Caring for our mental health

IN the gospel, many instances are recorded where some leading Jews would make many rash judgments on Christ and his disciples. One such instance was when Christ cured a man with a withered hand. (cfr. Lk 6,6-11) 

 These leading Jews were quick to observe if Christ would heal that man on a Sabbath, which to them was a no-no, according to their rigid and self-righteous laws. And when finally Christ cured the man, they were enraged and discussed among themselves about what to do with Christ. 

 This, to me, is an example of what we can consider, at the very least, as a mental health issue. The whole affair certainly is more serious than that, involving as it does matters of faith and spiritual life, but the mental health aspect, I would say, plays a crucial role in it. 

 We have to give due concern to this aspect of our life because nowadays we can observe increasing cases of mental health issues. Many people are falling into anxiety, depression, burn-out, addiction, psychosis, delirium, bipolar disorder, etc. The increasing pressures and complexities in today’s life can easily give rise to these disorders. 

 The ideal mental health, I imagine, is when one is at peace with everyone, first with God, and then with everybody and everything else. Despite the unavoidable differences, conflicts, difficulties and challenges in life, one manages to be at peace and confident in tackling whatever situation one may be in, certain of where he is going. He has a clear vision of the real purpose of life, and does everything to be on track. 

 Obviously, this ideal mental health can only be achieved when one is with God who, in Christ, offers us the “way, the truth and the life” proper to us. Thus, to develop a good mental health, we really should go to Christ who makes himself available to us all the time through the many instrumentalities he himself has provided us. 

 The significance of our mental health lies in the fact that it is there where we can have greater control of our own selves, enabling us to direct our thoughts, desires, feelings, etc. to their proper objective. 

 If we make the effort to develop our mental health in Christ, we can manage to understand many things and to cope with any situation we may find ourselves in. We can avoid making rash judgments, negative thoughts, and having a critical spirit, always looking for faults in others. More than these, we would always feel driven to do good, whatever may be the circumstances. 

 Of course, that’s easier said than done. We have to realize that to develop a good mental health, we need to do certain things—praying, developing the virtues like humility, prudence, order, fortitude, etc. In a sense, there is a certain regimen to follow also, one that is fitted to one’s concrete conditions. 

 This is where the value of piety comes in, playing a crucial role in keeping us healthy mentally, emotionally, psychologically and even physically. Piety is our relationship with God. It is nourished by God’s gifts of faith, hope and charity to which we have to correspond knowingly, freely and lovingly. 

 We have to realize more deeply our need to have a genuine life of piety to be truly healthy, first in the spirit and then in the body. We have to spread this Good News widely. It hardly involves money or some material things. What only is needed is an act of faith, which is something spiritual, a matter of our will and intelligence.

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!