Looking good

SOMEBODY once said that when God looks at us, He covers one eye so that He will not see the negative in us. The problem with us is that when we look at ourselves and other people, we open wide our eyes and we even have magnifying glasses to see the negative.

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In today's Gospel (Lk. 15, 1-32), Jesus was at the receiving end of the Pharisees' and Scribes' ever judgmental and critical eyes. "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them." There are people like that, people who have a knack for knocking down other people because they themselves want to go up. What these people need is not a magnifying glass, but a mirror, to see their own selves whenever they criticize.

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Learn from your fingers. Remember that when you point an accusing finger, you have three fingers pointing back at you. Instead of pointing a finger, why don't you hold out a helping hand? And whenever you are criticized, don't react with a closed fist. Receive criticisms with an open hand, and folded hands in prayer. There will always be people who make it their business to find fault in others even without a search warrant. The best way to put such people out of business is to simply ignore them. Well, let us qualify that: if a criticism is untrue, disregard it; if it is unfair, don't be irritated by it; if it is ignorant, smile at it; if it is justified, learn from it.

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In today's Parable of the Prodigal Son, we hear of the happy ending of the father embracing his lost son. Faithfulness is never an issue on God's part. His love is constant and unfailing. It is we who come and go, run and hide, rise and fall. If you feel far from God, who do you think moved? If you do not see God, who do you think turned off the lights? If you do not feel His hands, who do you think let go?

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Chastisements are God's way of helping us go back to Him. In good times we often forget or choose to forget Him. In bad times, we come to our senses, we are reminded once again, and we remember. But that is not always the case. There are people who continue to be proud and unbending and unlistening in spite of all the "wake-up calls" from God. We can't go on fighting God. We will never win. When we are battered by trials, failures and sufferings, God is calling us not so much to be strong but to be still, for it is in being still and humble that we become strong. The call is not so much for us to become a defiant hero as to be a repentant child.

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"It takes more courage to repent than to keep on sinning." I met a boy again this week. He has always refused to go to confession, especially during his younger and daring days. "Tsaka na lang (some other time)," he would always say. Now that he is older, poorer and less healthier, do you think he'd come seeking reconciliation with God? No, he still refuses to accept God's forgiveness and mend his ways. At least this time, he allowed me to bless him-something which he used to sneer at or joke about in his prime. I look beyond his brave front for I know that behind the confident, proud and cynical hunk is a scared, wounded, crying, good, little boy. He is closer to home now. In time, he will enter the door that has always been there open for him all these years: Prayer. Prayer. Prayer.

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Someone once said that true repentance has two eyes: A weeping eye for the sins of the past, and a watchful eye for the sins of the future. Repentance means that we surrender all the sins we have committed and the sins we can and still intend to commit.

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By just looking, we can hurt people already. By just looking, we can also be indifferent, and detached and uninvolved. By just looking, we can go through life uncommitted. The Father's invitation is for all of us not to just look, but to look with the eyes of love, and to have love that always looks for opportunities to do good. Don't just go for good looks. Just be good, and do good.

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Inviting you to join a Pilgrimage to Naju, Korea, October 4 to 9, to meet the visionary Julia Kim, a victim soul who has healed many people, physically, spiritually and emotionally. For more details you can call +63 2 911 1394/9130388; +63 921 286 6810.

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SVD Class '71, the so-called Papal Class (Batch of Sammy Yap, Bishop Rillera and Bishop Bastes) is inviting all the SVDs and XVDs to a Class Reunion in Sorsogon City on October 17-18. For particulars, please call +63 917 505 0503/+63 43 318 1982.

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Held recently in Cagayan de Oro was the National Congress on the Holy Childhood as part of the mission animation efforts of the Catholic Church. All of us have a mission in this life. Yes, we all are co-mission-ers of our Lord.

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A moment with the Lord

Lord, help me to go beyond my concern of just good looks but to really look good to You. Amen.