WE need to learn this skill of turning our work, both big and small, into prayer and an abiding conversation with God. If we are to be consistent to our faith that our life is supposed to be a life with God, then we have to know how to make our daily affairs an occasion for keeping a living relationship with God.
There should be a streaming awareness that we are with God even when we are doing the most mundane activities. This is the goal that we should try to reach, overcoming what separates our life from the life of God. While it’s true that there is distinction between the two, there’s supposed to be unity between them.
This affirmation has basis. It’s not gratuitous. It is founded on the truth that God made us his image and likeness, and children of his, meant to participate in his very own life. That’s his will. That’s the reality.
In the first place, God is everywhere. We don’t have to look far to find him, since he is at the very core of our being. If we keep ourselves humble and simple, allowing the faith to work in us, we will realize that even in our inmost thoughts and feelings, we will always find him. We may not totally understand him, but we know he is with us.
The big task we need to do is how to keep ourselves humble and simple, so that faith can work effectively in us. Our problem is that we tend to be proud, to be self-sufficient, to think that we ultimately are our own being. We tend to think that our relationships with others and with God, while convenient, are not necessary.
The task involves the constant effort to be humble and simple, allowing our faith to have full play in us, converting us into contemplatives, seeing God and being with him even while working, and even when we are immersed in the middle of our worldly affairs.
We would understand that God is also in our earthly and temporal concerns, since after all everything comes and belongs to him. Even if we mess up his work, and go against his providence, God always manages to be in everything, and does everything to bring us back to him.
But we need to cooperate, because as St. Augustine once said, while God created us without us, he cannot save us without us. We need to correspond to this will of God in freedom and love for us to return to him.
We just have to do everything to put ourselves into this dynamic orbit of God’s life and love. We need to be convinced of this truth of faith, and from there develop the necessary attitudes, skills and virtues to achieve the goal meant for us.
Since work is a daily activity for us, one major part of becoming contemplatives is to turn our work into prayer. This can happen if we develop the habit of doing mental prayer everyday, studying the doctrine of Christ and of the Church, especially about how work is vital link we have with God.
Mental prayer allows us to create the proper mind frame we need to sustain our effort to become contemplatives all throughout the day. In a manner of speaking, that’s where we see the relevant principles and helpful theories we need to put our desire into practice.
Relevant testimonies of saints are aplenty, giving us concrete examples of how to proceed in that plan to become contemplatives. In this regard, we can cite some words of saints that are derived from their own experiences.
St. Josemaria Escriva said: “We start with vocal prayers… First one brief aspiration, then another, and another…till our fervor seems insufficient, because words are too poor…then this gives way to intimacy with God, looking at God without needing rest or feeling tired.”
We also need to practice interior mortification, disciplining our mind, heart and senses, so they learn to be recollected and to focus their attention on God and the things of God.
Even in our intense work, we can still contemplate God, because if we offer that work to God, then it does not separate us from God. St. Thomas Aquinas said:
“When of two things the first is the reason for the second, the attention of the soul to the second does not hinder or lessen its attention to the first.” This is how we can turn our work, no matter how intense, into contemplation.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Verbum Domini
THAT’S the title of a recent Vatican document, officially described as a post-synodal apostolic exhortation of Pope Benedict, a fruit of the 2008 Synod of Bishops that took up the theme of the Word of the Lord, which is what Verbum Domini means.
It’s a long document, obviously not easy to read especially for the ordinary Juan in the street. But I must say that it’s a relevant work that all of us should try to study and understand.
That’s because the Word of God, if we follow by our faith, is the very foundation of all reality. St. John said it in the prologue of his gospel, “All things were made by him (God’s Word), and without him was made nothing that was made.”
If we believe that, we can never exaggerate the importance of God’s Word in our life. Nothing less than compromising our ability to know and get in touch with reality happens if we dare to separate ourselves from the orbit of the divine word.
And so, hard as it may be, we just have to try to plow this up-to-now wild ground of understanding God’s Word, hoping it becomes soft enough for us to plant the seed of our Christian life, cultivate it to maturity, and avoid getting lost in the seas and mountains of the world.
We cannot deny the fact that for many people, the Word of God as the foundation of reality is hardly known, let alone, lived. Many think it’s simply reason, science, ideologies that constitute the ultimate basis of reality.
There is a lot of clarification and correction to be done in this fundamental aspect of our life. The task will not be easy. It will be accompanied by a lot of debate and dispute, expectedly acrimonious. But it will just have to be done.
The document provides a good material for this purpose. That’s why it really has to be studied, understood and disseminated. Hopefully, biblical scholars and the clergy would take the lead. Schools and centers of higher learning should be tapped.
Toward that end, I plan to make a series of commentaries, perhaps dedicating one column a month. At least, they can serve to acquaint readers of the salient features of the document.
A portion in that document tells us, for example, what the Word of the Lord can refer to. It strikes me as very interesting and enlightening, since most of the time we simply mean the Bible when we think of the Word of God.
That part tells us that the Word of God has an analogical sense, as contrasted to a univocal meaning. That is to say, it can admit of a number of meanings, and can refer to a number of things other than just the written book.
We have to remember that our knowledge of God is also analogical, since we cannot fully put the essence of God into just one word or concept. We can define God, alright, but it’s a definition that is very dynamic and open-ended, and we use human concepts that need to be stretched to infinity.
When Moses, for example, asked the voice in the burning bush who he was, the reply was simply, “I am who am.” God, that voice, cannot be confined and frozen into a single word.
So we use many concepts to describe and define God, purifying them of their limitations and stretching the relevant parts to the infinite to apply them to God. We just try to blend them together to approximate the essence of God.
God is love, St. John defines divinity. But then again to define love is to engage in an endless spiral, since love has endless aspects even if its core essence can be identified.
The same with what we mean by the Word of the Lord. The document says that the term can have a number of meanings that are interrelated. It can refer to the Second Person (¨Logos¨) of the Blessed Trinity; to Jesus Christ, the Son of God who became man, and started to preach.
It can also refer to the “book of nature,” since every creature exists through God’s Word and somehow proclaims it. It also refers to the preaching of the apostles now handed down to us through Tradition.
It also refers to the written Sacred Scripture, or the Bible, that has to be read not merely as a book but precisely as the Word of the living God.
To integrate them properly, the living faith of the Church is made as the primary setting.
It’s a long document, obviously not easy to read especially for the ordinary Juan in the street. But I must say that it’s a relevant work that all of us should try to study and understand.
That’s because the Word of God, if we follow by our faith, is the very foundation of all reality. St. John said it in the prologue of his gospel, “All things were made by him (God’s Word), and without him was made nothing that was made.”
If we believe that, we can never exaggerate the importance of God’s Word in our life. Nothing less than compromising our ability to know and get in touch with reality happens if we dare to separate ourselves from the orbit of the divine word.
And so, hard as it may be, we just have to try to plow this up-to-now wild ground of understanding God’s Word, hoping it becomes soft enough for us to plant the seed of our Christian life, cultivate it to maturity, and avoid getting lost in the seas and mountains of the world.
We cannot deny the fact that for many people, the Word of God as the foundation of reality is hardly known, let alone, lived. Many think it’s simply reason, science, ideologies that constitute the ultimate basis of reality.
There is a lot of clarification and correction to be done in this fundamental aspect of our life. The task will not be easy. It will be accompanied by a lot of debate and dispute, expectedly acrimonious. But it will just have to be done.
The document provides a good material for this purpose. That’s why it really has to be studied, understood and disseminated. Hopefully, biblical scholars and the clergy would take the lead. Schools and centers of higher learning should be tapped.
Toward that end, I plan to make a series of commentaries, perhaps dedicating one column a month. At least, they can serve to acquaint readers of the salient features of the document.
A portion in that document tells us, for example, what the Word of the Lord can refer to. It strikes me as very interesting and enlightening, since most of the time we simply mean the Bible when we think of the Word of God.
That part tells us that the Word of God has an analogical sense, as contrasted to a univocal meaning. That is to say, it can admit of a number of meanings, and can refer to a number of things other than just the written book.
We have to remember that our knowledge of God is also analogical, since we cannot fully put the essence of God into just one word or concept. We can define God, alright, but it’s a definition that is very dynamic and open-ended, and we use human concepts that need to be stretched to infinity.
When Moses, for example, asked the voice in the burning bush who he was, the reply was simply, “I am who am.” God, that voice, cannot be confined and frozen into a single word.
So we use many concepts to describe and define God, purifying them of their limitations and stretching the relevant parts to the infinite to apply them to God. We just try to blend them together to approximate the essence of God.
God is love, St. John defines divinity. But then again to define love is to engage in an endless spiral, since love has endless aspects even if its core essence can be identified.
The same with what we mean by the Word of the Lord. The document says that the term can have a number of meanings that are interrelated. It can refer to the Second Person (¨Logos¨) of the Blessed Trinity; to Jesus Christ, the Son of God who became man, and started to preach.
It can also refer to the “book of nature,” since every creature exists through God’s Word and somehow proclaims it. It also refers to the preaching of the apostles now handed down to us through Tradition.
It also refers to the written Sacred Scripture, or the Bible, that has to be read not merely as a book but precisely as the Word of the living God.
To integrate them properly, the living faith of the Church is made as the primary setting.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Ad astra per aspera
THAT means “to the stars through difficulties or hardwork,” more or less. It simply reminds us that if we want nice things in life like progress, development, wealth, health, etc., we have to work hard for it. In short, avoid good, easy life.
I’m happy that many schools have adopted this as a motto. I just hope that they manage to inculcate this very important value to the students. Through the years, I’ve verified how students who study and work hard really succeed, while those floating in “good life” sink sooner or later.
This seems validated when we consider the current world situation. Many so-called developed countries that have been having a good time for decades are now in deep crisis, while many poor countries accustomed to hard life are emerging to be potential saviors of the floundering rich economies.
We are witnessing these days dramatic shifts of power and reversals of fortunes in many parts of the world. And I can’t help but note that behind these painful changes is the wanton violation of the principle “ad astra per aspera.”
I have read that in France, for example, the government decision to extend the retirement age from 60 to 62 as a fiscal measure to mitigate their economic crisis, was met with stiff, violent protests from the people
In England, where a veritable welfare state is ruling their educational system, similar protests also erupted against the proposal to cut down on educational subsidies. There are worse examples in many European countries.
That´s because when people get used to easy life, it is very hard to break away from it when finally needed. It´s like an addiction. To treat it, one has to proceed with extreme caution but with unwavering determination.
In the US, efforts to solve their grave economic problems through bailouts and stimulus spending have so far failed to achieve the desired results. The reasons are many, but all that reflect a spoiled mentality of entitlements and privileges.
It’s feared that the US will not only suffer a single dip in recession, but a double dip, a double whammy. Remember that they have been playing around the financial markets for so long, creating a bubble and a fantasy world for a while until things cannot be put up anymore.
Meanwhile, some serious studies, reported in very respectable media outlets like Bloomberg and The Economist, claim that big and relatively young and productive population in China and India are driving their economies forward, while the dwindling population in Europe are giving them nightmares.
They also mentioned that what can save the US now is their relatively young and productive population profile as compared that in many parts of Europe.
This should alert us of the danger in our mindless effort to approve the RH Bill. To all intents and purposes, that bill will reconstitute our healthy attitude toward population. It will put the contraceptive mentality in place, and will make us fear babies and people. It will set us up for a big fall in the future.
We should learn precious lessons from what is unfolding in many places these days. The most basic lesson is that we should always take care of our fundamental values and virtues. We have to remain humble, simple, pious and hardwired to work and to serve, with no fear of effort and sacrifice.
Let´s bury our tendency for self-pity and our fascination for comfort, convenience, wealth, fame, power, etc. Just pray and work, and if we get tired of it, then let´s work and pray.
This does not mean we will have a poor and sad life here. On the contrary!Life will be rosier that way, mind you. This is the sure formula for true human success and development.
Remember what Christ said. We need to enter by the narrow gate, because the big and wide one leads to perdition. We have to continually deny ourselves and carry the cross, because our damaged DNA tends to get spoiled with every blessing and favor we receive.
This lifestyle is also compatible with dignity and elegance, the real ones, not the ridiculous imitations. We have to be wary of the hyped images and messages transmitted in the media and public opinion, since they tend to be confusing if not downright false.
When appeals for goodness and development are not based on God, when there seems to be an allergy to include religion in our earthly affairs, we have to be very suspicious. For centuries, we´ve been had. Let´s wake up!
I’m happy that many schools have adopted this as a motto. I just hope that they manage to inculcate this very important value to the students. Through the years, I’ve verified how students who study and work hard really succeed, while those floating in “good life” sink sooner or later.
This seems validated when we consider the current world situation. Many so-called developed countries that have been having a good time for decades are now in deep crisis, while many poor countries accustomed to hard life are emerging to be potential saviors of the floundering rich economies.
We are witnessing these days dramatic shifts of power and reversals of fortunes in many parts of the world. And I can’t help but note that behind these painful changes is the wanton violation of the principle “ad astra per aspera.”
I have read that in France, for example, the government decision to extend the retirement age from 60 to 62 as a fiscal measure to mitigate their economic crisis, was met with stiff, violent protests from the people
In England, where a veritable welfare state is ruling their educational system, similar protests also erupted against the proposal to cut down on educational subsidies. There are worse examples in many European countries.
That´s because when people get used to easy life, it is very hard to break away from it when finally needed. It´s like an addiction. To treat it, one has to proceed with extreme caution but with unwavering determination.
In the US, efforts to solve their grave economic problems through bailouts and stimulus spending have so far failed to achieve the desired results. The reasons are many, but all that reflect a spoiled mentality of entitlements and privileges.
It’s feared that the US will not only suffer a single dip in recession, but a double dip, a double whammy. Remember that they have been playing around the financial markets for so long, creating a bubble and a fantasy world for a while until things cannot be put up anymore.
Meanwhile, some serious studies, reported in very respectable media outlets like Bloomberg and The Economist, claim that big and relatively young and productive population in China and India are driving their economies forward, while the dwindling population in Europe are giving them nightmares.
They also mentioned that what can save the US now is their relatively young and productive population profile as compared that in many parts of Europe.
This should alert us of the danger in our mindless effort to approve the RH Bill. To all intents and purposes, that bill will reconstitute our healthy attitude toward population. It will put the contraceptive mentality in place, and will make us fear babies and people. It will set us up for a big fall in the future.
We should learn precious lessons from what is unfolding in many places these days. The most basic lesson is that we should always take care of our fundamental values and virtues. We have to remain humble, simple, pious and hardwired to work and to serve, with no fear of effort and sacrifice.
Let´s bury our tendency for self-pity and our fascination for comfort, convenience, wealth, fame, power, etc. Just pray and work, and if we get tired of it, then let´s work and pray.
This does not mean we will have a poor and sad life here. On the contrary!Life will be rosier that way, mind you. This is the sure formula for true human success and development.
Remember what Christ said. We need to enter by the narrow gate, because the big and wide one leads to perdition. We have to continually deny ourselves and carry the cross, because our damaged DNA tends to get spoiled with every blessing and favor we receive.
This lifestyle is also compatible with dignity and elegance, the real ones, not the ridiculous imitations. We have to be wary of the hyped images and messages transmitted in the media and public opinion, since they tend to be confusing if not downright false.
When appeals for goodness and development are not based on God, when there seems to be an allergy to include religion in our earthly affairs, we have to be very suspicious. For centuries, we´ve been had. Let´s wake up!
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