Welcome each day with gladness

WE have every reason to welcome each day with gladness,
regardless of how our condition may be physically, mentally,
emotionally. And that’s because God is always good, and his love and
mercy never end.

            No sin nor stupidity of ours can change that. It’s not him
who will condemn us, if ever we get condemned. It’s us. We need to
train ourselves to always have a positive outlook in life, to be
hopeful and optimistic, in spite of whatever. As far as God is
concerned, he has given us everything we need to be like him, happy,
full of love and goodness.

            We have to look at this matter first of all within the
framework of the over-all plan of God when he decided to create us and
the rest of the universe. Truth is we have all been created out of
love, out of sheer goodness on the part of God who did not have any
need to create anything or anyone. He just wanted to share what he has
with us.

            In short, the whole of creation has been generated out of
love and is meant for love. With God’s omnipotent providence, it will
remain in a state of love. As his image and likeness, we are supposed
to reflect that love and goodness in our life, in our attitude toward
him and everybody and everything else.

            Even if we abused his goodness and fell into sin, God
continues to love us. He will re-create us, heal us, redeem us as he
actually has done and continues to do. He will forgive us always, just
as he in Christ has commanded us—“not only seven times, but seventy
times seven.”

            Let’s listen to what Christ has to say about this: “For
God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whosoever
believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent
the Son into the world not to condemn the world, but that the world
might be saved through him.” (Jn 3,16-17)

            It’s truly worthwhile to engrave these precious and
reassuring words in our mind and heart. Since we cannot help but abuse
the goodness of God, and so get our just deserts by suffering some
forms of sadness, shame, pain and the like, we should always remember
that God will continue to love us.

            This has been proven by the fact that Christ died for us.
He assumed our sins. His love for us is not self-seeking (eros), nor a
matter of sharing (filia). He goes beyond, to the point of giving
himself to us even if his love is not corresponded properly (agape).

            St. Paul explains it plainly in this way: “God shows his
love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.”
(Rom 5,8)

            This is the irrefutable basis for our joy and confidence
in life, in our attitude towards anything, in spite of whatever
mistakes, sins, miseries we may have. We need to train ourselves
always to have a joyful, hopeful outlook in life.

            It would not be good if we allow ourselves to be dominated
by fear, worry, anger, doubts, sadness, etc., just because of our
problems, difficulties, or worse, our sins and mistakes.

            Yes, we have to learn to face them, solve and resolve them
the best way we can. And yet even in the worst scenario when we
encounter situations of insoluble predicaments, we still have reason
to be joyful and at peace, because Christ has assumed all our troubles
on the cross.

            We need to learn how to be sport in life, how to move on
in spite of setbacks, how not to get stuck in our failures and
disappointments and to rot there. If we look at our predicaments the
way Christ looks at them, it would not be hypocrisy if we strive to
smile even if our heart is burdened with something. That would be
heroic sanctity.

            In the face of our abuses, Christ simply preaches what is
right. He may correct, or sometimes scold as he did to Peter. But he
does not prevent us from exercising our freedom, no matter how wrongly
we use it. He simply drowns evil with an abundance of good, to the
extreme of offering his life on the cross.

            This is how we can be joyful and at peace all the time.
Yes, we may suffer, but it’s a suffering that does not take away our
joy and peace. And so we can afford to welcome each day with gladness,
no matter how that day goes.

Inventive, creative, versatile

EVERYTIME I read about the gospel story of Zacchaeus (Lk
19,1-10), I get moved and strongly reminded that in our life, with its
share of blessings and misfortunes, we just have to learn to make do
with whatever we have, to make up for what deficiency can still be
made up, and most importantly, to move on.

Zacchaeus epitomizes this attitude. He had his share of
blessings. He was wealthy, being the chief tax collector. But he also
had his misfortunes. During his time, to be a tax collector is
equivalent to being a sinner. Besides, he was short of stature, such
that he had to climb a sycamore tree to be able to see Christ pass by.

He made use of this combination of blessings and

misfortunes to do what he thought was proper. He was generous. If he
cheated anyone, he said, he repaid fourfold. As to his shortness, he
did not make it a hindrance to see Christ by climbing up a tree.

In short, he made do with what he had, tried to make up
for whatever mistakes he might have committed, and continued to move
on with his life, doing whatever good he could.

We need to cultivate this attitude. In fact, we should try
to spread it around, because with all the twists and turns of our
life, this is what will guide us to reach our ultimate goal, life with
God in heaven, and to effectively do our part in our communal life in
this world.

All this attitude should be firmly rooted on the belief that with God,
everything will always work out for the good of all. His providence is
abiding and so wise, powerful and merciful that even our misfortunes,
mistakes, deficiencies would somehow, in some mysterious ways, be
useful.

In the story of Zacchaeus, we see Christ paying special attention to
him. Christ did not mind so much the not-so-good reputation Zacchaeus
had among the people. He readily understood and forgave Zacchaeus for
whatever mistake Zacchaeus committed.

Most importantly, he reassured everyone that he came “to seek and to
save what was lost.” He did not come to condemn, but to save. In other
words, if we find ourselves condemned, it’s not because of him, but
rather of us.

And so we should be like Zacchaeus who, in spite of his mistakes and
other misfortunes, went to see Christ, instead of running away from
him. Then he just simply admitted his mistakes and misfortunes,
expressed his contrition for them, did whatever needed to make up, and
moved on.

We should also learn how to make do with whatever misfortune we suffer
in this life, avoiding the temptation to rationalize and change
something that cannot be changed without resorting to immoral means.

We have to remind ourselves that we are not expected to solve every
problem we have the way we want it solved. We have to learn to live
with our unsolvable problems, but always with Christ, and never
without him.

That situation of helplessness can only occasion the great
power and mercy of God. What is impossible to us is always possible to
God. We therefore have to learn how to abandon ourselves in the hands
of God, to surrender our condition to him after doing everything we
could that is licit. God, in his inscrutable ways, knows what to do
with our mistakes and misfortunes.

Sad to say, nowadays we are seeing a trend of not
accepting things as they are. Instead, many are trying to justify
their wrong understanding of things, if not their own wrongdoings. In
short, they are making themselves their own god, the author of what
right and wrong, good and bad in our life.

This is usually the case regarding questions of sexual or
gender identity and in many other issues besetting us today, like
poverty, justice, peace, environment, etc. All kinds of
rationalizations are thrown in.

Yet, we have to remind ourselves that even in this kind of
confusing situation, God in his mysterious ways would know how to
derive some good. This is the core belief that we should have and that
we should never allow to disappear.

We should try our best o clarify things, always within the
bounds of charity and truth that would already include justice and
mercy. And if everything is done and still the issue is still
unresolved, then we have to learn to suffer.

This is where God will pull his surprises on us. We just
have to learn to make do, make up and move on.

Making do, making up, moving on

EVERYTIME I read about the gospel story of Zacchaeus (Lk
19,1-10), I get moved and strongly reminded that in our life, with its
share of blessings and misfortunes, we just have to learn to make do
with whatever we have, to make up for what deficiency can still be
made up, and most importantly, to move on.

Zacchaeus epitomizes this attitude. He had his share of
blessings. He was wealthy, being the chief tax collector. But he also
had his misfortunes. During his time, to be a tax collector is
equivalent to being a sinner. Besides, he was short of stature, such
that he had to climb a sycamore tree to be able to see Christ pass by.

He made use of this combination of blessings and
misfortunes to do what he thought was proper. He was generous. If he
cheated anyone, he said, he repaid fourfold. As to his shortness, he
did not make it a hindrance to see Christ by climbing up a tree.

In short, he made do with what he had, tried to make up
for whatever mistakes he might have committed, and continued to move
on with his life, doing whatever good he could.

We need to cultivate this attitude. In fact, we should try
to spread it around, because with all the twists and turns of our
life, this is what will guide us to reach our ultimate goal, life with
God in heaven, and to effectively do our part in our communal life in
this world.

All this attitude should be firmly rooted on the belief that with God,
everything will always work out for the good of all. His providence is
abiding and so wise, powerful and merciful that even our misfortunes,
mistakes, deficiencies would somehow, in some mysterious ways, be
useful.

In the story of Zacchaeus, we see Christ paying special attention to
him. Christ did not mind so much the not-so-good reputation Zacchaeus
had among the people. He readily understood and forgave Zacchaeus for
whatever mistake Zacchaeus committed.

Most importantly, he reassured everyone that he came “to seek and to
save what was lost.” He did not come to condemn, but to save. In other
words, if we find ourselves condemned, it’s not because of him, but
rather of us.

And so we should be like Zacchaeus who, in spite of his mistakes and
other misfortunes, went to see Christ, instead of running away from
him. Then he just simply admitted his mistakes and misfortunes,
expressed his contrition for them, did whatever needed to make up, and
moved on.

We should also learn how to make do with whatever misfortune we suffer
in this life, avoiding the temptation to rationalize and change
something that cannot be changed without resorting to immoral means.

We have to remind ourselves that we are not expected to solve every
problem we have the way we want it solved. We have to learn to live
with our unsolvable problems, but always with Christ, and never
without him.

That situation of helplessness can only occasion the great
power and mercy of God. What is impossible to us is always possible to
God. We therefore have to learn how to abandon ourselves in the hands
of God, to surrender our condition to him after doing everything we
could that is licit. God, in his inscrutable ways, knows what to do
with our mistakes and misfortunes.

 Sad to say, nowadays we are seeing a trend of not
accepting things as they are. Instead, many are trying to justify
their wrong understanding of things, if not their own wrongdoings. In
short, they are making themselves their own god, the author of what
right and wrong, good and bad in our life.

This is usually the case regarding questions of sexual or
gender identity and in many other issues besetting us today, like
poverty, justice, peace, environment, etc. All kinds of
rationalizations are thrown in.

Yet, we have to remind ourselves that even in this kind of
confusing situation, God in his mysterious ways would know how to
derive some good. This is the core belief that we should have and that
we should never allow to disappear.

We should try our best o clarify things, always within the
bounds of charity and truth that would already include justice and
mercy. And if everything is done and still the issue is still
unresolved, then we have to learn to suffer.

This is where God will pull his surprises on us. We just
have to learn to make do, make up and move on.