What about your faith journey stands out in your memory? Why? - Daily Reflections January 31,2015

A BETTER HOMELAND

I used to wonder why old people back then were so much given in to reminiscing. Now that the tables have turned, I wonder why young people are so focused on the here and now. Those who reminisce do so because they miss the good old days. They would extol the virtues of their forebears, make much of what they said and did, and would generally tend to idealize everything about them and their supposed golden era.

       The Church, too, is an expert at remembering. We Christians, people of “the Book,” are good, not necessarily at reminiscing but remembering in a special way. We are a people of the memorial, and we hold on to memories of events past, for they impinge on the present, and they give grounding to our desired future. What better record of memories do we have than Scripture itself? What better mode of memorial keeping is there than the liturgy where we engage in the act of “doing” Eucharist “in memory of Him” who died, who rose, and who will come again?

       The letter-writer to the Hebrews today does his memorial act — and how! He frames his writing on the virtues of faith and hope, and proceeds to trace how the fathers of old, from Abraham onwards, lived — and died — by the same faith and hope. “By faith, Abraham obeyed… By faith, he sojourned in the promised land… By faith, he received power to generate…” “All these died in faith… and acknowledged themselves to be strangers and aliens on earth, for those who speak thus show that they are seeking a homeland.”

       I would like to think that, like the first migrants in the Bible, Abraham and company, most Filipinos who leave the country and go abroad to work are people of faith and hope. I know. I saw them in Europe. They are those who revive otherwise empty churches there. The ultimate goal of the people of faith and hope is not to live here nor there. They are in search for a better homeland — heaven, our only true home! Fr. Chito Dimaranan, SDB

REFLECTION QUESTIONS: What about your faith journey stands out in your memory? Why?

Make me remember and make me celebrate always what You have done for us — through daily Eucharist.

“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.

Have you ever reached the point of learned helplessness in your life? What made you get out of it? - Daily Reflections January 29,2015

AS YOU SEE THE DAY DRAWING NEAR

Not too long ago, a psychologist from Chicago introduced the behavioral concept of “learned helplessness.” He observed that dogs, when given some stimulus that was impossible to reach, would simply stop striving after some time. They just stop reaching out for it, even if the target has been placed within reach. Dogs — and humans, too — when frustrated too often, and for far too long, reach the point of learned helplessness.

       Learned helplessness, notwithstanding its presumed novelty, is really not new in the history of spirituality. It is related to a mild form of despair, a loss of verve and vigor, called acedia, also known to many spiritual writers as the “noontime devil,” or the point in which one simply throws in the towel and capitulates to the demands of the situation and the times. When one feels jaded or waxes cynical, one simply stops going against the grain and goes with the flow. One becomes part of mainstream culture. One effectively becomes co-opted by what Filipinos call “kalakaran” — a term popularized by Jun Lozada of NBN-ZTE notoriety.

       This is why we need to keep ourselves attuned and alert to the signs of the times. We need to be always on the way to an enlightened awareness that goes beyond merely knowing on the surface, but knowing truly and deeply. For such deep awareness to happen, we need to help ourselves. We need periodic reminders. We need to be immersed in the reality that simply escapes normal awareness, for our normal source of knowledge is conceptual, not experiential. Love, or any of the virtues for that matter, when known only conceptually, finds it difficult to become operational.

       The letter-writer to the Hebrews refers to this experiential knowledge that leads to the operational level when he writes: “We must consider how to rouse one another to love and good works. We should not stay away from our assembly, as is the custom of some, but encourage one another, and this all the more as you see the day drawing near.” Fr. Chito Dimaranan, SDB

REFLECTION QUESTIONS: Have you ever reached the point of learned helplessness in your life? What made you get out of it?

You are my hope, O God. Let me hold on to You in moments of despair and helplessness.

What are you consciously doing to deepen your relationship with Jesus, with your family, with your friends and coworkers? - Daily Reflections January 27,2015

A NEW MODE OF RELATING

I would assume that very few of our Sabbath readers were born with a silver spoon in the mouth. I have no royal blood. I have never even saw, much less use, anything that approximates a silver spoon in my life.

       But I know I was born of a particular woman whom I call mother. And so, too, were my siblings whom I call brothers or sisters. My family of origin was a given, not a fruit of my doing. I cannot do anything to become a member of any other family, but neither do I have a choice not to be a son to my mother and father, and a brother to my siblings.

       This is just the way of natural human familial relationships. But there are certain things I can “do” to change this mode of relating.

       I remember growing up with a man whom we called Kakang Gorio (upland Cavite title for uncle). He came one fine day to our little town disoriented, with some form of amnesia, with no memories of where he came from and no idea of who his blood relatives were. He was one of those who survived the Bataan Death March, or so I was told. Too young to remember much of anything, I do remember the feelings of joy at having an uncle live with us. He took care of me and brought home stuff when he could. He played with me and treated me as his own nephew. He worked with my father every day in the fields. They both planted coffee trees, cacao and other crops in our plots of land in Tagaytay.

       He worked his way to becoming family with us. He did what he could to belong, to be loved, and to be useful and productive in our household. When we had to move to Makati before I started school, I remember the feeling. I was sad to part with Kakang Gorio.

       I can do something to grow in relationship with Christ. “For whoever does the will of God is brother and sister and mother to me.” Fr. Chito Dimaranan, SDB

REFLECTION QUESTION: What are you consciously doing to deepen your relationship with Jesus, with your family, with your friends and coworkers?

Thank You, Jesus, for calling us Your brothers and sisters. May we strive to be true members of Your family, the Catholic Church