WALANG WALA

Once when I was a boy, I was asked by my mother to cook rice. She asked me if I knew how to do it. Eager to impress her, I answered in affirmative. After all, I had been watching her do it many times. Although at the back of my mind, I did not know how much water should I place in the pot together with the rice grains. And so I washed the grains and estimated the amount of water that I should place with it. I placed the pot on the stove and begun to boil the rice. After a couple of minutes of boiling, the rice was cooked. However, there seemed to be excess water. I kept boiling the rice, praying that the excess water would evaporate soon. The rice seemed to be burnt but still, there was water in it. Smelling the burning rice, my mother went to the kitchen and checked the pot. She put off the fire and told me I had placed too much water. We ended up sipping rice broth (Arroz Caldo) that lunch. "Ang yabang kasi," one of my siblings retorted. Such an incident could have been averted if only I admitted my ignorance in cooking rice; if only I was humble. In life, it takes humility to do great things, even just boiling rice. 

In the gospel (Lk 18:9-14), a Pharisee and a tax collector prayed before the Lord. They presented themselves before the Lord. One was humble, and the other was proud (of himself). But what should be our attitude in God’s presence? It should be humility and never pride. And if anyone should boast of himself, let him boast of the Lord (1 Corinthians 1:31), and would find himself humbled by God's grandeur.

Before the Lord, we are nobody compared to His majesty. Humility is being honest and truthful on who we are in reference to God's greatness. That truthfulness leads us to thankfulness. For in our emptiness, God finds a space to fill in whatever is lacking; God supplies our deficiency. Truthfulness about our inability to do anything good without God's assistance; apart from His grace; makes us realize the necessity of dependence on the mightiness of God. Humility is a dependency on God, initiated by our truthfulness about ourselves, sustained by our gratitude towards God's generosity. Humble persons are grateful persons, as gratitude requires the admission of one's dependence on others. As we admit our poverty (pagiging walang-wala) before the Lord, He listens to us (cf. Sir 35:12-14). The Lord hears the cry of the poor. As we present our nothingness to the Lord, He is made present in our life. He enables us to do wondrous things that are rather impossible for us to do by our strength. Pinupuno tayo ng Diyos. Empty hands can be filled with lots of blessings. 

Like the Pharisee in the gospel (cf. Lk 18:9-14), not everyone can be humble before the Lord. Others are too proud of themselves (mayabang). Proud people (in a negative sense) are called mahangin in Filipino. When they are around, like air and wind you cannot miss their presence. They make sure their presence is felt. They are airy and puffy persons. When one thinks of them as great because of their lofty depictions of themselves, one would realize that what they were projecting are simply lies and empty air. Their inflated egos are too absorbed by the grandiosity of their deeds; “ang galing galing ko,” they tell themselves. They would even brag about themselves even to the extent of maligning others: "O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity, greedy, dishonest, adulterous, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income." Their own doing deceives them, as they were too convinced of their righteousness.

Compared to God, we are nothing. All that we have comes from the Lord. Proud persons face an unfortunate fate. In as much as God wants to bless everyone, He could not do so to a proud person for no space is given for the grace of God in his life; wala nang lugar para sa Diyos at sa kanyang grasya. A proud person is simply bloated with his make-beliefs and fantasies; puro hangin lang. 

St. Paul, in his second letter to Timothy (2 Tm 4:6-8, 16-18), narrates his life's journey. “I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.” He had gone to several missions and built communities even among Gentiles. He had increased the faith of the early Christians through his letters. All these he was able to do not because of his abilities. He admits: "The Lord stood by me and gave me strength... And I was rescued from the lion's mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil threat and will bring me safe to his heavenly kingdom." Such dependence on God enabled St. Paul to do wondrous things that are truly worthy of the crown of righteousness from the Lord. With St. Paul's humility before the Lord, the Lord exalts him. 

Walang masama sa pag-amin ng ating kakulangan sa harap ng Diyos at ng mga tao. Ito ang kababaang loob na simula ng pag-asa sa Diyos, at ng pagpapasalamat natin sa Kanyang kabutihan sa atin; kabutihang pupuno sa ating kakulangan.