1 June 2008 9th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Matthew 7, 21-27 Faith and Justice
The Gospel teaches us that no one will emerge triumphant in the last judgement on the sole basis of right words or spectacular deeds of spiritual power. We will be saved only with a life of love and justice. Matthew therefore challenges Christian complacency and arrogant assurance of salvation.
First, no one will be saved on the sole basis of saying the right words. Jesus said, “Not everyone who says, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of heaven.” We may proclaim to the whole world that we have been slain by the Spirit; or we have given a general declaration that Jesus is our personal Lord and Savior, but if we do not lift a finger to throw away the garbage in our rooms or neglected our responsibilities at home and in school, then we will not be saved. In addition, not even spectacular spiritual activities such as prophesy, exorcism, healing assures a person salvation. One may be a healer to countless people, but if one is not concerned about the plight of the poor when transportation and electricity fees soar, then one will not be saved. In other words, Jesus tells us that justice is an integral element of our faith. These two elements cannot be separated. Our faith naturally directs us towards justice.
Therefore, we cannot be complacent, assured that we are already saved. Being a Christian by baptism is not a guarantee, we have to move towards living a truly Christian life, integrating what we say and what we do. Living a Christian life at present (right now!) will have its challenges. Our world today is marked by changes, conflicts and new possibilities. In our global culture that homogenize all other cultures, we live in a tension between building a global village or asserting our individual or local culture. We value autonomy and the life at present (being rich not in twenty years but now and products assuring instant and immediate results), but we are in need of building a future as one family on earth. We have better ways of communication through texts messages, emails, chats and social networks, but many of us feel more alienated, isolated and excluded. With the growing tension and paradoxes of our culture plus the many different influences that vie for our undivided attention, it is easy to lose our faith, our values or under-prioritize them. It would be easy for our house to crumble when the rains of our lives fall because it is built not on rock but on sand. In fact, faith life is the first to go when in conflict with other practical needs.
The key is to live in the tension which would require constant dialogue and discernment since we make choices everyday. We have to be sure and clear about what we value or who we cherish before the many seductions pull us apart. Vatican II urges us to go back to our roots and build from there. Jesus, in his ministry, would read from the prophets, thus building his service from the Jewish faith tradition.
If our foundations are strong, we discover that our faith would move us towards building the right relationship with God, with one another especially the marginalized and isolated, and with creation as we all take responsibility to clean up and care for our home, the earth.
Success Points
29 May 2008 Thursday of the 8th Week in Ordinary Time
Mark 10, 46-52 Bartimaeus
Jericho was 15 miles away from Jerusalem. Jesus was taking the road to Jerusalem. Jericho was along the way. He would pass Jericho to celebrate the Passover, as was the custom for those who lived within 15 miles from Jerusalem. Those who can’t go to Jerusalem would line up the streets of Jericho to wish the pilgrims well on their journey. In ancient times, when people heard that a famous prophet, rabbi or teacher was journeying, they would join him as he discoursed while walking. And so the crowd was ‘sizable’ (NAB) by the time He passed near the northern gate where Bartimaeus sat and begged.
The story of Bartimaeus teaches us lessons to succeed. First, Bartimaeus knew what he wanted. When Jesus asked him what he wanted, he answered instantly, “I want to see.” There are many times when we are not clear with our goals or what we want. Our contemporary culture constitutes a myriad of things that vie for our attention, distracting us from seeing what is in our hearts. There are various choices out there, each promising a bright and happy future. There are many things that attracts us and we would like to have all of them. The world today supports a ‘play-it-by-ear’ way of dealing with life that we end up not knowing what is really for us, or our one and only desire is covered by our many other wants. Our goals should be clarified so that when we make choices constantly everyday, the choices would be towards the fulfillment of that one and only goal in our lives.
Second, Bartimaeus ‘threw his cloak’ when he heard people telling him that Jesus wanted to talk to him. Throwing one’s cloak is a symbolic act: throwing away the old life and facing another anew. When goals are set, choices are to be made. Often our dreams demand that we let go to the old ways in order to start anew. We have to free ourselves from our fears and our comfort zones. We have to let go of our past that prevents us from fully putting our hearts totally and generously on our new jobs. We have to let go of people whom we have held on to. We may have to let go of some precious things for us to fulfill our dreams.
Finally, Bartimaeus shouted on top of voice in order for Jesus to notice him --- despite the ‘sizable’ crowd that discouraged and was even annoyed by him. It is this courage and persistence that enabled Bartimaeus to get the attention of Jesus. It is his refusal to be determined by what the sizable crowd are saying that he finally got what he wanted. For many of us, this is what is lacking. Often we give up a few minutes before we could have succeeded. It may be some pang of self-doubt, an overwhelming fear, or the operation of our low self-esteem. When we succumbed to these fears before even trying, we have lost before we played the game.
Let us asked the Lord to give us the elements that enable Bartmaeus to be healed.
Rediscovering What Binds Us
25 May 2008 Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ
Dt 8, 2-3, 14b-16a; Ps 147; 1 Cor 10, 16-17; John 6, 51-58
In the second reading, the image of the bread is the image of unity. St. Paul said, “because the loaf of bread is one, we, though many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.” The image of the bread for many of us Filipinos is closely related to our breakfast menu. We either take pan de sal or the sliced bread --- the pre-partitioned loaf of bread for the family at table. Those who share this loaf of bread share a common bond: whether they are members of a family, a group of friends or companions in a dormitory. In the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, we reflect on what the image of the sliced bread at our common table means to us in our lives.
The partakers of the one loaf are unique individuals. Even if they belong to a social unit such as a family or a group of friends. We are identified by the diversity of talents and abilities, by the various experiences of people whom we lived with, by our self-concept. But the bread that each of these members partake become their common element. Just as every dish our mothers cook brought our families together. In my family, we deeply feel this bond because all of us crave for mommy’s ginataang gulay, stew and garlic adobo. For Catholics with unique and diverse interests and backgrounds, the partaking of the bread and wine during communion makes us one. Thus, the mass is always an experience of community life: there are things we share in common.
Our love for Christ therefore moves us to even greater challenges to the Christian’s desire to create a community in the world. We have established our common love between Catholics. We have established our common love for Christ between Christians. Now, we are having dialogues between religions.
So what else is new? Our modern world today throws us into living with diversity. However there are concerns far greater than just being friends with those of our own lot. Because of global concerns, we too must have a global response. And thus we are asked to collaborate with other people in responding to environmental concerns, poverty, consumerism among others. We have to go beyond our tribal culture or our tendency to be parochial. Today, we live and work with people who do not believe in God and are simply humanists. We work with people who belong to other faith traditions. And we work with everyone who shares the same values as ourselves.
In the past we were concerned about our identity as Catholics. Understandably because we have been challenged by those of our faiths. But today, we must rediscover what common values we all share.
Trinity Sunday
18 May 2008 Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
Exodus 34, 4-9; Dn 3, 52-56; 2 Cor 13, 11-13, John 3, 16-18
At some point in our lives, many of us have danced, or at least, dared to move our feet to the rhythm of a song. First, there are those, who couldn’t dance. Their bodies are rigid and hardened, like cement walls that does not sway with the wind. They couldn’t coordinate their arms and their legs to the rhythm of the music. Play music, put them on the dance floor, and they will freeze. Keep them a little longer, you would have mistaken them as one of the studio’s props or posts.
And then, there are amateurs who display a lack of knowledge of the song that their interpretation becomes wanting. Their gestures are displaced from the music. They move their arms but on the wrong part of the song. Or, they just do the basic movements and nothing else, no variations because they are afraid. These amateurs may entertain us, but we are not drawn to them as totally as the pros.
There are, however, excellent dancers. Their bodies sway naturally to the beat or the melodic line of a song. Every gesture of their arms and the expression on their faces match the song, that the spectator --- that means, us --- are drawn to them; the music and the dancer becomes one.
But each professional dancer can have their own individual routines in a company of dancers. Each individual may have a different position or gesture at any point of the song, but when they dance together, the choreography puts them to abandon themselves in one and a single song. There is a unity in all of their movements that the experience is exhilarating and uplifting. However, only if there is total abandonment and self-giving.
When St. Paul talks about being parts of one body, or that we have different gifts, but the same Spirit, he means that we are like those individual professional dancers moving to the same rhythm of the song. And the music is like the Spirit. It makes us dance to life, and at the same time, when we are attuned to the Spirit, it makes all of us, like dancers with different routines, one.
They same way with us. We are a diverse lot. Our professions and lifestyles are different. Our beliefs, though Catholic, differ in its depth and intensity. Our training backgrounds whether in the academic field or life’s arena vary from one person to the other. And yet, we belong to one Body of Christ, swayed by the same Spirit, by the same love for the Trinity.
But the challenge remains. Our contemporary culture gives us an assortment of experiences and sensations, each vying for our attention. They distract us from being attuned to the Spirit that we follow another rhythm. And when we move towards a different beat, we feel that we are out of synch. The challenge therefore is to train our ears to listen to the music. The music that unites all of us.
Mr. Van Manalo, the choreographer of the UP Filipiniana Dance Group, sent me an email. He said that in the word, guidance, he cannot but notice the word, dance. It is true: When we guide people, we teach them what Fr. Kolvenbach SJ, our former Superior General, calls, creative fidelity. Fidelity is the noun and therefore the most important. To be faithful to the one music, the same Spirit is primary.
And to it follows, creativity. We guide people to dance the Dance of Life. Choreographers know that: the dancers should be faithful to the music first, but how they interpret it is up to them. Often it means to dance together with a same gesture, or at some point, to dance differently, all to the one faith. And when we do that, we palpably experience this one body of Christ.
The Gentle and Rough Spirit
12 May 2008 Pentecost Sunday
Acts 2, 1-11; Psalm 104; 1 Cor 12, 3-13; John 20, 19-24
The feast of Pentecost marks the end of great rejoicing in the Season of Easter; Pentecost is the fiftieth day from Easter (Pentecoste, Gk “50th”). The 50th day corresponds to the Hebrew Feast of Weeks or Shabuoth, a time of rejoicing over the wheat harvest, and is also associated with the giving of the Law in Mt. Sinai and the covenants of Yahweh with Abraham and Noah. The Christian tradition, however, associates the feast with the descent of the Holy Spirit in the Upper Room and the beginning of apostolic preaching (Acts 2, 1-45). If you put all of these together, we find certain themes. Pentecost is about celebration, unity and mission.
How do we understand Pentecost in our lives? We do have certain experiences. When we have to talk to a person, we oftentimes do not know what and how to say what we want to convey. We wish we could put the words together; and we believe we can when we get to face the person. Oftentimes, no words come out of our mouths when we pray. The Holy Spirit enables us to ‘put things together’ into a coherent whole. In fact, it is the Holy Spirit that enables us to put into words what is truthfully in our hearts in prayer; it is the Holy Spirit that helps us pray (1 Cor 12, 3).
Since it is summer and the rainy season is about to kick in, we shall use the image of the wind as it is also associated scripturally with the Holy Spirit.
The wind can be gentle and soothing. The Holy Spirit can calm us and quiet our hearts: when we are afraid about a friend’s operation, or distressed about the result of an exam; when resentment begins to grow in our hearts because of sustained hurt from a person or a group in our workplace; when we are beating the deadline and our stress level is on the rise. The Holy Spirit makes us whole by consoling us --- like a mother who pacifies our fears when she cuddles us in her arms (Good thing we celebrate Mother’s Day today!). It is the Holy Spirit who rekindles our confidence and gives us strength when we are too weak and tired even to pray. It is the Spirit who brings us back to life when we are apathetic and passionless. In other words, it is the Spirit who gathers our scattered selves. Siya ang bumubuo sa atin kapag tayo’y nagkakalat.
The Holy Spirit can also be like a rough and mighty wind (Acts 2,2), as a burning fire, a consuming passion. In Acts 2, 3, the ‘tongues of fire’ consume the hearts of the disciples, that they preached about Jesus with a sustained passion. It drove the disciples out of Jerusalem, and traveled into Gentle territory, proclaiming without fear that Jesus is indeed the Savior. It is the Spirit who enabled them to speak the local language and be understood by all. The Holy Spirit unites us with a common understanding. It unites all of God’s people as St. Paul said, “it was by one Spirit that all of us, Greek or Jew, slave or free, were baptized into one body” (1 Cor 12, 13).
Missionaries of Hope
8 May 2008. Thursday of the 7th Week of Easter
Acts 22,30, 23:6-11; Psalm 16; John 17, 20-26
The readings talk about safety for missionaries. First, the missionary might experience grave threats to their lives: Paul is an example. In the first reading, Paul is set to trial at the Sanhedrin’s court in Jerusalem. In the process, the Sadducees and the Pharisees fought about their differences in their beliefs. The Sadducees do not believe in the Resurrection while the Pharisees contended in Paul’s favor. The Roman commander had to remove Paul finally from their midst. The Lord then appears, a consoling vision for Paul, and a milestone in Luke’s story: the testimony of Paul in Jerusalem has ended, and Paul’s mission in Rome comes into view. The end of the Jerusalem mission and the new Roman mission are all viewed as necessary in the plan of God. Second, Jesus prays for the protection of his people. And the Responsorial Psalm is the prayer itself: “Keep me safe, O God, you are my hope.”
Many men and women today still risk their lives for the sake of the Gospel. Two mormon missionaries were killed in a head-on automobile collision in New Zealand. Despite China’s ban on missionaries, the zealous still throng to China especially in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. They would like to talk about faith to people one on one (see article). The Catholic Youth for Christ (YFC) sends missionaries abroad. Safety is a legitimate concern; though we are indeed evangelizing, we also have to take care of our lives. Without our bodies, there will be no instrument for preaching.
Pope Benedict XVI recently urged Catholics in his US visit to renew their missionary zeal when our global society is at a ‘moral crossroad.’ The pope warned against the breakdown of the foundations of society. The message that we have to convey would therefore be a message of hope and faithfulness to the demands of the Gospel.
Today, young people are pressured by their peers. Often, religious persons are ridiculed because they are not the contemporary kid’s idea of being ‘cool’. People are not expressive anymore of their faith. They would rather hide than wear it on their sleeves. In the midst of a moral dilemma, such as graft and corruption in the workplace, many would rather keep quiet than lose their jobs. But not without reason: their family is dependent on them.
What does this mean in our personal lives? To be children of hope means never to stop trying in the midst of helplessness. At difficult times, a Christian never says die. When a plan fails, a Christian will think of alternatives. When a person meets a tragedy in their lives, the Christian becomes a consoler, someone who would put his arms around their shoulders. The Christian can move freely in the world with a smile: not that crazy scheming smile, but that smile that is peaceful and moving. He or she will have a sense of humor that makes people forget their problems even temporarily. For fear of being cheezy: a smile is our every day sign of hope. We do can proclaim the Gospel by just a smile (but I hope we do more than just stretch our lips).
Acts 22,30, 23:6-11; Psalm 16; John 17, 20-26
The readings talk about safety for missionaries. First, the missionary might experience grave threats to their lives: Paul is an example. In the first reading, Paul is set to trial at the Sanhedrin’s court in Jerusalem. In the process, the Sadducees and the Pharisees fought about their differences in their beliefs. The Sadducees do not believe in the Resurrection while the Pharisees contended in Paul’s favor. The Roman commander had to remove Paul finally from their midst. The Lord then appears, a consoling vision for Paul, and a milestone in Luke’s story: the testimony of Paul in Jerusalem has ended, and Paul’s mission in Rome comes into view. The end of the Jerusalem mission and the new Roman mission are all viewed as necessary in the plan of God. Second, Jesus prays for the protection of his people. And the Responsorial Psalm is the prayer itself: “Keep me safe, O God, you are my hope.”
Many men and women today still risk their lives for the sake of the Gospel. Two mormon missionaries were killed in a head-on automobile collision in New Zealand. Despite China’s ban on missionaries, the zealous still throng to China especially in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. They would like to talk about faith to people one on one (see article). The Catholic Youth for Christ (YFC) sends missionaries abroad. Safety is a legitimate concern; though we are indeed evangelizing, we also have to take care of our lives. Without our bodies, there will be no instrument for preaching.
Pope Benedict XVI recently urged Catholics in his US visit to renew their missionary zeal when our global society is at a ‘moral crossroad.’ The pope warned against the breakdown of the foundations of society. The message that we have to convey would therefore be a message of hope and faithfulness to the demands of the Gospel.
Today, young people are pressured by their peers. Often, religious persons are ridiculed because they are not the contemporary kid’s idea of being ‘cool’. People are not expressive anymore of their faith. They would rather hide than wear it on their sleeves. In the midst of a moral dilemma, such as graft and corruption in the workplace, many would rather keep quiet than lose their jobs. But not without reason: their family is dependent on them.
What does this mean in our personal lives? To be children of hope means never to stop trying in the midst of helplessness. At difficult times, a Christian never says die. When a plan fails, a Christian will think of alternatives. When a person meets a tragedy in their lives, the Christian becomes a consoler, someone who would put his arms around their shoulders. The Christian can move freely in the world with a smile: not that crazy scheming smile, but that smile that is peaceful and moving. He or she will have a sense of humor that makes people forget their problems even temporarily. For fear of being cheezy: a smile is our every day sign of hope. We do can proclaim the Gospel by just a smile (but I hope we do more than just stretch our lips).
How to be Steep in Faith
7 May 2008. Wednesday of the 7th Week of Easter
Acts 20, 28-38; John 17, 11-19 How to be Steep in Faith
The first reading and the Gospel are like parallel stories. They both speak about the challenges Christian face in the world. Paul warns them about the “wolves” and those that pervert the truth. Jesus prays that the Father protect His disciples from the “Evil One” and those who will come to hate them. Paul and Jesus then bid their flocks goodbye; having their trust in God that their prayers will be heard.
This scene happens often in daily life. How many times have we left our homes, afraid that something bad might happen to our children? The recent youth survey tells us that even the young are afraid of being victims of heinous crimes. In fact this insecurity makes parents overbearing and overprotective of their children. On the other hand, those who trust the Lord are the ones who know that when we cannot protect our loved ones, God protects them. This is, for most people, the practical role of faith: it helps us accept that we have to help our children protect themselves without us.
In faith life, the fear of Jesus and Paul remains to be true. We are plagued by many distractions every day. Billboards vie for our attention. The fast pace of metropolitan living makes little time for deep reflection. We take in anything that comes our way, and hope that we will find time in the future to sort things out. We become uncritical of the things we see and experience, because there is simply no time to run through them one by one; we too have to beat life’s deadlines.
But this is precisely the environment for the Jesus-haters, the wolves and the perverts, and the Evil One. Literally and metaphorically, the new generations hate the light: the truth is far painful, morality is relative to one’s taste, and they are afraid. The wolves prey on these unsuspecting cattle.
To be steadfast in our faith can be achieved by sustained updating. We solidify our foundation by getting to know our faith. We should know our doctrines and read the Scriptures regularly, making them part of our life. We can be active and participating in our worship. Moreover, it is also important to ask questions about the faith. Many think that when we question the faith, we are ‘doubting’ it --- educated people know that that is stupidity. When our whys are answered, we discover that our faith is reasonable. Church teachings develop as the sciences provide data. These new data helps theologians ‘revise’ teachings. Our scientific knowledge of the world of Jesus helps us understand the context of the Scriptures better.
However, to be informed is not enough. It should be accompanied by personal reflection and prayer. Not the mechanical and oral prayers that we do: but a time spent alone with God, and moments of retreat and quiet prayer. The bible passages are very rich; but we cannot discover its richness unless we stop and give them some time to sink into our hearts.
Acts 20, 28-38; John 17, 11-19 How to be Steep in Faith
The first reading and the Gospel are like parallel stories. They both speak about the challenges Christian face in the world. Paul warns them about the “wolves” and those that pervert the truth. Jesus prays that the Father protect His disciples from the “Evil One” and those who will come to hate them. Paul and Jesus then bid their flocks goodbye; having their trust in God that their prayers will be heard.
This scene happens often in daily life. How many times have we left our homes, afraid that something bad might happen to our children? The recent youth survey tells us that even the young are afraid of being victims of heinous crimes. In fact this insecurity makes parents overbearing and overprotective of their children. On the other hand, those who trust the Lord are the ones who know that when we cannot protect our loved ones, God protects them. This is, for most people, the practical role of faith: it helps us accept that we have to help our children protect themselves without us.
In faith life, the fear of Jesus and Paul remains to be true. We are plagued by many distractions every day. Billboards vie for our attention. The fast pace of metropolitan living makes little time for deep reflection. We take in anything that comes our way, and hope that we will find time in the future to sort things out. We become uncritical of the things we see and experience, because there is simply no time to run through them one by one; we too have to beat life’s deadlines.
But this is precisely the environment for the Jesus-haters, the wolves and the perverts, and the Evil One. Literally and metaphorically, the new generations hate the light: the truth is far painful, morality is relative to one’s taste, and they are afraid. The wolves prey on these unsuspecting cattle.
To be steadfast in our faith can be achieved by sustained updating. We solidify our foundation by getting to know our faith. We should know our doctrines and read the Scriptures regularly, making them part of our life. We can be active and participating in our worship. Moreover, it is also important to ask questions about the faith. Many think that when we question the faith, we are ‘doubting’ it --- educated people know that that is stupidity. When our whys are answered, we discover that our faith is reasonable. Church teachings develop as the sciences provide data. These new data helps theologians ‘revise’ teachings. Our scientific knowledge of the world of Jesus helps us understand the context of the Scriptures better.
However, to be informed is not enough. It should be accompanied by personal reflection and prayer. Not the mechanical and oral prayers that we do: but a time spent alone with God, and moments of retreat and quiet prayer. The bible passages are very rich; but we cannot discover its richness unless we stop and give them some time to sink into our hearts.
The Ascension
4 May 2008 The Solemnity of the Ascension of Christ
Acts 1, 1-11; Psalm 47; Hebrews 9, 24-28; Matthew 28, 16-20
The ascension of Jesus expresses His real transcendent destiny. In the Old Testament, heaven is the inaccessible private home of God (Isaiah 66,1). And no humans should dare scale its heights. To even attempt to reach the heavens is arrogance to the highest degree. This is what happened in the story of the tower of Babel (Gen 11, 4ff). There are, however, the chosen ones who were taken up to heaven such as Enoch (Gen 5, 24) and Elijah (2 Kings 2,11). The privilege of being taken to heaven is a gift of God. Thus, when Jesus ascended into heaven, it affirms the truth that Jesus --- who died on the cross --- is not just alive but possesses an entirely new kind of existence.
By extension, our belief in the ascension of Jesus reminds us of our destiny too as human beings. Just as Jesus was taken up into heaven, we too can dream of finally being united with God in our heavenly home (Heb 11, 16). Thus, we are invited to look beyond our earthly life to the final destiny we are intended to have.
This is what hope is all about. Our faith helps us not to be discouraged in the face of failure, or hopeless when we are desperate. Our belief in the ascension enables us not to be defeated in the face of death. We know that failure, desperation and death do not have the final word in our lives.
In addition, faith also helps us give ourselves in heroism and utmost generosity. We know several people who have given their lives for a higher principle or a greater purpose. We know that we are also willing --- or are already doing it --- to die for someone or a cause we feel deeply for. Because of this destiny, human beings are given more importance. We suffer for our children, because they are worth sacrificing for. Heroes die for the country because they believe that the country is worth dying for.
A final word from the first reading. After the ascension, the community of men and women went to the upper room to pray. Praying individually and communally is an effect of the ascension. Because Jesus is in heaven, He has opened what was a private and inaccessible abode of God. Because He has gone to heaven, he has gained a new kind of existence that made Him more present in His Church. Whenever we pray, our prayers metaphorically go to the open gates of heaven; and it is also heard by Jesus who is also in us. Either way it is great to think that our prayers do not escape into thin air.
Work
1 May 2008 St. Joseph the Worker
Acts 18, 1-8; John 16, 16-20
The celebration of Labor Day is for many Catholics also the memorial of St. Joseph the Worker. It seems that Catholics are making a statement apart from the ‘socialist’ movement that gave rise to the civil observance of the day of the ordinary worker. St. Joseph is celebrated twice in the year, one in March and the other today. What then is the Catholic view of work that St. Joseph signifies?
Work has two faces. There is a type of work that is dignifying, redemptive and humanizing. Pope John XXIII said that work is endowed with dignity and is ‘an expression of the human person’ wherein we perfect ourselves (Mater et Magistra). Vatican II reintroduces the biblical notion that God works. By extension, Christians participate in the ‘unfolding of the Creator’s own work’ when we labor (Gaudium et Spes and Laborem Exercens). Teilhard de Chardin thus reiterates that ‘offering the day to the Lord’ is not enough, we are also invited to engage in the world, meaning we have to cooperate too with God’s creating and sustaining life. As part of the material universe, we must help bring it towards the perfection of creation. In other words, when we work we do not do it alone (as if God is absent) like working while the boss is on vacation; rather, when we labor, the boss also works with us, side by side. At a deeper level, this type of work contributes to our self-realization, meaning, what we do forms who we are, including our basic beliefs and attitudes. Who we are today is a product of our long hours of studies, focused times for practice, and hours of evaluation like exams and stage performances. Work helps our talents mature. Work makes us discover our potential.
On the other hand, there is a type of work that is dull, painful and dehumanizing. For many of us, work is about sustenance, an exhausting activity done out of necessity. We are doing it because we need to put something on the family’s table. We do not deny that there is indeed value in this type of work, because it fulfills basic needs. Much of our activities are done because we have to do it to survive. In addition, many have work in order to have more power. Thus, work can either be engaging or estranging to us that we forget God.
The Gospel, however, proposes a bridge between these faces. Work is not the meaning of life. We have to view work both as a participation in earthly progress but also in the Kingdom of God. We have to see work with its two faces. If we focus on the positive view of work as a participation of creation, we may overlook the exhaustive labor of many ordinary workers. If we focus on the painful view of work, we may look down on the reality of work having its human and worldly fulfillments. When we have a devotion to St. Joseph the Worker, we affirm that these two faces can be existent in one person. As a saint, on one hand, St. Joseph reminds us that work has a divine purpose. As a carpenter, on the other hand, we remember that work brings with it some earthly fulfillment --- it is by Joseph’s hand that Jesus was brought up well.
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