It always pays to be simple and humble

Yes, indeed! It always pays to be simple and humble. And the reason is because such qualities can only attract God to us. Take note of what Christ once said: “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike.” (Mt 11,25)

And St. James in his letter reiterates the same point: “God opposes the proud and shows favor to the humble.” (4,6) One of the beatitudes highlights the importance of meekness: “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” (Mt 5,5)

We should do everything to keep ourselves in the loop of these virtues of simplicity, humility, meekness, and the like. More than that, we should always find ways of how we can continually grow in them, given the fact that we tend to get contented at achieving a certain level of these virtues. We should not forget that since the world never stops evolving with all its good and bad forces, we also need to continue developing these virtues to cope with the varying challenges being posed on us.

Let’s remember that Christ said it clearly. “Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart.” Christ, our “way, truth and life,” points to us the crucial qualities we ought to develop in this life that is so full of challenges, with the view of tackling them properly.

It’s meekness and humility. They effectively resemble us with Christ. And with Christ in his meekness and humility, we would be ready to face all the challenges, trials, difficulties, etc., in life. That is the secret.

Christ reassures us. “My yoke is easy and my burden light.” We should not worry too much about life’s vagaries. Precisely when we feel pressured and weighed down, he tells us, “Come to me…and I will give you rest.”

Let us pay attention more to these words than to our human standards and estimation of things that will always consider these qualities as softness or meaningless passivity and defeatism, devoid of fighting spirit.

In fact, these words require a lot of strength and forcefulness, for they have to be reconciled also with these words of Christ: “The Kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent are taking it by force.” (Mt 11,13)

In this regard, we have to learn how to master our emotions and passions. They are notorious in exploding in their own reckless ways when not disciplined by our reason and most especially by our faith, hope, and charity.

We need to train ourselves to feel at home with this divine indication that is meant for our redemption. We have to lose the fear of suffering. We have to assume the mind of the sacrificial lamb whose life-offering actually gives all of us eternal life.

All of this would require first of all the grace of God which God himself gives to us abundantly. But we have to learn to correspond to that grace as best that we could. We can start by reining in our emotions and passions, disciplining and purifying them so that they conform to the will and ways of God rather than to ours.

We have to learn to welcome whatever suffering, trial, or challenges would come our way, reacting to them in a supernatural way, viewing them from the angle of faith, and tackling them with the spiritual and supernatural means that are made available to us.

Let me take this opportunity to greet The FREEMAN on its 103rd anniversary. More than a century of upholding press freedom and outstanding journalism. Congratulations and onward to the next century!

I have been seeing and reading a lot of articles on both mainstream and social media regarding the ubiquitous use “wang-wangs” or the use of sirens and blinkers to be given VIP or preferential treatment on the road. The term became popular under the administration of former president Noynoy Aquino who mentioned its abusive use in his inaugural address and vowed to stop the practice. It seems the abusive practice has slowly crept back in during the Duterte administration. The use of such devices is banned under Presidential Decree 96 which was issued back in 1973 by then President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. Now that we have his son and namesake in the Palace, it will be interesting to see if his father’s decree will be strictly enforced as PNoy did.

The PNP-Highway Patrol Group (PNP-HPG) has recently issued warnings against the unauthorized use of these sirens and blinkers. I have been seeing them around, even on vehicles I don’t even think are authorized to use them. Major General Valeriano de Leon, PNP Director for Operations said they would be strictly implementing the ban. Offenders will be fined along with jail time of up to six months.

That should be enough warning to everyone. I hope so as I have heard this again and again. I also think the PNPHPG should clarify which vehicles can use such devices. Aside from PNP vehicles driven by police officers on official use, ambulances, along with escorts of the president, vice president, senate president, speaker of the house, and the