When faced with our limitations and mistakes

WE should not be surprised when we are faced with our own limitations of whatever kind, and hounded by the consequences of our mistakes. We have to expect this kind of situations and learn how to handle them, converting them even into something that will be helpful to us. 

 And that’s because Christ has given us everything we need not only to survive but also to succeed in achieving our ultimate goal, no matter how the drama of our life goes. What we have to do always is to go to Christ, never doubting his omnipotent powers even if we are made to suffer. Yes, we also need to learn how to suffer, because suffering will be inevitable in our life. 

 Some verses from St. Peter’s First Letter can help us understand how suffering should be handled properly, especially when we are made to suffer unjustly. They are in the second chapter, and they go as follows (19-25): 

 “For one is approved if, mindful of God, he endures pain while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it, if when you do wrong and are beaten for it you take it patiently? But if when you do right and suffer for it you take it patiently, you have God’s approval. 

 “For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. He committed no sin. No guile was found on his lips. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten, but he trusted him who judges justly. 

 “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.” 

 I believe it’s truly worthwhile to reflect on these words slowly and repeatedly, so we can have clear ideas why it’s also worthwhile when instances of unjust suffering come to us. We can find meaning, and even joy and peace, when these occasions occur. 

 Engraving these words in our mind and heart would help us avoid sinking into doubts, useless lamentations and despair. It would even put us in a better condition to resolve matters if they still can be humanly resolvable. 

 What we have to do when we find ourselves in some conditions of helplessness is to go immediately to Christ and follow his teaching and example. We should develop the instinct of going immediately to Christ. Let’s avoid rotting in sadness, lamentations, victim complex, etc. We know that what is impossible for us is always possible with Christ. What cannot anymore be solved by us can always be solved by Christ, if not here and now, then in the hereafter. 

 Thus, we need to strengthen our faith so we can be quick to entrust ourselves to the workings of the spiritual and supernatural realities that also govern our life. We have to remember that we are not ruled simply by biological laws or physical, chemical, social, political, economic laws. There is a higher law that governs us and that would enable us to transcend our human and earthly limitations 

 The secret is always to go to Christ. He always has the solutions to our problems, the answers to our questions. He always gives them, albeit not in the form we want, but always in a way that would be beneficial to us.

Only with God can we be protected from the demons

AND also, only with God can we manage to drive out demons when they happen to succeed in possessing us. Let’s always remember that the demons who are spiritual beings—they are originally good angels who decided for all eternity to go against God upon their creation—are always under the power of God. They can never win over God no matter how smart and clever they are. 

 That they are always around and are ever scheming to ruin our lives should make us feel ever in need to be with God, since only with him can we deal with them properly. Without God, there’s no way we can resist their temptations. They are much smarter than us. 

 They always offer attractive arguments. That is precisely the dynamic of demonic tricks and temptations. In the case of Eve, the first woman, for example, she was made to look at the forbidden tree and fruit. And she fell for it, because she “saw that the tree was good to eat, and to the eyes, and delightful to behold.” (Gen 3,6) 

 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 him. 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. 

 Just the same, we should always be guarded against them, especially when we happen to enjoy a lot of privileges in life. That’s because these privileges, like some power we may wield, if not referred to God and to our duty to love everyone, irrespective of how they are, can only spoil us and make us vulnerable to the antics of the devils. 

 Nowadays when we enjoy a lot of conveniences and advantages due to our technological progress, we should be more wary of the evil tricks of the devils who can make use of these conveniences and advantages to convert them into some kind of sweet poison. 

 Let’s always remember that whatever convenience or advantage we enjoy should lead us to level up our desire to serve and not to be served, to love God and everybody else more. Otherwise, there is no way for us to escape getting spoiled and becoming more vulnerable to the tricks of the devil. 

 To be with God always, given our condition here in this world, can only take place when like Christ we are willing to deny ourselves and carry the cross, as Christ suggested. (cfr. Mt 16,24) 

 And only to be with God always can we manage to derive a greater good from whatever evil the devil can play on us!

Move on despite misunderstandings

THAT’S the lesson we can learn from that gospel episode where Christ, preaching in the synagogue in his hometown of Nazareth, left the people more in disbelief than in amazement. (Lk 4,16-30) “Is this not the son of Joseph?” they asked. To which Christ could only say, “Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place.” 

 But Christ did not make a big issue out of this. He just talked a little about similar cases in the past when those, who believed in God-sent prophets, received favors of healing from above rather than those who did not believe the prophets whom they regarded as just one among them. And after this, Christ moved on to continue with his mission. 

 If we want to follow Christ and to be faithful in our Christian identity and mission, we should expect also be regarded in the same way Christ and the prophets of old were regarded. But this should not deter us from pursuing what we are supposed to do. We just have to move on and not mind so much whatever sting some misunderstanding we can encounter along the way. 

 This should be the attitude to have in this life. We have to learn to be accepting of whatever fate, situation, condition and circumstance may fall on us, whether it is favorable or not, advantageous or not, but also having the mind of moving on to pursue the ultimate purpose and essential goal in our life here on earth. 

 That way, we avoid creating unnecessary problems for us as we keep the necessary focus in our life. We have to learn how to suffer when bad things come our way, as well as how to avoid getting spoiled when we are favored with good things. We have to learn how to be accepting of these. 

 But we should continue to move on, making the pertinent plans, strategies and resolutions, and using the appropriate means. We should not stop at any point even if we face what may seem to be an impenetrable wall. 

 Yes, there will be predicaments where no more human solutions can handle. But with our will, with our prayers, with our faith God in God in his providence, we also know that nothing is impossible. As they say, where there is a will, there is always a way. 

 To be avoided is to rot in some self-pity when bad things come or to get self-satisfied when good things come. We have to move on, knowing that the ultimate goal is something that can never be reached definitively as long as we live. It can be reached only in the afterlife. 

 We should try to do everything for us to be able to engage ourselves with everybody else. To be sure, it would greatly help if we develop our social skills, if we keep an open-minded outlook, if we show warmth towards all, with a smiling friendliness to boot. 

 For this to happen, I imagine that what we need to do also is to forget ourselves and to adapt the mind and heart of Christ instead. That way we can be full of mercy and compassion, patience and understanding. We don’t waste time getting entangled in our unavoidable differences and conflicts among ourselves as well as in our own personal problems. 

 We have to find ways to foster interaction among ourselves. We don’t wait for these opportunities to interact with others to come. We look for them. We create them. That is why we need to be inventive and creative also.