Here, no utopia, no paradise

WE have to learn to live with this basic fact of life. No matter how much we try to make our life and the world in general as perfect as possible, we can never achieve it. We just have to contend with the reality that we will be living till the end of time in an imperfect world, but also one that is perfectible and hopefully always in the process of proper progress and perfection. 

 That, if we do our part. God in his continuing providence will always draw us and the world in general toward him which is where our ultimate perfection is found. In this world, we will never have that paradise. The utopia will remain a utopia—it’s nowhere to be found here. 

 Let’s remember that Christ, who is our savior, did not finish his redemptive work with this world and all of us perfect. Problems, difficulties if not failures, mistakes, temptations and sins will continue to hound all of us till the end of time. 

 What he has given us is simply the means of how to handle our condition here in this world with the view of recovering us to be with him in heaven, our true paradise and eternal and definitive home. 

 And the means is nothing less than he himself. He has not left us only with words, doctrine, the Church, the sacraments, etc. He has left us with nothing less than his own self, because only in him and with him can we enter into our eternal paradise. 

 And that means that like him we have to learn how to suffer and die with him. Let’s not forget that he told us that if we want to follow him, we should deny ourselves and carry our cross. (cfr. Lk 9,23) 

 St. Paul reiterated the same point when he said, “If we have been united with Him (Christ) like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.” (Rom 6,5) That’s the general, ideal picture of our life that we should have in our mind. 

 Of course, we have to try our best to make our life and the world in general as best as they can be, knowing that they will never be perfect where there will be no more tears, no more death, nor mourning, nor crying, nor sorrow. (cfr. Rev 21,4) 

 Yes, we will try to push for social justice, to eliminate poverty and injustice, etc., but knowing that we can never achieve their perfect state. As Christ said, “The poor you will always have with you.” (Mt 26,11) 

So, we should just learn to live with that life-long condition, without making it a reason to restrain ourselves from giving our all in helping and loving everyone, especially those in difficult situations, in the peripheries, etc. 

 In fact, we should have an all-systems-go attitude to whatever work of charity and mercy we can do for everyone, the rich and the poor, the intellectuals and the manual workers, etc. In this, we should be unsparing and unstinting. 

 Let’s never forget that God will always be with us, guiding us, giving us all that we truly need in his all-wise providence. Besides, he is always ready to forgive us everytime we fall or stray from the path he wants us to tread.

Beware of the Judas Iscariot syndrome

THIS is about people who are close to us but who can betray us, much like what Judas Iscariot did to Christ. Imagine, Judas was already one of the apostles, so close to Christ that he must have directly experienced the goodness of Christ. And yet he managed to betray him! 

 Of course, God’s providence is so wise and powerful that a greater good was derived from this truly horrible act. It’s nothing less than gaining the possibility of our own salvation, the reopening of heaven for us. But it should never be for this reason that we can even be cavalier in our attitude toward this possibility of betrayal. 

 Certainly, this possibility can also happen to us when we only go through the motions of friendship, especially with God, but only up to there. It’s just appearances that we would be making, giving lip service left and right, but not the real thing. When the opportunity comes, we can betray them. 

 To be sure, this is not just a simple act of infidelity. It’s a much graver type of infidelity that is played out in deceit. Its other name is treachery. It involves a network of hypocrisy, cheating and double-dealing, hidden and unexpressed critical thoughts, etc. Sincerity and transparency are thrown out of the window while retaining their masks. 

 This possibility is always around. We cannot dismiss it as something impossible to happen. Our human condition here on earth where we are always engaged in the constant battle between good and evil, between grace and our weaknesses and temptations around, can always make this possibility to happen. 

When we are not true to our word and to our commitments, renewing and strengthening our fidelity to them from time to time, or when we do not correct our mistakes and sins as soon as we can, or when we are not sincere and transparent, we would actually be giving an opening for such possibility to happen. If we are not careful, the slide to betrayal can come quietly and surely. 

 We have to be most guarded against this possibility and try to nip in the bud whatever slight traces of its symptoms come to our awareness. This is also true in our duty to take care of others who can also succumb to such possibility. Once we notice the symptoms in others, we should already start thinking, praying and devising some strategy to help them. I

n this regard, we can never overemphasize the need to be constantly vigilant in our responsibility over our own spiritual lives and those of the others. When we notice the onset of complacency and spiritual lukewarmness whose signs can easily be detected, we should already be amply warned and start to do something about it. 

 When we notice certain inconsistencies between the expressed intentions and words, on one hand, and deeds, on the other, we should already consider them as ample warnings. 

 Truth is all of us have the duty to take care of everyone else, especially those who are close to us. And one concrete way to carry out this duty is to consciously bring to our prayer each person with whom we have some special or close relations, or with whom some commitments are involved. 

 This is not, of course, a matter of spying, but rather an expression of genuine love and concern for the others. We should never be indifferent to anyone. Once we notice some symptoms of what we may refer to as the Judas Iscariot syndrome, we have to start to do something, praying first, asking God for some light and guidance, and coming up with some action plan. 

 Usually, what is just needed is to shower the person concerned with more affection and understanding, giving him always good example. In other words, to drown him with a lot of goodness with the view of leading him to a conversion!

Empty suit, no; empty vessel, yes

WE have to be familiar with these two terms that refer to two conditions or states that can characterize our life. One is good which we should try to assume, while the other is bad which, of course, we should avoid at all costs. 

 To be an empty suit is to be quite impressive and showy on the outside, in appearance, in airs or aura, etc. but rather empty on the inside, that is, in substance, in spirit that animates our life, in real capabilities. 

Dictionaries describe an empty suit as “a prominent person regarded as lacking substance, personality or ability.” A number of similar variations can flow from that general description of an empty suit. 

 An empty vessel, while literally meaning a container with nothing inside, is a biblical term first referred to in 2 Kings 4,1-6 where a woman, troubled by the creditors of her dead husband, was asked to get as many empty vessels so that oil can be poured into them to pay for her husband’s debt. 

 That term has come to mean our need to empty ourselves so that the oil of God can fill us, which is the condition or state that is proper to us. We have to empty ourselves of our own selves, so to speak, so that the spirit of God, the spirit that is proper to us since we are God’s image and likeness, can fill us. 

 This need has been referred to several times in the New Testament, in particular in the Second Letter of St. Paul to Timothy: “If anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.” (2,21) 

 We have to be wary of our tendency to become an empty suit rather than an empty vessel. We cannot deny that the prevalent culture nowadays pressure us to live some kind of hypocrisy, since we are made to worry more about our public image, our appearance than about what really matters in our life, and that is, to be truly identified with Christ, who is the pattern of our humanity, the redeemer of our damaged humanity. 

 This does not mean that we should not worry about our public image. We should! But it should be a public image that is solidly supported by the real substance, that is, the spirit of God animating in us. 

 We should worry less about our public image or our public packaging than about our quest to have God in us, since the former would just come as a consequence of the latter. 

 Besides nowadays, more and more people already have the skill to discern which one is just an empty suit and which one is a real man of God. Sooner or later, the real character of a person can be known by the fruit that they bear, so to speak. They are known by their deeds and the effects of their behavior. 

 As Christ said: “A good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit…A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and en evil man out of the evil treasure of his brings forth evil.” (Lk 6,43-45)