When I was a boy, I stumbled upon a novena of Our Lady of the Rosary of Manaoag. I tried to pray it. One day, my elder brother saw me praying. He told me to stop pretending to be holy, for if I couldn’t even fulfill simple chores like washing the dishes, how could I attain holiness which demands a lot of good deeds?
As Christians, we desire to follow Jesus and his commandments. In doing so we encounter a lot of discouraging things and persons in our life that may stop us from pursuing our calling as Christians. These disappointments may come from other persons, and they may also come from us; through our failures and sins that dishearten us and move us to question: “Kaya ko ba (Can I make it)? They may lead us to make excuses and look for things that may invalidate our goals in our life as Christians: Di ko naman kaya ito (I cannot achieve this difficult task).
Difficult truths and commandments that demand a lot from us may not be accepted with a receiving heart, but these are the things we have to receive and accept no matter how hard they may be, for their fulfillment entails our real contentment and happiness in life. Hostility may welcome our desire to speak and live out our faith, but it should not dampen our spirits in proceeding to our mission.
One of our mission as Christians is to speak about the truths God teaches us; truths that may be inconvenient for many; truths about desiring to do what is good more than what is evil, to speak against lasciviousness, to speak the truth even if people around may say: "Look who's talking?!? Doctor, heal yourself." Our personal qualities should not invalidate the veracity and truthfulness of our message, though a good refutation may indeed affect the message we speak about. Oneness of our words and actions makes our message clearer to those who receive it, as our life demonstrate our message.
We might be intimidated and discouraged by people in living out the faith and mission bestowed upon us as Christians, but God encourages us to continue to speak out His truth (Jeremiah 1:4-5, 17-19). He is with us. He strengthens us. Our sins and faults may discourage us (this is how Satan tempts us to abandon our mission), but we continue nevertheless, and not be affected by these discouraging results. Take courage! Stand firm in the truth of Christ's message.
In our proclamation and living out of God's truth, let love be the principle of our life. For what use would our good deeds be if they lack love (reducing them merely to doing what is required of us)? Instead of hating those who discourage us, love them, and prove them the contrary, for by loving those who hate us, we realize the message of God to man. Love is our sole motivation why we continue to bear the hard labor of being a faithful spouse, a loyal friend, a kind neighbor, etc. Without love, we cannot continue our pursuit to become God's children. Love propels us to continue in our mission despite discouraging results, and would lead us to the attainment of our goal, for love is patient and never fails. It triumphs over anger and offenses that may hinder us from preaching what we ought to preach. Our words may cease in time, but not the love we have for one another. Love lasts until the end.
We are to continue prophesying even when rejected, for God is with us. Let our proclamation be governed by love, for love is the very core of Christ's message.
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