Presenting the living Christ

THIS, to me, is one of the big challenges a priest faces

in carrying out his ministry. He has to strive to present to those he

is tasked to shepherd, the living Christ himself, and not just a

Christ that is constructed by some nice words and ideas.

            As priest, he is already sacramentally conformed to Christ

as head of the Church. It is now 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 just be an empty

suit, a mere doll or ghost.

            He has to adapt the very mind and heart of Christ, his

sentiments, his mission and concerns. He has to have the appropriate

lifestyle.

            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 identified with both God and

men, 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.

            The priest should be constantly aware of who he radically

is and what he is supposed to do. His priesthood is not only a title

or a suit that he can wear from time to time and take off at other

times. He is a priest all the time and, in fact, forever, in Christ.

            This will require a certain self-emptying, akin to what

Christ himself did in order to carry out his mission here on earth.

That is why the priestly virtue of poverty and detachment is

indispensable. The priest should avoid getting spoiled by privileges

and entitlements that can easily enter his life due to his position in

society.

            Without poverty, there’s no way he can be another Christ

as priest. Without it, we can again hear Christ’s reproach to the rich

man: “It is easier for a camel to enter the eye of a needle than for a

rich man to enter the Kingdom of God.” (Mt 19,24)

            If all Christians have to be “alter Christus” (another

Christ), if not “ipse Christus” (Christ himself), then this is more so

with respect to priests who are meant to pastorally nourish the

Christian faithful. Everything in the priest should somehow reflect

the presence and redemptive action of Christ. Nothing in his should be

extraneous to that ministry.

            Christ himself told his apostles, “Whoever listens to you

listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; but whoever rejects me

rejects him who sent me." (Lk 10,16)

            The priest should learn how to blend the highly mysterious

and supernatural character of his priestly identity with his human and

natural condition. This, certainly, will involve some effort,

adjustments and adaptation, even of the drastic kind. But this simply

has to be done.

            With the appropriate plans, strategies and programs, this

can be done. That is why the priestly formation can be nothing other

than ongoing and increasingly deepening. As for the tools and means,

they are always available. The priest should seriously and faithfully

make use of them.

            Of special importance are a life of constant prayer and

sacrifice, and frequent recourse to the sacrament of penance and the

daily celebration of the Holy Mass.

The Last Things

I AM referring to the things that happen at the end of our

earthly life. They are referred to as the Last Things: death, then

after death, judgment which would determine whether we go to hell or

to heaven, with purgatory as a temporary state of purification before

one enters heaven.

            With the end of the liturgical year with the celebration

of the Solemnity of Christ the King, as well as the forthcoming end of

the calendar year, it’s good to be reminded that we have the duty to

end things well, whatever they may be.

            This ideal can be attained if we ground this value of

ending well on God. Of him, St. Paul once said: “He who began a good

work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ

Jesus.” (Phil 1,6)

            Make no mistake about it. Everything that is meant by

“ending well” is derived from God and referred to him who is the Alpha

and the Omega. Outside of him, nothing begins nor ends well.

            And the consideration of the Last Things can help us a lot

in this task. Far from giving us a dark vision of things, the

consideration of the Last Things will actually enlighten us with

respect to the real purpose of our life. It will give us a positive,

constructive push in our earthly affairs.

            It gives us a complete picture of our life and provides us

with the meaning and direction to any situation that we may find

ourselves in, whether they are humanly speaking good or bad.

            In other words, the consideration of the Last Things gives

us the proper perspective within which we have to see and understand

every event and development in our life. It should give us a great

sense of confidence, peace and joy.

            We should not be afraid to make this consideration, since

it does nothing but to make us very realistic about our whole life. As

long as we continue to make some practical resolutions out the

consideration of the Last Things, we will always be on the right path.

            The consideration of death, for example, would remind us

that we have to make good use of our time, seeing to it that our time

here on earth is meant ultimately to make us the image and likeness of

God in Christ through the Holy Spirit. We can say that we are making

good use of time if whatever we do, no matter how earthly it is,

brings us closer to God through love. Otherwise we are wasting time.

            The consideration of judgment also makes us aware that we

need to be accountable for what God has given us. In practical terms,

we should be doing examination of conscience daily, not only to

monitor the events of our life but also to plan out our day to make it

as productive as possible through love.

            The consideration of heaven and hell somehow should make

us realize that we should be unwavering in our struggles against the

enemies of God and of our soul—namely, our weaknesses, the many

temptations around, and the powerful spiritual enemies who will always

try their best to separate us from God.

            The consideration of the Last Things will sustain our hope

amid the trials and difficulties of our earthly life. It enables us to

be focused on what is essential, without getting entangled in the

non-essentials though these also have a role to play.

Be aggressive in pursuit of goal

THIS is the attitude to have in life. First we should have

a clear vision of our goal in life, translating that goal into stages.

And then let’s stir up all our faculties to achieve that goal.

            We can take St. Paul’s words as some kind of inspiring

slogan: “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only

one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.” (1 Cor

9,24)

            Or, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the

race, I have kept the faith.” (2 Tim 4,7) Yes, our life is like a

race. The Letter to the Hebrews said as much: “Let us run with

perseverance the race marked out for us...” (12,1)

            The good thing about this attitude is that it engages our

faculties properly and helps us to avoid getting distracted or, worse,

lost, being held hostage by the allures of this world, wasting time,

etc. We would always be on the move, and would know how to put order

in our daily activities, knowing the right priorities, etc.

            And what is the ultimate goal that we should pursue? None

other than that we become another Christ, if not Christ himself,

‘alter Christus, ipse Christus.’ This is simply because we have been

created by God to be his image and likeness.

            That image and likeness of God is Christ who as the Second

Person of the Blessed Trinity is the pattern of our humanity, and as

the Son of God who became man, is the redeemer of our damaged

humanity.

            Our creation is God’s project. It is a work in progress

that requires our cooperation precisely because as image and likeness

of God, we have been endowed with intelligence and will that would

enable us to correspond to God’s creative and redemptive action on us.

            In other words, we are meant to be like Christ, that is,

to be another Christ if not Christ himself. We are supposed to be the

branches attached to the vine who is Christ. We have to be

“genetically” generated from Christ.

            So the questions to be asked when we do our examinations

of conscience at the end of the day are whether we are getting nearer

to becoming like Christ. Can we say that we are having more and more

the mind and heart of Christ? Are we having the same desires as

Christ?

            Like Christ, are we obeying God’s will even at the cost of

great sacrifice, and even of our life? Do we have the desire to help

others to become like Christ also? Is Christ’s mission of gathering

the People of God in communion with him and with everybody else also

our mission?

            It is quite clear that if we are just aggressive in the

pursuit of our ultimate goal, there will never be a dull moment and we

would not get lost in the twists and turns of life. We would know the

meaning and purpose of each event in our life, whether they are good

or bad.

            Let’s do everything to be aggressive in the pursuit of our

ultimate goal, stoking the fire of love for God and for others

everyday. Let’s stay away from ego-tripping or from being at the mercy

of circumstances. We have to dominate our life together with Christ

and in God’s grace.

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