Pattern our life after Christ’s life

WE have to understand this truth of our faith well. While

the life of each of us is very personal and unique, we have to realize

that, for our life to be the life meant for us by our Creator, it

should be patterned after the life of Christ who, as he said, is “the

way, the truth, and the life” for us. (cfr. Jn 14,6)

            Of course, this business of patterning our life after

Christ’s life is not a matter of literally going through the same

events that comprised Christ’s life as recorded in the gospels.

            That’s not possible, since the circumstances of the life

of each of us vary. What it means is that we should try to shape our

life according to the spirit, the will, and the ways of Christ as he

tackled all the possible scenarios that our human condition here on

earth would entail.

            Developing our life independently of the spirit, will and

ways of Christ would not lead us to our proper end which is to be with

God, our Creator, in whose image and likeness we have been created.

            As we have been taught by our Catechism, Christ as the Son

of God and therefore the perfect image that God has of his own self,

is the pattern of our humanity. And as the Son of God who became man,

he is the savior of our humanity damaged by sin.

            We need to understand that the spirit with which the life

of Christ was shaped has a universal applicability for all of us. We

cannot consider that life is just one more among many others. His is

THE life meant for us. Our life would not be as it should be if it is

not patterned after Christ’s life.

            That’s why we need to know very well the life of Christ.

We have to try to discern what Christ is telling us in each event of

his life, what he is trying to teach us with his words, deeds,

reactions. We have to know what his mission was here on earth, for

that also should be our mission. We have to expect to experience what

Christ also experienced, although in different ways and forms.

            We have to have the very mind of Christ, the very identity

of his, to such an extent that with St. Paul, we can say, “It is no

longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” (Gal 2,20)

            When we make our plans for our life, let us be more active

in conforming our plans with the spirit, will and ways of Christ.

That’s because, even if we fail to consciously conform our plans to

his, Christ on his part will shape it just the same according to the

plan he has for each one us.

            It will always be a personal relationship that Christ will

develop with each one of us. He is actually shaping us so that we can

be God’s image and likeness, and children of his.

            His love for us precedes and is meant to inspire our love

for him in return. It would be good if we do our part in corresponding

to his love as knowingly and lovingly as well. We have to understand

that Christ offers us the way of how to properly handle whatever

situation we find ourselves here so that we can manage to achieve our

final goal. In the end, Christ gives his own self to us.

            Christ predestines no one to perdition. If one ends in

hell, it is because of his total and direct rejection of Christ, not

because Christ destines him to hell. The “Son of perdition” mentioned

twice in the New Testament is a reference to a person who formally

rejected Christ, in spite of what Christ has done for all of us.

Battling fears, worries, sadness

IT’S really a matter of faith, of how strong our faith is.

With faith, we know that whatever be our condition and situation in

life, God is always there and will never abandon us. He is there to

help us. He actually takes care of everything.

            It’s this faith that springs and strengthens our hope and

charity, which is the essence, purpose and fullness of our life. With

faith, we can manage to be at peace all the time, to experience joy

and awe even in the midst of our unavoidable earthly suffering, and to

go on and move on despite whatever.

            To battle our fears, worries and sadness, we need to

strengthen our faith and live it to the hilt. And let us allow it to

educate all our human powers and faculties—our intelligence and will,

our emotions and passions, our memory and imagination, etc. Let us

take time and learn the relevant skills to achieve this ideal.

            Let us remember that we are a composite of body and soul.

And since our soul is spiritual, it has its life and origin in the

Spirit of God himself. We need to develop our life following the ways

that would reinforce the unity of the composite parts of our life in

their proper order. We have to realize that our life is mainly

spiritual and supernatural, not simply material and natural.

            That way, we remove ourselves from being entirely

dependent on merely human, earthly and temporal factors. We allow

ourselves to be governed by a much powerful agency that can

effectively cruise us through our life’s ocean of mysteries. Faith

enables us to cope with the reality of our life that includes the

spiritual and the supernatural.

            With faith we will never feel alone. We will always feel

accompanied by God, by his angels and saints, all helping and

interceding for us. With faith, we know that everything that happens

to us, good or bad, has a reason and a purpose, and all of them

working for our own good. (cfr. Rom 8,28)

            We really have no reason to fear, nor to wallow in

worries, anxieties and sadness. Let’s remember that these unfortunate

states are fertile ground for the enemies of our soul, especially the

devil, to take advantage of us.

            About the only reason to fear, worry and be sad is when we

lose our faith, when we lose touch with God. We have to pray and pray

so that our doubts and fears would not undermine our faith.

            What also helps is to develop a sporting attitude in life,

because, to be realistic about it, we will always have frustrations,

disappointments, mistakes, failures, sins and defeats in our life. But

we just have to learn how to move on, just like a good sportsman.

            We should always be cheerful in life, and strive to show

it even externally with smiles and happy, warm and encouraging

dispositions. Even in our grief and mourning, we should manage to

learn how to be serene, knowing that suffering and death have already

been redeemed by Christ and are now endowed with redemptive power.

            Let’s not waste time and energy by falling into the grips

of fears, worries and sadness. When we notice that we are having some

languid moments, it can be a sign that our faith is not working, and

that we are succumbing to the laws of the flesh and the world, if not,

to the tricks of the devil.

            We have to extricate ourselves as quickly as possible from

that predicament. The ideal to have is to be always cheerful and eager

to do things, no matter what the cost involved.

            We should be doing a lot of good, constructive work,

rather than stuck in the mode of ruing and brooding, sinking in

self-pity, etc.

Never forget God’s mercy

IT’S, of course, good that we constantly highlight God’s

call for us to follow him, to be holy and perfect as he is, since we

have been created in his image and likeness. It’s good that we are

always reminded to love, to pray, to make sacrifices, to frequent the

sacraments, to develop virtues, to wage a life-long ascetical

struggle, etc.

            But we should never forget that in spite of our best

intentions and efforts, we somehow also fall short of what is expected

of us and that in the end we need God’s mercy to enable us to attain

the dignity God is giving us.

            Yes, God is indeed very demanding of us. He wants

everything from us. He wants us to love him with all our heart and to

love our neighbor, including our enemies, as we love ourselves and

even as Christ himself has loved us by offering his life for us. But

he is also very compassionate with the weak and the sinners. As shown

by Christ, God gives special attention to them.

            “As surely as I live,” God said in the Book of Ezekiel, “I

take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn

from their ways and live.” (33,11) And as shown by Christ, God does

not wait for man to turn back to him. He takes the initiative to reach

out to us, sinners.

            In all the miracles that he performed, Christ was more

interested in forgiving the sins of those involved than in healing

them of their infirmities and predicaments. His love and compassion

went beyond the concern for the bodily health of those characters. He

focused more on their spiritual recovery.

            We should not forget that while God’s grace and mercy need

to be merited, he also gives them to us gratuitously. In spite of our

best efforts, we really cannot deserve them. We may ask for them as we

ought to do, but God gives them to us gratuitously. We have to be wary

of the danger of Pelagianism, the erroneous belief that we do not need

divine grace to choose good or evil, and to attain holiness.

            We have to see to it that in proclaiming the gospel to the

others, in our effort to present Christ to the others, we should not

simply talk about the strictness of God’s demands and expectations

from us, the high standard that he is setting for us. This will scare

people more than attract them to Christ. We should always include

God’s mercy in all our preaching and counselling.

            This will always require an intimate relationship with God

himself to be able to come out with the proper mixture of God’s

demanding ways and his ever-ready mercy. Priests especially need to

know when he is too strict and harsh and when he is too lenient.

That’s why they need to be truly men of God, souls of prayer and solid

formation.

            It is, of course, very helpful if priests, for example,

would examine themselves regularly as to whether they are presenting

Christ fairly to the people or whether they are highlighting one side

of Christ to the detriment of the other side or angles or aspects in

Christ’s life and teachings. It would be good if we, priests, can find

a way of assessing whether the people are making progress in their

spiritual life or not.

            Some consultations may be advisable, and also a mechanism

for getting feedbacks from the people. It may happen that what may be

needed is just a very simple thing like changing the tone of the voice

to make it more welcoming and understanding, etc.

            Yes, priests should be a father, doctor, friend, lawyer to

everyone especially in the sacrament of confession. In fact, as St.

Paul once said, we should be “all things to all men to save some.” (1

Cor 9,22)