This serious business of becoming like Christ

WE need to be clear about this very fundamental truth of our Christian faith. We are meant to be like Christ for the simple reason that he is the very pattern of our humanity and the savior of our damaged humanity. Everything in our life should be made an occasion, a means, a reason to pursue that goal of ours. 

 We have to be wary of getting trapped in the technicalities of our temporal affairs that would desensitize us from this ultimate purpose of our life here on earth. If ever, these technicalities, while given our utmost attention and care, should only be a way to become more and more like Christ. 

 Especially in these days of the new technologies that can so mesmerize us as to be wholly dominated by them, we need to develop a certain mechanism that would always keep us in the proper spiritual and supernatural outlook in this life. In other words, we need to be real contemplatives even while immersed in the things of the world. The ideal is to have an abiding intimacy with Christ. 

 One clear way is to be and to do everything with Christ and for Christ. That’s because Christ is everywhere. Being God, he is the foundation of all reality. We are not fantasizing if we look for him everywhere to find, love and serve him. And being God who became man, he offers us “the way, the truth and the life” proper for us. 

 What can be very helpful in this regard is to develop the practice of saying ejaculatory prayers or aspirations all throughout the day. They are very helpful in quickly and easily putting ourselves in Christ’s presence, especially when we immerse ourselves deeply in the things of the world as we ought. 

 They help us relate ourselves and everything that happens to us to Christ, again as we ought. They help us in keeping a spiritual and supernatural outlook as we go through the different events of the day. In short, they help in keeping us spiritually alive, and not just alive in the body and to the world. 

 They help us see things better in the sense that we just would not see them with our senses and our human understanding alone, but also and more importantly with our faith, which is what is ideal and proper to us. They somehow put us in an intimate relation with Christ. With them we will never feel alone nor distant from Christ. 

 My personal experience with ejaculatory prayers shows that they are very helpful even in making me calm and rested even in the middle of a tense situation for the mind or for the body. They help in making me breathe more deeply and thus give some relief. 

 Also, not to forget is that they are very helpful in protecting and defending us from temptations and sin. They make the spiritual combat and ascetical struggle, so unavoidable in life, more manageable. 

 They also help in preparing us for the more serious forms in our relationship with Christ as when we have to do our prayers, our sacrifices and our recourse to the sacraments. 

 We should all do our best to make it a habit to say ejaculatory prayers often during the day. Any short and earnest expression of our faith and piety will do. And also in this regard, the many vocal prayers that are already available can be very useful. The “Our Father’s,” “Hail Mary’s” and “Glory be’s” are truly helpful.

We need to suffer and die

WE have to be clear about this aspect of our Christian life. Yes, we need to suffer and die, just like Christ, who is the pattern of our humanity and the savior of our damaged humanity, suffered and died for us, for our sins. 

 In other words, we need to suffer and die with Christ, assuming the same reason and intention Christ had when he had to suffer and die for us. Only then can our suffering and death acquire a redemptive value. Only then can we be liberated from our sinful selves. Only then can we truly be identified with Christ. 

 We are reminded of this aspect of our Christian life in that gospel episode where Christ predicted his passion and death and moved forward to face it. (cfr. Mt 16,21-27) That was also when Christ told his disciples what they had to do to be able to follow him all the way to the end. And that is for them, and for us, to deny ourselves and to carry the cross. 

 We all know that suffering and death are unavoidable in our life. They are the consequences of our sins, starting with those of our first parents and then those of our own. But Christ has shown us how to deal with them so as to convert them into a way of our own redemption. And that is to suffer and die with Christ. 

 Remember what St. Paul said about death when it would happen to us with Christ? “O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor 15,55-57) 

 For this to happen, we obviously need to meditate closely on the life and death of Christ. Everyday there should be some progress in our growing identification with him. Thus, we have to realize that our life should be a life of constant prayer and sacrifice, supported by an appropriate plan of life that would keep that lifestyle going. 

 It should be an integral part of our daily life to have some practices of self-denial and mortification. It could be in matters of food and drinks, in the way we use the things of our work, especially these days when we are strongly charmed by gadgets and other powerful technologies, It could be in the way we guard our senses, our thoughts, desires and intentions, our imagination, etc. 

 Of course, this life of self-denial and mortification is lived when we wage a life-long ascetical struggle, knowing how to handle our weaknesses, temptations and sin, and growing in the virtues. We need to convince ourselves that it is when we live this kind of life that we can attain true joy and peace even while here on earth. That may sound incredible, but we have the Christ’s clear words to assure us of this truth. 

 For this, we also need to adjust our ideas of what is true joy and peace. We often peg them according to worldly standards alone that give us only so much but cannot go the distance. Let’s remember that Christian life, in spite of its sacrificial dimension, is a truly joyful life. 

 We need to overcome whatever fear of suffering and death we have.

Let’s be like the wise virgins

THE parable of the 10 virgins, 5 wise and 5 foolish, (cfr. Mt 25,1-13) reminds us that we should seriously take our duty to be always prepared to meet our Lord who can call us anytime. Let’s be wary of our tendency to be easily trapped in our earthly affairs, such that we take for granted what the real and ultimate purpose of our life here on earth is. 

 Someone I know, for example, was what may be considered as a gym buff. He was into sports and regular exercises. He was meticulous with his diet and other health regimen. He was even a doctor by profession. But then one day he was just discovered lifeless in his own room. Yes, we have to be ready always since God can call us anytime! 

 And the preparation for this eventuality need not involve anything extraordinary. It is enough that whatever we do in our daily routine is done with God and for God. That way, we would always be motivated to do things in the best way that we can, leading us to be more and more like God. And even if we cannot escape the limitations and imperfections of our work, God will always understand and would be happy to see us working with that intention. 

 What God would consider is the faith, hope and love that beat in our hearts as we do our daily activities. It is not so much the human success in our work that is important. Of course, if we do things with God and for God, it is very likely that our daily activities would have good effects and results. But these should not be the main consideration. 

 And so, it stands to reason that during the day we make many pit stops, so to speak, so we would know whether we are still on the right path, with the proper direction. We would have the chance to rectify and purify our intentions. 

 And at the end of the day, it would be good that we make it a habit to make a general examination of conscience that should end with a loving expression of sorrow for whatever mistake, shortcoming or sin we may have committed during the day. That way, we express our intention to be reconciled with God always. That in the end is what truly matters! 

 Let’s be always guarded against the tendency to fall into many distractions during the day, especially because nowadays there are many alluring and irresistible things that can take us away from our proper focus in life. 

 Also, since we usually suffer from a lot of pressures due to work and other concerns, we can easily fall into distractions as a way of coping with the pressure. But then, these distractions can become extreme and uncontrollable. They can become addictions. 

 We really have to learn how to find Christ in everything that we do. For this, we need to develop the habit of always looking for him consciously or deliberately. By looking for him, we can find him that can lead us to love him, which in the end is what matters in life. 

 And the secret, as always, is really to develop, to take care, and to make vibrant one’s spiritual life, one that is supported by an appropriate plan of life that nourishes one’s faith and piety. 

 It is to give one a global picture of things, making him realize where we came from and where we are supposed to go, and training him to relate the things of this world to our eternal destination with God in heaven.