Feel privileged to suffer

THIS is how we should feel when some suffering comes our way. This
is especially so when we think that we do not seem to deserve
suffering because we have been trying our best to be good and holy, or
because we are not aware of committing any big mistake that brings
with it its own comeuppance, etc. Just the same, we also know that we
somehow deserve to suffer because of some personal fault, no matter
how light.

    That can only mean that God has given us the favor to make us
share more intimately in the redeeming suffering and death of Christ
for the good of all or for the sake of some people or some particular
intentions. Our reaction to suffering should be that of patience,
peace and confidence, and thanksgiving and praise.

    This was how the saints and other holy men and women felt when
some form of suffering came their way, including martyrdom. They
embraced it lovingly because they knew that the cross, in whatever
form it came, was the surest way to be with Christ in his supreme act
of loving and saving us.

    Obviously, that kind of attitude can only be assumed if a person
clearly has the grace of God. Only God's grace can make a person see
the cross that way. Without it, the cross can only mean pain, problem,
suffering that is repulsive to our nature.

    It is also for this reason then that whenever a suffering comes
our way, we have to ask for grace to be able to regard that suffering
the way Christ and the saints considered their suffering. That grace
will always be given by God who is not sparing at all in showering us
with it.

    We need to be clear about this truth of our faith so that we can
take proper advantage of the suffering that we unavoidably will have
in our earthly life. Our reaction to suffering should be eminently
theological, spiritual and supernatural. It should never be seen only
from a purely human point of view, based on feelings and our human
estimations alone.

    We have to learn how to suffer. It’s an art and skill that is
available if we only care to notice. It’s all there as clear as
noonday, its cause and meaning precisely defined, its antidote and
vaccine abundantly provided. Our Christian faith sheds tremendous
light on this mystery of our life. Christ is showing us the way.

    Our faith, the ultimate source of truth about ourselves, tells us
that suffering is due to sin, to the misuse of our freedom, to our
disobedience to the will of God who created us to be his image and
likeness, to be children of his, sharing in his very own life.

    Yet, in spite of that, God our Father, who is all goodness and the
very fount of love, did not and does not cease to care for us. And
while allowing us to suffer the consequences of our sin and
disobedience, he also showed and continues to show us up to now how to
tackle suffering in our earthly life.

    We should try our best, with God’s grace which he actually gives
us in abundance, to go beyond the level of the sensible and the
intelligible, and enter into the all-beautiful world of our faith
where the humanly ugly things are converted into divinely beautiful
realities.

    Let’s not be afraid of suffering then. We just have to learn to
suffer the way Christ himself suffered. Not only has he given us the
way to do it, but also the very power to suffer with him.

    With faith, we can even resemble Christ’s eagerness to meet his
death because we all know that such death can only mean one thing—our
redemption, our purification, and our way toward our ultimate
glorification as children of God.

    If we manage to understand and appreciate suffering in this way,
then we can always see beauty in suffering. Even our physical
deformities and deficiencies, even our moral errors and blunders can
convey a distinctive brand of beauty if borne with faith in Christ.

    Let's remember that the beatitudes are formulated along the ways
of suffering. We are blessed if we are poor in spirit, if we are in
mourning, if we are meek and humble, pure of heart, if we are
merciful, and hunger and thirst for righteousness, if we are
peacemakers, if we are persecuted and insulted, etc. (cfr Mt 5)

    We have to learn to regard all suffering as privilege given to us by God.

Performer, actor, minister

THE other day, I was invited by some seminarians—all
friends and even directees of mine—to watch their play which was the
product of one of their classes. It was produced, directed and cast by
their very own selves. It was also meant to be a tribute to one of
their teachers who was leaving for further studies abroad.

            The play was the musical “Mamma Mia,” which I have heard
about sometime ago but never bothered to know more about, since I am
not a movie or theater person. And so I was in for a big surprise.

            As I was ushered to the venue, I noticed that most of the
characters of the play were women and that these would be played by
the seminarians themselves. I started to get anxious.

            As I entered the hall, I noticed that the stage was well
set, the lighting and sound systems and other technical items were
perfect or near perfect. At the back of my mind, I was happy to note
that these young boys could already mount such a wonderful production.

            But I must confess that I felt uncomfortable at the
beginning of the show as I saw familiar faces dressed and outrageously
made up like women. Some looked funny, but others, I must say, merited
a second look. Even their legs looked smooth and shapely. I usually do
not look at these details, but on this occasion, I made an exception.

            As the play unfolded, the uneasy feeling readily gave way
to amusement and sheer enjoyment as I saw the versatility of these
boys whom I know to be truly boys. They were both funny and convincing
enough in their acting. Their mimickry did not raise suspicions. It
did not harm their masculine identity. I am sure, their teacher would
give them a good grade.

            On my way out, I congratulated the cast who showed some
amused embarrassment for their production, but I reassured them that I
was very happy with it. I encouraged them to do more staging of their
production.

            But I also gave them a little lecture about the difference
between a performer, an actor, and a minister which I hope all of them
will come to be someday.

            A performer, I told them, has as his immediate and main
purpose, to entertain the audience in a direct and sensible or
tangible way. He is usually a clown, an emcee, a juggler, a singer and
a dancer. Special talents and training are clearly needed here. His
job is as honorable as any other honest work. And if done with love
for God and for others, it is a sure path to heaven.

            An actor is not as much interested in entertaining their
audience as in entering into the persona of the character he is
supposed to play. He thinks more of the scene and of how he relates
himself to the role than of how the audience would react to his
performance. This category involves more thinking and emoting. But it
would be unfair to compare an actor with a performer, and vice-versa.
Each one has his place in the sun.

            Now, a minister is a different category altogether. He may
have and use some elements of a performer and an actor, but he is
definitely different from them. A minister—I am referring more to
deacons, priests, bishops, Popes—has, first of all, a different
identity. He is not just so and so. He is another Christ, conformed to
Christ as head of the Church in varying degrees.

            In other words, he is not just performing for an audience
or acting out a role. He works in the person of Christ and with the
authority of Christ as head of the Church. This happens in the most
eminent way when he celebrates the Holy Mass. But this can happen
anytime of his life, including while he is doing sports or resting,
but especially when he is administering the sacraments, preaching and
giving spiritual direction to the people.

            I told my seminarian-friends that they can try to be the
best of performers and the best of actors, but they should not confuse
the category of a minister with those of the performers and actors.
The latter depend more on one's talents and aptitude, the former is
first of all a gift from God.

            Because of this difference, the minister has a
self-awareness, attitude, outlook, lifestyle, training, etc.,
different from those of a performer and a minister. But all have
honorable responsibilities that can serve both God and others.

Trapped and poisoned by 'goodness'

WE have to be most wary of this phenomenon, a common sad
occurrence in the life of the so-called 'good people,' those who
frequent churches, do some prayers, active in popular piety, etc., but
who often end up being judgmental, quick to brand people and to find
fault,  impatient with others, especially those with obvious defects
and mistakes, and very opinionated who can hardly tolerate other
opinions.

            This phenomenon is iconized in the parable of the Pharisee
and the publican. (cfr Lk 18,10-14)            The Pharisee was the
epitome of goodness and correctness. He fasted twice a week, gave
tithes of all what he possessed. But his righteousness converted his
prayer into a boast, and it simply showed he was separated from God.

            The publican considered himself the receptacle of all
possible moral sewage. He could hardly lift up his eyes toward heaven.
His prayer dripped with compunction, but it reconciled him with God.

            We have to understand that good and evil is a matter of
whether one is with God or not. Good is good because one is with God.
Evil is evil because he is not with God. It’s as simple as that.

            Our problem is that instead of referring things—our
thoughts, words and actions—to God, we refer them only to our own idea
of what is good and evil. And usually it is based on some worldly
values like practicality, popularity, convenience, etc.

            Not much wrong there really. After all, all things we do
have to be referred to our own idea of good and evil. Except that it’s
an idea that has been severed from its proper source and basis—God
himself.

            In short, we make ourselves our own God, our ultimate
source of what is good and bad, what is right and wrong. That’s where
the problems come in, where the bugs and viruses enter to corrupt our
otherwise good idea. That's where we get trapped and poisoned by our
own idea of 'goodness.'

            That is why, everyday and very often during the day we
need to check whether our idea of good and evil is still vitally
linked with God. We have to be wary with our tendency to just flow in
a certain routine and inertia of goodness that has already deadened
our living connection with God.

            Most vulnerable to this anomaly are those gifted with some
high intelligence and other talents. They tend to regard themselves as
superior to others and thus to look down on them, to expect to be
served by them, etc.

            We should never think that our talents, gifts, blessings
and other privileges and advantages we can have in life are a right to
lord it over others, or to be proud and vain, or to expect more
privileges. They are never meant to make us feel superior to others,
turning us into conceited persons.

            If ever, these things should only make us more aware of
the greater responsibility we have to contribute to the common good.
That consideration, which we should try to be with us always, should
sober us and stop us from making fantastic, baseless ideas of
ourselves.

            These gifts and blessings should make us more humble and
more responsible, as well as more discerning as to what God has in
mind for their proper use. That’s because when not referred to God,
these things can have no other effect than to spoil us.

            And that’s when we, unwittingly perhaps, lead ourselves
down the road to a blinding self-righteousness. We have to be most
wary of this danger which is very common and can come to us in subtle
ways.

            What is ideal is that our blessings and other divine and
natural gifts should be regarded and used with humility, gratitude and
the eagerness to serve the others. Otherwise they become very
poisonous.

            The real saints and heroes never thought it beneath them
to suffer the inadequacies and the mistakes of others, following the
example of Christ who even went to the extent of washing the feet of
his apostles, and who clearly said that he came to serve and not to be
served.

            Since any authority on earth is a participation of the
authority of God, those who have it, especially the sacred ministers,
should see to it that the exercise of their authority would make
others see Christ instead of their own selves.

            We have to follow the example of St. John the Baptist who
said, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” (Jn 3,30)