SPEAK OUT FOR WHAT YOU BELIEVE!
The
counselor in me comes out as I read this passage from Paul. Anguished,
maybe even angered, by certain accusations from people he so loved, Paul
makes an impassioned self-defense. I am sure you and I can relate to
Paul. Who among us have not experienced being afflicted, crushed, persecuted and struck down at some point? What father among us did not have to stand up for his little child? What mother in our midst did not have to fight for her little angel’s rights? What student did not experience having to beg for grades that
were legitimately his when a teacher made a gross oversight?
I am a very timid person. I hesitate to complain, even if I have the
right to. I am a very poor customer, because I am the best example of
one who should take to heart the old Latin saying, “caveat emptor” or
“buyer beware,” because I hardly have the heart to complain about some
lousy thing I get.
But being timid is one thing, and being resilient, patient and longsuffering is another. Timidity is a personality flaw, and I am “guilty as charged!”
St. Paul was a learned man by any standard. He was a capable man, a
“jack-of-all-trades,” one who eked out a living for himself without
relying on anyone else. He was a Roman citizen and was conversant in
several
languages. He was passionate beyond compare, and zealously fought for what was right and preached with all his might.
But like you and me, he, too, had seen life. Accused of being an
insincere hypocrite, he took up his own defense and spoke out with the
vehemence of love and the force of truth. The counselor in me reaches
out to him. The timid man in me identifies and resonates with his experience, and I learn one great lesson: to speak out on account of one’s belief! That is a virtue, plain and simple. Fr. Chito Dimaranan, SDB
REFLECTION QUESTION: Are you afraid or courageous in speaking out on account of your belief?
Develop in me, Lord, a courageous spirit that I may not be afraid to speak out when needed.
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