Suffer the little children

TO be more precise, suffer especially the babies. The

other day, I had the misfortune—that in the end turned out actually as

a great fortune—of being with two screaming babies on a one-hour plane

ride. If there’s anything that I am most sensitive to and that gets my

goat instantly, it’s noise. I was praying hard to control my

accelerating irritation.

   

            Then I started thinking, because there was no other

option. These are babies, I remembered. They don’t understand

anything. They don’t behave by logic. They know nothing about good

manners and right conduct. Their reactions to things are simply

limited to smiling or crying or just playing cute. That’s their world,

bless them.

  

            I know the mothers were trying hard to pacify them. In

this regard, there can only be two possibilities—either they manage or

not. Well, in this particular flight, they got to silence the infants

only when we were already landing.

  

            In the meantime, I just had to suffer. But it was a

suffering that yielded some precious lessons for me. I realized that

these crying, irritating little bundles are actually like us when we

bother each other due to our mistakes and sins that we consider to be

so ridiculous that we can easily fall into rash judgments against each

other.

  

            We, too, cannot understand why we fall into the same sins.

We can have some good, correct ideas of what is right and wrong, and

yet we often choose the wrong option.

  

            Those screaming, irritating infants somehow enlightened me

that we are like them, or even worse than them, in the sense that like

them we only have limited ways of reacting properly to the tremendous

and overwhelming mysterious challenges and trials in our life. In

spite of the light given us, we still can stumble often as if we are

in the dark.

  

            In spite of our brilliant ideas, philosophies, ideologies

and theologies at our command, we still cannot capture, much less, be

in full control of the many mysteries we have to contend with in life.

The reality of our life is so rich and mysterious that we can never

fully fathom its depth, nor cover its range and scope.

   

            In other words, we may know something, but definitely we

would not know everything. Besides, things can get more complicated

because St. Paul once talked about an abiding inner conflict in us

(cfr. Rom 7,15-20) and the mystery of iniquity that is at work in us

(cfr. 2 Thes 2,7). All these somehow invite us that we just should

understand one another and avoid making rash judgments.

  

            I believe this is a fact of life that we just have to

learn to suffer by understanding each other, showing compassion and

mercy to one another, instead of making rash judgments, or worse,

turning those unfair judgments into some action.

  

            To be sure, this is why Christ chose to be most

understanding with those who were considered sinners. He fraternized

with them and gradually showed them the way to correct their ways. He

lived well what was said of God in the Book of Ezekiel: “I have no

pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his

way and live.” (33,11)

  

            This should be the way we handle those occasions when we

are bothered and irritated by the defects, faults, mistakes and sins

of others.

  

            I believe that’s the reason Christ told us that we have to

forgive one another. Otherwise, he said, we won’t be forgiven

ourselves by God. (cfr. Mt 6,14-15) In other words, we have to suffer

not only the little children but also the adults and oldies who can

cause graver irritations on us.

  

            I had to thank those screaming babies for reminding me of

this truth of our faith.

To a newly ordained priest

ASKED to give the homily at the Thanksgiving Mass of a

newly ordained priest, I was wondering what to say to a person who I

know must have received a deep and thorough formation for the

priesthood. It’s like preaching to the choir, talking to someone who

is already in the same league.

  

            I immediately thought that what I should do is just to

give him some simple but basic reminders and to encourage him to be

most faithful and generous in his ministry, as well as to encourage

those attending the Mass to pray for the fidelity of the young priest.

  

            We cannot deny that the priesthood is a great divine gift

for the Church and for the people. It enables the presence and the

redemptive action of Christ to continue in our midst. With and through

the priest, Christ becomes alive again. With and through him, Christ

continues to teach, sanctify and guide the people toward their

ultimate end—that is, heaven.

  

            It is no joke to be a priest. With all the baggage of

weaknesses and human miseries that all of us carry, the priest has to

learn to be everything to all men and women, just like what St. Paul

said:

  

            “Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself

a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became

like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one

under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win

those under the law.

  

            “To those not having the law I became like one not having

the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s

law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became

weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that

by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of

the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.” (1 Cor 9,19-23)

  

            The priest therefore always has to remember that he is

Christ the priest. He has to have the same sentiments and desires of

Christ. In all his actuations, he has to make sure that it is Christ

who is manifested and glorified, nor just himself.

  

            He has to be ready to have the same fate or destiny as

Christ. He has to be prepared to stay the course even if he is

misunderstood, insulted, mocked, humiliated, crucified.

  

            Like Christ, it has to be clear and firm in his mind and

heart to have the attitude of wanting only to serve and not to be

served, going all the way to washing and kissing the feet of the

people. He has to live all the virtues—poverty and detachment,

humility and the art of passing unnoticed, fortitude and patience, and

above all, charity, the mother of all the virtues.

  

            Like Christ, he has to be a man of prayer, of tangible

sanctity such that with his mere presence, people would get inspired.

Yes, he has to be identified with the people without compromising his

identity with Christ. And the secret for this is simply to follow

closely the example of Christ.

   

            With Christ, the priest would know how to be immersed in

the world without being swallowed by the world. He would know how to

pursue his eminently spiritual and supernatural mission, how to carry

out his redemptive and sanctifying work without getting entangled in

politics or business and other temporal affairs.

  

            The priest should study and take care of his ongoing and

never-ending formation with the view of becoming more and more like

Christ. A priest can never say he is already fully like Christ. He can

still be more like Christ till his last breath.

More concern for the divine economy

WHILE it’s true that we have to give due, if not utmost,

attention to our human economy in its different levels—local,

national, global—it’s even more true that we have to give a most

special attention to the divine economy or the economy of salvation.

We have to be more familiar with how this divine economy works.

  

            This is not to pit the human economy against the divine

economy, or vice versa, since both economies mutually affect each

other. It is just a matter of the priority we ought to give to the

spiritual and supernatural dimension of our life over the material and

temporal character of our life, and to God’s will and ways over our

own ways, since God is the Alpha and Omega of all things, and we just

have to cooperate with him.

  

            Obviously, our human economy can already demand a lot from

us. It’s no laughing matter at all. While the government and the

official economic planners and agents in all levels of our social life

take the lead, the ideal is that everyone somehow should be involved

in making the economy really serve the common good of all.

  

            The ideal to reach is to have a highly participative

economy where everyone contributes to the working of the economy and

enjoys its fruits. As much as possible, no one should be marginalized,

much less, ostracized, regardless of the class one may belong to.

  

            The divine economy, which is all about the management of

God’s creation and especially of us, the leading creatures of all his

creation, demands a lot more than what the human economy can demand

from us. This divine economy is meant to achieve the salvation of all

humanity.

  

            Yes, it’s true that God takes the lead in seeing to it

that this divine economy succeeds in its purpose, but we also have a

big and indispensable part to play in it. Of course, everything

depends on God, but in some mysterious ways, everything also depends

on us. That’s because as image and likeness of God, as children of

his, we cannot help but get involved in this divine economy the way

God is involved in it.

  

            As such we have to be open to the divine ways that this

divine economy works, and in fact, we should try our best to cooperate

in these divine ways as best as we can. And what are these divine ways

and means that God employs for the salvation of all mankind?

  

            They are nothing other than that, like what Christ

underwent, we should be willing to suffer and die for all the sins of

men. Yes, like Christ, we have to clarify the truth about God and us

and the world in general. We have to do a lot of good like what Christ

did abundantly. But in the end, it is the willingness to suffer and

die for all the sins of men that completes and perfects everything in

the mission of the salvation of mankind.

  

            We, therefore, should not be surprised if we are made to

suffer even if we think that we have been behaving well and therefore

not deserving to suffer. In this case, we would be like Christ who is

made to suffer for the sins of all men. This is how the divine economy

works. This is how the economy of salvation reaches its goal.

  

            We, therefore, should not complain when we are made to

suffer. In fact, the contrary should be true. We have to welcome

suffering. That way, we are contributing a lot to the economy of

salvation and for sure, we will also be enjoying the fruits of that

successful, prosperous economy of salvation.

   

            We need to broaden our perspective, so we can more

actively participate in the working of the divine economy.