Advent is a call for conversion and penance

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *

THE gospel of the 2nd Sunday of Advent, Year A, celebrated this year on December 4, presents us with these words of St. John the Baptist that have to be taken seriously: “REPENT, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Mt 3,1)

Conversion and penance are actually what we have to do all the time. It’s quite clear that we need it, given our weakened, wounded and sinful condition in the entirety of our earthly sojourn. But it has its more intense moments, one of which is precisely the period of Advent.

The spirit of conversion and penance is not actually something that is dark, negative, painful, etc. It’s not something we should run away from. In fact, it’s not something that we should just bear and tolerate since we cannot avoid it.

We need to develop and live this spirit of continuing conversion and penance because it is clear that sin continues to dominate us in this life. In fact, it is quite clear that things are getting worse. There are now powerful and well-established structures of sin in our midst before which we are simply an easy prey.

The networks of corruption, pornography, godless and worldly ideologies, etc. are proliferating, taking advantage of the powerful technologies and the easy vulnerability of many people, especially the young ones, who are not yet prepared to properly handle these networks.

We know that the sense of sin itself is largely disappearing. Pope Francis and the previous Popes have pointed that out and are warning us of this condition. They are strongly encouraging us to truly develop the spirit of conversion and penance.

Advent is indeed a time to give special attention to our conscience, if only to clean, polish and fine-tune it, so it can more correctly and punctually hear the voice of God who is the only one to tell us what is truly right and wrong, moral and immoral, etc., in these very confusing times.

This spirit of continuing conversion and penance can only be developed if we truly have the love that comes from God. With this love, we will realize that there is no limit to our need for conversion and penance. Love will continue to make new demands on us, because life itself will also make new challenges and trials on us. Let’s never forget that our life will always be some kind of warfare.

With every conversion we make, we get closer to God, we grow in his divine wisdom and goodness. No doubt, we get to gain a lot more than what we seem to lose every time we make a conversion.

We should put our faith in this personal testimony of St. Paul: “Whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ.” (Phil 3,7-8)

The mark of true saints is precisely this hunger and thirst for repentance and conversion. Whatever good they did humbled them instead of leaving them proud. They knew who and what was behind all the accomplishments they made, and were more keenly aware of their inadequacies, their mistakes, faults, infidelities, etc.

It’s not that they led a miserable life of having a dark outlook in life and a negative attitude toward their own selves. They were a happy lot, whose joy sprang from their faithful union with God, their father, but also aware of their total dependence on G.

* Chaplain Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE), Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

The joy of Advent

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *

          THAT’S what the main theme of the 3rd Sunday of Advent

reminds us of. There is joy in this season of Advent even as we

prepare ourselves for the birth of Christ with practices of penance

that are proper to this season.

          The 3rd Sunday of Advent is also called the “Gaudete”

Sunday. The expression comes from the entrance antiphon of the Mass

that cites some words of St. Paul, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again

I say, rejoice! The Lord is near.” (Phil 4,4)

          It’s important that we don’t lose sight of our need for joy

even as we go through the exercise of penance which is what is called

for in this season of Advent. And that’s because, as St. Paul said,

the Lord is near. This piece of news should gladden our heart even as

we intensify our penitential acts to prepare ourselves properly to

receive him.

          This Good News, which with faith we can consider as already

done, should remind us of the bigger picture about ourselves. We come

from God and not just from our parents. We are meant to be with God in

our definitive state of life in eternity. Our life here on earth is

simply a training and testing ground to see if what God wants us to be

is also what we want to be.

          Joy is the ideal condition for us to be in while we are here

on earth. Yes, even when we encounter difficulties and all the

negative things in life, we can and should try to live in joy, but

understanding it as a joy in and with Christ. Especially in these

pandemic times, we should avoid feeling sad, empty, helpless, or

feeling overwhelmed.

          This was what Christ promised to give us if we are united to

him, like a branch to the vine. “If you keep my commands, you will

remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain

in his love,” he said. “I have told you this so that my joy may be in

you and that your joy may be complete.” (Jn 15,10-11)

          With these words, we are clearly told where our true and

complete joy will come from. It’s from Christ, from God, and not just

from some earthly and temporal source. It’s a joy that we can always

have in any season or weather, fair or foul. It’s a joy that

transcends whatever earthly and temporal condition we may be in.

Whether we are up or down, successful or defeated and lost, we can

still have that joy.

          We need to work out our true union with Christ to have this

kind of joy. To be sure, Christ is already with us. We should just be

with him. And it’s not difficult to be with Christ, because he is

already with us always. Being the pattern of our humanity, the savior

of our damaged humanity, he cannot be absent from us. It’s rather us

who can dare to ignore and resist him. We have to be wary of that

tendency and do something about it.

          For this, we really have to activate our faith that, if

lived well, can always give us hope, in spite of the tragedies that we

can encounter in life. Faith lived well also gives us the ability to

love everybody, whatever the conditions may be. A faith-based love

makes everything beautiful and lovable, even if by worldly standards

things are bad and ugly. This is what makes us live in joy despite

whatever!

* Chaplain Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE), Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

Advent and our ultimate goal

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *

          THE gospel of the Second Sunday of Advent (cfr. Lk 3,106)

somehow reminds us to appreciate the role of St. John the Baptist in

the whole economy of salvation. It’s definitely a role that encourages

us to be very clear about our ultimate goal in life for which we have

to do everything, so we can attain it. Let’s remember that this is the

most important concern we have in this life.

          And this ultimate goal is nothing other than that we be

“another Christ” who is the pattern of our humanity and the savior of

our damaged humanity. All the other things in our life—our personal

circumstances, our profession, our politics, etc.—should only serve as

means to our ultimate end.  While we have to be immersed in them, we

should see to it that we are not confused, trapped and lost in them,

diverting us from our true goal.

          We have to be more sharply and continually aware that all

the things in our life serve simply as the occasions where Christ is

intervening in our life to create and redeem us, to shape us to be

like him. For this, we have to avail of the appropriate means to keep

that awareness alive. Ignoring this condition in our life would

compromise the real purpose of our life here on earth.

          Thus, we have to come up with the proper plans and

strategies that would help us effectively act on this condition and

purpose of our life. They obviously should be plans and strategies

that should be inspired by our faith and not by some human motive or

ideology alone.

          Let’s remember that our faith gives us the complete picture

of the reality and purpose of our life. Any awkwardness or difficulty

we have in living our faith should be overcome. This obviously will

require some discipline. But we need to study our faith, and start

living or putting into practice what our faith teaches us.

          We have to understand that our formation in this regard

should be a lifelong business. We need to realize that our Christian

formation will take our whole lifetime. This should come as no

surprise to us, since our ultimate goal in life is none other than for

each one of us to be “alter Christus,” another Christ. And can anyone

dare to say that he is Christ-like enough?

          We always have to remember that our march toward full

development and maturity, human and not to mention Christian, never

ends in this life. It’s supposed to be an ongoing affair, a work in

progress. We should never say enough.

          The duty to take care of our formation is coterminous with

life itself, which will always give us lessons. And that’s because the

basics and essentials, the absolute, old and the permanent truths,

which we may already know, will always have to cope and somehow need

to get enriched by the incidentals in life, by the relative,

innovative and changing things.

          In his second letter, St. Peter urges us to go on with our

formation: “Strive diligently to supply your faith with virtue, your

virtue with knowledge, your knowledge with self-control, your

self-control with patience, your patience with piety, your piety with

fraternal love, your fraternal love with charity.” (1,5-7)

          And as we all know, charity is a never-ending affair, ever

making new demands on us, and introducing us to more aspects,

dimensions and challenges in life. It will always push us to do more,

to give more, to be more!

* Chaplain Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE), Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

German Embassy's Advent Series

German Embassy Manila

Page Liked · December 17 · 

 

++ ADVENT SERIES – DELICACIES ++

In this post, we take a look at the delicacies that make our Christmas celebrations more delicious and sweeter!

“Plätzchen” are very important in the German Christmas tradition. There are countless recipes one can follow. But of course the best ones are usually those handed down by great grandmothers to younger generations. Baking cookies with the family is a common activity during the Christmas season, which fills the house with Christmas scents and warmth from the oven. It is an activity surely enjoyed by every family member (except the ones cleaning up, LOL). The baked cookies are often given as gifts to friends to spread the Christmas feeling – which is also a good excuse for you not to eat them all by yourself and gain 5 kilos!

At this time of posting, Filipinos have begun their series of “Simbang Gabi.” It is also during this period that you’ll find street vendors near the churches baking fresh “bibingka” and “puto bumbong” – two of the most iconic Filipino Christmas delicacies. Because of the abundance of rice in the country, parishioners during the Spanish era offered rice to their parishes which are in turn prepared by the priests and clergy as “bibingka” and “puto bumbong” to be shared with everyone. Preparing the bibingka is time-consuming but interesting as it is primarily sandwiched in between two pre-heated coals. The Puto Bumbong on the other hand is baked by steaming the glutinous rice in a bamboo tube until the rice (usually purple in color) rises from the tube. The best part is the signal when the dessert is cooked – the bamboo tube whistles!