The sense of the spiritual

By Fr. Roy Cimagala / December 9, 2006

THAT may sound like a contradiction in terms, "sense" being something associated with the body, as in the sense of sight, with the eye as its proper organ, and "spiritual" being precisely what is contrary to anything material.

But if we still believe that man is composed of body and soul, something material and something spiritual, then there must be some sense in talking about developing "the sense of the spiritual."

That’s just how it is. We have to contend with the peculiarities of our human condition that make us neither purely material nor purely spiritual, but material and spiritual all the same time.

This sense of the spiritual, in my view, is what is most needed these days. We seem to be so dominated by the material, the external, the bodily and sensual, that even our spiritual faculties—our thinking, our willing—appear unduly compromised.

The horror expressed by St. Paul when he wrote about the differences between the carnal man and the spiritual man is taking place right before our eyes. We are having more of the carnal than the spiritual.

I would even say that if there is any reference to something spiritual, most likely it is made to highlight and enhance a purely material and earthly value. To exaggerate a little, it’s like our thinking and willing are made only to heighten our feeling. They are not made to tackle their proper object who is ultimately God.

Looking around, we just see and hear in billboards, newspapers, radios, TV, Internet, etc., images and sounds that convey, often in a subliminal but effective way, almost exclusively material, external, temporal and earthly values.

We are cajoled to look good, to feel good, to be rich, to be successful, to have a champion body, to be powerful, popular, etc. We are made to envy those who have won the genetic lottery, because they are physically beautiful and well-endowed.

To be rich and famous now means to "have arrived." If you are neither of these, then, sweetie, you still have a long way to go in this life. It’s a diabolical frame of mind that, I’m afraid, is threatening to become a generalized culture.

There’s hardly any mention about the need to be humble and simple, to be prayerful, to do sacrifices, etc. There’s no mention about virtues, like prudence, temperance, fortitude, justice. Nothing about ascetical struggle. Definitely, no mention of God. Shucks!

This is truly weird, since if for those who still believe in God, God is known to be our Creator, our Father, and all that, why is it that many find it hard to relate themselves and their affairs to God?

This is the problem. While the material and earthly values are legitimate, it seems they are pursued without proper reference to the spiritual and supernatural that should serve as their goal.

Thus, we also yield what we sow. Precisely because the spiritual values are neglected or are not given proper attention, people who still believe in God find it harder to resist temptations and to handle their weaknesses.

How can it be otherwise when once stuck with the material, they simply become ruled by things like moods, temper, tastes, hormones, instincts, emotions, passions, fads and fashions.

These things, as we know, are always shifting or cover only a partial aspect of our life. They are not meant to be a constant element, guiding us to unchanging truths and what is truly good for us.

They give us a certain good, but they are notoriously shortsighted and narrow-minded. Worse, they spawn other evils like envy, greed, avarice, lust. They are like kids, charming but certainly needing direction and discipline.

Without the spiritual values, there’s no way one can resist the lures of the devil and the sting of the flesh. One can have an appearance of goodness, but inside it’s a different story altogether.

We have to develop a sense of the spiritual, one that puts God always in our mind and heart, in our feelings, our affairs, etc. We need grace for this, but we also are equipped for this lifestyle.

Loving the world

By Fr. Roy Cimagala / November 25, 2006

THE Gospel has warned us about the world being one of the enemies of our soul. St. John is clear about this: "For all that is in the world, are the concupiscence of the flesh, the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life, which is not of the Father, but is of the world." (1 Jn 2,16)

And yet the world is where we are. It is where our Lord has placed us. We believe it was created not only for us to stay in, but also for us to develop. As such, it is good and holds a tremendous meaning for us.

The problem, of course, is that we have spoiled and perverted it. And it now has the effects of our sin, such that if we are not careful, it can lead us away from God and bring us to our own destruction.

But originally the world is good. It just needs to be purified and reconciled with God, which is now our task, with God’s grace, of course, and thoroughly applying his teachings.

Just the same, we should always remember our Lord’s words: "God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting." (Jn 3,16)

Ergo, we too should love the world. I would say, we have to passionately love it. But we have to do it properly, that is, with the love of Christ. That’s the only way. Again, our Lord says: "For God sent not his Son into the world, to judge the world, but that the world may be saved by him." (Jn 3,17)

There are two extremes to avoid with respect to our attitude toward the world. One is to so hate the world that you would not like to have anything to do with it. You run away from it. You consider the world as naturally evil.

The other is to love it in such a disordered way it becomes everything to you. It becomes our God, our end-all, our definitive destiny and home. Our fate is completely tied with that of the world. There’s nothing beyond it.

There are a few of us, those with a religious vocation, etc., whose lifestyle puts them at a certain distance from the world. This is not because they hate the world, but rather because they want to give witness to our final destination, which is not in this world.

But for most of us, for the tremendous majority of the Christian faithful, we ought to live right there in the middle of the world, making it our very own, and making ourselves the primary agents responsible for its life and development. We should not run away from it.

We are of this world, and in this world, but we should not be worldly. We have to understand that the world is the necessary setting for the main drama of our life—to build our love for God, for others and ourselves precisely through the things of this world.

Thus, our attitude toward the world should be that of a healthy, vibrant love, knowing that our supernatural fate depends on how we live our life in this world.

We should be very interested in developing the world, actualizing whatever potentials it possesses for the purpose of giving glory to God, of serving others and of perfecting ourselves.

That is to say that whenever we do business and politics, whenever we go into creative work or plunge into the sciences, or immerse ourselves in cultural activities, etc., this should be the motive to drive us.

We have to learn to look, find, love and serve God and others in these earthly affairs. The problem we have at the moment is that even among Christian believers, this attitude is agonizingly missing.

We have to be convinced that only in this way can we properly love the world. Thus, we have to learn to be real contemplatives in the world. Outside of this condition, we will be abusing the world, in spite of the wonderful accomplishments we may be making.

The one thing necessary

By Fr. Roy Cimagala / September 16, 2006

BY some fluke, I have been a recipient through these past few years of a number of modern gadgets that drastically facilitate my work. They open for me a bigger, wider, and definitely more exhilarating window to the world.

There’s of course the computer with its connection to the internet and other functions. Then you have the personal digital assistant (PDA) that allows you to virtually carry a whole library of books and documents in your pocket.

Then there’s the laptop and the flash drive or USB (universal serial bus) that enable you to do instant research, study and writing practically everywhere and even in those odd moments in-between appointments and activities.

I’m left with a raging sense of gratitude to God and to many kind-hearted donors for all these. All of sudden I find myself paddling in a much bigger ocean of data and information. As they say, these indeed take my breath away.

But they also come with a price, even an exorbitant price. If we are not careful, we can lose our soul. I’ve seen cases of people falling into some kind of invincible obsessions and hard-to-cure addictions because of these gadgets.

Like any instrument, these gadgets are good to those who are good, and bad to those who are bad. Their morality depends on their users.

For one, while with them many good things are made accessible, temptations also proliferate.

Then we have to trade in our intellectual paddles with much stronger and swifter thinking tools. This is not easy to do, especially if we are already of a certain age. The capacity to upgrade our skills and to adapt to new things becomes harder by the year.

What seemed enough for us for many years, and served us quite well in our work so far, suddenly appear puny in the face of the tremendous possibilities these gadgets provide.

This is where we can stir certain dormant potentials we didn’t realize we had. We know that not all of them are good. Many need to be purified. When awakened, they need to be restrained and somehow regulated, otherwise we can get into trouble.

This is where the need to be more discriminating and to be more dominating of oneself becomes keener, because it’s very easy to get lost in the world these gadgets offer, and even to be enslaved in ways that are most subtle.

Yes, it’s quite easy to be sucked into a frenzy of curiosity and activism and to be so absorbed by them that we can easily forget our other duties, even the more important ones like praying and eating and resting.

These gadgets seem not to run out of images, icons, ideas, sounds, etc., to engage both our senses and faculties. They can knock us out, completely leaving us beaten and helpless.

The pursuit of knowledge can be so intoxicating that we can ignore what St. Paul once warned us: "Knowledge puffs up, but charity edifies." (1 Cor 8,1) We need to constantly rectify our intentions as we plunge into the ocean of possibilities these gadgets give us.

We should not lose our sense of priority. This should be shown in the way we plan and budget our time. This is a crucial aspect of the matter. Order should be a permanent concern, because disorder can just come spontaneously. No need for invitation.

In the end, there’s only one thing that is truly necessary in our life. Let’s remember what our Lord told Martha who was doing quite well by fussing about household chores but complained about her sister, Mary, who was simply listening to our Lord.

"Martha, Martha, you are troubled about many things. But one thing is necessary, and Mary has chosen the best part, which shall not be taken away from her," (Lk 10,41-42) he said.

We need to see that all this facilitated and accelerated pursuit of knowledge afforded by these gadgets truly brings us closer to God and to others. Knowledge is worthless and can be dangerous if not driven by charity and if it does not lead us to love—God and others.

New evangelization

By Roy Cimagala / September 9, 2006

The expression, "new evangelization," has been around for quite some time now. Pope John Paul II in his 26-year pontificate had been talking a lot about it, and, mind you, he was not the first one to do so.

It’s not new anymore. It’s rather old and, in my view, even tired. But the concept will always remain new and relevant. There’s no doubt about that.

Jesus Christ, who is at the center of it all, can never become obsolete. He is the one who will make everything new. He can even make the dead rise to life again. So, relax, there’s no reason to despair, no matter how bad the picture may look.

The problem is us. We are not doing what we ought to do about it. There is so much laziness, ignorance, lukewarmness, doctrinal confusion. There is mad pursuit for earthly pleasures, a veritable systematic effort to "protect" oneself from God. It’s today’s version of people building their own Tower of Babel.

And if there is some flicker of interest, it is promptly spoiled by petty quarrels, envies and a strong crab mentality, if not by sheer incompetence and naked pride and vanity. It’s really a shame.

The truth is evangelization will always be an activity of the Church, a duty of every Christian faithful, that is, the clergy, the laity and the religious. But how many realize this, and how seriously do we take it?

As St. Paul once said: "Woe to me if I don’t preach the gospel!"(1 Cor 9:16). Pope Paul VI paraphrased this by saying: "Evangelization is the grace and vocation proper to the Church, her deepest identity. She exists in order to evangelize."

When Pope John Paul talked about the new evangelization, he wanted us, both clergy and laity, to find a new fervor, new methods, and new expressions in proclaiming and giving witness to Christ, given the rapid flow of developments nowadays. But what have we done about this indication?

The first thing to remember is that this new evangelization can only be done as a result of a vibrant spiritual life of intimate, personal relationship with Jesus. This is indispensable. There’s no other way.

How can we talk about God and his things if we don’t talk to him and earnestly assimilate his teachings?

Modern man especially has developed the knack to distinguish what is authentic from what is not, given the amount of sales talk he is exposed to these days. So we need to be authentic evangelizers, who first live by what we preach before evangelizing.

All effort at evangelization has to start with prayers, with serious study. It has to be nourished by a life of sacraments and continuing ascetical struggle, developing virtues and assimilating values in their proper hierarchy.

This is the only way to acquire some traces of credibility and to convince others that we are not simply transmitting our own ideas, but the teachings and even the very life of Christ.

Just as Christ said that anyone who sees him sees his Father who sent him, we should so live and act that anyone who sees and hears us can see and hear Christ who asks us to evangelize.

All the creativity needed in this task in the present context can and should flow only from such fount. Otherwise, all efforts will just go to waste. They cannot be expected to last nor to bear much fruit, etc.

The challenge here is how to make people feel the presence of God and realize the command of Christ. The laity especially should more keenly feel their duty to participate more actively in this task of evangelization.

In this regard, the lay people who are immersed in the world are especially expected to bring the message and spirit of Christ to all the corners of the world. That’s why they have to be truly adept in this task. That’s their challenge today.

They are especially crucial in evangelizing marriage and the family, the educational world, culture and entertainment, business and politics in all levels, from the local to the national and the international.

Aside from praying, studying and really trying to be holy, they need to know very well the social doctrine of the Church, which is that aspect of the Christian faith that impacts with man’s life and responsibilities in the world.

Loving the Church

By Fr. Roy Cimagala / August 12, 2006

WE have to be more conscious of this duty, especially at these times. Certain developments, sadly led by some reckless Church leaders, are distorting, even perverting, the Church’s sense of power, authority and purpose.

The Church, of course is a great mystery. No one can dare to say he has the full understanding of it. Yet Christ, its founder, through his words and actions, through his life and death, has left us with a good idea of what it is and how it should be.

It’s part of divine revelation entrusted to all of us in the Church, both pastors and lay faithful, each with their proper roles. It’s a revelation that is now amply articulated in many Church documents like the constitutions "Lumen gentium" and "Gaudium et spes."

And yet, it seems all these are ignored. The indication, for example, for the clergy and the hierarchy to stay out of politics is quite clearly spelled out already, together with their reasons.

It’s an indication that surely is based on the life and example of our Lord Jesus Christ who, in spite of many irregularities of the political environment of his time, did not get entangled with politics. He did not allow himself to get distracted.

He once said, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s" (Mt 22,21), defining the distinction and relationship between the eternal and temporal realities, the spiritual and material things that govern our lives here on earth.

In my view, it’s also an indication that needed to be clearly spelled out after a long, painful and ugly Church history that saw the mess created when the clergy—from popes down—got enmeshed in worldly affairs.

Imagine, popes who acted also like kings with armies and wealth, who entered into wars and engaged in really dirty politics, and of course who committed all sorts of crimes!

That was the period of Caesaropapism and clericalism, a confusion of spiritual and temporal powers that contradict the gospel message.

Recent actuations and statements of some bishops indicate there’s a trend to a return to this ugly mentality and culture of the Church in the past. Things may not be that clear yet, but the symptoms are already there.

Their justifications vary from the funny to the absurd. That they are just acting as one more ordinary citizen is ridiculous, given the fact that they simply would not be given the attention they enjoy now from the media and the public if they were not bishops.

That they are simply voicing out what seems to them as the right thing to do, or even the moral option for people to take, is even more ridiculous. Are they suggesting that those who have a different view are taking the wrong road or the immoral option?

They may not realize it, but the actuations and statements they have just done make them appear more of a temporal power than a spiritual authority. This is a disturbing development.

Because of their position in the Church, bishops need to be truly prudent in their actuations and statements on politics. It’s a certain sensitivity that guides them to distinguish between what they ought to do especially with respect to politics, which they also have to evangelize, and what is already engaging in partisan politics.

That’s why the Church’s social doctrine has articulated clear guidelines about how this prudence in politics on the part of the hierarchy should be lived and developed. These teachings should be studied thoroughly.

Bishops have a very important role to play in Christianizing politics. It’s not a matter of coming up with concrete political positions. It’s more of creating the proper atmosphere for a free and responsible discussion of issues. It’s more of facilitating substantive and fruitful dialogues among all the parties involved, reminding everyone of the requirements of the common good.

Their role is also to remind everyone of the need we have of the spiritual and supernatural means in our efforts to live out our political life. These can never be neglected. And the hierarchy is the proper authority to make this reminder.

Sincerity

By Fr. Roy Cimagala / July 22, 2006

WE have to be reminded of this virtue, indispensable not only to achieve personal integrity but also to attain a certain level of social harmony.

Now that we are growing into more complex socio-political life, we all the more need to be sincere—with God, with others, with our own selves—to achieve authentic personal and social development.

At the moment, we seem to be drowned by an ocean of data and opinions, while truth is actually left out in the cold. This situation has been with us for so long that we already consider it normal.

Everyone is claiming he is sincere in his views, then cites all sorts of info and other pieces of evidence to support what he says.

While these claims are good, sincerity actually goes far beyond these purely subjective affirmations. It goes far beyond simply reporting what took place or what we see, feel or know. True sincerity is never cold and callous.

Sincerity is love for the truth. It presumes a certain living as constrasted to a formalistic relationship with how one understands truth to be.

This is the source of the problem. Truth to many is just what we see, feel or know. Or it’s what we studied, researched on, what we learn from other sources. Truth is seldom considered to have anything to do with God, who is Truth himself and the source of all truths.

When sincerity is not actively linked to God, then what we have is a very precarious, even dangerous kind of sincerity.

It would be a sincerity prone to pride, arrogance, pursuit of self-interest. It would be a sincerity devoid of charity, compassion and mercy. It would be a divisive sincerity, susceptible to be easily manipulated and to lead to self-righteousness.

It would be a sincerity that serves the tricks and wiles of human malice, sowing intrigues, creating contentions, fuelling loquacity and rash judgments.

We have been amply warned about these caricatures of sincerity in the gospel, but sadly these are what we are seeing around us these days! And in abundance.

Authentic sincerity is always a function of a living relationship with God. It is a sincerity that always upholds the truth in charity. Humility, simplicity and refinement always accompany it. Prudence and discretion temper it.

A truly sincere person considers his statements as a living part of his continuing dialogue not only with men but mainly with God. He lives a sincerity that makes him realize he has to make changes and conversions in his own self first before he can expect these in others.

It is a sincerity that is patient, willing to make sacrifices and to suffer for the truth. It is always accompanied by some kind of interior struggle against the constant enemies of the soul that also are the enemies of truth—pride, selfishness, vanity, etc.

These vices distort truth and reality. And when left uncorrected, they can build a culture that actually harms and demeans humanity.

To be sincere, it is indispensable to be prayerful. Truth cannot be handled simply relying on our good senses. It can only be handled properly with God, and prayer is our constant contact with God.

There are other requirements of sincerity. But I think that the most basic, the most indispensable, is to pray. Everything else has to flow from it. Otherwise, we would just be tossed and fro in an ocean of so-called "truths" that are none other than self-affirmations detached from the source of Truth.

This is something we have to understand well.

Clerical mentality

By Fr. Roy Cimagala / July 15, 2006

ITS other name is clericalism. It refers to an unhealthy attitude that can affect both the clergy and laity. It’s when the roles of the clergy and the laity get blurred and confused, their distinction trespassed.

As a result the clergy is given undue importance, or an exaggerated social status and even political power. The laity also tends to be clericalized, or to have undue dependence on the clergy.

This, in my view, is a problem we have to solve. What makes it more difficult is that it’s a problem that has something of a Trojan horse, a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

For who would not welcome the idea of the clergy truly concerned also with earthly problems? Or for the laity to be close to the clergy?

The Church herself wants priests and bishops to walk with their flock sharing their joys and hopes, their problems and sorrows. And the Church also wants that there be an organic unity between the clergy and the laity.

The problem is that the proper delineation of the roles to be played respectively by the clergy and the laity is not followed. It seems big segments of both the clergy and the laity do not have a clear mind about this distinction.

Thus, at the moment there are many instances when the ugly face of clericalism is showing. For example, some bishops and priests are getting bolder in assuming partisan positions in socio-political issues.

All of a sudden, they become experts about what form of government should be best for our country, about mining and gambling regulation. They even enter into questions whether a province should be divided or not.

They have no qualms in declaring that such and such public official is lying and therefore should be ousted or impeached. Some go to the extent of going to Congress to exorcise it or to lead political rallies.

Their language has deteriortated from one of proclamation to that of denunciation, from one where tones of charity, unity, understanding can be heard to one where there’s a lot of imprudent aggressiveness, sarcasm and divisive insistence.

On the other hand, we see laymen assuming more and more clerical roles. While some lay assistance is always needed to run Church offices and carry out parochial functions, a growing clerical mentality can also be observed.

This consists of thinking that the lay faithful’s first and main duty is to be active in parishes and Church activities, often neglecting their duties at home and in the world.

Some priests demand this kind of cooperation from some parishioners, often ostracizing these parishioners if they fail to cooperate. This is quite unfair. These clerics end up acting like petty kingpins in their territories.

Some lay people, on the other hand, because of some failure in professional life, run to parishes seeking refuge. Of course, they should not be rejected, but they have to be encouraged to be more active in their proper field of responsibility.

Of course, a worse case of clerical mentality is when some politicians and ideologues seek by hook or by crook the support of the clergy for their particular position in socio-political issues. This phenomenon is getting rampant.

The procession of pressure groups, whether from the left or from the left, to bishops’ offices to get their support is lamentable. They show a terrible tendency to use the Church in matters that are left to the free discussion of men.

Of course, the media is not exempted from this sickness. They even enhance it, since in a way it helps to sell their papers.

We need to have a clear mind about the roles of the clergy and the laity both in the Church and in the world. And we have to be quick to correct irregular situations of clericalism, which can pervert the nature of the Church as Christ founded it.

Latin to the rescue

By Fr. Roy Cimagala / July 8, 2006

ONE lesson I learned early in life is that when there’s a typhoon outside, one should better stay at home and do something productive.

At the moment, we have a terrible, ugly typhoon in the political arena, made more vicious by the participation of some bishops.

We are told these clerics are not interfering in politics but are simply exercising their pastoral duty of upholding and defending morality involved in these crucial big issues in our political life.

This is something new to me. So, if one is not for the impeachment of the President, or is for charter change, or is for some amount of mining in the country, or is for legalization of some games of chance, etc., he is acting immorally? Give me a break!

No wonder the Church is sometimes held in ridicule by some sectors because of clerics’ views like these. I don’t think these clerics are acting like fools for Christ. They are simply fools, period, of their own accord.

If there’s an effective way to harm the Church, it is when Church leaders interfere in politics. They will be foolishly and unnecessarily dividing the flock.

The issues involved are matters of opinion. We should allow people to take any position their conscience would tell them. Or are these bishops claiming their position in political issues is the only moral position?

One position may be better than another, but as long as one position, no matter how inferior, does not go against faith and morals, or basic human rights, it has to be respected. It’s part of the autonomy temporal affairs enjoy.

In these matters, no one has the exclusive possession of truth or justice or prudence, etc. That’s why it’s so repulsive to hear clerics speak on socio-political issues as if they have that exclusive right to wisdom and morality.

The Christian way to resolve these issues is already spelled out in the Church’s social doctrine. That way is always marked by dialogue, norms of prudence, charity, understanding, mercy, etc. It does not talk much about coming up with specific positions, much less a partisan one at that.

Everyone is supposed and should be encouraged to be responsible in coming up with his opinions. Everyone is supposed to respect others who may not agree with his position. And everyone should refrain from involving the Church in what are clearly human and temporal conflicts.

In pursuing socio-political issues, the lay people have to take active and direct role. The clerics, because of the nature of our vocation, better be more discreet, keep quiet, or just give out reminders for justice, fairness, requirements of common good, etc.

Everyone would be happy with that. And that behavior of the clergy is not fence-sitting, because the issues involved are not matters of faith and morals, or human rights.

We have to be careful with those clever, plotting groups who want their position to be strengthened by clerical endorsement. That would be a clear case of an unhealthy clerical mentality among some politicians and ideologues.

I keep on thinking about what is happening lately among our Church leaders. I have concluded that there is indeed a typhoon outside, reason, even common sense are suspended.

There is no use battling it out. We just have to wait until those stupid cats and dogs run out of energy—and mischief. In the meantime, it may be good to do something else.

Like reviewing Latin. Not only does it engage your mind more than crossword puzzles and sodukus. It also gives us a sense of being grounded, of being a part of a well-thought out system and culture.