I SUPPOSE we did some reviewing and forecasting during the New Year celebration. That's what is expected. A little of looking back and of looking forward.
Actually we need to do this all the time, and we need to do it well. We have to be wary of influences that tend to tie us down to the present alone, making us unmindful of the past and of the future, and especially of eternity.
The growing cases of Alzheimer's disease and of autism may just reflect a trend of self-absorption gripping many people these days. You see them plugged to their mp3s, computers, etc., veritably establishing their own parallel realities, with themselves as their own suns around whom everything else revolves.
Of late, I've been hearing some persons complain that we as a people seem to be short of memory. I've taken that lament with a grain of salt, though I'm also sure there are also grains of truth contained in it.
I understand what they mean. When people do not cultivate their memory, they tend to have a shallow culture, one that is stuck in the surface and the appearances, but hardly any soul that serves as its principle of life and unity.
The other day also, some youngsters when asked what kind of movies they like to see, proudly replied, the ones that don't require thinking. Sorry, but in my calculation, that can only mean violence-and-sex movies. Many are now averse to use their spiritual faculties. They're hooked on the purely carnal.
The truth is we need to work out our memory and our foresight. These are an integral part of our human condition. We are meant to remember the past and to construct the future. More, we are meant to work for our eternity. We cannot ignore this duty. This is part of our being persons, with subjectivity.
But we have to understand that the foundation of our memory and our foresight cannot be other than God. It cannot be our own selves alone, our own ideas, our own preferences, or our own ideologies and philosophies, no matter how helpful and indispensable they are.
God is the source, measure, pattern and goal of reality. We are supposed only to reflect and correspond to the will of God. We did not generate our own selves, much less, the world we live in. God did it all, my dear!
Thus, we need to develop the basic attitude of being reflective, even contemplative, and at the same time, of being active and cooperative. These two sets should go together, like the two sides of the same coin.
Our creativity and originality can never be absolute. They cannot fly or float in a vacuum. They require a reference point, an environment, and that reference can ultimately be God, not something of our own making, though we are capable of producing one, at least for a while.
We have to understand that our sense of freedom should coincide with our sense of obedience and docility to God's will in the end. Unless we realize this and try to achieve this, we might be having some blast of an adventure in life, but for sure we would be going nowhere.
No, one set of qualities without the other results in some anomaly. We can easily fall into the irregularity of quietism and indifference on the one the hand, and of activism on the other. The two should be together, never decoupled.
With God as the constant and ultimate reference point, and with the basic attitude of humility, obedience and reflectiveness, we can go far in rectifying and enriching our memory, and in clarifying what is truly essential to guide us into the future. Our foresight would take wing.
We precisely would know how to resolve past troubles, ultimately reconciling us with God and with others, even if there are still items that need to be solved. This is how our memory is cleaned and put to its proper condition so we would be filled with nothing other than sentiments of gratitude and fulfillment.
We also would know how to look at the future, learning how to judge the variable elements that come along the way, since we already know our constants-our beginning, our end, our pattern, our source of energy, etc.
We have to work on our memory and foresight! This is not optional task. It's a must for all of us.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Spiritual childhood and maturity
PIT Senyor! Cebu now is abuzz with the celebration of the feast of the Holy Child, Senyor Santo Niňo. I find it very gratifying to note that in spite of the complications of the world today, we still can find simple and spontaneous popular piety throbbing vigorously in this little island province.
This is actually true in many places in our country, thank God, but Cebu iconizes this phenomenon beyond compare. Let’s continue to derive precious lessons from this celebration, avoiding casting pearls before swines. For precious lessons, there truly are a lot!
The image of the Santo Niňo reminds us of two seemingly contrasting qualities that we need to blend properly in each one of us and in our society. They can generally be termed as the qualities of spiritual childhood and spiritual maturity.
That’s what we can immediately see in the Santo Niňo. He is at once a child and a king, the ruled and the ruler, helpless and in control of the world, asking to be taken care of yet he actually takes care of us.
It’s the same combination that we hear St. Paul once said about Christ’s ministers: “Let us exhibit ourselves as the ministers of God…as dying, and behold we live; as chastised, and not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as needy, yet enriching many; as having nothing, yet possessing all things.” (2 Cor 6,9-10)
Of course, earlier we hear our Lord telling us in no unclear terms: “Be wise as serpents and simple as doves.” (Mt 10,16) Our human condition, limited compared to its supernatural goal and weakened further by sin, conflicts these qualities that are meant to be consistent in the mind of God for us.
We have to find a way to achieve this Christian fusion. Especially now when we are plunging deeper into more pluralistic cultures, usually accompanied by complications, we urgently need to develop the pertinent attitudes and skills to combine charity with truth, mercy with justice, tolerance and convictions.
Pluralism is part of God’s will for us. That’s because he gave us freedom that has to be exercised in the context of our human condition, both material and spiritual, temporal and eternal, mundane and sacred… We cannot avoid this.
In fact, pluralism has to be fostered, and not only to be put up with. Depending on how we use our freedom, pluralism is the inevitable way to either our development or our destruction.
Thus, we need to have a certain openness of mind and outlook, even to the extent of suffering the evil consequences of such openness. This is what we see in the life of Christ. He was open to all the twists and turns of our freedom, but he also managed to carry out the will of his Father.
This is the challenge we have—how to be both accommodatingly open and tolerant, on the one hand, and demandingly faithful and loyal, on the other. Truth is we often get lost along the way, ending up by being either too lax or too strict.
Obviously, this combination can only be lived in Christ, who said “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one goes to the Father except through me.” This is something we have to remember always. Only in Christ, and Christ on the Cross, is this blend of qualities possible.
Christ precisely gave us the new commandment, “Love one another as I have loved you.” That means, all the way, up to death, a love that knows how to suffer, how to respect our freedom however it is used or misused, a love that drowns evil with an abundance of good.
It surely is not just a sentimental kind of love. It’s full of tenderness, all right, but it’s definitely a strong and mature love, full of daring and prudence, generosity and wisdom, magnanimity and determination.
It’s a love that lives out to the hilt Christ’s command even to “love your enemies, do good to them that hate you and pray for them that persecute and calumniate you…for if you love them that love you, what reward shall you have? Do not even the publicans do this?” (Mt 5,44-46)
We have to be wary of our tendency to fall into complacency, on the one hand, and self-righteousness and bitter zeal, on the other. We have to have a universal heart to fit all. With God’s grace and our efforts, this is always possible.
This is what Senyor Santo Niňo is teaching us!
This is actually true in many places in our country, thank God, but Cebu iconizes this phenomenon beyond compare. Let’s continue to derive precious lessons from this celebration, avoiding casting pearls before swines. For precious lessons, there truly are a lot!
The image of the Santo Niňo reminds us of two seemingly contrasting qualities that we need to blend properly in each one of us and in our society. They can generally be termed as the qualities of spiritual childhood and spiritual maturity.
That’s what we can immediately see in the Santo Niňo. He is at once a child and a king, the ruled and the ruler, helpless and in control of the world, asking to be taken care of yet he actually takes care of us.
It’s the same combination that we hear St. Paul once said about Christ’s ministers: “Let us exhibit ourselves as the ministers of God…as dying, and behold we live; as chastised, and not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as needy, yet enriching many; as having nothing, yet possessing all things.” (2 Cor 6,9-10)
Of course, earlier we hear our Lord telling us in no unclear terms: “Be wise as serpents and simple as doves.” (Mt 10,16) Our human condition, limited compared to its supernatural goal and weakened further by sin, conflicts these qualities that are meant to be consistent in the mind of God for us.
We have to find a way to achieve this Christian fusion. Especially now when we are plunging deeper into more pluralistic cultures, usually accompanied by complications, we urgently need to develop the pertinent attitudes and skills to combine charity with truth, mercy with justice, tolerance and convictions.
Pluralism is part of God’s will for us. That’s because he gave us freedom that has to be exercised in the context of our human condition, both material and spiritual, temporal and eternal, mundane and sacred… We cannot avoid this.
In fact, pluralism has to be fostered, and not only to be put up with. Depending on how we use our freedom, pluralism is the inevitable way to either our development or our destruction.
Thus, we need to have a certain openness of mind and outlook, even to the extent of suffering the evil consequences of such openness. This is what we see in the life of Christ. He was open to all the twists and turns of our freedom, but he also managed to carry out the will of his Father.
This is the challenge we have—how to be both accommodatingly open and tolerant, on the one hand, and demandingly faithful and loyal, on the other. Truth is we often get lost along the way, ending up by being either too lax or too strict.
Obviously, this combination can only be lived in Christ, who said “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one goes to the Father except through me.” This is something we have to remember always. Only in Christ, and Christ on the Cross, is this blend of qualities possible.
Christ precisely gave us the new commandment, “Love one another as I have loved you.” That means, all the way, up to death, a love that knows how to suffer, how to respect our freedom however it is used or misused, a love that drowns evil with an abundance of good.
It surely is not just a sentimental kind of love. It’s full of tenderness, all right, but it’s definitely a strong and mature love, full of daring and prudence, generosity and wisdom, magnanimity and determination.
It’s a love that lives out to the hilt Christ’s command even to “love your enemies, do good to them that hate you and pray for them that persecute and calumniate you…for if you love them that love you, what reward shall you have? Do not even the publicans do this?” (Mt 5,44-46)
We have to be wary of our tendency to fall into complacency, on the one hand, and self-righteousness and bitter zeal, on the other. We have to have a universal heart to fit all. With God’s grace and our efforts, this is always possible.
This is what Senyor Santo Niňo is teaching us!
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Catechism and political engagement
A CATECHISM has just been issued by the Episcopal Commission on Family and Life. It’s entitled, “A Catechism on Family and Life for the 2010 Elections.” Its purpose is to form and guide the consciences of the Christian faithful in their duties toward family and life especially as these values impact on our public life.
It has 15 points, with questions that go directly to the issues, and answers that while a bit kilometric are succinct enough to cover these issues sufficiently. It requires some effort, but it surely will also reward that effort.
I would say it’s a tremendous material that will go a long way in helping families and individual persons to be more consistent in their Christian faith and morals. Consistency in this case means the faithful’s duty as citizens also to promote and defend their family and life values in the political arena.
This is a very exciting challenge. For some time now, this aspect of the Christian life has been neglected, presumed to take care of itself by some naïve belief in an invisible hand, not realizing that powerful forces prowl our social and political life, taking advantage of the democratic atmosphere to retail their evil designs.
Thus, while churches may be full especially on Sundays, and public devotions and shows of popular piety are never lacking, we now have the anomalous situation where in our Congress we have lawmakers poised to legalize practices that are openly against morals, not to mention, our culture, scientific data, and even common sense.
I pray that this catechism be given widespread airing in the parishes, families, schools, companies, social groups, etc. I pray that it be studied by our politicians and the other leaders and prominent figures in the fields of media, business, sports and entertainment, etc.
A social network of sorts should be put up, with everyone taking the initiative to do whatever he can to spread this document. It can be uploaded in the Internet, emailed to friends, including discussion groups. It can be given especially to our public officials like our senators, congressmen, governors, mayors, etc.
We have to wake up. We cannot deny the fact that especially with this unavoidable trend toward globalization that certainly has its good aspects, we are also now getting entangled with a worldwide campaign to push wildly liberal ideas and values, unhinged from the sure core of beliefs of who we really are.
We cannot be brainless and idiotic before this disturbing development not only in our country but also in the whole world. Sad to say, many of our political and social leaders are playing deaf and dumb to the true character of these issues. They are playing footsie with powerful and moneyed ideologues.
This is not to mention that many of them profess to be good and pious Christians. They like to flaunt their Christianity around, making sure they are in the limelight in public occasions. But they are notoriously inconsistent with their Christian faith and morals.
Yes, we need to help them to leap from being Christian in name only (CINO) to Christian in life really (CILR). If they are humble enough to realize their need for conversion, there’s always hope.
The purveyors of these wild ideas cleverly use sophisms and casuistry to argue their points. And so, together with their generous dole-outs of money, they are quite successful already in mainstreaming the contraceptive mentality and in developing a sizable and noisy following.
But the truth is not with them. And that fact has to be exposed promptly and thoroughly. Silence in this case is a devil’s tactic. Thus, this Catechism comes in handy. It answers in the clearest terms, within the bounds of data, logic and charity, the questions often raised to distort if not disable the ethical aspects of these issues.
Among the points clarified in the Catechism are the often misunderstood doctrine on the separation of the Church and State, the role of Catholics and Christians in enriching the democratic system, the role of conscience in developing our positions and our duty to form it well.
Very significantly, the Catechism once again articulates why contraception is wrong, why the Reproductive Health Bill now pending approval in our Congress is dangerous, why voting for candidates who favor RH is not morally sound.
In all of this, let’s never forget that this political engagement is a struggle for truth and justice, for peace and love for all. Let’s not spoil it with petty quarrels and useless acrimony.
It has 15 points, with questions that go directly to the issues, and answers that while a bit kilometric are succinct enough to cover these issues sufficiently. It requires some effort, but it surely will also reward that effort.
I would say it’s a tremendous material that will go a long way in helping families and individual persons to be more consistent in their Christian faith and morals. Consistency in this case means the faithful’s duty as citizens also to promote and defend their family and life values in the political arena.
This is a very exciting challenge. For some time now, this aspect of the Christian life has been neglected, presumed to take care of itself by some naïve belief in an invisible hand, not realizing that powerful forces prowl our social and political life, taking advantage of the democratic atmosphere to retail their evil designs.
Thus, while churches may be full especially on Sundays, and public devotions and shows of popular piety are never lacking, we now have the anomalous situation where in our Congress we have lawmakers poised to legalize practices that are openly against morals, not to mention, our culture, scientific data, and even common sense.
I pray that this catechism be given widespread airing in the parishes, families, schools, companies, social groups, etc. I pray that it be studied by our politicians and the other leaders and prominent figures in the fields of media, business, sports and entertainment, etc.
A social network of sorts should be put up, with everyone taking the initiative to do whatever he can to spread this document. It can be uploaded in the Internet, emailed to friends, including discussion groups. It can be given especially to our public officials like our senators, congressmen, governors, mayors, etc.
We have to wake up. We cannot deny the fact that especially with this unavoidable trend toward globalization that certainly has its good aspects, we are also now getting entangled with a worldwide campaign to push wildly liberal ideas and values, unhinged from the sure core of beliefs of who we really are.
We cannot be brainless and idiotic before this disturbing development not only in our country but also in the whole world. Sad to say, many of our political and social leaders are playing deaf and dumb to the true character of these issues. They are playing footsie with powerful and moneyed ideologues.
This is not to mention that many of them profess to be good and pious Christians. They like to flaunt their Christianity around, making sure they are in the limelight in public occasions. But they are notoriously inconsistent with their Christian faith and morals.
Yes, we need to help them to leap from being Christian in name only (CINO) to Christian in life really (CILR). If they are humble enough to realize their need for conversion, there’s always hope.
The purveyors of these wild ideas cleverly use sophisms and casuistry to argue their points. And so, together with their generous dole-outs of money, they are quite successful already in mainstreaming the contraceptive mentality and in developing a sizable and noisy following.
But the truth is not with them. And that fact has to be exposed promptly and thoroughly. Silence in this case is a devil’s tactic. Thus, this Catechism comes in handy. It answers in the clearest terms, within the bounds of data, logic and charity, the questions often raised to distort if not disable the ethical aspects of these issues.
Among the points clarified in the Catechism are the often misunderstood doctrine on the separation of the Church and State, the role of Catholics and Christians in enriching the democratic system, the role of conscience in developing our positions and our duty to form it well.
Very significantly, the Catechism once again articulates why contraception is wrong, why the Reproductive Health Bill now pending approval in our Congress is dangerous, why voting for candidates who favor RH is not morally sound.
In all of this, let’s never forget that this political engagement is a struggle for truth and justice, for peace and love for all. Let’s not spoil it with petty quarrels and useless acrimony.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)