The world and our sanctification

WE need to know the important relation between our temporal affairs in the world and our most important duty and responsibility of our own sanctification. We need to realize more deeply that our sanctification is done always in the world, which is the arena for us to tackle the test of whether we would like to be with God or simply to be on our own. 

 This means that if we truly love God, we should not run away from the world and the many challenges it presents to us. Rather we should love it, immerse ourselves in it, make use of what is true, good and beautiful in it and purify it of what is not. 

 It would clearly be a wrong understanding of what and how it is to love God if we equate loving God with running away from the world, or worse, hating it. The negative and evil things we can find in the world should only spur us to love the world the way God loves it—sending his only begotten Son to it. In other words, we have to be “alter Christus” to love the world properly. 

 Our sanctification therefore should have an effect on the way we carry out our temporal affairs and on the world in general. It just cannot be purely spiritual, mainly in the level of intentions and desires only, or exclusively personal understood as individualistic, with hardly any relation to the others and to the world in general. 

It should not be confined only to isolated and sacred places. It should be knowledgeable about the different issues and problems in the world, unafraid to complicate one’s life and even to get dirty without compromising what is essential in our relation with God. 

 The effect of our sanctification on the world can obviously take on an infinite number of ways and forms. Its impact on the world can be through our charity work, or through the humanization and Christianization of the different sectors and aspects of our society. 

 Aside from its effect on the person and the family, it should leave a sanctifying mark on the world of business, politics, education, sports, entertainment, social life, etc. It should make a better world, more worthy to be offered to God from whom it came, asking us to take care of it. 

 In business alone we need to advocate for an ethical behavior in governance, challenging corruption and greed, and promoting transparency as essential components of just leadership. We need to look into how we can have fair labor practices that ensure employees of dignified and respectful treatment. We have to do something about proper stewardship of God’s creation that avoid environmental degradation. 

 In politics, the duty of sanctification should promote unity and understanding among all people, avoiding polarization and division, relieving cases of injustice and giving due protection to the rights of the vulnerable and marginalized members of our society. We need to uproot corruption and lack of transparency in the government. It should work to inject integrity into the lives and work of our politicians. 

 In entertainment, sanctification can mean promoting wholesome and uplifting content, reflecting God’s design for human dignity and creativity. It should eradicate obscenity and signs of moral decay. Sadly, we have a lot of this kind of dirt these days. 

 Sanctification in the middle of the world can mean praying for our leaders, asking God to guide them with wisdom and justice. Some advocacy work should be encouraged so that policies and practices that reflect gospel values can be promoted. Perhaps, faith-based initiatives that promote social justice, good education and community development can be developed.

Lessons we can learn from the Epiphany

DEFINITELY, the main lesson we can learn from the Solemnity of the Epiphany when we commemorate the visit of the 3 Magi to the newborn Jesus is that Jesus is meant to be the redeemer not only to the Jews, regarded as the chosen people of God, but also to the non-Jews. His message and redemptive work have a universal scope, covering all men and women regardless of background, race, color, social status, etc. 

 That’s because God’s love is for all. And that love had its ultimate expression when Christ died on the cross for the sins of all people, providing a way for reconciliation with God, as articulated in the First Letter of St. John where it says: “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” (2,2) 

 Thus, it is through our faith in Christ that all of us can receive forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life. Christ himself said: “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.” (Jn 14,6) With these words, Christ proclaims that he is the path or direction to God, that he is the embodiment of truth and the source of truth and that he is the source of eternal life. No one can reach God without going through Christ. 

 We need to meditate these words of Christ more deeply so we can truly capture the significance of the Epiphany of the Lord. They surely tell us that Christ’s mission was to bring salvation to all people, breaking whatever barriers there may be due to the diversity of backgrounds, race, color and the like. 

 We also need to understand that while Christ offers us a universal salvation, we too should also realize that we need to properly correspond to that offer. We need to realize that the offer of universal salvation is also a universal call to holiness to all of us. That’s because, as St. Augustine once said, that while God created us without us, he cannot save us without us. 

 We have to overcome the idea that sanctity is reserved only for a few and that it can only be achieved through certain acts and states of life. Sadly, sanctity has often been associated with priests and nuns and others who by some peculiar circumstances prefer to lead a religious or consecrated life practically spent in churches or some isolated or special places like caves, deserts, mountains, convents, monasteries, hermitages, mission areas, foreign lands, etc. 

 As a consequence, the ordinary people who stay at home and work in the fields or schools and offices, or those who simply find themselves in the middle of the world, are often considered out of contention for sainthood. At best, they can aspire only to be helpers and assistants to priests and religious men and women. 

 We need to correct this attitude because it is not quite correct. While such conception about sanctity contains a lot of truth and many good things, it however does not capture many other elements through which holiness can be pursued and achieved. 

 Everyone is called to holiness, because everyone is a creature of God, and as such is therefore created in the image and likeness of God, adopted as a child of his, and meant to participate in the very life of God. 

 There is a basic and inalienable equality among all of us insofar as we are God’s creatures and children called to holiness. Regardless of our position and state in life, whether we are priests, religious men and women, or ordinary lay faithful, we have the same calling and purpose in life.

Ready, set, go

IT’S a phrase that is often used to start a race or to signal a countdown, creating excitement and anticipation before a race or an event. It’s a phrase that also can be useful as a daily spur for us as we begin the day. 

 We know that in a very clear way, our daily life is like a race. We should never be sluggish in life, not knowing exactly where we are going. We should be very clear about where we are going, what real goal we are supposed to achieve. Somehow, we should echo what St. Paul once said in this regard: 

 “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. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore, I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave…” (1 Cor 9,24-27) 

 If we want to have a truly good and happy life, one that is not simply a result of some worldly props that can only go so far, then we should be focused on God and driven and excited in carrying out his will and in following his ways. 

 And the simple reason is because, to be blunt about it, God is already the supreme good for all of us. There could be no other good better than him to whom we should be attracted more or who should arouse in us a greater attraction. 

 God is everything to us. More than that, he loves us so much that he created us to be like him. It’s with him that we can have our eternal joy in heaven, and while here on earth we can always count on his help, guidance and powerful, wise and merciful providence. 

 Obviously, we need to process this basic truth properly and thoroughly, since it is a truth of faith that certainly involves a lot of mysteries that we have to learn to live with. Once we get convinced of this truth, then it follows that God should be the constant and strongest cause of our desire and attraction. His presence and interventions in our life should be intimately felt by us. Pursuing to be with him should give us the greatest joy. 

 We have to be wary of our tendency to get trapped in some worldly and temporal goals as our main focus in life. These goals, for sure, also have their objective value. But we need to understand that these worldly goals cannot stand on their own. They have to be grounded on God, on his will, on his abiding providence over us. Otherwise, they can only pose as a danger to us. 

 This truth was articulated quite clearly by Christ when he said, “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.” (Mt 12,30) We really need to know and love Christ, the fullness of the revelation of God to us. He should not only be known by us. He has to be loved too, so that we can truly enter into his life and be identified with him, which is what is proper to us. 

 We need to examine ourselves to see if we are exerting the necessary effort to know and love Christ. That is why we need to spend time meditating on the life, word and example of Christ to such an extent that Christ becomes alive in us and is the one who motivates us in our thoughts, words and deeds.