NO FEAR IN LOVE

All that we have; whether things, persons, resources, and talents, we have them because God entrusted them to us. Whatever good that transpires from them and from our efforts, we have no reason to boast of ourselves. Human as we are we are weak, foolish, lowly and despised. We achieve something because of God at work in us. Thus, Paul preached, Whoever boasts, should boast in the Lord (1 Cor 1:31). If in any way we are to boast, we ought to boast OF the Lord. 

What are we to do with the possessions and positions that God has entrusted to us? Are we to multiply them into thousand-fold?  God never wanted earthy possessions. He owns the world and all that is contained in it (Ps 50:12). At the end of our lives, God will not ask us how many cars we drove, mansion we build, or how popular and influential we have become. God will inquire about the greatest gift He has entrusted to us: Love.

At the gates of heaven, God will ask us: How did you love? or better yet: Did you love at all? Through the gift of love we can realize the definitive desire of God: Come share your master’s joy; Come, be with Me. The earthly things we possess should be directed toward this end: loving God through our fellow human persons, and being with God. By imitating the self-less love He has given to us, through Christ, we begin to experience the joy that our Master experiences, even here on earth.

If you look around us today, you will find love to be wanting. We have grown more and more remiss in love, the greatest talent entrusted to all of us. Fear had won over us. Fear sets a limit on our love if it does not totally diminish love. We cease to love because we are afraid to be hurt. Natatakot tayong magmahal dahil natatakot tayong masaktan. We fail to nourish love in our relations with other because we are afraid that our love may not be reciprocated. Natatakot tayong magmahal dahil natatakot tayong di masuklian. Part of loving is suffering. Parang dinuguan at puto, champorado at tuyo. Partner na yan: Ang loving at suffering. Kung magmamahal ka ihanda mo ang sarili mo dahil kakambal na nyan ang sacrifico. Kaakibat ng pagmamahal ang masaktan. There is no love without sacrifice. But in our desire to protect ourselves, we bury love and try to forget to love. In the process, we lose our capacity to love. We lose the greatest gift we have received just because we are afraid to give it away.  Love is not meant for oneself. It is oriented towards the other. And as we give it away, it remains with us. It multiplies a thousand-fold.

Don’t let fear prevent you from loving. Don’t let fear limit your love. It is in loving that we can eventually be faithful to God who has entrusted us so much with this gift of love.

INUNA PA ANG TULOG: LESSONS FROM THE WISDOM OF THE WORLD

In our home, there was a division of labor. I was tasked to boil rice in the evening, whenever my mother come home late from school. Once, it was already 5:00 pm then, and my mother was not yet home. A part of me told me I should boil rice, another told me to take a nap. The latter prevailed. I told myself “Mamaya na yan. Pwede pa naman.” Without me noticing it, it was already half past  six. My father arrived, hungry and tired from work. But there was no food to eat. He asked me for the rice and I could not answer for I missed boiling the rice. And he told me “Inuna mo pa kasi yang tulog.”  

In an obscure way, we sometimes have the mañana habit in life. We tend to postpone or delay something important which we think can wait for the next morning(mañana) or when the next opportune strikes. We do another thing which we prefer to do at that moment. Mañana habit overflows to our religious and spiritual life. Mamaya na ako magbibigay. Saka na ako mangungumpisal. Magserve ako sa Church kapag retired na ako. Saka na ako magpapakabait, enjoy ko muna buhay binata ko. We tend to procrastinate and wait for another chance, even in our faith. Without us knowing, the tomorrow we hold dear might not come.   

In the gospel (Mt 25:1-13), ten virgins set to meet the bridegroom. Five virgins took their lamps but brought no oil with them. That made them fools. Another five virgins brought flasks of oil with their lamps. That made them wise.

The fools preferred to sleep than procure oil.  They attended to less important things and slept, instead of checking their provisions. They were guided by the wisdom of the world: This is what the wisdom of the world teaches us; embrace what is comfortable to you now, avoid sacrifices and sufferings. If you are sleepy, even if you have to attend your lamps, sleep! Bahala na mamaya. Surely, the present is important in as much as it is a gift. But our present dictates our future. If we see ourselves to be in this present world alone, then we have no future in heaven. If we see the material riches as the sole priority of our life, we will never enjoy heavenly vision. If throughout our life we stored oil of earthly treasures, we will have nothing to fuel our spiritual lamps. The wisdom of the world is only good for this world alone but not to the next. The oil of earthy preoccupations we have busy ourselves with are rendered useless in the gates of heaven. The world offers oil of empty joys and temporal benefit. When we thought we are gathering oils that will last until the judgment day, we will be surprised that our vessels are empty of the oil that we needed.

Paul preached about the wisdom of God (1 Cor 1:17-25). What is the wisdom of God? Where can we find it? The wisdom of God is CHRIST CRUCIFIED.  The wisdom of God is manifested through the cross. Though painful, Christ endured being nailed on the cross, in the name of God’s will; in the name of God’s love for man; that man may have life in God. The wisdom of God teaches us that even in the midst of suffering and death, there is God’s comforting presence, there is meaning, there is the joy. Joy in suffering? Love in death? Sound foolish for the wisdom of the world. But the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom.

Through the wisdom of God showed us by Christ on the cross, we can surely procure the oil of good works. It is the oil of good works that ought to fuel our lamps, our life, as Christians to shine not only in the gates of heaven where we shall meet Christ but in the present. Our lamps fueled by our good works ought to shine in the here and the now that we may guide others to the Bridegroom, through the light of good works we illumine. 

The wisdom of God teaches us to continue burning; even if it entails that our material riches and comforts will be consumed, that even our very self will be consumed by the demands of loving others. As the wick of the lamp is consumed, it fulfills its purpose; it shed light in the darkness. As Christ died on the cross, he was able to pour life to us. As we lose the comforts that the wisdom of this world points to us, we gain the wisdom of God; we learn patience and forgiveness as we give up our egotistic tendencies. As we are hurt in giving, we learn the great value of our love. Only through this wisdom, we can prepare whatever we may need, whatever is necessary for our life: the oil of good works.

#RealTalk. Let us admit it. Sometimes in our life, we also fall drowsy in our faith. When an occasion demands honesty, sometimes we are tempted to lie or do nothing that the truth may be revealed. When a situation calls for fervor in our faith, we grow lukewarm if not cold and insensitive. We rather keep ourselves within the confines of our comfort zones, never to endanger our reputations, never to attend to the lamps of faith entrusted to us in our baptism, lamps we ought to keep burning. We live by the wisdom of the world.

The good news for us is that the doors are not yet shut. We still have the opportunity to gather oils of good works and store them in our vessel we call life. Huwag na mamaya. Huwag na tutulog-tulog. Gather oil now, not later, for later might not come. Nasa huli ang pagsisi. We might end up wailing and grinding our teeth outside the gates of heaven, in darkness. 

STEPPING OUT FROM THE SHADES OF FIGS

Once we had a dog in our convent who found joy in chewing or destroying things. He would chew slippers of priests, tear upholsteries of couches, and know many ways to damage precious stuff. When we are away, he is in a search-and-destroy mission. When brothers confront him, he would bow and turn away his head from the brother scolding him. Often, he would run away and go in hiding to evade the sermon he is about to receive. He knew he sinned, but would not admit it, and would even deny it, and run away from the responsibility his sins incurred. Dogs reaction on the offenses they make is not far from our reaction on the sins we committed. Sin brings forth shame as it is something shameful. Remember how Adam and Eve hid from God in the garden of Eden?

In the gospel (Jn1:45-51), Nathaniel was under a fig tree. St. Augustine comments on the meaning of the fig tree: We read of one fig tree which was cursed because it had only leaves and no fruit. Again, at the creation, Adam and Eve, after sinning, made themselves aprons of fig leaves. Figleaves then signify sins; and Nathanael, when he was under the fig tree, was under the shadow of death. 

Under the fig tree, there was doubt and hesitation in Nathaniel. Sin hinders him from going to the Lord. So it is with our sinfulness. Sin puts us under the shade of darkness. Its darkness disables us to see ourselves as Christ sees us. Sin distance us from Christ; from the light. Sin fails us to realize our real worth. Under the shade of sin, we doubt whether God will forgive us. We question the immensity of God’s mercy for us. Sadly, sometimes, we enjoy being in darkness, thinking this is the best situation we can be. And we continue sinning in darkness. Notice, most sins are committing in darkness, in isolation, away from the presence of others who may admonish us in the first instance we attempt to sin. So, we sin, thinking no one sees us, but Christ says; I see you under the fig tree.

The words of Philip to Nathaniel can be the words of God to us too: Come and See. We can only see in the presence of light. Without light in our eyes, we cannot see. Without light around us, we cannot see. There is no light for a blind. Thus, being in the light is surely far better than in darkness replete with deceptions and make-beliefs. We can only truly see ourselves in the presence of the Light. In the light, out of the shade of sin, we can be true to ourselves; we can see ourselves without pretensions, devoid of fear and shame. We can be the way Christ sees us. More than becoming the object of our sight, God wants us to see Him, eye to eye, that we may be able to see our real worth through our reflection in the eyes of God. As we approach Jesus, we come to know our true value, as men and women of grace more than sin; as persons forgiven by God and beloved by God. This is our worth and value. This is how God sees us. 

Before we SEE, we have to step out of the shade of sin that keeps us in darkness. We have first to answer God’s invitation, COME, come into the light, come into God’s presence. And we shall see.

Can you SEE? If not, you might need to step out from the darkness and into the Light!

STANDING ON THE RIGHT PLACE

God gives us different responsibilities that rightly correspond to our capacities. He does not give us a burden that we cannot handle (1 Cor 10:13). He has a tailored fit plan for each of us.   There are no generic formulas only special treatments. Every person is special, unique, unremittable, for God has a unique plan for each of us; married teacher, consecrated lay, a nurse who later became a nun, a chemist who found God in the chemicals he mixed, and billion other unique stories. Though many, all these are united to His overall plan of salvation for man. In these responsibilities God entrusts to us, He demands fidelity and commitment. Christ speaks of fidelity in commitments we make; fidelity in marriage (Mt 19:3-12); fidelity in God who cares for us (Ezekiel 16:59-63).

In all that we do, we ought to plant our feet and stand firm, but be sure you are standing in the right place (A. Lincoln). Thus, before committing oneself to a relationship or a responsibility, think about it a hundred times. Think, assess if you can accept and fulfill its demands, feel whether it is for you.  

Why do we betray God or the persons to whom we have committed ourselves? Why would a spouse look for another partner? Why would a priest leave the active ministry? Why would parents give up on their children? Sometimes, we fail to dedicate our whole self on the things we do, on the life we live, because in the first place it is not for us. We embrace something that is not meant for us, something God never intended for us. You entered medical school because it is what your parents wanted, but your heart beats for architecture. You never wanted to have a tattoo, but since everyone in your circle has, better have one. You keep on insisting to run the family business, but you never had any inclination in accounting. You have always been good at dancing but you keep on singing just so you can compete with your siblings. As we embrace things which are not meant for us, we experience difficulty, sadness, dissatisfaction. We may achievements from time to time, but there is a part of us that is unsatisfied. And we try to fill that part with something else; with incongruous things in the life we have embraced. Without us knowing we lose track of the life we have embraced, and of the life, we ought to embrace. We become unfaithful. We break our vows. All these because, in the first instance we fail to discern what is meant for us, what is God’s plan for us.     

When we realize what life God is calling us into, we experience joy, though it may demand sacrifices. The responsibilities in our vocations that God gives become more than chores to be fulfilled but means towards perfection, holiness, a joy in the Lord. Though how burdensome other people may see our responsibilities, there is an inner force that motivates us to continue. There is a meaningful purpose that inspires us.  

Should you grow weary in bearing the responsibilities in your life, pray that you may remain faithful! Beg the good Lord to give you strength to carry on, to remain enthusiastic (be full of God).

St. Hyacinth is a Polish Dominican priest. In the midst of burning church, Hyacinth was able to carry the Blessed Sacrament on one arm and a heavy alabaster image of Our Lady. Hesitant to carry the heavy image, as he admitted that he could not carry it by himself, he heard a voice saying “My Son will lighten the burden.” And so, he was able to carry the heavy image and brought safely out of the burning church. The life of St. Hyacinth teaches us that there is no burden too heavy for us to carry if and only we admit our weakness and humble enough to ask for help. As God’s entrusts us with various responsibilities, He never meant we shall go solo. He establishes a Church, a community, a family who would strength each other as they live the life God has given to them. We can do things joyfully with the help of others, especially of God. Our community helps us to lighten each other’s responsibilities.  

May we remain faithful and committed in the life God has given to us. May we plant our feet and stand firm on the right place God appointed to us.