Humility, grace, love

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 and 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 to 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 love everyone.

   

            When we humble ourselves, we would reflect God’s own

self-emptying as described by St. Paul: “He, existing in the form of

God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but

emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human

likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself

and became obedient to death—even death on a cross.” (Phil 2,6-8)

   

            We have to start training ourselves to have this attitude

and outlook in life. This is the sure way to be like Christ and to be

able to love the way Christ loved all of us, both sinners and saints.

   

            We need to examine ourselves to see if indeed we are ready

and eager to follow this example of Christ. We need to drive away any

trace of pride, vanity and conceit from our thoughts and desires.

  

            We should regard ourselves merely as instruments, tools,

or as a rug for others to step on softly in life. This is not

self-degradation, but an assertion of our true dignity as image and

likeness of God, children of his. This is what it means to be ‘another

Christ,’ who is our way, truth and life.

   

            Everyday, we need to make some kind of plan and strategy

to turn this ideal into a concrete reality. Indeed, if we have a mind

to follow Christ, we actually have more than enough possibilities

everyday to do so. We do not need special occasions for this

possibility to take place.

  

            Humbling ourselves truly enables us to receive God’s grace

and to love all!

The pro-choice position

WE have to be familiar with the so-called pro-choice

position that is now becoming the prevalent ideology affecting many

countries and especially the young ones, the so-called millennials. We

need to be familiar with it so that we can be better prepared to deal

with it, since it is now invading our own country. In fact, there is

now a strong foreign-funded pressure to instil this kind of liberal

pro-choice view on us.

  

            The pro-choice position, of course, refers to the

so-called life-issues, like abortion, population control, same-sex

marriage, divorce, euthanasia, etc. It has an eminently moral question

that we need to be clear about.

  

            We need to understand that there are moral principles that

derive from the very nature of things, and especially of our own. And

they have a universal applicability, going beyond our natural and

artificial differences in race, culture, religion and other

categories.

  

            In a nutshell, the pro-choice position can be expressed in

the following words as expressed by many of its advocates and

followers: “I am pro-choice, even if that means abortion. I am also

for same-sex unions, and I also support legalizing divorce. What

people want to do with their lives and their body should not be

controlled by other people’s religious beliefs.

  

            “If you do not want abortion, don’t get one. If you don’t

want to marry one of the same sex, by all means, don’t. Don’t divorce

if that’s what you prefer. But to take away other people’s choices

because you don’t agree with them is evil and wrong. The terrible

thing is that many people can only imagine a world where their

religion is absolute. What tyranny!”

  

            It’s incredible that this view can be held even by very

educated people, and people who are even products of Catholic schools

and other very prestigious centers of learning.

  

            At least two possibilities can explain this disturbing

phenomenon. One is that these schools are not anymore teaching morals

and are just focusing on technical things. And two, that the students

may be taught morals but are not internalizing them. Of course, there

are still many other possible explanations.

  

            With this pro-choice position, one is practically saying

that there are no absolute moral principles with a universal

applicability, that everyone is absolutely free to do whatever he

wants to do. In other words, one makes himself his own lawgiver, if

not his own god. He cannot be told and taught anything. He has to be

left alone. He can do anything he likes.

  

            It is amazing that many people with this position do not

realize that they are going against even the very basics of common

sense. We are never alone. We can never be alone. We have to live by

certain laws. We cannot escape the fact that we have to submit to

certain do’s and don’ts.

  

            Abortion is not about exercising the right over a woman’s

body. Whether one is a believer or not, abortion is simply killing a

human person. A fetus inside the mother’s womb is not just a clump of

cells. A fetus just cannot be but a baby.

   

            And the so-called same-sex marriage is a contradiction

since marriage can only be between a man and woman. It is not meant

only for good-time, for giving in to what our flesh desires. It is

meant for procreation, for education and upbringing of children and

family, and the good of society.

  

            Divorce simply goes against the very nature of marriage.

It is rejecting one’s commitment of love however the marriage may go.

The concerned parties in marriage promise “to have and to hold, from

this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in

sickness and in health, until death do us part”

   

            Let’s hope that families, churches, schools, offices and

the government units help in clarifying these moral life issues both

with clarity and charity always. Hardly anything is gained when we

start fighting.

God’s creative and redemptive work

WE need to realize that the entire span of time we have on

earth as in the whole material universe is part of the eternity of

God. Time is a property of material beings, including ourselves, that

God created in his eternity. That is why in the second letter of St.

Peter, it is said that:

  

            “With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a

thousand years are like a day.” (3,8) That is a rough description of

the relation between our time and God’s eternity. Our time is like a

blink of the eye in the eternity of God. I doubt if we can make a

better description on this mysterious reality.

  

            And he continued by saying that “the Lord is not slow in

keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with

you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to

repentance.” (3,9)

  

            These words simply show that our time here on earth is the

time in God’s eternity for our creation and redemption by him. In

other words, our creation includes our redemption, and our creation

and redemption are still a work in progress. The completion of God’s

creation and redemption of us is when we truly become what he wants us

to be: image and likeness of his, children of his.

  

            We need to understand that our creation and redemption by

God needs our correspondence or cooperation, because being designed by

God to be his image and likeness, we are supposed to be at least aware

of this truth about ourselves and try our best to conform ourselves to

such divine design for us. God does not impose his will and design for

us. We are expected to knowingly and willingly correspond to his will

and design.

  

            That is why we are endowed with intelligence and will, and

are freely given his grace, so that we can identify ourselves with

him, until we can really say that we are “another Christ,” echoing

those words of St. Paul, “it is no longer I who live, but Christ who

lives in me.” (Gal 2,20)

  

            That God became man to save us is not an afterthought in

the divine mind. That truth of our faith is part of the eternal plan

God has for us. God knew from the start how we would fare with the

tremendous gifts he has given us—that we would be spoiled by them. And

he readied the plan of redemption from all eternity.

  

            This God-man, Jesus Christ, is the pattern of our humanity

and the redeemer of our damaged humanity. That is why he declared

himself to be “the way, the truth and the life” for us. We can only be

image and likeness of God through him.

  

            Here we can readily see why Christ should be the constant

focus of our attention, and why we need to know him and love him, by

following his commandments.  “If you love me,” he said, “you will keep

my commandments.” (Jn 14,15)

   

            Thus, we need to study his life, his words, his example.

We need to learn how to talk to him and to see him everywhere. We need

to know how to deal with him as he continues to deal with us. For

this, God has sent the Holy Spirit so that the living God can continue

to be with us, guiding us and sanctifying us.

  

            We really have to develop a life of filial piety with God

to correspond well to his continuing creative and redemptive work on

us in this life. This is something that we have to realize more

deeply. It is the most important truth we have to know and live.

Everything else in our life is secondary to it and serves only as

material, means, occasion to achieve that goal.