By Fr. Roy Cimagala *
WHILE Christ was always patient, compassionate, merciful and
the like with everyone, we cannot deny that there were occasions that
he showed anger and expressed some lamentations. He even did this with
his disciples, and especially with those self-righteous leading Jews
of his time and those who converted the temple into a market place.
In one occasion, while being invited for dinner by a
Pharisee, he was criticized, at least interiorly by those around, for
not observing the prescribed washing before the meal. That’s when he
told the host, “Oh you Pharisees! Although you cleanse the outside of
the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil. You
fools! Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside?” (cfr.
Lk 11,37-41)
This gospel episode somehow warns us that we are always
prone to fall into all kinds of formalism and legalism without the
proper spirit and motive behind our actions, laws, culture, etc. It
reminds us that we have to be truly consistent and to develop a
certain unity of life that can only be achieved if we are with Christ,
who is the pattern of our humanity and the savior of our damaged
humanity.
Developing this consistency and unity of life should be an
abiding concern for all of us. Even if we have to contend with many
aspects and dimensions of our life, it is only one life that each of
us has, not two or three. And thus, to build and keep our unity of
life is a daily task of ours. We can neglect it only to our own
serious risk and damage.
Our life is not only biological that relies simply on our
biological functions. Neither is it just purely physical or material
that requires merely material nourishment.
Our life has many more important aspects and dimensions that
need to be integrated into one whole consistent thing. There’s the
manual and intellectual, the active and contemplative, personal and
social, the material and spiritual, the temporal and eternal, etc.
And precisely because of our spiritual nature, we open
ourselves to a supernatural level. That’s just how the cookie
crumbles. Thus, we should also be aware of what is natural and
supernatural in our life, the mundane and the sacred.
We can manage to have this consistency and unity of life if
we identify ourselves with Christ. Let’s remember what Christ said so
clearly. He is the vine, we are the branches. We can only have life,
let alone, consistency and fruitfulness in our life, if we are united
to him. Outside of him, we can only expect death, inconsistency and
sterility.
Yes, only in and with Christ can we have the real principle
of unity and fruitfulness in our life. We would be fooling ourselves
if we fail to recognize this basic truth about ourselves.
This, of course, is a truth of faith, not so much of
science. And that’s where the problem lies. There is a crisis of faith
in the world, especially involving those who rely more on their human
abilities than on belief in Christ.
We have to correct that predicament by realizing more deeply
that our life is supposed to be a life with God since not only are we
one of his creatures, but a creature that is meant to be his image and
likeness. We are meant to be like God through Christ in the Holy
Spirit. That’s how we can have consistency and unity of life.
