Renewal not just for 40 days
THE story is told about an elderly member of religious community who was grouchy, critical, and hard to get along with. During the Holy Week the priest attended an intense retreat which proved very effective and fulfilling.
He was personally renewed. To show that he had indeed changed, he posted a caratola (sign) outside his door which read: “Here lives a New Man; the old man died and is buried.”
Everybody in the community was happy over the remarkable conversion. But after a couple of months his old traits started to surface one by one--until he completely returned to his old self.
Noting what happened, somebody sneaked to his door and wrote below the caratola he posted: “But on the third day, the old man rose from the dead!”
Many think that after participating in the Lenten and Easter rites, we have done our “Easter obligation” and now consider ourselves as renewed Christians.
Those liturgical rites, Lenten retreats,
acts of charity, and penitensiyas are, indeed, good but they should not end there.
In her article “Think Small This Lent,” Joan Anderson has this to say: “The meaning of Lent is to develop positive and permanent habits that will continue -- not just for 40 (Lenten) days but for life.”
Moreover, like in the above story whether you are a transformed religious priest or lay person, you can and do backslide, sometimes committing the same offenses.
You shouldn’t get discouraged. It’s not easy to reform one self. As a Chinese proverb puts it, “It is easier to reshape a mountain or a river than a person’s character.”
Personal renewal is a lifetime task. So keep trying.
LAFF ONE ANOTHER. Pope Francis said to the clergy: “An ambassador for the faith must never look like someone who’s just come back from a funeral.”
And to the lay people, the jovial Pope said: “They think that being Christian means being in perpetual mourning.”
WHY DID JESUS RISE FROM
THE DEAD? Answer: Because his grave was borrowed only for the weekend from an upright, wealthy Jew — Joseph of Arimathea.
Poor Jesus, he had to vacate it or else he would be ejected. (Of course, that’s not the real reason).
SICK INDIGENTS. There’s a saying which goes: “Give a man a fish and he will live for a day; teach him how to fish and he will live for the rest of his life.” But there are sick indigents who need help because they’re so weak to hold a fishing rod.
This is the case of Dante Cabansag suffering from renal failure, R. Cayunda, M. Maranga who are so weak to work due to pulmonary ailment. How about helping alleviate their sufferings by chipping in an amount to buy the necessary medicines?
For inquiries, e-mail me at: belsvd@gmail.com.
ST. JUDE. Today, Thursday, join us in our novena to St. Jude Thaddeus at the Divine Word Shrine, Christ the King Seminary, on E. Rodriguez Boulevard, Quezon City, after the 6 p.m. Mass.
A healing pray-over and anointing of holy oil will follow.