“Read... Believe... Live what you believe...” Is this true in how you follow the Lord? - Daily Reflections January 30,2015

AMONG THOSE WHO HAVE FAITH

AND POSSESS LIFE

One feature of the ordination to the order of deacons is the imparting of the Book of the Gospels. The ordaining prelate says something like this: “Read … Believe what you read … Live what you believe.” This indicates the close connection between faith and life.

       This close connection has been broken by the forces of secularism. Secularism’s stand is that faith, and most especially Christian faith, has no place in mainstream culture and that it is actually anti-culture. Everything anti-culture is against the development of the fullness of all human strivings. Faith is, therefore, an obstacle to human development, along the lines of premodern superstitious beliefs.

       The idea is attractive alright, were it not for the fact that is based on a faulty understanding of human nature and its full development. If we human beings were only material beings, then this position of postmodernity should hold through. But human persons are not just material bodies who happen to have the capacity to think. Human beings are as much physical as spiritual beings and, therefore, development needs to be full, integral — one that caters to man’s material, physical and spiritual components.

       As an educator over the past 36 years, I feel disheartened at times. The postmodern culture has been worsened considerably by the shallow showbiz culture that reigns supreme over the minds and hearts of the young in the Philippines. Where entertainment reigns supreme, the more spiritual side of us takes a bow and hies off to take the back seat.

       We need the likes of St. Thomas to awaken us to higher realities, the finer nuances of life as desired by God, not just a material, bodily existence, but life in its fullness. No less than the letter-writer to the Hebrews encourages us today: “We are not among those who draw back and perish, but among those who have faith and will possess life.” Fr. Chito Dimaranan, SDB

REFLECTION QUESTION: “Read... Believe... Live what you believe...” Is this true in how you follow the Lord?

Grant me the grace, Lord, to follow You every day of my life.