The forcefulness of love and our freedom

THAT gospel parable where Christ talked about a certain man who invited many persons to a great supper (cfr. Lk 14,15-24) can lead us to ask the question of how to balance the forcefulness of love and our freedom. 

 As the parable narrates, all those invited refused to come with all sorts of excuses. That was when the man was forced to tell his servants to “go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.” (Lk 14,23) 

 It’s clear that the parable wants to teach us that God is all eager to bring us back to be with him. He created us in his image and likeness. We are supposed to share in his very nature and life. 

 The parable highlights the truth of our faith that God is willing to use some forcefulness to bring us back to him. But obviously, this forcefulness does not compromise our freedom which God also respects. 

 This only means that the forcefulness we may have to use in our apostolic dealings with others should not do away with delicacy, gentleness and compassion, especially with those who are not quite ready yet to receive Christ, or who may even be hostile to our apostolic action. 

 This is simply because we have to respect the freedom of everyone, even if that freedom is not exercised properly. In that case, we have to go to the process of explaining things slowly and delicately, accompanying it with prayers and sacrifices. 

 We have no right to impose ourselves on others, and to trample on their freedom. Even if we manage to force others to comply with our commands to be with God, if they do it not freely, nothing is actually achieved. In fact, a worse scenario may even be created. 

 We have to be wary of our tendency to control people’s lives and freedom. That is not the way Christ dealt with everyone. Yes, he proclaimed the truth in different ways, some in a soft way and others in a rather strong way, but in the end, he did not force anyone to follow him. 

 He practically begged to be believed and followed, and this he did all the way to offering his very own life. As Christ put it, “I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.” (Jn 12,32) 

 This is because we are not the owners of anyone’s conscience. God is the only owner. We are at best stewards, tasked to help others in the name of God. And given the complexity of this business of apostolate which is something eminently spiritual and supernatural, we need to practice a lot of restraint and moderation, thoughtfulness and patience, since we will be involved in some mysteries which we cannot fully fathom. 

 Thus, we have to avoid appearing as if we know everything, even if we are aware that we know a lot of things. We cannot be too sure if we are hitting the mark when we make our apostolic moves. The best that we can do is to be delicate and gentle in our dealings, never acting like a bully or being too pushy. 

 More importantly, we need to pray a lot and offer a lot of sacrifices, always appealing to God’s mercy and wisdom. God is the only one who can make the impossible possible. We have to allow others to grow and mature spiritually in a way that is done in freedom and love.

Brain rot and cognitive decline

THIS is an attempt to describe the increasingly sharp differences between the so-called Gen Z people (those born roughly between 1997 and 2012 who grew up with widespread access to the internet, smartphones and social media, and often described as digital natives) and the senior citizens, sometimes referred to as baby boomers and the silent generation. 

 What we are noticing is that while the senior citizens understandably are into their sunset years and their cognitive capability is on the decline, the Gen Z youngsters appear to be having what is now called as brain rot. There is a serious issue involved here, and we just have to find ways of how we can help. 

 Brain rot is some kind of a decline in intellectual standards. It’s a term that emerged from the internet culture and is about a kind of deterioration of mental or intellectual state due to overconsumption of low-quality or trivial online content. It sometimes used to describe thoughts or ideas that are silly, nonsensical, or “rotten” in a comedic way. 

 Its general effects are mental fatigue leading to reduced attention span, mental fogginess and lethargy. It also causes difficulty in focusing, in memory lapses and decreased creativity. It heightens stress, anxiety, depression and negative self-talk. It makes one addicted to scrolling. It definitely reduces motivation. 

 A number of factors can lead to this phenomenon of the brain rot. Among them is the excessive screen time that can adversely affect one’s attention span, memory and cognitive skills. 

 Indeed, we have a big challenge to tackle here. Perhaps the following measures can help. Like, the young ones should me taught how to balance their online and offline activities. They should be encouraged to have breaks from screens and to engage in physical activities, social interactions, or hobbies. 

 They should also be taught how to be selective and discriminating about the online content in such a way that they should be more mindful on focusing more on quality than on quantity. There should also be some kind of boundaries for screen time, especially before bed time which should always be given its due priority. 

 What can also help is encourage them to engage in cognitive challenges, like engaging in puzzles, reading, or learning new skills. We should be concerned about achieving a kind of inter-generational integration. The older generation, with more experience, can initiate this by forgetting themselves more and thinking of the others with the view of helping them. 

 And this can always be done, because it always starts with small, normal and ordinary things we are supposed to do with one another. We have to be nice, even affectionate, develop a keen, sincere interest in the others, in what they do and even in their concerns. 

 With little goodwill that we try to nurture and grow, a lot of good is produced, benefiting everyone. We have to learn to go beyond our natural differences, our understandable likes and dislikes, to be able to enter smoothly into the lives of others. 

 We need to learn to disregard irritating details, and to keep rectifying our intentions and purifying our memory, since anything can dirty them anytime even within a span of a minute. 

 We are all human, it’s understood, but we too are capable of rising high above our purely human conditions to meet the standards of real charity. We have to be quick to understand and forgive. We have to be very careful with our tendency to judge. 

 In my years of talking with people, I accomplish more by listening and understanding and encouraging than by making suggestions. Often the people themselves discover what they need to do. 

 I find this an effective way to handle inter-generational differences.

Celebrating holiness and praying for the dead

IT’S good that in our country we have this very popular tradition called “undas” when families go to cemeteries to visit, clean and decorate graves of loved ones. There they offer prayers, light candles and leave flowers and even food for the departed. It’s also a time for families to come together. 

 Though liturgically, the Commemoration of All Faithful Departed is on November 2, the “undas” also covers the Solemnity of All Saints on November 1. This may not be theologically or liturgically correct, but everyone understands that both celebrations are very related to each other. 

 The Solemnity of All Saints is not only an occasion to celebrate the success stories of holiness of those who are already in heaven, and are recognized and canonized by the Church as saints. It is also a strong reminder that all of us are called to holiness. And the way to holiness is clearly spelled out by Christ himself when he preached about the beatitudes. (cfr. Mt 5,1-12) 

 Everyone can be a saint because God calls all and empowers all to be so. Ever wondered why Christ chose his apostles practically randomly? He, for example, would just pass by Matthew in his tax collector’s table and say, “Come, follow me,” without as much checking on Matthew’s background. 

 Same with brothers Peter and Andrew, and James and John. Christ would just call them, and without asking any question they simply left their nets, for they were fishermen, and followed Christ. 

 In the end, he would also call Judas Iscariot who would later betray him. Christ, being God, would have known that Judas would turn him in. But that did not deter him. He called Judas just the same to be one of his 12 apostles. 

 The only reason I can find for this behavior of Christ is that he has the right to call anyone and everyone to follow him. And that’s simply because, as God, he has that right since all of us come from him and belong to him. As redeemer, he calls everyone to follow him. 

 The Commemoration of All Faithful Departed reminds us of these very reassuring words of Christ: “Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and I will not reject anyone who comes to me, because I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me.” (Jn 6,37-38) 

 He further said to clarify things even more: “And this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose anything of what he gave me, but that I should raise it on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him on the last day.” (Jn 6,39-40) 

 I believe it is most worthwhile to meditate on these words often to convince ourselves that we should never be afraid of death because as long as we believe in Christ, we are assured of eternal life, of achieving the ultimate and definitive dignity of ours as God’s image and likeness, children of his, sharers of his divine life and nature. 

 If our faith is strong in these words of Christ, we know that death is actually a most welcome event because it represents our salvation, our liberation from exile and alienation from God. Death would mean that we have successfully passed the test God has given us in this earthly life of ours. 

 All Souls’ Day also reminds us that death does not separate us from those who have gone ahead. We still are in communion with the dead!