Prudence in this generation

THERE is such thing as prudence. Sorry if I have to make
that reminder. But precisely because of the temper of the times, when
most people are now pushed and pulled by viral electronic impulses, I
believe there is great sense to issue that reminder.

            Prudence is actually a very important virtue. It’s one of
the cardinal virtues to which all other human virtues are hinged. It
enables us to view and judge things properly and to act accordingly.
It makes us plan things well.

            We just have to be more sensitive to what would comprise
its essential part that should not change, and its incidental part
that could change depending on circumstances and other relevant
factors. It’s important that we be clear about this, so we would not
get lost especially during these very dynamic, technology-driven
times.

            Prudence, of course, presumes a certain hierarchy of
values that we should respect, uphold and defend. It should be vitally
connected with wisdom that in the end connects us with God and all
others, as well as all things in the world, through love and truth.

            We have to make sure that our prudence is not only
motivated by secondary criteria, like efficiency, effectiveness,
practicality, profitability, convenience, etc. If it does not lead us
to a closer relation with God, with others and the rest of the world,
then it would not be true prudence.

            We might enjoy some perks that these secondary standards
may give us, but it would not be true prudence when it fails to lead
us to our proper relationship with God, others and the rest of the
world.

            Of course, true prudence springs first of all from our
intimate personal relation with God, the source of all good things, of
all truth, of all love. Without that foundation, our prudence would be
limited to mere appearances of prudence that would be nothing other
than the prudence of the world and the prudence of the flesh, if not
the prudence of the devil.

            Because of this, we cannot overemphasize the need for
prayers and meditation, especially on the word of God that reveals to
us the workings of God’s wisdom and prudence.

            With that foundation taken care of, prudence requires us
to develop certain attitudes, skills and practices, like openness to
all things, acquisition of more knowledge of things in general and of
oneself, which means that we have to be observant and perceptive, and
that we know how study, how to relate things and come out with
conclusions, etc.

            We also need to consult and discuss things with others,
which presumes that we have an open and transparent personality,
capable of entering into meaningful dialogue with others. Openness
here does not mean we do not have our own opinions and beliefs. We can
and should have, but still willing to listen to others.

            We have to learn how to be friendly with everyone,
including those with whom we might have sharp differences. We have to
learn how to go beyond our personal preferences and beliefs so as to
be able to engage with those who are different from us or are even in
conflict with us.

            If we happen to be part of a decision-making body, we have
to learn how to play teamwork and to practice collegiality in every
step of the process. We have to be wary of our tendency to do things
simply on our own, especially if we happen to be the head of that
body. We have to learn how to settle and resolve differences.

            Prudence should not be stranded in the stages of studying
and analyzing things alone. It has to go all the way to making a
decision and of executing it. There may be reasons for some waiting
and postponement to be made. But ordinarily, prudence includes action,
and not just thinking, judging and analyzing.

            Now, given the temper of the times, we should understand
that this virtue of prudence needs to be exercised at a much faster
pace than that of the previous generations. The new technologies, if
properly grounded, oriented and used, can actually help us in this.

            Of course, we should never forget that there are instances
when we have to hold for a while the decision-making and its
execution. But we have to remember that the issues, problems and
challenges of today need to be attended to more promptly and, of
course, most correctly.

            This is how prudence has to be developed today. It has to
be on a par with the needs of the times

Convictions, openness, tolerance

YOU might think this combination is most odd and strange,
if not impossible. But whether we like or not, it’s a combination that
is proper to us as persons who have to establish good relation with
God and everybody else, and in fact, with everything else in this
world.

            It may be hard to pursue, but it is certainly not
impossible. In the first place, we are equipped and enabled to do it,
and on the part of God, our Father and Creator, everything has been
provided so that we can make such combination a living reality.

            We need convictions because we have to be firmly rooted on
the truth about us, about others, about God and about everything else.
This need to develop convictions presumes that we have to make a
deliberate act and continue doing it all throughout our life to
conform ourselves to the truth. The truth about ourselves just cannot
come to us without us conforming to it.

            But these convictions should not make us closed or
narrow-minded, or rigid and inflexible, as many people understand
convictions to do. Quite the contrary. If our convictions are really
rooted on the truth about God and about us, they would simply make us
open-minded always and flexible, knowing how to have a certain
tolerance to a variety of differences and even conflicts that we
cannot avoid in our life.

            The secret is precisely to vitally identify ourselves with
Christ who is God who became man to save us. In Christ, we have the
complete truth about ourselves, about who we are, about what we are
supposed to do in all the possible scenarios of our life, whether good
or bad, big or small, etc.

            In Christ, we have the perfect example of how to be open
to anyone and to anything, how to be tolerant of anything, adapting
himself to any human situation, without changing or compromising his
identity.

            We cannot get a better model of this combination of
convictions, openness and tolerance than in Christ. In him, not only
did God become man, but we also have a God who adapts himself
completely to our human condition, all the way to making himself like
sin though not committing sin.

            That’s what St. Paul said in his Second Letter to the
Corinthians: “For our sake, God made Christ to be sin who knew no sin,
so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (5,21)

            Can we think of a better way for one to have this
combination of conviction, openness and tolerance? Here we can see how
Christ, who is truth himself, making himself completely open to
whatever possibility our human condition can produce, and not only
being tolerant but willing to make these possibilities, including our
sinful state, his own.

            That is what is signified when he accepted death on the
cross. He assumed all the sinfulness of men in order to conquer it
with his resurrection, and give us the possibility of being saved.

            Yes, it is still a possibility, because the actuality of
our salvation would also depend on us, on whether we correspond to his
will and ways which can be summarized in that new commandment he gave
us: “Love one another as I have loved you.” (Jn 13,34)

            Of course, this new commandment can also be articulated in
the beatitudes Christ himself gave, and it always presumes, requires
and perfects the old law as articulated in the 10 commandments.

            To be truly men and women of convictions, openness and
tolerance, we cannot help but establish a vital, loving relationship
with Christ by praying, studying, meditating and acting on his word
that expresses his will for us, and by receiving him personally
especially in the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist.

            This vital, loving relationship with Christ will give rise
to the proper attitudes, understanding, skills and virtues that can be
expected of anyone with convictions, but who also knows how to be open
and tolerant of everyone and of everything.

            With this relationship, we would know how to love
everybody, how to be meek and humble, how to empathize and be
compassionate, quick to help and even to assume the burdens of the
others. We would have a universal heart, always finding ways to love
more and more people and in abidingly better ways as the circumstances
would dictate.

            With this relationship, we would know how to keep not only
the letter of the law but most importantly the spirit, uphold and
defend not only ideas but persons in their actual conditions, and go
beyond formulas to give the gratuity of God’s love and mercy, as Pope
Francis said.

Death, a beginning not an end

AS priest, I get to see many people already on the verge

of death. Their families invite me to give them the last sacraments of

the anointing, communion or viaticum. If the patients are still able,

I would hear their confessions.

            But it’s the effort to convey the Christian meaning of

suffering and death that I find most challenging. I’m aware of the

different levels of faith that people have, and it’s in how to adapt

the doctrine to their level, such that they get to appreciate it, that

would leave me gasping for divine inspiration.

            I just can’t dish out the teaching in the raw. I need to

dress it up, using the appropriate words, tone, arguments and

examples. I also need a good sense of timing, feeling the pulse of

those around to see if my words are entering or not. Indeed, a tricky

affair, but all worth it. I learn something every time I do this.

             Now that we are in this month of November when we give

special attention to our beloved departed, it might be good to

meditate once again on the reality of death. In this, what is

necessary is to see it always from the point of view of our faith.

  

            It’s in our Christian faith that the complete picture of

death is shown and explained. It’s in our Christian faith where the

source, cause and purpose of death are given. It’s in our Christian

faith where we are told what attitude we ought to have toward it as

well as how to take advantage of it, especially because it is

unavoidable.

  

            We have to be wary when we just allow ourselves to be led

simply by our emotions or some cultural and social beliefs and

practices which, while having their valid inputs, do not give us the

whole picture. Without the light of faith, these factors sooner or

later will give us a distorted and dangerous understanding of death.

              Our Christian faith teaches us that death came as a

consequence of sin, the sin of our first parents which we now inherit.

Obviously, our own personal sins contribute a lot to it.

  

            We have to remember that at the beginning we are meant to

be immortal, not only spiritually but also bodily. Together with

immortality, we in our first parents before the fall enjoyed the

preternatural gifts of integrity and impassibility—the capacity not to

suffer.

  

            All these were gone with the sin of Adam and Eve, and

death came as the ultimate consequence of sin. Death therefore came to

us as a deformation of our human nature in its original, sinless

state, and as a divine retribution.

  

            But God is full of love and mercy and he cannot remain in

anger with the masterpiece of his creation. He undertook a plan to

save us, a long, tortuous and complex one not because of his impotence

but rather because of the complex and complicated condition that we

have fallen into after falling into sin.

  

            God’s plan of human redemption, which he carries out with

the fullness of his powers, is not pursued as pure dole-out, a

give-away without us corresponding to his plan. He always respects our

freedom, no matter how we misuse and abuse it, and leads us back to

him, irrespective of how complex the ways to return to him might be.

  

            In this regard, our Catechism teaches: “’God created us

without us, but he did not will to save us without us.’ (St.

Augustine) To receive his mercy, we must admit our faults.” (1847)

   

            We now know how this divine plan was carried out to its

fulfillment. He sent his Son to us, the Son became man, taught us

everything that we need to know for our salvation, and ultimately

offered his life on the cross, and then resurrected.

             Along the way, he established his Church where we find his

living word and his living presence in the sacraments. He endowed it

with both visible and invisible gifts so that the redemptive presence

and work of Christ can continue to be with us till the end of time.

This is how God loves us.

  

            As a result, death has ceased to be a punishment, but

rather a means of our salvation. It’s not anymore merely an end to

life, but is in fact now the beginning of a new and eternal life with

God. When seen with faith, death is actually a happy event, not a sad

one, since with it one goes home to his Father God.