Change of heart

IN the message of the gospel we know that God understands our human weakness, but He wants us to change to a new life.  He understands, but He is not a permissive or a “consentidor” God.  God wants us to change for the better.

St. Peter betrayed Jesus three times but he changed and was appointed first Pope by Jesus Christ  (Lk. 22:32).  St. Paul was a Pharisee persecuting the Church but he changed and became the Apostle to all the non-Jewish peoples (see 1 Cor. 15:9-11).

Jesus cured a man sick for 38 years.  After curing him Jesus told him: “Now you are well again, be sure not to sin any more, or something worse may happen to you” (Jn. 5:9-14). When Jesus saved and forgave the adulterous woman who was about to be stoned by the Jewish scribes and Pharisees in accord with the Mosaic law, He told the woman after the Jewish elders left one by one in response to His challenge that the one without sin should be first in throwing the stone at her: “Woman, where are they?  Has no one condemned you?” “No one sir,” she replied.  “Neither do I condemn you.  Go and sin no more” (Jn. 8:3-11). 

With all the false propaganda on sex, love, sexual permissiveness, and indecent apparel in movies, television, and billboards, no wonder the rise of unwanted pregnancies and abortion (which is murder) cases that reach the staggering number of millions yearly in the world today.  Since it’s a sin calling for God’s immediate punishment and vengeance, we must implore God’s mercy, but remember too, He is not a permissive and “consentidor” God.  He wants our concrete repentance telling us, “Go, but sin no more or something worse may happen to you” (Jn. 5:14-15). This too calls for our social consciousness as Jesus told Peter, the first Pope, who in his weakness had denied Jesus three times: “Simon, Simon!  Satan, you must know, has got his wish to sift you all like wheat; but I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail, and once you have recovered, you in turn must strengthen your brothers” (Lk. 22:32).  Let us help one another for a change of heart and “sin no more”.

Human frailty

We experience life’s fragility when one of our loved ones passes away.  Then we begin to reflect and consider that our own existence is also fragile, realizing that our true end is not here on earth but where God will place us as reward or punishment for our conduct here on this earth.  There is that reminder at the beginning of the Lenten Season—“Remember man that you are dust and unto dust thou shalt return” (Gen. 3:19).

                It is good we learn to face and accept the truth as it really is and do what we have to do in answer to the realities we face.  After all, we do not solve problems by running away from the reality of things. There is a grain of truth in that ancient saying: “Face the situation fearlessly and there is no situation to be faced”.  A person will look irresponsible if he or she never learns to face or accept reality as it is and then make the necessary adjustments in his or her proper response to the real situations at hand.

�� (Rom. 12:21).  Check it up.  Whom has the Lord exalted: the proud or the humble?

The ways of the Lord

Jesus preached to the poor.  He died poor.  He suffered for us the ignominious death on the cross.  Yet His was the way that brought salvation.

                And we must do no less because He had said:  “If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself, take up his cross daily and follow me” (Lk. 9:23).  This too is the way of all the saints who hold the palm of victory, because humbly they carried their cross every day of their lives.  Read the lives of saints and see if you can point to even one who was just sitting pretty, doing no sacrifice at all.  Even the act of true Christian love is itself sacrifice.

                St. Paul describes it as:  “Love is humble, patient and forgiving” (1 Cor. 13:4).  The ideologists say: “Be tough, radical and clench-fisted.”  The Christian: “Be not overcome by evil but overcome evil with good” (Rom. 12:21).  Check it up.  Whom has the Lord exalted: the proud or the humble?

Exaltation

One common denominator of Christian living is actually based on the life and words of Our Lord Jesus Christ who often repeated the axiom “the man who humbles himself shall be exalted but the man who exalts himself shall be humbled” (Lk. 14:11; 18:14).  Maybe it’s being willing to humbly work hard, be patient, absorb insults, and be peaceful towards others.  It’s tantamount to the other gospel expression: “Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the land” (Mt. 5:4).

                How about those who are so impatient and bitterly resentful?  After all the volcanic emotions inside their feelings, they may turn to violence.  And that’s the end of progress because of massive destruction everywhere and loss of freedom.  God’s word tells us: “Let not your anger reach sundown so as to leave no room for the devil” (Eph. 4:6).  Christ is exalted but He humbled Himself first upon the Cross.  The world today acclaims Him: “You alone are holy, you alone are most high, you alone are Lord, Jesus Christ” (see Phil. 2:6-11).