Everything should be a form of prayer

WE should do our best to overcome the usual tendency of ours to fall into some form of dichotomy, dividing our life mainly into 2 parts—one for prayer, our relation with God, and another for work, our involvement in the things of the world or our temporal affairs. 

 We only have one life, and it’s a life that essentially should be an active participation in the life of God, since we have been created to be his image and likeness. Though our life has many parts, many dimensions, many aspects, and each one requires specific treatment, we should not forget that all of them comprise one and the same life. They have to be blended and made to work according to one same spirit—the spirit of God. 

 We are reminded of this basic truth about ourselves in that gospel episode about the two sisters, Martha and Mary, where the former complained to Christ about the latter for apparently not helping her in some tasks of hospitality. (cfr. Lk 10,38-42) That was when Christ told Martha that only one thing is necessary and that Mary, her sister, who was contemplating on Christ, was doing the right thing and it would not be taken away from her. 

 The mistake of Martha was to consider her tasks of hospitality not as a form of prayer but simply as some practical work that needed to be done. She failed to elevate her work into prayer. That was why she felt uncomfortable to see her sister apparently doing nothing by simply putting herself before Christ, listening to him. 

 The main point of the gospel is that we are supposed to be contemplative souls. That is to say that no matter what we are doing, no matter what condition we may be in, we should not lose touch with God. 

 That’s obviously not an easy thing to do, but we have precisely our whole life to cultivate that kind of lifestyle. And we have been given all the means so that such ideal can be achieved by us. We should just do our part. 

 The story of the sisters, Martha and Mary, therefore offers us a precious lesson on always giving priority to prayer, the one thing necessary in life, no matter how many and urgent our other concerns are during the day. It urges us to make everything a form of prayer. 

 The immediate basis for this truth is what Christ himself said: “What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” (Mt 16,26) That’s because prayer is like the breathing and the heartbeat of our spiritual organism, of our soul. Just as we continue to breathe and just as our heart continues to beat even while we are unconscious in our sleep, so should our prayer be. 

 To be sure, this is possible and doable, because praying does not even need a bodily organ for it to be done. It is a spiritual operation that can transcend the use of our bodily faculties. It’s a matter of attitude, of belief, which we can always have even if it is not expressly articulated. 

 As such, it can be done in any situation—while we are working, playing, resting, etc. But it would be good that we spend some time doing nothing other than praying, directly engaging God in a loving conversation, because that would help us to be prayerful in all our other activities and situations in life.

Loving without measure

THAT’S how love should be if it is true. That is to say, if it is the love that flows from the same love which is the very essence of God and that is also meant for us, since we are God’s image and likeness. 

 We are reminded of this truth of our faith in that gospel episode where Christ was asked what God’s greatest commandment is. That is to say, what God really wants us to do and ultimately to be. (cfr. Lk 10,25-37) 

 That’s when Christ clearly said that the greatest commandment is to “love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” 

 The response of Christ clearly indicates that we ought to give everything to God out of love. In other words, it’s an all-or-nothing thing, an incredible ideal to attain but for which we actually have been given all the means. 

 We just have to do our part which, of course, will take some time and some process. The important thing is that we should try to put our mind and heart into this responsibility, and no matter how things go, we should just move on. God is always understanding and patient with us, “quick to forgive, slow to anger.” 

 We need to realize that true love has a universal scope. It is all inclusive. We are meant to love our neighbor, who is actually anyone and everyone, including those we do not know, and those who are strangers and are even our enemies. 

 Let’s remember also that our love for God is expressed and is proven by our love for the others. St. John in his first Letter said as much, “He who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.” (4,20) 

 In this regard, we have to see to it that we are always thinking of the others, and of how we can serve them in any way. This will prove our love for God, since love is deeds and not just sweet words. 

 Obviously, to pursue this ideal will always be a work in progress, requiring a lot of patience and prudence. Before anything else, it will require that we be more and more Christ-like because only then can we really have this inclusivity of charity. Let’s hope that we be game with that. 

 The inclusivity of charity for sure is not an anything-goes matter. The truth cannot be compromised, but we have to understand the truth not as a fixed, frozen thing that can be fully captured by our articulated doctrines, laws and principles. The truth is a living thing, as living as God himself who is precisely the absolute truth. As such, it is dynamic and wrapped many times in mysteries and spiritual and supernatural realities. 

 It’s not that our doctrines, laws and principles serve for nothing. They are necessary, but as a guide to the truth, and not as truth itself. They will always need to be read, understood and followed with the proper spirit that can only come from God. They need to be continually updated, deepened, polished. 

 It is with these parameters that we have to approach issues like whether we should be dealing with people who are non-believers, public sinners, those in what we call are in irregular situations, and even those who are in open enmity with the Christian faith.

Life is all about gift

WE need to realize this truth about ourselves more deeply. Everything is gift in our life. All the good things that we have come from God, freely given to us so we can be what he wants us to be—his image and likeness, children of his, sharers of his divine life and nature. Since God is pure love, love is also meant for us, and love is at the very core of what a gift is. 

 We are reminded of this truth when in the gospel we are told that we should assume the mind and spirit of the unprofitable servant. (cfr. Lk 17,5-10) This should be the basic attitude in life that we need to flag up these days. Irrespective of how much we have worked and how many good things we have done, we should not make a big deal about it since that is what is actually expected of us. 

 It is our duty to work and to do good, a natural consequence of who and what we are. We should not feel as if we are entitled to some privileges and other perks, over and above what we need to live our life as decently, humanly and in a Christian way as possible. 

 The gospel is quite clear about this. “When you have done all you have been commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants. We have done what we were obliged to do,'” (Lk 17,10) 

 We are not doing God and the others a favor when we serve them. That is what is expected of us. To serve and not to be served was the attitude Christ had, and it should be the same attitude we ought to have. 

 To serve is the language and the action of love. It authenticates any affirmation of love we do, converting it from intention to tangible reality. More that good intentions, and beautiful ideas and words, it is deeds of service that would clearly show there is love in our very heart, the love of God. 

 Loving and serving cannot and should not be quantified in terms of cost and reward. It is above all these considerations. It’s a purely spiritual operation that should not be spoiled by giving it some material and temporal value. It’s where we can approximate, keep and build up that dignity of being the image and likeness of God and adopted children of his. It’s how we become God-like as we ought. 

 As man, we of course have our material and temporal needs. These should be attended to as well. We are body and soul, material and spiritual, and both dimensions have their distinctive requirements that have to be met as best as we could. 

 At least, in our earthly life, these two dimensions and components of our being are inseparable. One cannot be without the other. Just the same, we should not confuse them. We have to abidingly acknowledge their difference and learn how to handle this condition properly. 

 Of these two components, the spiritual aspect has pride of place, since as Christ said: “It is the Spirit that gives life. The flesh counts for nothing.” (Jn 6,63) In other words, our material and temporal dimension would have no value unless properly inspired by the Spirit who together with giving us life also inspires us to love, to give ourselves freely to others. 

 It’s this Spirit-inspired loving that makes serving and self-giving an affair where we gain and receive more the more we give ourselves to others.