If you were to rejoice, what would it be about? - Daily Reflections October 4,2014

RETURN REJOICING   I’m always fascinated by Overseas Filipino Workers going home for the first time from many years of working abroad. I could sense excitement in the air. I could feel joyful anticipation in the cabin. Everyone is just a little bit more restless; all seem to be engaged in cheerful chatter, and, on not a few occasions, I saw young fathers and young mothers, or men and women in their forties or fifties, fidgeting and fumbling with their prized pasalubongs, which they carefully wrapped in recycled plastic bags that belie their city or country of work. I even espied hopeful faces with fingers busy thumbing through rosary beads.        They all return home rejoicing. Each has a story and a reason to rejoice, much like the exuberant 72 disciples who came home raving about the wonders wrought in the Lord’s name. But while the Lord affirmed them in their joy, He also counseled them to look for a deeper reason to rejoice other than mere earthly achievements.        Like our brothers and sisters working abroad, we all have beautiful things happening in our lives. It could be a son or a daughter graduating from college, or a newly built house erected with blood, sweat and tears shed at work in a foreign land. It could be because we have made a name for ourselves, having become some kind of success in our own right. Or it could be because we have finally made it in life after years of toil.        We all have reasons to go home rejoicing. But again, the Lord tells us, there ought to be more than just a list of accomplishments. That is what everybody does, anyway. Everyone wants a nice, spacious, comfortable house. Everyone wants successful and educated kids. Everyone wants affirmation and approval from both superiors and peers.        What about going the extra mile and striving to be different by doing something really beautiful for God? Come home different. Work and live in a way that our “names are written in heaven,” and then return rejoicing! Fr. Chito Dimaranan, SDB   REFLECTION QUESTION: If you were to rejoice, what would it be about?   Teach me, Lord, to rejoice, not so much in my worldly accomplishments but in what I am doing for You.