually never an act of cowardice nor the misfortune of a defeat. On the contrary, it requires a lot of courage to leave behind the nest of our comfort in order to fly to far distances, pursuing nothing less than heaven. And success and victory is assured, since Christ promised it. We should just have faith in Christ. 

 Humility is emptying ourselves that would strengthen our faith, since we would fill ourselves with nothing less than God himself, of whom we are supposed to be his image and likeness. Humility enables us to receive grace, and with grace we are enabled, in spite of our weaknesses and differences and conflicts among ourselves, to do what is impossible for us to do. It would be Christ doing it for us and through us.

The sublime and supernatural life

THE feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord (cfr. Mk 9,2-10) should make us understand that like Christ we too are meant to be transfigured to the supernatural life with God. That is what God wants for us. For that end, God has given us everything, Christ himself, so we can be what he wants us to be. 

 We therefore should try our best to develop a sense of the sublime and the supernatural while still immersed here in the things of this world. We are meant for a supernatural life. Our human nature, with our spiritual soul that enables us to know and to love, and therefore to enter into the lives not only of others but also and most importantly, of God, urges us to develop a supernatural life. 

 It’s a life with God always. It just cannot be exclusively our own life, taken personally or collectively. It’s a life that depends mainly on God who gives us the grace that purifies and elevates our life to his life. But it also depends on us, on our freedom to correspond to this loving will of God for us. 

 We have to develop a taste and even an appetite for the supernatural life with God and of things supernatural in general. In this we have to help one another, because in the end, this is our common ultimate end in life—how to live our life with God, how we can be immersed in God even as we are immersed also in the things of the world. 

 To be sure, developing the sense of the supernatural and the sublime is not a baseless and gratuitous exercise. It is what God wants us to have, since we truly are children of his. It is not our invention. It is, first of all, his will for us to which we have to correspond. 

 We should not feel uneasy about this truth, because on the part of God, he will do everything to make what he wants of us to be fully realized. All we have to do is simply to go along with his will and ways. 

 This sense of the supernatural and the sublime will do us a lot of good. Even psychologically speaking, it is a tremendous help. Imagine the calm, serenity and confidence it can give us! Imagine the joy it provides us even as we go through the drama of our earthly life that is often described as a vale of tears. 

 But the good that it gives us far exceeds what it does to our psychological self. It is what shapes us into God’s children. It is a clear mark that our faith, hope and charity are strong and working. In short, that our spiritual life is healthy despite, and also because of, all the trials and challenges we will be facing in this life. 

 We should develop this sense of the supernatural and the sublime by often reminding ourselves of who we really are. That way, we would somehow be in a state of awe and amazement. We would somehow feel reassured that despite our limitations, weaknesses, failures and even sins, there is always hope to attain our original and ultimate dignity because God will always be on our side. We just have to put ourselves in his side too. 

 Perhaps as a concrete way of developing and keeping this sense of the sublime, we should cultivate the practice of thinking that we are entering heaven to be with God when we end the day and have our rest.