By: Fr. Roy Cimagala
WE have to see to it that amid all the hustle and bustle of our life today, we do not detach ourselves from Christ who in the end is the pattern of our humanity and the savior of our damaged humanity. Given today’s rapid developments, we should see to it that we do not get lost and even confused, that we keep a clear vision of the real purpose of life, that we have a strong sense of direction.
We have to realize that to be with Christ is the only thing necessary in life. All the other things in our life simply play a supporting role. They can be the material or the occasion to give glory to God, to thank and praise him, to expiate for our sins and those of everybody else, and to ask for some favor from him.
We have to learn to relate everything to him, the good things as well as the bad, the successes and the defeats, etc. Whatever situation we find ourselves in, let us learn how to go through it with Christ, and never just by ourselves. Yes, everything in our life can and should be related to God.
To be sure, being with Christ always does not stifle our humanity. On the contrary, it would enrich our humanity and would lead it to its ultimate perfection, purifying it and elevating it to the supernatural order meant for us, since we are supposed to be the image and likeness of God, and children of his. Our life is not just natural human life. We are meant to have a supernatural life with God.
Given our tendency to forget this necessity or to take it for granted or to be easily carried away by the excitement of our daily human drama, we really would need to develop the proper skills to be with Christ always.
This can mean that we learn how to pray, how to live in God’s presence always, how to see him in everyone and in everything. We have to learn how to feel always drawn to him both in good times and in bad.
This definitely will require some training, but the effort for it would be all worthwhile. In the beginning, we have to go through some basic and awkward exercises, like learning some vocal prayers, trying to savor the meaning behind their words, knowing and appreciating the importance of some acts of piety and sacrifice.
We have to know more about Christ by reading and meditating on the gospel and other relevant materials like the catechism. We have to internalize the doctrine of our faith by letting it affect not only our head but also our heart and our hands. The faith has to be translated into life itself, and not just kept in the level of theory and principle.
It would be good if we know how to sanctify our work by always offering whatever we are doing, especially the little, ordinary daily work we do, to God. We have to learn how not to be swallowed up by them in the sense that they detach us from God rather than lead us to him. Yes, even as we immerse ourselves in them, let us also know how to be properly detached from them so as not to be detached from God.
The sense of direction and the skill of maintaining the proper continuity during the day amid different and disparate tasks and activities should also be developed. Indeed, some self-discipline is needed here since we tend to get lost along the way and would just end up reacting in a superficial way to things on hand at a given moment. We often lose the over-all picture of things.
It’s indeed good that we develop what may be called as a “plan of life” consisting of different acts of piety during the day, weeks, months and years so that we can manage to be with Christ amid the changing circumstances and situations.
Email: roycimagala@gmail.com
