THIS was what was said of St. John the Baptist. (cfr. Lk 1, 17) That was why he taught the gospel of repentance and subjected himself to some rigorous discipline of praying and fasting while staying in the desert. In the end, when Christ appeared in the place where St. John was baptizing, he pointed to the people the very Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world. And some of his disciples started to follow Christ.
We have to have the same attitude as St. John the Baptist. Like him, we too should help in preparing everyone to be fit for the coming of the Lord. This definitely will be going to be a very challenging task, given the conditions we are having today.
We cannot deny that there is a lot of ignorance, confusion and indifference to the things of God these days. The life of piety seems to be waning in many parts of our country, let alone, the whole world. Many people are hardly praying, and the practice of devotion seems to be facing extinction.
Just the same, we should not forget that regardless of what may appear to be a deep-seated culture of irreligion these days, every man continues in the deepest part of his heart to yearn for God. What the Catechism says about this is always relevant:
“The desire for God is written in the human heart, because man is created by God and for God; and God never ceases to draw man to himself. Only in God will he find the truth and happiness he never stops searching for.” (CCC 27)
Yes, God himself will always draw us to himself in ways that can be very mysterious. And we, on our part, should try our best to discern the directing ways of God. This is where everyone has to do his part in preparing himself to see and follow God’s ways.
Given the current state of world culture that is now driven by the marvels of the new technologies and a big appetite for information, there definitely is a great need to make people see that God is very much in the middle of these developments.
We have to be wary of imposing specific norms of prudence that may have worked in the previous generations and eras but which are not effective anymore at this time. We have to learn to adapt things to the way people are, judiciously blending the old and the new, the traditional and the innovative. Let’s take initiatives and be unafraid of making some experiments. This will require a true spirit of discernment.
We really have to study and assess things thoroughly before we can come out with some guidelines to help today’s young ones who certainly have different sensibilities and sense of priorities.
It’s nobody’s fault that we have differences. They are there more because God wants it that way and also because they can occasion in us a deeper knowledge of things. Let us learn to handle this condition in our life, perhaps by being simply sporty about it. It cannot be denied that we have to make a lot of sacrifices in this regard.
What should be foremost in our mind is that we are preparing people fit for the Lord, starting with our own selves and then reaching out to others. For this, let’s continue to use both the human and the supernatural means.
We have to spend time with the people, getting to know them in their concrete conditions and trying to establish deep friendship. We have to remember that it is in true friendship that important, albeit arduous, things can be talked about freely.
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Fr. Roy Cimagala is the Chaplain of the Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise, Talamban, Cebu City (roycimagala@gmail.com)/PN
