By Fr. Roy Cimagala
WHEN we truly have God’s love in our heart, no evil, no sin, no matter how grave, ugly and tempting, can scandalize us. With God’s love, we can manage to bear all this without compromising our sense of what is right and wrong. With God’s love, we somehow would become invincible even to the strongest temptations. In a sense, we would become scandal-proof.
Ours would simply be to care for everyone. To the weak, we would try to strengthen them. To those in error, we can give some suggestions and even corrections, but always in charity. To those who are astray and lost, we would look for them and bring them back to the right path. Just like what Christ did. And he wants us to be like him—the salt and light of the world, the good shepherd, the sacrificial lamb, etc.
We would know if we have God’s love in our heart if our love for others, especially those who do us harm and who commit all kinds of offenses and sin anywhere and everywhere, can truly reflect how St. Paul described love should be: that it can bear all things, can believe all things, can hope all things, can endure all things. (cfr. 1 Cor 13,7)
And, to be sure, that love would not simply be contented with bearing all things, with being patient and tolerant with whatever evil would come our way. It’s a love that would do whatever is necessary, including the possibility of death and martyrdom, if only to save souls. It’s a love that is purely gratuitous, not expecting any reward or reciprocation. It is the ‘agape’ type of love, not just the ‘eros’ nor the ‘filia’ types.
We have to develop this love. In this, we should not think that it is impossible, since God himself is all too willing to give it to us as a gift. But, certainly, we have to do our part. We have to always obey the will of God, which is what loving is all about. And for this, what we have to do is nothing less than identifying ourselves vitally with the living Christ.
We have to assume the mind of Christ, and follow his ways, which are those of kindness, patience, compassion, mercy even as he persistently preached about what is good and evil.
We have to see to it that the more knowledgeable we are about Christian faith and morals, the more humble we should become, the more willing we are to understand others, especially those who are in error. This was how Christ was and continues to be. Otherwise, we would be heading along the path of self-righteousness. And sad to say, it seems that many are treading on this path.
It’s obvious therefore that we have to constantly meditate on the life and example of Christ. In any situation we can find ourselves in, we should always ask ourselves: how would Christ think or react or behave in this situation? Such questioning, plus our constant meditation on Christ’s life and example and our study of our Christian doctrine, would definitely give us some ideas.
Let’s hope that we can manage to develop the instinct of referring everything that happens in our life to Christ, who continues to be alive and active in intervening in our lives. He simply is not just a historical figure nor an archetype of a certain ideology. We have to train ourselves to be always aware of his presence and of his action on us.
When we have God’s love as revealed, taught and lived by Christ, we would know how to handle any situation in our life. We would have the life that is ideal for us as a child of God, created in his image and likeness!
Email: roycimagala@gmail.com
