Orchestrating the small steps to achieve the grand design

THIS should always be our constant concern. We should have a good grasp of what the big picture is of our life, what our ultimate goal is. And then we should be concerned about how we can relate all the items of day, both the big and small, the material and spiritual, and the different aspects of our life to this ultimate goal. 

 For this, we need to have the proper focus of our life, knowing what the real and ultimate purpose of our life is, and then build up a certain unity of life that puts all the different elements of our life into a coherent whole in such a way that the ultimate purpose of life is abidingly pursued. 

 This is, of course, a big challenge we have today, considering the tremendous amount of distractions we have, both the legitimate and the illegitimate ones, the latter far outnumbering the former. 

 Yes, we need some distractions as a way of rest and relaxation. But in this human need, we should not lose our proper focus. Rather, we have to learn how to stay properly focused while having those legitimate distractions. We have to be most wary of our tendency to be so carried away by them that we compromise that focus. 

 At the moment, we can see a disturbing development involving many people, especially the young. A big segment of the people is getting addicted to games and the many other novelties played out in the Internet and in the new technologies. 

 They are now more self-centered and self-absorbed, prone to idleness, laziness and comfort and pleasure seeking. God and their relationship to others are all but blotted out of their consciousness. 

 Indeed, there’s now a deeply felt need to tackle this spreading predicament, and some serious studies are now undertaken to confront this challenge. 

 Still, most of the efforts remain in the purely human and natural level, examining the psychological or sociological aspects, etc., but hardly beyond. Though some helpful data can be derived, I’m afraid these studies will fall short of the goal. We should not just prescribe a placebo for this predicament. 

 We have to understand that the problem is basically a spiritual and moral one. It cannot be effectively solved by treating the symptoms only. We need to identify and isolate the virus itself, and destroy it. 

 We need to realize that in the end and always, it is only God, the living God, our Creator and Father, as well as our Savior and Sanctifier, who can provide us with the real principle of unity in our life. We would be fooling ourselves if we don’t go all the way to recognize this basic truth about us. 

 This, of course, is a truth of faith, not so much of science. And that’s where the problem lies. There is a crisis of faith in the world, especially involving those who rely more on their human abilities than on belief in God. 

 We have to reiterate the truth that we need God to have a solid, genuine unity of life and an unwavering focus even in the midst of so many things in our life. 

 We just have to learn how to strengthen our relation with God, overcoming our natural awkwardness and difficulties, knowing how to pray, studying and assimilating the doctrine, availing of the sacraments, rectifying our intention, developing the virtues, observing proper priorities, etc. 

 This way, we would be effectively orchestrating the many elements of our life to achieve the ultimate goal of our life!

Humility the key to our real greatness

THIS was clearly spelled out by Christ when he told his disciples who were asking him who the greatest is in the kingdom of heaven: “Amen, I say to you, unless you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, he is the greater in the kingdom of heaven.” (Mt 18,3-4) 

 This is, of course, a challenge for all of us. We have to learn how to remain humble, simple and childlike in spirit even as we age and mature, and gain a lot of experience in life. We have to remember that only when we have spiritual childhood that we can expect God to reveal himself to us. That’s what Christ clearly said: 

 “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike.” (Mt 11,25) 

 We have to be wary of our tendency to think and act as if we need God less the more we gain worldly knowledge and wisdom. What should ideally happen is that the more knowledgeable and wise we get, the more humble and simple like a child we should be. 

 To be childlike, of course, has its share of weaknesses, but what is obvious is that to be like a child is to be innocent, to be bereft of malice, of bad intentions and bad thoughts. These ideals should be pursued by us. These qualities make us have the simplicity of a child. 

 When we remain humble and simple as a child, it would be easier for us to follow what Christ told us about what is involved in following him: to deny ourselves and to carry the cross. (cfr. Mt 16,24) 

 It’s also when we remain humble and simple as a child that we can manage to be with Christ, to assume his spirit in all the situations and conditions of our earthly life. During the good times when we would have successes and victories, we would not get spoiled and corrupted. And during the bad times, we may be sorrowful but not sad, never losing hope. 

 We cannot overemphasize the importance of this virtue of humility. It is what preserves whatever goodness we have, whatever we have received from God. And if we happen to lose that goodness, it is also this virtue that helps us to recover it. 

 We need to understand that humility involves giving our will to the will of God. It is a giving away that actually is not a loss at all but an immense gain for us. That’s because that is how we have been created, how we have been designed. Without God, like a branch cut off from the vine, we just die and are capable only of doing evil. 

 And precisely because Christ did only what his Father commanded him to do, he managed to recover us from the state of sin and restore us to the state of grace. How truly important it is to be humble. It is what would enable us to obey God’s will, and to do so irrespective of the great cost in terms of suffering it may involve. 

 We need to do everything to grow in this virtue every day. Let’s never take it for granted, for many now are the occasions when we are tempted to be on our own, to fall into pride and blinding egoism.

“Sensus fidei” and “Sensus fidelium”

WE need to be familiar with these two concepts that definitely would help us discern what truly was meant when Christ said certain things that would sound very inhuman and unchristian. 

 One example is when Christ told a certain man who wanted to follow him but wanted to first bury his father to “let the dead bury their dead” and commanded him to go and preach the gospel right away. (cfr. Lk 9,59) 

 And when another man also expressed his willingness to follow Christ but wanted to first take leave of his household, he was summarily told that “no man putting his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” (cfr. Lk 9,62) 

 There are many other examples of this kind, like when Christ also said: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple." (Lk 14,26) Or when he said that we have to love our enemies. 

 No wonder then that some people, without the proper “sensus fidei” and without consulting the “sensus fidelium” fall into disbelief and then to unbelief in Christ. They sometimes consider the gospel as a myth or even as a joke. 

 “Sensus fidei,” which literally means a sense of faith, is an individual believer’s capacity to discern the truth in matters of faith and morals even amid mysterious and unbelievable doctrines of our faith. It’s like an instinct or an inner sense that can only be an effect of a supernatural gift of faith. 

 “Sensus fidelium,” which literally means a sense of the faithful, is the collective sense of faith within the entire Church, covering all of its members or faithful. It is a shared and supernatural understanding of faith that enables the Church to discern the truth and live out the faith authentically. It is not simply the sum of the individual “sensus fidei,” but a unique and shared grace of the Holy Spirit operating within the Church. 

 In other words, both the “sensus fidei” and the “sensus fidelium” are an effect of a grace. They are both a supernatural reality and do not depend solely on our natural and human powers, although these latter have to be used also to the limit. 

 They enable us to accept the mysterious ways of God and to see the consistency of truth despite the apparently contradicting ways that the truth as taught by Christ and now by the Church is expressed. 

 We just have to learn to abandon ourselves to the mysterious ways of God who in his wise providence takes care of everything. We are not expected to know and understand everything. What is expected of us is to have faith in God, in Christ and in the Church so we can always be with him no matter how things turn. 

 This means that we should develop an intimate relationship with God, nourished by prayer, assiduous study of the doctrine of our faith, recourse to the sacraments, and an unrelenting ascetical struggle to fight against our weaknesses and the temptations around, and to grow in the virtues. 

 In this way, we would be acquiring the very mind of Christ, able to understand what he actually meant when his words, due to the limitations of our human and natural language, would seem to go against reason and common sense.