Seeing with the heart

ASKED by his teacher what his father does, a little boy answered that his father is a magician who specializes in cutting people into half. Proof of this, he said, is that he has two half-sisters and two half-brothers.

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The story about the rich man and Lazarus in today's Gospel (Lk. 16, 19-31) reminds us that in this world, some people are rich and some people are poor. Some people are good, and some people are bad. That's the first half of the story.
The second half is that there is eternal life where the bad will be punished, and the good will have their reward. We have to see the complete picture. Are you focused on the comforts and pleasures of this life that you are forgetting eternal life?

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When we were little children, Mama never failed to remind us the value of being good and of sacrificing now rather than suffering in the next life. She was in fact teaching us the beatitudes by telling us to be humble, to be diligent, to be obedient and to be self-sacrificing, because she did not want any of us, her children, to experience hell and punishment. Her greatest sadness, she said, would be if our family would not be complete in heaven someday.

Who still talks of eternity these days? Who still emphasizes the beatitudes? So focused on the perks and pleasures of the here and now, we have lost sight of the promise and reality of eternity. So glued on the screens of our cell phones, computers and television sets, we have forgotten to look up to the great blue skies and the star-filled heavens.

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Somebody once said that a person has matured when he/she is able to transcend the "now" for the "later." Self-transcendence is hardly audible in our world which speaks so loud of self-fulfillment. What the world forgets is the gospel message that it is precisely self-transcendence that leads to true self-fulfillment. It is in losing ourselves that we really find ourselves. Again, these are two halves that are needed to complete the picture, but which one are you? Are you more of the self-transcending or more of the self-fulfilling person?

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"A few moments on the lips, forever on the hips." We all would do well to heed this advise if we want to lose weight. If we look back at our lives, we made regrettable mistakes because we did not let go and did not let God. If only we knew how to obey, how to sacrifice, we would not have made those blunders in life. Let us learn from our "mistakes" (wrong takes) and "misgives" (wrong gives) of the past.

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Death is the great equalizer. We all will die. There is an end to worldly sorrow -- and to worldly comfort as well. But the story does not end there. There will be reward or punishment in the life hereafter. This should be a warning to those who live in comfort now, and a comfort to those who live in sorrow now. Let us not take this warning comfortably.

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Bishop Jesus Galang of the Diocese of Urdaneta was laid to rest last September 22. He was 72. He was a simple man and had the good of the diocese in his heart and in his mind. According to the present diocesan administrator, my cousin Msgr. Marlo Peralta, the good bishop was kind and understanding, but strict in discipline. He was also "sine timore" (without fear) in dealing with the rich and the powerful. Here was a man who saw the "big picture" because he saw not only with his eyes but with his heart as well.

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Every once in a while I meet families that really inspire and edify, precisely because in spite of their achievements and status, they remain focused on the values that lead to eternal life. Col. Filoteo and Norma Arevalo raised up 11 children, and how! Out of the six sons, five graduated with honors from the Philippine Military Academy. All other children are professionals, very good professionals. What makes their story worth telling is the presence of the 5H in the family: honesty, humility, hard work, holiness and humor. I thank Wendell Bandonil and Ed Avila from Baguio City for introducing me to them, thus reenforcing my belief that "with all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it's still a beautiful world." Let us continue to look with eyes that see more than what meets the eye.

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Join us in the launching of our sixth book "Inquirer Moments, Cycle A" a collection of my Sunday columns in the Philippine Daily Inquirer. We will have a 4 p.m. Mass at the Christ the King Seminary, 1101 E. Rodriguez Sr. Blvd., Quezon City on October 1, my birthday. Please consider this book for your Christmas giveaway, and help our Filipino missionaries abroad.

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Inviting you to join me in the Walk with God to Manaoag on October 2, first Saturday. We will begin at 6 a.m. from Urdaneta church. Do the walk offering our prayers, thanksgiving and petitions. A Mass will follow at 11 a.m. in Manaoag. See you. God bless you. Mama Mary loves you!

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A moment with the Lord:

Lord, help me to see not only with my eyes but also with my heart. Amen.