Goodness

I am writing this from some fancy hotel outside my own country, surrounded by some of the people closest to my heart and most involved in my journey.

I had some reluctance in making this trip.  With what my country has suffered and is going through, with the workload getting more intense as the year ends, with urgent concerns coming up instead of winding down, pursuing this trip seemed unreasonable.

But I decided to make it.  After a full day of celebrating the Solemnity of Christ the King and the Closing of the Year of Faith at the event of the Catholic Social Media Summit version 2.0 and in my parish, among the committed youth in our youth ministry for a creative formation session, I packed my things and readied myself to make this trip with three of my close friends.  Even before leaving the country, goodness and beauty already touched me: The wonder of being reunited in a man, apparently in his 60's, an OFW coming home to Cagayan de Oro, who asked for help in contacting his family who will welcome him at the airport, since his phone battery lost power.  The joy of humor and a light heart in an airline staff who received our baggage and engaged us with his sense of humor, in which we willingly complied.  The satisfaction derived from giving without counting the cost in brief encounters with airport personnel who seemed not in the mood to be personable very early in the morning, who still received my smile.  And upon landing, the welcome of my niece and her fiancee, the immediate connection with a new acquaintance who went out of his way to welcome us, the spontaneous decision to adjust our plans for the day for something which turned out to be better... All these afforded me a glimpse of joy that is simple, of goodness that is beyond the external, and of beauty that calls forth gratefulness.

And at the end of this day, at prayer with my friends, I rediscovered God as deliberate in His desire for me to experience Him, His beauty and goodness.  He doesn't will me to suffer, to be destitute, because He is pure, full goodness; however, though suffering be a fact of earthly life, He gives me countless opportunities to see Him at work, in those moments, places and people who open me to the experience of His goodness, and to allow Him to work in me by bringing His goodness into those moments, places and people who thirst for it.

So even if I am called to deny myself, take up my cross and follow not myself but Him, this path leads me to meaning and magnificence because it is along the path of Him who is truth, goodness and beauty.

Pananagutan

At Mass earlier this evening, the presider, after leading the post-communion prayer, announced a second collection for the Yolanda victims.  As the collectors went to the assembly, the introduction to the song "Pananagutan" was played...

Walang sinuman ang nabubuhay para sa sarili lamang.
Walang sinuman ang namamatay para sa sarili lamang.

Tayong lahat ay may pananagutan sa isa't-isa.
Tayong lahat ay tinipon ng Diyos na kapiling Niya.

Nangilid luha ko.  Nagbigay ako, siyempre.  At ang pagdalo at pag-aalay ko ng Misa, bahagi ng pakikilahok ko sa "Novena of Prayer and Charity" kasama ng pagtitipon ng mga gamit para sa mga nasalanta.

Ikaw, paano mo isinasabuhay ang "pananagutan" sa panahong ito?

Choice

Were the ones who perished in these recent calamities, or in any calamity for that matter, less loved by God?

I have just read, and been blessed by, an article from Erwin Tulfo (whose name, by the way, a brother of mine thought, should have been my name too: those who know my brothers know what this means). And I saw in one of the comments an opinion that maybe Erwin's prayer was stronger than the prayers of those who died, that maybe he was wearing the right scapular.

It seems so unfortunate that someone will choose to see it that way. Here is a fellow human being, grateful to be alive because of his faith, and another fellow human being who sarcastically demeans what the other sees as the reason for his "second chance" at life. The latter seems to totally miss the point when Erwin said he "realized one thing. If it is your time to go, you can’t stop it. However, if you ask Him to put it on hold, [H]e may just do that provided that it will be for your good and that of your loved ones and above all, for His greater glory. After all, [H]e owns our lives."

Which leads me to be reminded: These events highlight what our sojourn on earth can ultimately mean--a choice to acknowledge and enter into a living relationship with the God who causes the gentle light of the rising sun, who permits thunder to toll and waves to roll, who can stretch us to become the best of ourselves if we allow Him to, who challenges and at the same time empowers us to be "holy as He is holy", who can give meaning to and beyond the ordinariness or even the cruelty of transitory, earthly life, and who will receive us in the eternal embrace only if we let Him, who after all has only lent us our lives.

Or we can choose to simply rely on our petty, selfish selves, who can neither control the rising of the sun or seas, who at our basest can and will stop at nothing to be above others, who by ourselves are ultimately only dust.

Paraphrasing Paul of Tarsus: sin, selfishness, self-centeredness lead us to death... But thanks be to God who gives us the choice for life, meaning and hope in Jesus Christ [cf. 1 Cor 56-57].

So, were the ones who died less loved by God? They are in the eternal embrace, in the fullest love there could ever be. And for us who are left in this valley of tears? Each of us can choose to live deceiving ourselves that "I am sufficient", or to live in search of meaning that can only come beyond the self and, finding it, live it, breathe it, die for it.

P.S. Here is the link to the article by Erwin Tulfo - http://manilatimes.net/there-is-indeed-a-god/52046/

"Hindi ko po alam"

Sa sitwasyon ngayon ng ating bansa, hindi uubra ang "Hindi ko po alam" bilang sagot sa tanong na "Anong magagawa mo para sa ikabubuti ng Pilipinas?"

Puwede nating simulan sa pagdaup ng ating mga palad

nang pagkatapos ay maiinat sa pagkilos, sa pagtulong, sa pagbubuo,

sa pagpikit ng ating mga mata upang buksang muli sa nangyayari sa paligid,
sa pagtawag sa Panginoon para matawag ang kapwa bilang kapatid.

*Naunang ipinaskil sa Facebook

All Souls' Day, 2013 edition

I believe in God who is life,

revealed by Jesus who is the life,

who shares His life-giving Spirit to all.

So today, I will celebrate life and sharing that never end,

especially with those dear to me, whether they are still with me,

or have gone ahead towards the Great Beyond.

All in the infinite tenderness and righteousness of the Lord Jesus.

*Originally posted on Facebook

All Saints' Day, 2013 edition

Thank You, Lord, for today's All Saints' Day!

In the morning, with my family, where I first knew You and built my faith,
At midday, a lot of traveling, reminding me that holiness is a journey,
In the afternoon, on the streets, in the mall, inside a convenience store: ordinary places where each one can choose to be extraordinary,
At dusk, in the gathering of Your faithful for Eucharist,
And now, nighttime, in the company of friends who share my faith.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit!

*Originally posted on Facebook