The spiritual life

The spiritual life is a gift for the asking but it does not come without effort, without nourishing it, without consciously seeking the things that are above. But for those who do seek, life with God begins here and now.

(Sr. Joan Chittister OSB)

Lent lengthens our horizon

Dear brothers and sisters, Lent lengthens our horizon, it orients us to eternal life. On this earth we are on pilgrimage., "for here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city which is to come," says the Letter to the Hebrews (Hebres 13:14). Lent makes us understand the relativity of the goods of this earth and thus makes us capable of the necessary self-denials, free to do good. Let us open the earth to the light of heaven, to the presence of God in our midst. Amen.

(Benedict XVI)

Jesus is tempted

Tomorrow's Gospel is the Lucan version of the Temptations of Christ (Luke 3:21-22). Here is a good commentary of Fr. Thomas Rosica, CSB on the text:

The Holy Spirit did not lead Jesus into temptation. The Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness. The evil one would utilize the moment of Jesus' physical weakness and exhaustion in the desert to tempt him. Satan would consider this "an opportune time," and he would look for other "seasons" as well. The devil did the tempting, not the Holy Spirit!
It was after Jesus endured the desert wilderness that he withstood temptation. Alone and defenseless against the wind and the weather, exposed to both day and night, and even exposed to the seeming absence of God, this experience of desert wilderness is part of human growth and maturity.
In the first temptation in the desert, Jesus responds to the evil one, not by denying human dependence on sustenance, but rather by putting human life and the human journey in perspective. Those who follow Jesus cannot become dependent on the things of this world. When we are so dependent on material things, and not on God, we give in to temptation and sin.
The second temptation deals with the adoration of the devil rather than God. Jesus once again reminds the evil one that God is in control. This is so important for us to hear and believe, especially when our own temptations seem to overpower us, when everything around us might indicate shadows, darkness and evil. It is God who is ultimately in charge of our destiny.
In the third temptation, the devil asks for a revelation or manifestation of God's love in favor of Jesus. Jesus answers the evil one by saying that he doesn't have to prove that God loves him.
Far from creating a great divide between Jesus Christ and ourselves, our own trials and weaknesses have become the privileged place of our encounter with him, and not only with him, but with God himself, thanks to this man of the cross. Jesus has been tested in all respects like us - he knows all of our difficulties; he is a tried man; he knows our condition from the inside and from the outside - by this did he acquire a profound capacity for compassion. For one must have suffered in order to truly feel for others. From Jesus we learn that God is present and sustaining us in the midst of test, temptation and yes, even sinfulness.
As Christians, we are in a constant fight with the desires born of our sinful natures. We are unable to resist temptation without God's grace. We are called to trust the Lord (not ourselves) for strength to resist temptation before it becomes sin. It is not the temptation itself that leads us to sin, but the lack of resistance and trust in the Lord for deliverance.

(To read the whole comment go to zenit.org)

Carrying the cross

This is an old video I've made. The song is entitled "We carry the saving cross" composed by Fr. Manoling Francisco SJ for World Youth Day 1995 in Manila.

God's greater scheme

God has only one plan for each person: our true happiness.
Then we weave our own lives towards that one plan. God's plan is so full of hope and optimism, that there is room for everything, mistakes and bloopers included.
I think that at the end of my life I will be surprised to see a marvellous tapestry. How, despite my many wrong moves, everything has led me to true joy.

"God works with those who love him ... and turns everything to their good." (Romans 8:28)

The impossible dream

It's election season again in the Philippines. With the many candidates presenting themselves full blast with the use of tri-media, and don't forget the campaign sorties even in far-flung villages, we are presented with an array of candidates, so many that it makes my head ache just to think of the ballots I have to fill up.
What is my point? It is hard to make a choice. We have grown more and more disillusioned with the kind of politicians we have, it seems like the Philippines is going from bad to worse. And so we blame the woes of our country to these people, but they would not have been there in the first place if we haven't placed them where they are. Oh well, of course, there are exceptions like for those who are where they are because of their astuteness. But then again maybe we are also responsible for letting them dupe us, and dupe us again and again for a long time.
Anyway, since I am not very young anymore and my experience in life has made me more sober (I hope), I'd like to just throw out there my own reflections. Let us turn away from our tendency to make decisions based only on practicality or convenience. Let us make choices based on what is GOOD. This coming elections is a struggle between Good and Evil, as my favorite Conrado de Quiros loves to say.
We would do well to remember these words of Thomas More, executed by the king because of his unwillingness to compromise his principles:
"When a man deserts his private conscience for the sake of public duty, he betrays himself and leads his country by a short road into chaos."
One practical and solid criterion for this coming elections? Don't vote for people who have a history of compromise. They don't have principles. Their interest is only for themselves.
Freedom has a price to pay, that is, holding fast to our principles. We may not see the fullness of freedom for our motherland in our lifetime, but we are consoled that we have planted the seed. We have left behind for our future generations something for which they will forever be thankful for.

How to live

Don't be afraid of misfortune and do not yearn after happiness. It is, after all, all the same. The bitter doesn't last forever, and the sweet never fills the cup to overflowing. It is enough if you don't freeze in the cold and if hunger and thirst don't claw at your sides. If your back isn't broken, if your feet can walk, if both arms work, if both eyes can see, and if both ears can hear, then whom should you envy? And why? ... Rub your eyes and purify your heart and prize above all else in the world those who love you and wish you well.

(Alexander Solzhenitsyn, The Prison Chronicle)

Lent is a call to conversion

Scarred people are beautiful

These words just came to my mind today. I remember that I read it during a retreat when I was in college.
With our culture's fascination for perfection, corrective/aesthetic surgery and the likes, there is no room whatsoever for scars. Scars are like badges of one's imperfections, mistakes, follies and weaknesses, and we never go around parading them, do we? Instead, we try, as much as we can, to hide them or to pretend that they do not exist.
If this is so with physical scars, how much more it is with emotional scars, those scars that nobody sees, yet they are so real that they could make or break a life.
Well, I have a deep respect for scarred people, especially those who carry deep scars that nobody sees. They have within them a resilience made possible by their contact, their deep contact with suffering. And they are wiser, too, as it is only in suffering that we somehow touch the mystery of life.
Of course not all scarred people manage to discover this resilience and wisdom. But they are much much ahead of us in terms of acquiring these evasive qualities, for they are acquired only through suffering.

"through his bruises you have been healed" (1 Peter 2:24)

I dreamed a dream

I've always loved this song. Though the song ends in a very sad note, it is very realistic. But I hope that I won't ever get tired of dreaming. But first, I've got to sleep in order to dream, no?

Life is not fair

The weather and the whole view outside my window bring me into a nostalgic mood. Why is life not fair? I've always thought that if I am good, people will also be good to me. If I am kind, I will also be treated kindly.
But I've learned that life does not always give me what I think is my due. It's like a crude awakening for me.
Then what can I do so that I will be treated fairly and live in peace with people and with the world?
Wrong question. I cannot do anything because it is beyond my powers to decide how others or life itself would treat me.
So how can I, at least, have a certain measure of peace? I know it isn't easy, but I've got to discover joy that is within me, which no person or circumstance can rob me of. As I said, it is not easy, but I have had moments when despite the abnormality of everything around me, I still survive. I do not say that I am smiling or that I am happy or my former cheerful self. But I am still breathing and surviving, so I guess I must have something within me.
Going around begging people to like me, or changing myself just so I would be accepted is a sure recipe for disaster and lack of self-esteem. People could be cruel, I've learned it the hard way; though this doesn't mean that I've given up on people.
The call is to go deeper and to drink from the fountain of living water, so that what I offer to people is not my needy self wanting to be satisfied, but an integrated person, or at least someone who is on a journey to becoming one, ready to offer and receive true love.

Serenity prayer

Thorn in the flesh

For several years I have struggled with a weakness. I remember that my prayers were always to ask God to cure me of this weakness as I seemed powerless, despite my best intentions and efforts. That magical cure never happened. But it is no longer a struggle for me. I mean, I didn't even realize when it was that it happened. I just know that it is no longer an issue. It doesn't even make me so preoccupied as before.

I have entered another phase in my life and it was provoked by a difficult experience. I've struggled for several months, moving from denial to self-accusation. Somehow I have managed to survive but I can still feel its aftereffects. I am tempted again to ask God to take away the pain, maybe to give me amnesia so that it wouldn't torture me anymore.

Then I look back to my past experience, and I am sure that this too will pass, that one day I am going to get back my smile. The thorn in the flesh is not a curse but a blessing. It reminds me of my creatureliness, and of the goodness of God.

Sharing the good news

Often it is easier for us to share gossip and bad news, but we aren't too free to share our realizations, the deep things we keep in our hearts. Maybe we are just afraid to bare our souls and be rejected.


I have come to the realization that I need to share with people because I have a good news to share. I thought it would sound boastful if I talk about God and how I see His hand working in me, and how I have realized that the most important thing in life is to have this personal relationship with Him, since this is the hinge that ties our whole life together.

Love is for the brave

Love is not just a sweet word. It is a choice of the courageous because it demands an asceticism that starts from the awareness that even my most beautiful and good word or gesture may not be at all motivated by pure love but by self-seeking.
Each day I am called to this journey of purification, to love even when I encounter indifference and rejection. It is actually the only way to purification. "If we love just those who love us, how can we be true children of God who makes the sun shine both on the good and the bad?" It is not easy and I can always find reasons to throw in the towel.
Paul's Hymn to love inspires me not to give up. I can always be on a journey to true love.
We never arrive if our measure is the love of Christ:
Love is always patient and kind; love is never jealous; love is not boastful or conceited, it is never rude and never seeks its own advantage, it does not take offence or store up grievances. Love does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but finds its joy in the truth. It is always ready to make allowances, to trust, to hope and to endure whatever comes. Love does not come to an end.
But there is no need to lose hope. Our experience of God's pure love that accepts us, warts and all, will help us in this difficult journey towards true love. It is the only journey worth staking our whole life in.