An encounter with Christ

THAT’S what Christian life is all about. It’s actually

meeting him and following him as best as we can. It’s not just a

matter of acting on an idea or a theory, no matter how good and

‘holy-sounding’ an idea and a theory are. It’s engaging with Christ in

vivo, dealing with him live.

  

            That we can meet Christ live is no gratuitous, baseless

presumption. Whether we like it or not, believe in it or not, the fact

is that Christ told his apostles that “I am with you always, to the

very end of the age.” (Mt 28,20)

  

            He is actually everywhere, because he is not only man but

also God in the first place. As God he is omnipresent, not only in a

passive way, but in a most active way. We just have to learn to adapt

ourselves to this assertion of Christ by exercising our faith.

   

            It may also be pointed out that we would find ourselves

most of the time awkward and unprepared to always be with Christ. Some

of us may even say that having Christ with us always would undermine

our identity and our privacy, etc.

  

            We should not worry so much about these apprehensions

because Christ, for his part, will always understand us no matter how

we are and is all too willing to adapt himself to us.

  

            Let’s not forget that he gives special attention to the

weak, the sick and the lost. He is very compassionate with them. For

our sake, he made himself like sin without committing sin. He has

borne all our sins by dying on the cross. He came not to condemn but

to save us.

  

            We can say that he is most lenient with us. But at the

same time, he is also most strict, because he himself said that if we

want to follow him, we have to deny ourselves, carry the cross and

then follow him.

  

            We just have to do our best to make these two seemingly

contrary attitudes of Christ toward us compatible with each other.

These contrasts are due to the tension between our nature and the

supernatural goal we are asked to aim at. They are made sharper by the

consequences of our sin that produces a tension between the unnatural

and the supernatural.

   

            If we just try to be as simple and humble as the apostles

and the other disciples of Christ, we can manage to live with this

tension without much worry. Christ will always understand us and will

take the initiative to make things attainable by us.

  

            The important thing is to have a living encounter with

Christ. This can be done if we exercise our faith to the fullest,

taking care of its fundamental requirements like studying the doctrine

of our faith, getting to know the details of Christ’s life and

redemptive work by habitually reading the gospel, availing of a

certain plan that would keep our piety alive in all situations.

  

            The important thing is to exert the effort and to try our

best, even if our best can always be better and even if we can

continue to make mistakes along the way. As long as we continue to

move on, learning how to begin and begin again, as often as necessary,

then Christ can be alive in us and we can manage to follow him.

  

            In the end, we can hope that where he is, we can also be,

as he himself promised and assured us.

The go-bag of charity

WE are now living in very exciting times. On the one hand,

we have many developments taking place, offering us with increasing

challenges and opportunities. If we are ready for them, we can

actually take advantage of them.

            On the other hand, we are experiencing a growing number of

disasters and calamities—storms of unusually elevated categories,

earthquakes, fire, terrorism, etc. We should also be ready for them,

and always have by our side what is known as a go-bag, that contains

the bare necessities for survival during emergency situations.

            But I would say that we should always have a more

important kind of go-bag, one that is kept in our heart and soul and

is filled not with material, perishable things, but with love, which

is the only important thing in our life, the only imperishable item

that can bring us to our ultimate and definitive home.

            Make no mistake about it! This is the indispensable bag

that we should carry wherever we are, including when we are on our bed

sleeping. This should not be a problem, because this bag hardly weighs

anything. It is as light as light itself, because in fact it is not

something that we carry, but rather something that we truly are, that

is, that it marks our ultimate identity.

            Everyday, we have to see to it that this bag is not left

behind, but rather becomes more and more united, if not identified

with us. And that’s because it is not just a bag that carries

something, but rather a bag that is each one of us, created and meant

for charity, for loving God and everybody else the way Christ loves

us. We are meant to be a bag of charity, and not just a bag of bones

or of some material things.

            In our daily affairs, let’s see to it that the things we

handle, the concerns, challenges, issues and opportunities we face

would not diminish, but rather would enhance our love for God and for

others.

            This is not something impossible to do. It is very doable,

first of all because God will always give us the grace for it. And if

we correspond to that grace, we will see that our worldly and temporal

affairs, including our problems and failures, are the means and

occasions for loving. Everything, as we are told by St. Paul in his

Letter to the Romans, will always work for the good as long as we are

with God always.

            Every so often, let us examine ourselves if that go-bag

filled with charity is truly what we have and who we are. In that way,

we would not be afraid of anything, not even of death. And we can be

in a better condition to do many more good things, which is really

what matters in life. The goodness of our life is not measured by

wealth, health, power, fame and the like. It is measured by love,

period!

            It is love that brings us to heaven. It is what goes

beyond the limits of space and time and leads us to the eternal life

with God. Again, we have to examine ourselves regularly if that go-bag

is truly with us!

Playing offense and defense

THIS is about the virtue of fortitude, one of the cardinal

virtues from which spring many other virtues. It’s a virtue that we

all should cultivate since it is necessary as we plod through the

tricky waters of this world.

            It involves both aggression and protection. We have to

learn how to pursue some arduous good without fear and let-up but

avoiding rashness, as well as how to bear the unavoidable difficulties

and evils along the way without giving up. Thus, it involves both

action and patience, offense and defense.

            We should not forget that in this life, whether we like it

or not, aware of it or not, we are involved in some kind of lifelong

warfare. Our heart is always an arena for the battle of good and evil.

            That is why we always have to make some kind of strategy

to see if we are keeping the right combination of offense and defense

in our spiritual life. Everyday, we have to go through some kind of

accounting to monitor how we are living and continually developing

this virtue as we have to cope with the changing challenges and

opportunities in life.

            We should not take this concern for granted, simply

abandoning ourselves to fate or to a blind adherence to God’s

providence without us making due effort to be truly responsible in

shaping our life. This would be what is called as fatalism, an

improper and exaggerated understanding of the spirit of abandonment.

            This unconcern, as we all know, is quite common. We have

to overcome it, helping one another to develop the proper attitude and

skills in playing offense and defense in our spiritual life which is a

matter of growing in love for God and others through the events of our

daily life.

            A good means to do this is to make a habit of making a

regular examination of conscience everyday. In this way, we practice

accountability of what God has given us and of what he expects from

us. We are in this life for a clear God-given purpose. We should not

get distracted, much less, diverted from this objective of our life.

            With regular examination of conscience, we would somehow

know if we are gaining or losing ground in our spiritual life, or if

we are winning or losing in our ascetical struggles to develop virtues

and to avoid sin, if there is growth and progress or stagnation and

regression in the long and short-runs of our specific spiritual

battles.

            With regular examination of conscience, we would have a

sense of continuity and direction in our spiritual life. We would be

encouraged to put some goals to reach, some standards to measure our

performance, some deadlines to meet. In other words, we would have a

guide to help us, some structure and road map to show us the way.

            It’s about time that the means we seriously use to be

effective in our mundane activities be also used in our spiritual and

moral affairs. We cannot afford to be casual and dismissive in the

development of our spiritual life.

            With regular examination of conscience, we can make the

necessary adjustments to adapt to the changing situations and

circumstances. It gives us a sense of confidence that is so necessary

if we want to be effective in reaching our ultimate goal, which is

nothing less than our own sanctification.

            With regular examination of conscience, we develop a

culture that is responsive to the fundamental needs and purpose of our

life.