Developing the true spirit of Christian fraternity

CHRIST describes for us what true fraternity among ourselves should be. It’s in that gospel episode were Christ told his disciples what they should do when one of them would sin against another. (cfr. Mt 18,15-20) 

 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone,” he said. “If he listens to you, you have won over your brother. If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, so that every fact would be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses.” 

 True fraternity as taught and shown to us by Christ will always be filled with affection, understanding, compassion, patience, etc. It should never be a cold or something like an officious charity. It should always be warm and cordial, despite the inevitable differences and conflicts among ourselves. 

 But it should never compromise the truth which should also be shown and lived in charity. If need be, to proclaim and defend the truth, we may have to resort to making suggestions and fraternal corrections. But all this should be done without bitter zeal. That is, without charity. 

 We should see to it we are always mindful and thoughtful of others, learning how to be “all things to all men,” as St. Paul said. (1 Cor 9,19-23) Thus, it pays that we learn the art of listening, empathy, entering into the drama of the lives of others. We have to learn how to be flexible and versatile, resilient in adapting to the different temperaments and personalities of people. 

 And while we have to be delicate in our dealings with others, we should also cultivate a certain toughness so as to enable us to absorb the unavoidable sacrifices involved in developing true Christian fraternity. 

 Christian fraternity lives out what St. Paul once suggested. That is, that we should bear one another’s burdens. (cfr. Gal 6,2) In this, we have to learn how to take the initiative, not waiting for things to be forced on us. This may start in very little details like lending a hand in the tasks of others, or visiting and giving a warm accompaniment to a sick person, etc. 

 Another aspect of Christian fraternity is, again as St. Paul suggested, to regard the others as better than us. “Be humble,” St. Paul said. “Think of the others as better than yourselves. Don't look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.” (Phil 2,3-5 

 We should have the eagerness to serve the others in the spirit shown by Christ himself when he washed the feet of his apostles. (cfr. Jn 13,1-17) We have to go that extent without thinking that we are doing something great or extraordinary. This should be something ordinary to us. 

 In a world where relations among people are becoming increasingly toxic, we should provide the happy antidote of living out true Christian fraternity. In this, of course, we should expect to do a lot of self-denial and sacrifices, but these are precisely what Christ told us to do if we want to follow him. 

 Let’s be thoroughly convinced that by developing this spirit of Christian fraternity, we are actually helping ourselves first in our own spiritual lives. And in that way, we become more effective in radiating far and wide this true spirit of fraternity among ourselves.

Mary, the perfection of humanity

ON the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, celebrated on September 8, we are reminded of the unique place Mary occupies in the history of human salvation. The entire household of God in heaven definitely rejoices at her birth. She carried out the highest mission ever entrusted to a creature. And now, Christ himself gave her to be our Mother too. What supreme joy we have! 

 We should develop a deep devotion to her, fully convinced that she will be a great help to us. As one saint would put it, she is the surest, shortest and safest way to God. She is the most effective and powerful intercessor for us. As dramatized in that episode of the wedding at Cana (cfr. Jn 2,1-12), when it would be our Lady who would intercede for us, Christ would have a hard time to refuse. He most likely would give in. 

 We have to understand that Mary symbolizes humanity in its fullness and perfection. Conceived without original sin, that is to say, she was conceived and born in the state of grace, which was the original state our first parents had, until they fell into sin, she personified the true nature of man as God’s image and likeness, sharers of his divine life and nature. 

 She retained that condition even as she navigated the tricky waters of the world, filled with all kinds of evil. Her secret? She was fully and abidingly identified with her Son. Even in the things that she could not fully comprehend, as when she was told that she was going to be the mother of the Son of God, she just obeyed and said ‘yes’ to the designs of God. Her heart and mind were always focused on her Son and on the will of God. 

 She obviously gives us a way and an effective example of how we too can be identified with Christ and with God’s will all the time as we should. And being a mother to us, as Christ himself gave her to us as a mother (cfr. Jn 19,25-29), she is always solicitous of our condition here on earth as we too navigate its tricky waters. 

 Thus, we have to learn how to be intimately close to her. Indeed, we have to learn how to pray and deal with Christ through Mary. Contrary to what may be largely implied by our seemingly mainstream attitudes and actuations in these dizzying times, Mary has not fallen obsolete in our life. If anything, she has acquired greater relevance. 

 We have to find a way to be near her and intimately close to her. We need to learn how to read her mind and catch the slightest insinuations she makes, because all these are a tremendous help in our spiritual life, in our relation with God. 

 That’s precisely because with all the bombardment of things we are subjected to these days, Mary, the Mother of Christ who gave her to us to be our mother too, shows us how to be spiritual and supernatural in the midst of our glutting human affairs. 

 Let’s remember that the present mad race to technological progress can stimulate us wrongly, pressuring us to succumb to mindless activism and to drift to uncharted territory guided only by ignorance, confusion if not outright error. 

 In this way, she shows us how to live our life to the full, not reduced to the purely earthly and material levels. She shows us how to fall in love properly, how to be truly and fully human!

Developing the apostolic zeal

“Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.” (Lk 5,4) Famous words of Christ addressed to Simon Peter which should also be addressed to each one of us. These are words that tell us to be bold, creative and zealous in our apostolic duty, and to have a universal mind insofar is apostolate is concerned. 

 Peter at first was hesitant to follow what was told him, saying that he and his companions tried to fish the night before and caught nothing. But then he corrected himself and did as told, and voila, a huge amount of fish was caught that floored him in amazement. 

 He could not help but tell Christ to depart from him since he was a sinful man, i.e., he felt so unworthy of Christ. And that’s when Christ told him that from then on, he would be fishing men, i.e., he was clearly told to do apostolate and to win new apostles. 

 This moving scene in the gospel should urge us to learn to trust God, and in his word and in his ways, no matter how they seem unreasonable, impractical or impossible. For this, we have to go beyond our own understanding and estimation of things, and open our mind and heart to the light of our faith and love for God and for others. 

 While it’s true that we have to use all our human faculties in dealing with our earthly affairs and concerns, that is, our intelligence and will, our sciences and arts, our common sense and cultural and social wisdom, we should not forget that all these would have no real value unless they are engaged with our faith in God. 

 We also should sharpen our apostolic skills, training ourselves to enter into the lives of everyone we meet. It always pays to be friendly with everyone, despite our unavoidable differences and conflicts. Smiling, having a warm and open disposition, will go a long way in carrying out this apostolic duty. 

 But even before all this, we should bring to our prayer our apostolic plans and desires, since only then can we be divinely inspired to carry out this apostolic duty as Christ wants. Only then would we be bold enough to talk about God, about things spiritual and supernatural, about vocation, with everyone. 

 We have to be ready to get interested in everyone apostolically. We should be interested both in the rich and the poor, those in the mainstream of society as well as those in the peripheries. 

 For this, we need to be patient, persevering, creative and versatile. We have to learn how to “waste time” with everyone, especially those who may be very different from us in terms of temperament, social and economic status, etc. 

 We should not wait for some favorable circumstances before we do apostolate. To do apostolate should be like our heartbeat. We should feel its urge the way we feel the urge to breathe, eat and drink. 

 Of course, to do apostolate is not a biological urge, but a spiritual one, to be triggered by an act of our will that is animated by God’s grace. We do not do apostolate because we happen to have some extra time. We do it because we are supposed to be apostles, and we always look for time to do it. 

 We should neither forget that first of all we should ask for God’s grace, since only then can we be truly effective in our apostolate.