Toughness needed to face life’s challenges

That’s what the readings of the fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B, reminds us of. From the Book of Job, we are already warned that our life here on earth is some kind of warfare. (cfr. 7,1) And St. Paul in the Second Reading also tells us that we have to learn to be “all things to all men to save all.” (1 Cor 9,22) That’s definitely a tall order, given the way we are.

And Christ himself showed us how our life --with all its challenges, difficulties and dangers-- can and should be. In spite of the many good things he already was doing, many more people with great needs came to him asking for help. (cfr. Mk 1,29-39) That he had a very complicated life is indeed an understatement.

All of us, but especially priests and others in similar position, should be tough and strong. We need to be tough because aside from bearing our own personal burdens, from contending with our own personal demons, we also have to bear the burdens of the others. It is no joke to serve like the receptacle of the problems of the others and to find ways to help them.

Since we priests, for example, usually hear confessions and give counseling and spiritual direction to others, we cannot help but be affected somehow by what we hear. And the problems of some people can be so heavy and heart-wrenching that we end up exhausted, practically emptied of any strength and energy.

The worst part is what to say as advice and how to say it. It indeed is a big challenge to be able to present the mercy and love of God when the people’s problems seem to have no human solution or when their miseries and weaknesses seem to be persistent and insurmountable despite their efforts.

In these cases, the challenge is how to present God’s love in such a way that his love and mercy is seen as soothing, acceptable, and meaningful. The challenge is how to present God’s love such that even if pain and suffering are unavoidable, people can see that God’s love takes care of everything. They would realize that what they cannot solve, God will always solve it for them in his own mysterious ways.

There is no doubt that a lot of spiritual and supernatural means are needed here. We have to pray that the people’s faith gets stirred and enlivened, that their hope gets reaffirmed and strengthened, that their love for God gets enkindled.

Aside from prayer, a lot of sacrifices are also needed. Prayer and sacrifices vitally unite and identify us with Christ who is the one to give us all the strength and light we need. Let’s remember what St. Paul said in this regard: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Phil 4,13)

Yes, it’s only with Christ and in him that we priests can truly be tough and strong as we should be as we carry out our ministry of helping people in their spiritual and moral life that can be filled with all sorts of problems and challenges.

Our toughness should be the toughness of Christ who was and continues to be willing to bear all the problems of men, and goes all the way to offer his life for the salvation of men.

Our society is in rather an unusual state as snakes are being seen nowadays even in the urban jungle. From pythons to cobras, it seems like Cebu is becoming a haven for sightings of these rare reptiles. Their sightings are not a pleasure to all. In fact, it incites fear and panic. Snakes can bite and some are venomous. Their venom can melt one's tissues until death or paralyze a certain part of one's body. For those that do not bite, they use their body to wrap around their prey until they die.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources already said that there is no cause for panic as these months until the end of April are considered their mating period. This means that they are out and about to find their partners in order to multiply. The cause for their resurgence is possibly due to overpopulation or that their natural habitat is being disturbed. Environmentalists are seeing a connection between climate change and their need to look for new places to hunt, causing a disturbance to humans.

Their records tell us that snakes, specifically king cobras, have already been in Cebu since the 1950s. They are more popular now because of the presence of social media. Technology has taught us to capture these sightings with our mobile phones and upload them for everyone to see. Mainstream media, as a watchdog, also report and interpret these sightings for the public to further understand what is actually going on. The response is varied, leaning towards being scared of the society that we are in. We are amongst dangerous reptiles, after all.

While we trust these experts, we should also not let our guard down. There is no specific control for these species but we can do our best to avoid their presence. They keep on reminding us to keep our surroundings clean, as these animals are drawn to moist and cold areas. We were also