See God in everything

THIS should be like an instinct in us. Everything that we are and that we do should be referred to God. In fact, everything that happens to us, every event in our life, whether considered humanly speaking as good or bad, should be referred to God. Otherwise, we would be putting ourselves in a radically dangerous, if not erroneous, situation. 

 Our Catechism practically tells us so when it spoke about our Christian creed. “The whole Creed speaks of God,” it says, “and when it also speaks of man and of the world it does so in relation to God.” (CCC 199) Thus, we have to learn how to refer everything to God. 

 And that’s because God, being the Creator, is always in his creatures, and in everything that happens in the world. He is the measure and standard of what is true, good and beautiful, which comprise the very essence of love. 

 We have to be wary of our tendency to take God for granted and prefer to rely more on our own estimation of things, based on some purely human and natural elements that cannot fully capture the essence of truth and love. 

 We are reminded of this danger in that gospel episode where Christ returned to his native place and provoked consternation and disbelief among his townmates. “Is not this the carpenter’s son?” they asked. “Is not his mother called Mary, and his brethren James and Joseph, and Simon and Jude; and his sisters, are they all with us? Whence therefore has he all these things.” (Mt 13,55-56) 

 This is a very common danger to us, and is at bottom a result of letting simply our senses, feelings and our other ways of purely human estimation to guide us rather than our faith, and its necessary companions of hope and charity. 

 With this frame of mind, we sooner or later would get used to things and would fall into routine. We would start building our own world that would depend only on our very limited and fragile powers. Our worldview would have us, instead of God, as the very center of the universe. Everything would be regarded exclusively in relation to us, and not to God. 

 Little by little, we would be isolating ourselves from others, and especially from God. What would worsen things is the false sensation that we can be on our own, that we can afford not to be related to others because of the new technologies that can intoxicate us into thinking that we are very powerful and can live on our own alone. 

 We have to be more aware of this danger of familiarity and install the necessary defenses against it. More than that, we have to aggressively cultivate the art of always being amazed at God and at all his works. We need to be constantly conscious that God continues to intervene in our life. That should be the proper state for us to be in. 

 We have to understand, though, that this abiding state of amazement that we should try to develop is not a matter simply of sensations. Of course, it would be good if we can always feel amazed and in awe. But given the limitations of our bodily organism, we cannot expect that to happen all the time. 

 The ideal abiding state of amazement and of always referring everything to God is more a matter of conviction, of something spiritual, moral and supernatural. It should be the result of grace that is corresponded to generously and heroically by us.

Be prepared always for Judgment Day

IF we want to be realistic in our life, we should always be prepared for Judgment Day which can surely come anytime. In fact, we should go through our daily lives in pursuit of this most important moment when our eternal destiny is determined. 

 This may sound sobering to us, but it is actually meant to put us in the right direction of our life, avoiding the usual pitfalls of being confused, trapped and lost in our earthly affairs. 

 We are reminded of this truth of our faith in that gospel parable where Christ compared the Kingdom of heaven with a net thrown into the sea, collecting fish of every kind. (cfr. Mt 13,47-53) 

 As the parable narrated, once the net is full of fish, then a separation between the good catch and the bad ones is made. That separation is precisely the image of that Judgment Day when God will determine which of us deserve heaven. 

 Obviously, to be properly prepared for Judgment Day, we need to know in an abiding way the real and ultimate purpose of our life here on earth. For this, we need to strengthen our faith that only in God can we have the ultimate purpose in life. St. Paul said so: “Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Cor 10,31) 

 This abiding sense of the ultimate purpose of our life will enable us to have a sense of unity and continuity among the different elements and the different occurrences in our life, be they good or bad, favorable or unfavorable to us, etc. 

 When we have love of God as our abiding sense of purpose in our life, we would find it easy to go from one thing to another, no matter disparate they are from each other. We would find meaning in everything, including what we consider to be human disasters in our life. 

 This effort to make God our abiding sense of purpose in life will identify us more closely with Christ who was also open to anything in his earthly life, including the worst possible things that happened to him, which was to die, and yet was consistent and ever faithful in doing the will of his Father. “I do not seek my own will,” he said, “but the will of Him who sent me.” (Jn 5,30) 

 We would know how to handle all kinds of situations, including the worst of them, like when we have deal with people who are full of malice and deceit, etc. There is nothing that cannot be taken care of by God when he becomes the abiding purpose in life. 

 That effort will always fill our life with hope and even excitement. There will never be a dull and boring moment, even when we are alone or confined and restricted by sickness and other factors. Even when we are resting or in solitude because of prayer or study, our spirit will continue to be active and still in touch with God and others. 

 We need to understand that our life here on earth is all about the ongoing creation of our own selves with God as the Creator and us as our own co-creator with God. That’s because God wants us to be like him, to be his image and likeness, to be his children, meant to share in his divine nature and life. 

 Let’s hope that on Judgment Day we can find ourselves as God’s true image and likeness!

The Christian art of detachment

IT’S a virtue before it is an art. Detachment that is proper to us is a virtue that comes as a result of the spirit of Christ. And we can only have that spirit if we are open to God’s grace and faithfully follow the consequences and implications of such grace. 

 We are reminded of this Christian art of detachment in that gospel parable where Christ compared the Kingdom of heaven with a treasure buried in a field and with a pearl of great price for which those concerned were willing to sell and let go of whatever they had in order to get that treasure and that pearl. (cfr. Mt 13,44-46) 

 The parable tells us, among other things, that we should never be contented with what we may consider as good enough. We should go after what is best and proper to us. The parable message validates the saying, “the good is the enemy of the best.” 

 It warns us against our tendency to be complacent and contented with what we already have, saying enough to the continuing and endless demands of charity which has God as the primary object, and everyone else, without exception, as a necessary accompaniment. 

 It also urges us to learn how to be detached from the things of this world even as we are immersed in them. It reminds us that everything in this world should only be a means, an occasion, a reason to love God and everybody else. The things of this world should never be regarded as end in themselves. They are just a pathway to God and to heaven, our definitive homeland. 

 To be able to live and practice this Christian art of detachment, we definitely need to follow the example of Christ. His detachment can be gleaned from the facts that he never stayed in one place even if the people urged him to stay with them; and while he loved his mother, he was also detached from her; and finally, he was detached from his own life which he gave up willingly and gratuitously for our salvation. All these showed how Christ lived what he preached. 

 We need to learn this art of detachment little by little, knowing that it definitely will be most demanding and challenging to us. And one way we can do that is by learning how to leave behind our usual daily concerns and worries as we go to bed. Bedtime should be spent exclusively with God in deep prayer, pondering spiritual and supernatural things, imagining how it will be in heaven when we come face to face with God, etc. 

 We have to learn how to cut off from clingy things like work concerns, videos, social media, etc. Doing so can be heroic and can also be a clear sign that shows where our heart really is. 

 To be sure, when we manage to live this Christian art of detachment, we will enjoy peace of mind and joy in our heart. We will fulfill what Christ promised: “Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for the sake of My name will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.” (Mt 19,29) 

 Christ is actually giving us the best deal in this life when we learn how to live this art of detachment.