The sense of the eternal

WE need to develop this sense of the eternal because that
is proper to us. It’s not a luxury, and much less is it an exercise in
fantastic, delusional futility. It is a necessity. Without it, we
would be lost in this great and largely uncharted ocean that our world
is.

            As human persons with a spiritual soul, we are not meant
to live only in time. We just don’t have a temporal, mundane life,
governed only by temporal and worldly values. We are meant for the
eternal life with eternal laws governing it.

            It would be good that we cultivate an abiding sense of the
eternal, for that would give us the whole picture of our life and
would provide us with the ultimate standards of our life by which all
our mundane affairs and concerns ought to be related and assessed.

            We should not be contented with merely human and natural
criteria as we live our life here on earth. No matter how
indispensable they also are, they only have a relative value,
effective only when organically related to the eternal virtues of
faith, hope and charity.

            The standards of efficiency, effectivity, profitability,
etc., are indeed very helpful, but they can only serve us so much.
They still are in need of a more radical motivation and an ultimate
end. It’s the sense of the eternal that would make us most
broad-minded and that goes all the way in satisfying all the
requirements of our dignity.

            These eternal, theological virtues of faith, hope and
charity are what would lead us to our eternal life. They actually are
the initiatives of God, our Creator and Father, whose image and
likeness we all are, and from whom we come and to whom we belong. They
are not our inventions.

            Precisely, as his image and likeness, we are meant to
belong to him in a most intimate way by sharing in his life and
nature. This is made possible through his grace that brings with it
faith, hope and charity and the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit.

            Oh, how important and crucial it is then to know at least
the basic truth about our relation with God so that we would know how
to keep and enliven that relation, ever mindful of our duties and
responsibilities arising from it.

            Unfortunately, this relation, if ever we are still aware
of it, is often taken for granted, or is mainly influenced by elements
of sentimentalism, social and cultural conditionings, and the like. It
is hardly developed according to the terms of the God-given gifts of
faith, hope and charity.

            To be sure, these gifts of faith, hope and charity are
given to us abundantly. In this, God is never sparing. But it is up to
us to get as much of them as we can, and to keep and develop them
properly, without wasting them.

            We can claim this because of the fact that God has sent
his Son to us to save us, to heal and re-create us. And after the Son
has accomplished his mission, God now has sent us the Holy Spirit to
keep alive the redemptive work of the Son-made-man, Jesus Christ.

            With the Holy Spirit, we are given some special gifts and
fruits that would further facilitate the workings of faith, hope and
charity in us. It’s very important that we be keenly aware of this
truth of our faith, so we can do our part of conforming ourselves to
that reality.

            To be sure, we are equipped with enough God-given powers
to properly handle these supernatural gifts God is giving us. Our
intelligence and will, or what are called our spiritual faculties, can
manage with God’s grace to process the content and standards of the
divine, supernatural gifts.

            It is crucial that we learn how to keep our spiritual
faculties properly grounded and oriented. They just should not be
contented with processing purely worldly things, no matter how
reasonable or scientific or artistic they are. They need to enter into
the world of the supernatural faith, hope and charity.

            Thus, we need to learn how to be recollected, how to keep
our senses, our feelings, emotions and passions, our thinking and
activities, always beginning and ending with God, as what we usually
say in our prayers.

            Immersing ourselves in God does not compromise our
immersion in our worldly affairs. What it does is to help us immerse
ourselves in them properly, supernaturalizing them and relating them
to our eternal life with God, our ultimate end!

Burned out?

WE all know that life has more to offer than what we can
manage. There are surprises both of the pleasant and welcome ones as
well as the terribly unwelcome ones. There are heavy pressures and
insoluble predicaments. We have to be ready for these eventualities,
though we also know we cannot be truly ready enough.

            We have to learn to live with this fact of life and
strengthen our conviction, based on our Christian faith, that there’s
such thing as divine providence. God always governs all of his
creation, and in his own mysterious ways directs all things to
himself. If this is part of our bedrock belief, then we would be open,
ready and game with anything in life.

            A great part of his providence is beyond our
understanding. What we know is that it is at once all-wise,
all-powerful, all-just and all-merciful. If we would just be open to
this truth about his providence, I suppose we would be ok even if
along the way we commit all sorts of mistakes and even sins.

            God knows what to do with our blunders. And if they
happen, it’s because at least God knows how to draw good from them.
Everything somehow happens for a purpose in the ever dynamic
providence of God.

            As St. Paul would put, “To them that love God, all things
work together unto good, to such as, according to his purpose, are
called to be saints.” (Rom 8,28) These words of St. Paul should be the
very kernel of the attitude we ought to have toward anything that can
happen in life.

            Of course, such divine providence does not take away our
freedom which we can use unfortunately to go against his will and
ways. In spite of the infinite wisdom and mercy of God in his
providence, we can still manage to go against it.

            Thus, Christ talked about a sin that cannot be
forgiven—the sin against the Holy Spirit, when we “we speak against
the Holy Spirit.” (cfr Mt 12,32). The Holy Spirit is the God who is
sent to us to sanctify us. He is actually always around prompting us
what to think, choose, say and do.

            We have to remember that God completely gives himself to
us. He is not sparing in this. He is now with us in the Holy Spirit.
In a sense, he is all there for the taking. It’s really just up to now
how to take advantage of this reality.

            Thus, we are told that the proper attitude we ought to
have toward the Holy Spirit is that of docility. But for this to take
place, we also have to do our part. We need to learn to pray, to live
always in the presence of God, to develop the virtues, to learn the
doctrine of our faith so that we would know how to deal with the Holy
Spirit, to avail of the sacraments, etc.

            It also helps that humanly speaking, we develop a good
sense of humor, and a practical sense of how to defuse the pressures,
like indulging in some healthy hobbies and sports, or doing some
physical exercises that can lighten the mind and spirit.

            In the end, when things are just beyond us to cope, we
have to learn how to live abandonment in the hands of God who knows
what to do with all of our predicaments. In this, it might be good to
meditate on that scene of the agony of Christ in the garden of
Gethsemane.

            There he prays most earnestly to his Father, and begs him
to let “this cup pass by me.” He already has done a lot to accomplish
his mission of saving us. Still there is one more thing yet to be
done.

            Later on, he kind of rectified himself: “But not my will
but yours be done.” And with that, he proceeded to face his arrest,
passion, crucifixion and death. He gave himself completely to the
cruelty of men and offered his life, only to resurrect on the third
day.

            We have to see in this scene the template of how we are to
behave when faced with insoluble predicaments. We should not be afraid
of the cross in whatever form it takes. When we have done everything
that we could and still the predicaments remain, we just have to face
and embrace it the way Christ did.

            It’s in that spirit that we can expect to rise also
together with Christ. We can actually have as many resurrections as
death-causing problems in our life!

It’s school time again!

 THAT’S right, and I am now again back to school. It’s just
one among many other pastoral assignments given to me this year. But I
welcome this opportunity to be involved in a school, since the
suspenseful work of forming people is made easier by the more or less
controlled and structured conditions schools have.

            Still I know I have to keep myself strong inside and out
to cope with all the burden that undeniably is also great. Just the
same, I also know that it also has its sweet and gratifying moments.
It’s not all sweat and blood.

            As chaplain, I say Mass everyday for everyone
there—students, teachers, staff, some parents and guests. I hear
confessions, conduct recollections, retreats and doctrine classes, and
sit for hours in the confessional for personal spiritual direction.
I’m happy to learn that this year the population has grown
tremendously.

            These are very delicate tasks but also a very privileged
honor. Not everyone gets the chance to be of help and to make some
crucial impact on the most intimate aspects of the lives of young
people.

            Much of this work is done hidden and in silence, without
fanfare and worldly rewards. But what consoles is the thought that
that’s how things and persons grow. And if I do things well, I know
that together with God’s grace, I would be making a big difference in
the lives of people.

            It’s in these personal chats that I can clarify matters
and issues, give pieces of advice and words of encouragement, sow
reasons for hope, open horizons and broaden minds and hearts by
pointing to our ultimate common goal while learning how to avoid
getting entangled along the way. My desire is to be able to motivate
people.

            In a sense, I would be journeying with them. And given
current world conditions, the effort is not without difficulties.
Complicated minds and attitudes have taken root in many people. One
really has to be very patient and creative with them, knowing how to
make timely detours, when to stop, when to go, etc.

            The effect of all this is many times very heartwarming, as
people make welcome changes in their lives. Some people think miracles
do not happen anymore these days. My experience is different. I see
miracles taking place every day, though most of them do not have
external manifestations.

            Among the things I do in school is to give a class on
Christian morality to high school seniors. While I have been giving
classes and talks on this topic, there’s always the challenge of how
to present the same ideas and doctrine especially to young people,
given the obvious generation gap.

            There’s always the need to adapt oneself to his audience,
to talk their language, to be at their level. He needs to be most
perceptive of the subtle shifts of mentality that takes place among
people through the years and to attune himself to those conditions.

            It cannot be denied that giving classes also involves some
skills in performance and theatrics to be able to catch and keep the
attention of the students. Especially when the students are young, the
teacher has to contend with the notorious fickle-mindedness of these
students. But he should not lose sight of the essential things to be
imparted.

            Due preparation is a must in giving classes. A teacher has
to bear in mind that his presence alone should project a certain
wholesomeness that would attract the young students, including the
laziest and the most distracted and inattentive ones.

            He should try his best that he is consistent himself with
what he is teaching. What frustrates students most is when they see
their teachers not living what they are  teaching.

            In this class on Christian morality, I immediately felt
the need to clarify what morality is not. That’s because nowadays,
many people, especially the young, come with very distorted ideas and
biases against the mere mention of morality.

            I had to say that morality is not just about human
sexuality, though a good part is dedicated to it since it is where
many of us have our weakness, if not, our Waterloo. Neither is
morality simply about rules, though rules there also are.

            The challenge is how to make a keen sense of morality an
integral, natural part of one’s thinking, speaking and acting. Sad to
say, with the thick cloud of confusion nowadays, many people have
practically lost this sense, and if they still have it, it is quite
damaged, needing repair.

            Please pray and wish us luck!