With God, we should give our all

THIS truth of our Christian faith was graphically dramatized in that gospel episode where Christ told those who wanted to follow him to leave everything behind and give their all to him. (cfr. Lk 9,56-62) 

 “I will follow you wherever you go,” someone told Christ, to which the response was some kind of a warning about what to expect: “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.” 

 Indeed, to follow Christ will surely involve a lot of sacrifice. It will never be a walk in the park. It will ask of us everything we have, including being detached from those whom we love dearly. 

 Thus, when Christ told another person to follow him and when that person said that he would like first to bury his father, the response of Christ, if considered according to our human standard, was quite brutal. “Let the dead bury their dead. But you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God.” 

 Still, another characteristic of this total self-giving to God was described by Christ when another person told him, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say farewell to my family at home.” To which, Christ said, “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the Kingdom of God.” 

 We need to process these words of Christ slowly and carefully. We have to arrive at the conviction that, indeed, with God we should give everything, including our life. Anyway, Christ told us very clearly that “whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Mt 10,39) 

 Still more, he said that “anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who love his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” (Mt 10,37-38) 

 We should not be afraid of these incredible words of Christ because if we manage to love God first, we would learn to also love others, including our enemies, properly, since God, in whose image and likeness we have been created, is love himself. 

 In our self-giving to God and to others, we should try our best to be energized, driven and zealous. That is actually the ideal condition for us. Even if we are endowed only with the most phlegmatic and melancholic temperaments, something must be burning inside our heart that cannot help but burst into a flame, a flame of love, of self-giving, of serving without expecting any return. If it is not yet there, then let’s enkindle it. 

 The secret again is always that vital identification with Christ who, in pursuit of his redemptive mission, expressed such zeal when he said: “I have come to set the world on fire, and I wish it were already burning!” (Lk 12,49) And no amount of difficulty and suffering, and even death, could stop him from pursuing his mission. Such should also be out attitude. 

 If we are truly in love, with the love of God who is the source, pattern and end of love, we cannot help but, like Christ, be always energized, driven and zealous, no matter what the cost. Of course, this condition, this requirement is quite tough to meet, but if we would just try, and try again as often as necessary, certainly the ideal effect would just come about.

Just be cool when contradicted

REMEMBER that gospel episode where the disciples of Christ were not welcomed in a Samaritan town because their destination was Jerusalem? (cfr. Lk 9,51-56) They suggested to Christ that they “call down fire from heaven to consume them.” To which Christ just rebuked his disciples and instead went to another village. 

 The obvious lesson to learn is that we should not make things worse by adding fuel to the fire, or by responding to evil with evil, out of a hurt sense of righteousness or of a zeal that has gone bitter and has done away with the duty of charity. We should rather look for other ways of defusing the situation, just as Christ did. 

 Sometime ago, there was this drag queen who made fun of Christ. His video became viral in an instant as strong negative reactions rained on him or her or whatever pronoun may now be applied to this individual. Several cities declared the drag queen as persona non grata. 

 But the drag queen stood his ground, trying to rationalize his/her actuation by saying that he was misunderstood, and that no one bothered to talk to him about why he did it, and that he meant well with what he did since it was done for the sake of art. 

 Well, everyone will always have some reason for any action he takes. Of course, not all reasons are right. But for as long as the person concerned feels he was right in doing something that objectively is wrong or is considered wrong by the majority, he deserves to be heard and given some clarification, correction and penalty that may be due. 

 He should not be simply dumped, ostracized and practically considered an untouchable evil. That’s not human, let alone Christian. The proper way to deal with him is to reach out to him to help him. 

 The way to go is to love everybody, irrespective of who or how one is. Christ even told us to love our enemies. If we have this kind of love, then we would have zero bitterness against anyone who may contradict us, because as St. Paul said, true charity “takes no pleasure in evil, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” (1 Cor 13,6-7) 

 We have to learn to be patient in handling the contradictions that we can encounter in our life. We just have to look for an alternative way in resolving issues and situations like this. 

 We have to learn the art of loving with the love of God as shown by Christ on the cross. It is a love that is patient, willing to suffer for the others. It is gratuitously given, even if it is not reciprocated. 

 We have to make sure that we are always burning with the zeal of love. We have the danger to fall easily into complacency, lukewarmness, mediocrity. We should always be on the lookout for these perils. 

 We need to fill our mind and heart with love, and all that love brings—goodness, patience, understanding and compassion, mercy, gratuitous acts of service, generosity and magnanimity. 

 Yes, there’s effort involved here. Great, tremendous effort, in fact. But all this stands first of all on the terra firma that is God’s grace, which is always given to us in abundance if we care to ask and receive it. Nothing human, no matter how well done, would prosper unless it is infused also with God’s grace.

The Guardian Angels in our life

OCTOBER 2 is liturgically celebrated as the Memorial of our Guardian Angels, reminding us of this tremendous reality that we have these powerful spiritual beings who are assigned to each one of us to help us in our earthly life and, most importantly, to connect us with God. 

 The gospel reading of this memorial somehow tells us of the crucial role these guardian angels play in our life. (cfr. Mt 18,1-5,10) In it, we are made to understand that there is a connection between being child-like and being great in heaven, and why the angels are important in our life. 

 When the disciples asked Christ about who is the greatest in heaven, Christ placed a child in their midst and said, “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven.” And he further said, “Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me.” 

 A little later, he again said, “See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father.” 

 These words are worth considering very seriously because in them Christ somehow tells us the important role angels play in our effort to becoe child-like even as we grow in age and experience. 

 Let’s remember that angels are spiritual beings who upon their creation have made the eternal decision to be with God. There are also spiritual beings who upon their creation have made the opposite decision whose effect remains with them forever. These are the devils. 

 That the angels of children “always look upon the face of my heavenly Father,” as Christ said, can mean that these children who still are not in the age of reason, are always connected and guided by God. They are yet incapable of separating themselves from God. 

 In our case, since we already have our own mind and have accumulated a lot of knowledge and experience, we should try our best to be humble so as to be like children, always guided by the angels who are always on the side of God. 

 In other words, to be child-like is to be guided always by our guardian angels who will always connect us with God. There is a connection between being child-like and being with God through our guardian angels. We should not downplay the role of angels in our life, taking them for granted or, worse, considering them as unreal or just fictional literary devices, etc. 

 This is a truth of our Christian faith that we should always remember and act on. We definitely have to train ourselves how to be child-like and how to connect with our guardian angels all the time. Christ told his disciples that they had to humble themselves to become child-like, for the obvious reason that they—and us—are notorious for regarding ourselves as mature and totally independent, with hardly any need for God. 

 It would be helpful that everyday, we have the habit of consciously entering into a close engagement with our guardian angels. We should not dare to face our day simply relying on our own human powers. Each of us is assigned a guardian angel to connect us with God, and vice-versa, for God to enter into our lives, since these spiritual beings are God’s messengers to us.