April 12, 2009

“One must empty himself in order to receive the grace of God.” This message had been repeated in various forms , in different words during the Lenten season. It is a very strong message, a very important one that even Christ himself had to show His followers it must be done. As a person, Christ showed us that it can be done. This total emptying of oneself – in Jesus’ case, the perfect humility expressed in the absolute obedience to God’s will even to the point of death on the cross –is the only way by which God’s blessings can flow. Abraham received God’s blessings when he proved his unwavering faith in God. He did not question God when he was asked to sacrifice his only beloved son Isaac. Yes, as Bishop Tagle said in the recollection at SM Megatrade last Holy Wednesday, the grace of God cannot enter our lives if we are so full of ourselves, full of pride, full of worries and anxieties or self pity. God is telling us through the bible that dwelling on our worldly problems will not help. We should only focus on what is essential. He said “ Oh, come to the water all who are thirsty; though you have no money, come! Buy corn without money and eat and, at no cost, wine and milk. Why spend money on what is not bread, your wages on what fails to satisfy? (Is 55)” But we, having inherited the sin of Adam, want more and in wanting more we begin to see ourselves only in relation to what the others have, materially or otherwise. In our self absorption, we fail to recognize that we are but a small part of God’s greater scheme. Why did God command “Love your neighbour as yourself?” In loving, we invoke love in return. In loving, we lose ourselves leaving room for all the goodness of the universe. So why do we focus only on what money can buy? God created the world full of goodness. When He created the world He saw that “everything was good (Gen 1). “ Everything is ours for the asking. It is easy if we put ourselves into it because we are the inheritors of the earth, God’s royal heir. But the devil has corrupted us. We sin. We lose God’s beautiful plan. We lose the gifts that come with the plan. Yet God is faithful to His covenant. Despite our sinfulness and for the sake of His holy name , He said “I shall pour clean water over you and you will be cleanse; I shall cleanse you of all your defilement and all your idols. I shall give you a new heart, and out a new spirit in you. I shall remove the heart of stone in your body and give you a heart of flesh instead. I shall put my spirit in you and make you keep my laws and sincerely respect my observances. You will live in the land which I gave you ancestors. You will be my people and I will be your God. I shall rescue you from all your defilement. I shall summon the corn and make it plentiful, and no more bring famines on you. I shall increase the yields of the fruit trees and fields so you will no longer have the ignominy of famine among nations. (Ez 36) He sent His only son, Jesus Christ, to accomplish this promise and Christ, ever faithful and obedient, took unto Himself all our sins. Let God take over our lives then. Let us lift everything to God and remove the pride that misleads us into believing that we can be in control. Let us empty ourselves and allow the goodness of God and His creations to engulf us. Christ, as he took the human form and dying on the cross, proves that it can be done.