Toughness needed to face life’s challenges

THAT’S what the readings of the 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B, reminds us of. From the Book of Job, we are already warned that our life here on earth is some kind of a warfare. (cfr. 7,1) And St. Paul in the Second Reading also tells us that we have to learn to be “all things to all men to save all.” (1 Cor 9,22) That’s definitely a tall order, given the way we are. 

 And Christ himself showed us how our life—with all its challenges, difficulties and dangers—can and should be. In spite of the many good things he already was doing, many more people with great needs came to him asking for help. (cfr. Mk 1,29-39) That he had a very complicated life is indeed an understatement. 

 All of us, but especially priests and others in similar position, should be tough and strong. We need to be tough because aside from bearing our own personal burdens, from contending with our own personal demons, we also have to bear the burdens of the others. It is no joke to serve like the receptacle of the problems of the others and to find ways to help them. 

 Since we priests, for example, usually hear confessions and give counseling and spiritual direction to others, we cannot help but be affected somehow by what we hear. And the problems of some people can be so heavy and heart-wrenching that we end up exhausted, practically emptied of any strength and energy. 

 The worst part is what to say as advice and how to say it. It indeed is a big challenge to be able to present the mercy and love of God when the people’s problems seem to have no human solution or when their miseries and weaknesses seem to be persistent and insurmountable despite their efforts. 

 In these cases, the challenge is how to present God’s love in such a way that his love and mercy is seen as soothing, acceptable and meaningful. The challenge is how to present God’s love such that even if pain and suffering are unavoidable, people can see that God’s love takes care of everything. They would realize that what they cannot solve, God will always solve it for them in his own mysterious ways. 

 There is no doubt that a lot of spiritual and supernatural means are needed here. We have to pray that the people’s faith gets stirred and enlivened, that their hope gets reaffirmed and strengthened, that their love for God gets enkindled. 

 Aside from prayer, a lot of sacrifices are also needed. Prayer and sacrifices vitally unite and identify us with Christ who is the one to give us all the strength and light we need. Let’s remember what St. Paul said in this regard: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Phil 4,13) 

 Yes, it’s only with Christ and in him that we priests can truly be tough and strong as we should be as we carry out our ministry of helping people in their spiritual and moral life that can be filled with all sorts of problems and challenges. 

 Our toughness should be the toughness of Christ who was and continues to be willing to bear all the problems of men, and goes all the way to offer his life for the salvation of men.

Compassion all the way

THE Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, celebrated on February 2, offers that precious lesson about humility, a fundamental virtue that engenders and enables us to do a lot of good things, like being compassionate all the way to offering even one’s life for others. 

 We are reminded of this truth of our faith in the second reading of the Mass of the Feast when from the Letter to the Hebrews it is said that “because he (Christ) himself was tested through what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested.” (Mk 6,18) 

 Yes, we would only know how to be truly compassionate all the way with everyone without exception when like Christ we would be willing to suffer all kinds of tests and humiliations. Compassion without these tests and humiliations could not go the distance. It would be a compassion that would highly be conditioned and limited. 

 We should try our best to follow Christ’s example of emptying himself all the way to the cross. (cfr. Phil 2,6-8) Only then can we truly consider ourselves as “another Christ,” if not “Christ himself” as we should be, since we are patterned after him. 

 Christ went all the way to make himself like sin without committing sin if only to save us. (2 Cor 5,21) In other words, we should be willing, as one saint articulated it, to go all the way to the gates of hell if only to save a soul. 

 This kind of attitude would certainly require a tremendous amount of humility, of self-denial, so that the full force of faith, hope and charity, of a compassion that goes all the way, can take place. 

 We have to be wary of the gripping effect of today’s dominant culture that promotes, both subtly and openly, a lifestyle of self-indulgence. Instead, one deep desire we should have is that of making as some kind of default mode that attitude of always thinking of the others, wishing them well all the time and doing whatever we can to help. 

 It’s obviously not easy to do, but we can always try. With God’s grace and with our persistent effort, we can little by little and day by day hack it, such that it becomes second nature to us to think and feel for the others. That’s what compassion is all about. We just have to learn to be tough to take on whatever effort is needed. We have to learn to be all things to all men. 

 Compassion starts in the heart, in our thoughts and desires. In this level, there is no limit in what we can do. Obviously, when we try to translate these prayers, thoughts and desires into action and material things, we can be greatly limited. But insofar as prayers and sacrifices are involved, the possibilities are unlimited. 

 We need to examine ourselves more deeply to see if indeed we are always thinking, praying and wishing others well. We have to be wary of our tendency to let our thoughts and desired be dictated only by self-interest, usually done in a most subtle but effective way. 

For this, we have to do regular examination of conscience. For this, we have to be willing to complicate our life. There surely will be some need for adjustments in our attitudes, in the way we understand things and view different kinds of people. We have to hone up our skills at versatility, which should not only be a matter of theatric performance but rather that of genuine love for God and for souls.

Sanctity and apostolate

THEY are supposed to go together always. The universal call to holiness is also a call to do apostolate. Said in another way, to be holy or to be a saint is also to be an apostle. The quest for sanctity and the duty to do apostolate actually have a mutual relationship. We can only be truly holy when we are apostolic. And we can only be apostolic when are holy in the first place. 

 In the Gospel of St. Mark (6,7-13), when Christ summoned his 12 apostles to send them in pairs to different places and gave them authority over unclean spirits, we are reminded that we too are all called to be apostles, to be missionaries, having the same desire and mission of Christ. 

 Have you ever wondered why Christ appeared to just choose his apostles at random? He would just pass by a certain place, and upon seeing someone, he would just say, “Come, follow me.” And wonder of wonders, the person called would just follow him without any question. In fact, it is said that the person called would just leave everything behind (“relictis omnibus”). 

 I guess the only plausible answer to that question is that Christ had all the right to do so, and the person called also had the duty to respond accordingly, because in the final analysis, all of us are actually meant to be an apostle. That is to say, to be some kind of ambassador, a representative of Christ on earth. 

 At bottom, the answer is because we are supposed to be like Christ, another Christ, if not Christ himself (“alter Christus,” and even “ipse Christus”). All of us are patterned after Christ, and so we cannot avoid being involved in the mission of Christ which is the salvation of all mankind. 

 We need to process this truth of our faith so we can start to conform our life to it. Truth is we have to learn to talk about God with everyone and in every situation. Obviously, we have to do this properly, that is, in ways that are respectful of our human nature and condition, weakened as it is by sin. 

 Let’s never forget that the best way to drive people away from God and from religion in general is when we bring the topic of God and the spiritual, moral and supernatural realities in an inappropriate way. 

 We have to learn to adapt and attune ourselves to the concrete conditions of persons, taken individually and collectively. In this, God himself has shown us the way. He made a long preparation before the coming of his son. 

 And when the time came, what is known as the fullness of time, the son became man and went through the whole process of adapting himself to the human condition, and this pursued all the way to the cross. 

 We have to learn to be very patient and creative in carrying out this duty to do apostolate. We have to be ready to be misunderstood and humiliated, and yet we ought to persevere, preaching in season and out of season, like what St. Paul once said. 

 We have to understand that everyone, by virtue of his sheer humanity and much more, his Christianity, is called to be a missionary, and that he does not need to go to distant lands because his immediate environment already needs a more effective, down-to-earth evangelization. 

 Yes, even the ordinary guy in an office, the farmer, the businessman, the politician, the entertainers, artists and athletes, are called to be missionaries. That’s simply because as persons with a prominently social dimension in our life, we have to be responsible for one another.