By Fr. Roy Cimagala
WE have to be wary of this danger and do everything we can to avoid falling into it. We cannot deny that we are all prone to be unfaithful to whatever commitment we have with God and with others.
Our first parents, for example, started this trend. And the succeeding generations were hardly any different. In the readings of Thursday of the 4th Week of Lent, we are somehow reminded of this danger when God showed great disappointment at the Israelites who, despite plucking them out of slavery from the Egyptians, started to worship another god, a molten calf, of all things. (cfr. Ex 32,7-14)
God threatened to inflict destruction on the people until he was appeased by the smart reasoning of Moses. In the gospel of the day (cfr. Jn 5,31-47), Christ lamented over the unbelief of the Jewish people despite the great teachings and the miracles that he performed.
He appealed to them to believe the words of Moses, because as he said, “If you believed Moses, you would perhaps believe me also; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”
We really cannot overemphasize the need to always renew and strengthen our fidelity and sense of commitment to God and to others, given our weakened human condition that is marked by fickleness, forgetfulness, the tendency to take things, especially the serious matters, for granted, etc.
In this regard, it’s important that we be always moved and driven by a love that is anchored and focused on God first and then on others. For this to take place, we should make an effort to always acknowledge all the good things God has given us—from our life itself to the many talents, gifts, fortune, privileges, favors, etc. we enjoy in life. Only in this way can we feel urged to be thankful, faithful and to enter into the natural dynamic of love where love is always repaid by love.
We have to be wary of our tendency to be swallowed up by the many powerful and attractive distractions we have nowadays, leading us along the ways of self-absorption, self-centeredness and self-indulgence.
As a matter of fact, we should declare an unrelenting war against our self-indulgence which has become a very formidable problem we all have. Yes, this has always been a problem to us, but these days it is much more so. We really would need to be properly trained to tackle this challenge.
With the many new wonderful things that can instantly give us convenience, comfort, pleasure and satisfaction, many of us are trapped into the very sticky web of obsessions, addictions and the many other forms of self-indulgence that feed on our weaknesses, like lust, pride, conceit, gluttony, unhinged curiosities, envy, etc., etc.
We should never forget that what we enjoy in life should be always related to God. Otherwise, we would set ourselves in a position of danger. We should always feel thankful to God. Even in our moments of difficulties and human miseries, we still have reason to be thankful because God continues to be with us and to help us cope with them.
Indeed, our problems, difficulties and miseries should prod even more to go to God. Yes, we can express our pains to him, even complain to him, but we should never sacrifice our faith and trust in him, knowing that God takes care of everything, especially those things that we ourselves cannot take care anymore due to our limitations.
Email: roycimagala@gmail.com
