How are you living your faith today? - Daily Reflections February 4,2016

TAKE COURAGE; BE A MAN!

 

Last year’s social media reports showed us a number of grisly and gruesome killings perpetrated by those who hate Christians and Christianity in general. While they do not come from mainstream and traditional media, we have no reason to take them as rumors and dismiss them altogether as fake news, given the fact that the killers themselves uploaded videos of the murders.

       Death, in itself and of itself, being a consequence of sin as we learn from Scripture, is already a difficult matter to discuss, let alone experience. We all cringe when we speak of death — our own and that of others. But we find it even more revolting when we see it happening to our brothers and sisters who are killed in the most heinous fashion, all done in the name of God, guilty of nothing more than simply not sharing the same faith with those who do the dastardly deed.

       It takes courage to live, but it takes even more courage to give up that which stands at the basis of everything else we enjoy. Even St. Paul, who was himself beheaded and died a martyr, spoke of the “sting” of death.

       Today, we read about a great man’s passing and the courage he passes on to his son. David takes the bull by the horns and accepts the reality that no one can escape: “I am going the way of all flesh.” But more than just facing death squarely and showing himself a model of dying well, he takes it a notch higher and challenges his son, Solomon: “Take courage and be a man.” He counsels Solomon to do the better thing — to live fully and face up to his responsibilities as king.

       We are all afraid to die. I am the first to acknowledge this. But not too many of us put focus on the business of living responsibly, honorably and heroically. As Pope St. John Paul II said in 1981 during the beatification of Lorenzo Ruiz, “Not all of us may be called to die for the faith, but all of us are called to live for the faith.” “Take courage and be a man.” Fr. Chito Dimaranan, SDB

 

REFLECTION QUESTION: How are you living your faith today?

 

Grant me courage, Lord, to live for my faith each day. Amen.