How to endure and persevere

THE secret, of course, is to go to Christ. That’s the main message of the readings of Tuesday of the 4th Week in Ordinary Time. In the first reading, from the Letter to the Hebrews, we are told: 

 “Looking on Jesus, the author and finisher of faith, who having joy set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and now sitteth on the right hand of the throne of God. For think diligently upon him that endured such opposition from sinners against himself; that you be not wearied, fainting in your minds.” (12,2-3) 

 The same truth of our Christian faith is reiterated in the gospel reading of the day where two characters, Jairus, one of the synagogue leaders, and a woman under an issue of blood, went to Christ asking for help. (cfr. Mk 5,21-43) 

 We should see to it that our reaction to anything that bothers us is to immediately go to Christ without wasting time, allowing shame and fear to stop us from going to him. Christ always listens and gives in to our request, but in forms and ways that may not coincide with what we have in mind. 

 We cannot deny that in our life, we will always be hounded by all sorts of challenges and trials, temptations and other forms of evil that come from our usual enemies—our wounded flesh, the sinful allurements of the world, and the devil himself. 

 Especially when we think our suffering is self-inflicted because of our spiritual and moral weakness, we should not hesitate to go to Christ. What we have to remind ourselves always is that Christ has borne all our weaknesses and sins, and the suffering they bring, and converted them into a way of our salvation. 

 We should not stay long agonizing because of our weaknesses and sins. What helps, of course, is to unite our suffering due to our weaknesses and sins with the saving passion, death and resurrection of Christ. We should avoid suffering on our own. We should never keep our suffering from Christ. 

 That is why it is a good practice to regularly meditate on the passion, death and resurrection of Christ so we would know how to properly deal with our unavoidable weaknesses and sins. By so doing, we somehow would receive some strength to face and overcome them. In any event, by meditating on this culminating redemptive work of Christ, we would feel assured that victory would always be at hand. 

 We have to learn to be quick to go back to Christ who will always welcome us no matter how ugly our mistakes are. We should also learn to be quick to say sorry to God and to all the others who may be involved in our misdeeds, defects and predicaments. 

 We, obviously, need also to learn how to be tough with the toughness of Christ who knows how to blend it always with gentleness and patience. In short, we have to have the mind and attitude of Christ when developing and practicing both toughness and patience. Only then would these virtues acquire their true value and would play along the providence of God 

 Thus, for this blend to take place, we need to be vitally united with Christ. And for this purpose, we should continually ask for God’s grace. In fact, the first thing we should do when we need to be both tough and patient is to ask for God’s grace.

Demonic attacks on the rise

THIS should be no surprise to us. With the way things are now—new technologies offering more temptations than real advantages, and people spiritually and morally impoverished—what can we expect? That’s why requests for exorcism and deliverance have dramatically increased these days, not to mention the increasing cases of mental illness, psychological disorders, suicide, etc. 

 We should never take the devils for granted. They are always around, ever scheming and plotting against us in many, many ways, and often in a manner that is so subtle that we may not even notice them. As St. Peter would put in his first letter: “Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.” (5,8) 

 We should never consider the devils as a myth, or as some kind of literary device only to highlight a point in the drama of our life. They are as real as you and me. Our problem is that we think lightly or, worse, falsely of them. And so, we become completely unprepared to deal with their antics. 

 But in spite of that unfortunate fact of life, we should remember that the devils cannot do anything against us unless allowed by God. And if allowed, it is because God in his mysterious providence can always draw a greater good from any evil the devils may cause in us. 

 We need to have a good grip on this rapidly emerging menace. And the first thing to do is to entertain the possibility that indeed these people who are disturbed by evil spirits are both mentally sick and demonically bothered. 

 Yes, while it’s true that the predicament can be an either-or proposition, we should not dismiss the possibility that it can also be a both-and one. Not just disjunctive, but also conjunctive. Let’s remember that the devil is always around. It’s not paranoia to be always alerted of the devil’s existence and his constant efforts to destroy us, usually in very sweet ways. 

 It would be good if we level up in our knowledge of psychology. This field of science is getting to be more and more relevant these days. It cannot anymore be the exclusive interest of some people. Everyone should know at least the basics of psychology and from there start accumulating relevant helpful information. 

 But we should never forget that the psychological and mental mechanism of a person is steeped in his spiritual dimension that can lead him either to the supernatural or infranatural world. It cannot be studied from the point of view of empirical science alone. It has to input the truths of faith to enable it to cope with the full range of its possibilities. 

 This is a point that should be taken more seriously these days. The complicated challenges of our times that have brought about many good things and also many bad things cannot but make this kind of demand. We have to take our faith more seriously, assimilating it in our system and making it the guide and shaper of our lives. 

 With our faith, we have the answer to all the questions, the solution to all our problems, even if the answers and solutions it offers may not be the ones we want. But they are the answers and solutions that God himself gives, and not just us. 

 Faith is the great healer, the constant pacifier, because it brings Christ into our lives, Christ who heals and who constantly tells us, “Do not be afraid...” We should bring our faith to bear on our sciences and on our other sources of knowledge.

Considerations from the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord

FEBRUARY 2 is the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord which is 40 days after his birth. Again, the number 40 appears in this occasion. In the Bible, this number appears 158 times and lends itself to a number of meanings, from a period of testing, trial or probation, to a period of growth and attainment of a new life, a transformation, etc. 

 This feast commemorates the occasion when Our Lady, in obedience to Jewish law, went to the Temple in Jerusalem both to be purified after giving birth and to consecrate her son, Jesus, as her firstborn. (cfr. Lk 2,22-38) 

 Many precious lessons can be derived from this feast, among them the fact that Our Lady, and much less Jesus Christ, who clearly would have no need to submit to that law, just went ahead with it, without taking advantage of the privilege she clearly enjoyed, and avoiding any sense of entitlement. 

 This is an example worth emulating. We may be quite privileged in life because of the many gifts and other endowments God and others may have given us, but we should never feel entitled to anything. Instead, our attitude toward these privileges should be one of willingness to serve more, doing a lot of good while passing unnoticed, and all for the glory of God and for the good of all. 

 This feast can also be considered as another epiphany, another manifestation of Christ as our savior. This time, the manifestation is done not to the three magi anymore, but to two characters, Simeon and Anna. 

 The feast is a good reminder to all of us, Christian believers, that we have a duty to present Christ to everyone as he truly is to us—the pattern of our humanity and the savior of our humanity that has been damaged by sin.

 While this duty is incumbent on every Christian believer, it is more so to clerics and other consecrated and religious persons. The priest, for example, is sacramentally conformed to Christ as head of the Church. It is his concern that the sacramental Christ in him be transformed into the living Christ—obviously with the constant help of God’s grace. Otherwise, he will be an empty suit. 

 He has to assume the very mind and heart of Christ, the sentiments, mission and concerns of Christ. As the sacramental image of Christ as head of the Church, a priest has to act like a mediator, a bridge that connects two ends—God and men. He therefore has to be intimately identified with both God and men, which is a never-ending task that requires grace and everything that a priest can do. 

 Like Christ, he has to have the mind of God and assume the conditions of men, since this is the very heart of Christ. This, of course, can be hard and very demanding, but it is not impossible. With training and determined effort, this can be done. On God’s part, his grace is never lacking. In fact, it is poured out abundantly. 

 We who believe in Christ should feel the need to make Christ alive everywhere. And given the current conditions in the world, we have to learn how to present him by making use of the new technologies we are having these days. 

 We should feel the same urgency that St. Paul felt when he said, “Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel. (1 Cor 9,16) It’s a cry that also has to spring in each one of us, who now participates in the abiding duty of preaching and teaching the word of God according to our personal circumstances.