Active watchfulness

The three readings for today’s Liturgy are all about active vigilance. We are not to dwell on the past; neither are we to stop and simply stay at the present. We must look forward and work for the future.

“Come, let us climb the Lord’s mountain…that he may instruct us in his ways, and we may walk in his paths….Come, let us walk in the light of the Lord” (Is. 2:3).

“It is the hour now for you to awake from sleep….Let us throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light” (Romans: 13: 11-12).

“Stay awake! For you do not know on which day the Lord will come….So, too, you must also be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come” (Mt. 24: 42-44).

As Filipinos, our main obstacle in responding to the above calls is either passive complacency, in the name of faith, or the mañana habit. Passive complacency: kunin natin sa dasal. Mag-nobena tayo. Pakikinggan tayo ng Panginoon. Playing it safe. Afraid to take risks. One ends up praying, praying, but inactive. Mañana habit: Bukas na lang. ‘Saka na lang.

This well-to-do couple lived near an area inhabited by poor, underprivileged families. So many times over the years, they were asked to help in the poverty alleviation projects of their parish, but they kept on responding: “We are praying for them. We include them in our Masses on Sundays.” Their neighbor kept reminding them that this was not enough, that God’s law of love missions them to share their time, talents, and treasures with those who needed them. But this divine message kept landing on deaf ears. The couple simply kept praying for the poor. Until one tragic day, they met a terrible car accident, and both of them perished!

In a similar way, this family man was having an affair with another woman. In his deepest conscience, he realized the immorality and injustice that he was doing to his wife and children. But he kept postponing the final decision to act and end the relationship because of his inordinate attachment to the woman. Until one day, he suffered a stroke and died a few days later in the hospital. Just like that!

Death can come at any time. “The Son of Man will come at an hour you do not expect.” He will take those who made themselves ready for the Promised Land, and turn his back on those who chose not to be ready. How to be ready is precisely our mission for every day of our lives. As we have expressed before: “Live each day as if it were your last.” And the only way to live, according to God’s design, is to LOVE God in response to His loving us unconditionally, and for us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.

Before He ascended into heaven, the Risen Christ asked his leading disciple, Simon Peter, no less than three times: “Peter, do you really love me?” Peter answered yes every single time, and after each yes, Christ said to him: “Feed my lambs. Feed my sheep.” In other words, the only way we can prove to God that we really love Him is to reach out to our fellow human beings, our brothers and sisters in Christ, and share with them our time, talents, and treasures.

It is in this context that we must become aware of the stages of spiritual conversion, and what stage we are in, so that we can continue to respond to God’s leading, all the way to full discipleship. The psycho-spiritual writer, M. Scott Peck, describes the four stages of spiritual growth, based on pastoral research and practice.

People in the first stage are unprincipled, self-serving, and manipulative. But because of God’s mercy, they are also capable of responding to the next stage, the “formal-institutional”. People in this stage attach themselves to the letter of the law, and become totally dependent on the institution they belong to for their governance.

Sooner or later, such a situation triggers off what may be labeled as “break-aways”, and these become more committed to the spirit of the law, more than the letter of the law. This third stage of spiritual growth, through God’s continuing grace, can then move to the fourth stage of spiritual growth, the “mystical-communal.” Here, people experience the unity and inter-connectedness of all mankind, and they actively reach out to anyone and everyone, breaking through the barriers of race, culture, and institutional religion. And the realistic situation is an integration of the second and fourth stages. People can faithfully belong to an institutional religion and be universal and cosmic in their love and service to all their fellow human beings, especially those who need them most. Such was the life of the historical Christ.

May more and more of us, Filipinos, be committed to this fourth stage of spirituality, as we continue to respond to God’s loving call.