Goes with the territory

 IF we are dead serious in following Christ, we have to expect
misunderstanding and persecution. This goes with the territory. Christ
himself said so. If he himself had to suffer such, then his followers,
that’s us, cannot expect anything different.

    We have to be ready for these unavoidable situations. The world
cannot understand the things of God. That’s one thing for sure. It
needs man’s intervention for it to reconcile itself with its Creator.

    Aside from its natural limitations with respect to the supernatural
reality of God, its Creator, the world has been damaged by our sins,
whose effects the world has absorbed. Thus, its inability to
appreciate God’s wisdom is further aggravated.

    But it is our responsibility, always with God’s grace, to infuse the
world with the spirit of God. We need to be more aware of this
responsibility, because we often take it for granted. Besides, we
really need to know how to go about it. We’re still as clumsy as a
babe in the woods in this regard.

    We need to infuse the world with the spirit of love, of truth and
justice that can come only from God, not from us, not from any
man-made ideology, no matter how brilliant it may sound or successful
it so far has been.

    For this to take place, we have to understand that an indispensable
requirement is that we be vitally united with God. It’s not enough
that we be smart, or popular, or powerful, or rich. Unless these
qualities spring from a living union with God, they can only give a
very limited success, at best.

    What’s more likely is that they can pose a great danger to us, since
objectively excellent qualities not grounded on God have graver
effects than mediocre qualities, also not grounded on God.

    Thus, we have to see to it that our God-given talents and other
endowments are engaged with God. This is a real challenge, since we
kind of automatically consider our talents and endowments simply as
our own, to be used completely at our own dispositions, with hardly
any reference to God and his laws.

    We need to correct that attitude, so embedded in the mind and culture
of the men and women today. Then we should try to master the doctrine
of our faith, the teaching left by Christ and deposited in the Church
for perpetual transmission to all.

    We should master it in such a way that we feel at home with it, have
a global grasp of it  and would know what part of it is relevant to
the issue or question raised at the moment.

    We should also learn the skill of spreading this doctrine, actively
proclaiming it more than just using it to react to a controversy. With
all the information technologies we now have at hand, this task should
be made easier.

    But we cannot deny the fact that we will always find problems, people
who resist to believe or who, while considering themselves as
believers, are consistent with their faith. In the gospel, we are made
familiar with the possibility that those who appear close to God or to
the Church can be the ones who can give the biggest problems.

    We should be ready for these eventualities. Christ assured us that we
should not worry when things can get so bad that we as believers can
be persecuted. “Beware of men, for they will hand you over to courts
and scourge you in their synagogues, and you will be led before
governors and kings for my sake as a witness before them and the
pagans,” he said.

    “When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or
what you are to say. You will be given at that moment what you are to
say." (Mt 10,19-20)

    Still we have to understand that despite God’s assurance that we will
be taken care of by him, we need to prepare ourselves. God’s grace
never takes away our human responsibilities, our duty to study and do
whatever is humanly possible to spread and defend our faith.

    As to the difficulties that can include the misunderstandings and
persecution, let’s just be game about them. We should not allow them
to hinder us in our duties. Besides they are a clear sign we would be
doing God’s work, since if Christ suffered these things, we, his
followers, should not expect anything different.

    We just have to be patient and optimistic. What also helps is to have
a good sense of humor.

Rhetoric and polemic

THESE arts and skills are increasingly relevant these days. As we go
deeper into the challenge of sorting out and resolving issues,
differences and conflicts, we need to learn well the proper ways of
discussing, arguing, debating, convincing and persuading.

As I look at the kids in the school, I often wonder how they would
fare as they grow up and face many controversies not only in matters
of opinion but also in matters involving one’s core beliefs.

These days, issues involving faith and morals are proliferating. At
the moment, we have the RH issue. But on its heels are the issues of
divorce, same sex marriage, abortion, etc. Everyone has to be prepared
for these. And the kids, especially so!

Sad to say, these arts and skills nowadays are corrupted. They are
developed and used not so much as to seek truth and justice as to
serve the self-interest of an individual or a party.

They are now increasingly alienated from the requirements of charity.
They frolic and  luxuriate in irony and sarcasm, rash judgments,
sensationalism, empty zingers and bombast. They are driven mainly by
the desire to score points, to win and dominate.

It would seem that the more self-righteousness and bitterness are
injected into one’s arguments, the better for them. The world today
applauds at all sorts of fallacies, the non-sequiturs, ad hominems,
argumentum ad verecundiam, etc. Detached from God, it now goes more
for “what comes naturally.”

These are the realities, the facts of our times. Before them, we
should not run away but rather face them, arming ourselves well so as
not to be affected, much less, infected by their antics and dirty
tricks, even as we use the legitimate tools of persuasion to
participate actively in the public discussion and dialogue.

In short, we need to use rhetoric and polemic to proclaim, explain and
defend our beliefs, but purifying them of their dirt that
unfortunately has now become normal in our current confused culture.

Yes, rhetoric and polemic certainly require constant study and
practice, research and continuing polishing and refinement. Let’s just
hope that we can develop a truly Christian brand of rhetoric and
polemic where we can discuss things even with conflicting positions
but inspired always by an honest search for truth, by charity,
magnanimity, respect for others, etc.

They should be of the kind that knows how to distinguish between the
person and the points raised and that lives out the principle,
“Fortiter in re, suaviter in modo,” which roughly can be translated as
being resolute and rigorous in the argumentation while always gentle
and courteous in the manner and in dealing with the other parties.

For this to take place, I feel that aside from trying to master the
technicalities of rhetoric and polemic that in themselves are truly
exciting, one needs to be deeply grounded in his spiritual life to be
able to live charity every step of the way and to infuse his arguments
with a palpable quality of authority and competence.

The perfect model for this is Christ himself who proclaimed,
explained, corrected misconceptions about what truly matters in life.
He knew when to speak and when to keep quiet, when to be tolerant and
when to be intolerant. His arguments blended truths and mysteries of
faith with reason and passion.

He had the gift of tongue, skilful in using figures of speech and
other literary devices to drive home a point. He knew how to adapt
himself to his listeners. Thus, he was extremely attractive to those
who were simple and without malice. He only provoked strong resistance
from those with complicated minds.

Aside from taking care of our spiritual life, we should also try to be
masters of the doctrine of our faith, always studying and deepening
our understanding of it, while being observant of the developments
around.

This is to see to it that the eternal word of God directly impacts
with the issues and concerns people may have at a given point. We
should not just come up with talking points.

In the end, the success and failure of rhetoric and polemic would
depend on where one’s heart tilts, on whether one has faith or not.
They simply cannot be measured by human standards alone, and that’s
why we should not give undue importance to human judgments of the
arguments.

Still, we should try our best that we satisfy all the requirements and
expectations of the human standards, without making them the ultimate
measure. The standard of faith and grace never rejects the human
standard.

Hope amid gloom

IT’S Christmas. Christ is with us. The Son of God has become man. He
wants it that way so that our life can truly be a life with God. He
wants it that way so that he can show us the path to our salvation, to
our perfection as persons created in the image and likeness of God and
as children of God.

This is the joy of Christmas that is meant not only for a season, but
for whole time. We have to learn to stick to this reality but we have
to exert some effort. And that effort is the virtue of hope which in
the first place is a gift also from God.  We need to take care of it
and cultivate it to its fullness.

Amid the darkness that is descending in the world today, a darkness
that is characterized by false and seductive lights, we need to
approach the baby in the manger surrounded by his adoring mother and
foster father, and by the pure hearts of simple but privileged
shepherds.

He is the true light who can generate hope in us and in the world
today that seems bent in plunging deeper into the morass of
immorality, now multiplying in cancer-like rate and supported
systematically by all sorts of rationalizations.

We have to go beyond sentimentalism and the frills with which
commercialism has shrouded this event, and discover the true spirit of
Christmas, imbibing it as fully as possible.

It shows us the ways of divine love, the love meant for us, the
ultimate foundation of our hope that dispels the darkness of the
modern lights. It is the Son of God, this helpless infant in the
manger, who can truly test and determine the authenticity or falsity
of the many ideologies presented to us today.

He is not afraid to live with us in any condition we might find
ourselves in. In fact, we are told that he has assumed our humanity in
its fullness, including in its wounded state now without committing
any sin, to show us the way of how to live in the world of today.

We need to get to know him more and more, and follow his path as
closely as possible. He already told us that if we want to follow him,
we should be willing to deny ourselves and to carry the cross. With
his grace and our efforts, let’s be prepared for this.

But let’s be familiar with his teaching and his ways. In him, truth
and charity become one, all virtues, all that are good are happily
blended in him. He is precisely the truth, the way and the life for
us.

It should be with him when we strive to preserve the truth about
ourselves in this world. It should be with him when we try to
transform the world, purifying it of its worldly ethos, defending and
protecting it from the subtle ways of God’s enemies, and instilling it
with God’s spirit of harmony and peace, joy, justice, beauty, etc.

As we go through the unavoidable discussion of issues, let’s always be
with him so we may know exactly what to say, how to say and when to
say. With him, the doctrines of our faith, the ultimate truths that
save us, cease to be mere abstract ideas. They acquire life and exert
tremendous power and wisdom.

But for this, we should be ready to go all the way, the way Christ
himself took. It is the way that leads to the Cross. That’s when we
with Christ can draw all men to God, in the manner expressed by Christ
himself: “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all
things to myself.” (Jn 12,32)

Our crucifixion can take many forms, but common among them would be
the barrage of insults, mockery, ridicule that we can receive as a
consequence of our fidelity to Christ. In our case, we can deserve
some if not much of the dirt thrown at us. But Christ will take it all
for us and with us.

What we have to do is to conduct our discussions, our efforts to
proclaim, explain, and clarify the truths behind the issues of our
times with consistency, competence and always in close fidelity to
Christ.

This may look like an ugly hand-to-hand combat, but as long as we are
with Christ we can manage to proclaim and defend the truth always in
charity. This is how we can have hope amid the glittery gloom of the
world today.