ON DECISION MAKING: HUWAG LUTONG MACAU

We make decisions every day; on what shall we do, on what shall we eat; where and how shall we go to places we wanted to go, etc. And occasionally we make those life-changing decisions that would be the general direction of our life. We consider these decisions as good as far as we understand their consequences (with our limited knowledge, though). In our life plan, have we considered the plan of God for us? 

As an upright man, St. Joseph planned to divorce Mary quietly after knowing she was with a child even before they lived together. His plan is good in respect to the laws of their society that does not tolerate unfaithfulness to one’s spouse. As Joseph made up his mind, he rested; he slept. In his slumber, an angel of the Lord revealed the divine plan behind the obscure things happening in his would be wife. As he woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him. He changed his good plan, in accord with God’s better plan.

Life decisions are made not just in a flick of a finger. They are thought over a thousand time. St. Joseph teaches us that it is not enough we think them over. We have to pray over our decisions. After deciding, and before resting, (I would like to believe) St. Joseph prayed (being a righteous man). He prayed that God may guide him in his decision to divorce Mary. Joseph prayed and rested confronted by a life-changing decision. This was his way of giving God the ample space in which He can communicate His plan for us. In our fast-phased world, that demands decisions to be immediately made, can God still find a space and time through which He can convey His desire for us?

Haste makes waste. Food prepared instantly is lutong Macau. A beef boiled for days brings out the flavor that few hours of cooking would not much. Ample time dedicating in decision making allows as to see different angles that have to be considered in the next steps we are to make. Praying and resting permit our decisions to mature by taking into account all possibilities, especially God’s take in the decisions we make.

In the decision we make, do not haste.

Pray and rest.

Consider God’s plan

less our decision would be lutong Macau.

    

BEFORE YOU DECIDE

And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, he called to him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles.

Every day, we face a lot of situations that demand decisions from us: Am I going to wake up early? Am I going to the Lauds and attend the Mass? Am I going to the school? Am I to ask forgiveness from a friend? Am I going to be faithful to my commitment? Some situations need decisions that require a little effort from us. Some decisions, however, have to be thought thousand times before we make such them. 

 

 

 In the Gospel (Luke 6:12-16), Christ teaches us how to make decisions in life. Being the Son of God, decisions come instantaneously to Him. He does not need any deliberation and discussion. For our sake, however, He leads us by His own example to the right process of decision making. After preaching the Word of God, and healing sick people, Christ perhaps realized the need to name persons who can help Him in spreading the good news. He thought of choosing and sending persons to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything Christ have commanded them (Mt. 28:16-20). Before He chose apostles among His disciples, before he made a decision (very important), there is something Christ did. He prayed! 

Christ prayed before making a decision. In this way, according to St. Cyril, He teaches us to be instant in prayer to God, going apart by ourselves, and in secret, no one seeing us; putting aside also our worldly cares, that the mind may be raised up to the height of divine contemplation and this we have marked in the fact, act, that Christ went into a mountain apart to pray. 

Solitude and silence are two prerequisites of prayer and decision-making. Every turning point in our life requires from us decisions. Every decisions we make ought to be thought over a thousand time, more so prayed over a million times. Only in the atmosphere of solitude and silence we can be able to grasp rightful decision we have to make. Only in the atmosphere of solitude and silence we can be able to grasp the will of Father for us; the solitude and silence of the stable in Bethlehem, the solitude and silence in the garden of Gethsemane, the solitude and silence at the cross of Golgotha, the solitude and silence of an empty tomb. Decisions can be rightfully made only in the solitude and silence of our hearts before the Lord, placing Christ and the will of the Father at the very center of our lives.

Pray in solitude and in silence, before you DECIDE!