FROM SELF-CENTERED TO CHRIST-CENTERED

THIS is why we are here. It is the purpose of our lives, the meaning of our existence. We should never lose sight of that. Life places before us a decisive choice: to remain centered on ourselves or to live with Christ, who reveals what it truly means to be human. He is “the way, the truth and the life,” leading us to full communion with God…(Full article in link below)

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Big things start small

 

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

Chaplain

Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE)

Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

SOME people approach life the way toddlers approach an all-you-can-eat buffet: one gigantic plate, zero strategy, and complete confidence that nothing could possibly go wrong. 

They announce world-changing plans before breakfast, only to discover by lunchtime that they cannot even keep a houseplant alive. Thankfully, Christ's parables of the mustard seed and the yeast (cfr. Mt 13,31-35) offer a gentler, wiser approach: start small. Very small. So small that your ego may need counseling.

The mustard seed does not demand to become a towering tree overnight. The yeast does not throw a dramatic press conference announcing its intention to inflate an entire bakery by noon. They simply do their quiet work. Meanwhile, humans are busy writing ten-year plans after watching one motivational video and purchasing expensive planners that will remain suspiciously blank after February.

There is profound wisdom in beginning with little things. Small beginnings build strong foundations, unlike castles constructed entirely from wishful thinking and inspirational quotes. 

More importantly, the ordinary moments of daily life are precisely where God quietly waits for us. Scripture reminds us that God's will is our sanctification, not our successful audition for the role of "Most Impressive Person on Earth."

Starting small also keeps us from the dangerous sport of premature greatness. Many brilliant projects have collapsed because someone confused enthusiasm with competence. Patience grows best when watered daily by humble effort instead of flashy ambition. Even better, small beginnings gently force us to rely on God's providence instead of our own oversized confidence.

This means finding God in ordinary routines: washing dishes without composing a personal tragedy, answering emails without declaring war on your inbox, smiling at difficult people instead of secretly nominating them for exile. 

Suddenly, these tiny actions become holy because they are no longer just our own efforts. They become opportunities to cooperate with God rather than starring in the one-person show called "Look What I Accomplished."

People often dream of performing spectacular acts of holiness. They imagine heroic sacrifices, dramatic miracles, or perhaps receiving heavenly applause after surviving an especially difficult committee meeting. 

Yet true greatness usually arrives disguised as countless unnoticed acts of kindness, patience, honesty, and love. Heaven apparently has a soft spot for people who quietly do the right thing without demanding a trophy or at least a commemorative coffee mug.

Never underestimate the power of little things. Tiny acts of love accumulate like compound interest, except the dividends are eternal. Ignore them, however, and you may discover that you have mastered impressive speeches about faith while remaining spectacularly impatient with slow cashiers and family members who chew too loudly.

Christ himself offered the perfect performance review: whoever is faithful in little things will also be faithful in much. That sounds wonderfully simple until your greatest spiritual challenge turns out to be remaining charitable before your first cup of coffee. Apparently, sainthood begins much closer to the kitchen sink than to the spotlight.

Sanctity may indeed require heroic courage, perhaps even martyrdom for some. For most of us, however, heroism wears ordinary clothes. It means consistently choosing love when nobody notices, nobody applauds, and nobody posts it online. Hidden faithfulness can be remarkably heroic.

So, spend your day asking, "Lord, what should I do with this moment?" Whether facing exciting work, tedious chores, or endless waiting, invite Christ into every little task. The mustard seed never looked impressive on day one, but somehow it still managed to outgrow every oversized ego in the garden.

From self-centered to Christ-centered

 

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

Chaplain

Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE)

Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

THIS is why we are here. It is the purpose of our lives, the meaning of our existence. We should never lose sight of that. Life places before us a decisive choice: to remain centered on ourselves or to live with Christ, who reveals what it truly means to be human. He is “the way, the truth and the life,” leading us to full communion with God.

The path is not easy. It demands effort, perseverance, sacrifice, and the willingness to struggle against our weaknesses. Yet we should never forget that God has already given us everything we need through Christ and in the Holy Spirit. He calls us to become his image and likeness, his adopted children, destined to share in his own life and divine nature.

To help us reach that goal, God pours out his grace. He strengthens us with faith, hope, and charity. He gives us the truths we need to understand and live by. He offers mercy whenever we stumble, knowing that failures and shortcomings are inevitable during our earthly journey. His generosity never runs dry, even when ours does.

Our task, then, is to detach ourselves little by little from our selfishness so that Christ may grow within us. We must steadily loosen the grip of self-centeredness and allow ourselves to be transformed into his image. The more we resemble Christ, the more we become the people we were created to be.

This lifelong mission is a partnership between God's grace and our cooperation. Grace always comes first, but it calls for a generous response. We must die to ourselves so that the life of God can flourish in us. We surrender our selfish desires not because we lose ourselves, but because we finally discover our true selves in Christ.

Christ himself makes this clear: “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?” (Mt 16:24-26).

These words challenge the way we usually think. They invite us to rethink success, happiness, and especially love. Real love is never about clinging to ourselves. It is about giving ourselves away. Paradoxically, when we let go of selfishness, we become filled with what truly belongs to us—the very love of God.

Christ is the perfect example. As St. Paul writes, although he was God, he did not cling to his divine status for his own advantage. Instead, he emptied himself, took the form of a servant, and became like us. (Phil 2:5-7). His greatness was revealed not by self-promotion but by complete self-giving.

That is why we must radically reshape our understanding of love. Authentic love always requires sacrifice. It means losing in order to gain, surrendering in order to receive something infinitely greater. Every genuine act of self-giving draws us closer to God and makes us more capable of loving as Christ loves.

Christ illustrated this truth in his parables of the treasure hidden in a field and the merchant searching for fine pearls. Those who discover what is truly valuable gladly give up everything else to possess it. We should never settle for what is merely good when God offers us what is best.

Christ asks us to lose by worldly standards so that we may win by God's standards. He calls us to move beyond simply living for ourselves and to become another Christ, reflecting his very life in the world every day.

Psychology needs a proper spirituality

 

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

Chaplain

Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE)

Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

FOR years, psychology has helped us understand the labyrinth of the human mind. It explains why we fear, why we love, why we break, and sometimes even why we heal. Yet amid its remarkable advances, one uncomfortable question persists: Is understanding the mind enough to understand the person?

The Christian tradition would answer with a firm no.

Psychology excels at describing human behavior. It identifies patterns, diagnoses disorders, and offers therapies that restore emotional balance. These are invaluable contributions. Mental health deserves serious attention, and the growing acceptance of psychological care is one of the healthier developments of modern society.

But emotional wellness is not the summit of human fulfillment.

This is where spirituality enters—not as psychology's rival but as its indispensable partner. It anchors psychology in its proper place.

We, of course, know that that the human person cannot be reduced to biological impulses, emotional reactions, or cognitive processes. We are created for communion with God. Every human experience—joy, work, suffering, success, even failure—finds its deepest meaning only when connected to that relationship. A purely psychological reading of life may explain our emotions, but it cannot answer the question of their real meaning and ultimate purpose.

Personal growth involves much more than emotional equilibrium. Authentic maturity includes the formation of virtues, the exercise of freedom, and the cultivation of one's relationship with God. Mental health is essential, but holiness remains the higher horizon.

The distinction matters. It should not be forgotten.

A person may be psychologically well-adjusted yet spiritually adrift. Another may carry emotional wounds while displaying extraordinary faith, hope, and charity. The two dimensions intersect, but they are not identical.

We have to be wary when we confuse feeling good with being good. Our modern culture tends to fall into this trap.

That confusion carries consequences. We increasingly evaluate decisions by asking, "Does this make me feel better?" rather than "Is this true?" or "Is this the right thing to do?" Comfort has quietly become the new moral compass.

Psychology, when detached from a sound understanding of the human person, can unintentionally reinforce this tendency. Therapy risks becoming an endless pursuit of self-satisfaction instead of a path toward genuine self-giving.

Christian spirituality proposes a radically different vision.

It teaches that the deepest fulfillment comes not from constant self-focus but from self-transcendence. Love demands sacrifice. Freedom requires responsibility. Peace grows from reconciliation—with God, with others, and with oneself. These realities cannot be measured on a psychological scale alone.

None of this diminishes the importance of professional mental health care. On the contrary, spiritual directors should know when psychological intervention is needed, just as therapists should recognize that many of life's deepest questions belong to the realm of meaning, conscience, and faith. The healthiest approach is not competition but collaboration between psychology and spirituality.

Perhaps the greatest lesson psychology and spirituality can teach each other is humility.

Psychology reminds believers that grace builds on nature. Emotional wounds deserve compassion, not simplistic moral judgments. Spirituality reminds psychology that human beings are more than the sum of their neurons, memories, and emotions. We possess a soul that longs for truth, goodness, beauty, and ultimately, God.

In an age fascinated by wellness, perhaps what we need is not merely better coping mechanisms but a fuller vision of the human person.

The mind deserves healing.

The heart deserves meaning.

And the soul deserves nothing less than God!

From knowing to believing

 

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

Chaplain

Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE)

Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

WE somehow can get that idea of how we can shift from simply knowing to what is more important, which is to believe, after considering that gospel episode about Christ meeting two men possessed by devils. (cfr. Mt 8,28-34)

The devils, upon meeting Christ, said: “What have we to do with thee, Jesus Son of God? Are you coming hither to torment us before the time?” To be sure, the devils knew who Christ was, and yet they could not bring themselves to believe in him. In fact, all they do is to disobey and go against God.

This is where we are reminded that we should not remain only in the level of knowing God. Of course, we have to know God as much as we can. In this regard, we cannot overemphasize the need to study as deeply and thoroughly as possible all that we can know about him.

But we have to see to it that we truly believe in God, giving our all to him, and not only our intelligence. While we have to know God as much as we can, we have to see to it that our knowledge filters down to our whole being to such an extent that we truly give our whole selves to him. That’s what believing is. We go from knowing to believing to loving and to serving.

When we believe we turn knowledge into life itself. And we also have to consider that in believing, while it depends on our human understanding about God and things in general, it actually depends first of all on that supernatural gift of faith which God himself gives us, especially through the sacraments. We should continually ask for this grace, nourish it by constant acts of faith, and let it bloom into deeds.

We have to always remember that given the fact that we are not meant to remain only in the natural level, relying simply on our human powers, but rather are meant to enter and share the supernatural life of God since we are his image and likeness, we have to be clear that we have to be guided by faith rather than simply by our own reasoning and our other human ways of knowing.

Faith is God sharing his knowledge with us. It is how we begin to share the life of God. And he gives it to us very willingly. It just depends on us on whether we receive it or not, and to respond to it or not. 

Faith contains truths that go beyond the natural realities of our life. Thus, it has supernatural truths or mysteries which we have to learn to feel at home with. This means we have to learn not to stick to our natural reasoning alone, but to go beyond it.

To be sure, faith does not supplant our reasoning or intelligence. Rather, it makes full use of it, although its scope is far wider and deeper than what our intelligence can fully know and understand.

As the Catechism puts it, faith is first of all a gratuitous gift of God, it is grace. But it also requires the correspondence of our intelligence. It is also a human act. It asks us to do our best to understand it as much as we can. It seeks understanding.

We have to remember that since the reality that governs us transcends the natural order, our human faculty of intelligence and reasoning just cannot depend on the data provided by our senses and our own understanding of things.

Decrease so love can increase

 

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

Chaplain

Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE)

Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

ON the Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, celebrated on June 24, we are reminded of his very inspiring example on how to prepare our heart so that divine love can enter.

He clearly shows us that we just cannot jump straight to divine love without going through the process of repentance. That was the main mission he pursued as the forerunner of our Redeemer. He preached repentance and baptized the people, showing them how to welcome Christ by making sacrifices and overcoming the tendency to hypocrisy and inconsistency.

In short, he is asking us for a real conversion, a proper preparation for the coming of Christ into our lives. He modelled this kind of conversion by showing how love is never self-referential. That is why he said, “He must increase; I must decrease.” (Jn 3,30) That’s what happens when human love is divinized—it stops being about us.

We should do our best to follow the example of St. John the Baptist. Especially for us priests, we should be wary of becoming a demagogue, shouting and scolding from the pulpit. That’s because we as a true precursor of Christ would always preach in a humble manner, always pointing to Christ, and never drawing attention to ourselves. We should make Christ, not ourselves, known, appreciated and loved.

If we really want to be truly Christian, we need to appreciate more deeply the role of St. John the Baptist in the whole economy of salvation. He was the one who prepared the people for the coming of Christ, the one who pointed to Christ, the lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world, to the people. Somehow, we have a duty to follow the example of this saint in preparing people for the coming of Christ.

We know all too well that like St. John the Baptist whose call for repentance as preparation for the coming of the Redeemer was a lonely cry in the desert, we too can be like the voice of God today as well as that of the Church or of any spiritual and moral Christian teaching that has become a voice of one crying in the wilderness.

Present circumstances in the world point to a growing deafness and insensibility to the truths of faith and morals. The prologue of St. John’s gospel already captures this phenomenon: “He came unto his own, and his own received him not.” (1,11)

We cannot deny that there is a lot of ignorance, confusion and indifference to the things of God these days. The life of piety seems to be waning in many parts of our country, let alone, the whole world. Many people are hardly praying, and the practice of devotion seems to be facing extinction.

Just the same, we should not forget that regardless of what may appear to be a deep-seated culture of irreligion these days, every man continues in the deepest part of his heart to yearn for God. What the Catechism says about this is always relevant:

“The desire for God is written in the human heart, because man is created by God and for God; and God never ceases to draw man to himself. Only in God will he find the truth and happiness he never stops searching for.” (CCC 27)

Yes, God himself will always draw us to himself in ways that can be very mysterious. And we, on our part, should try our best to discern the directing ways of God. This is where everyone has to do his part in preparing himself to see and follow God’s ways.

Pray simply and from the heart

 

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

Chaplain

Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE)

Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

THAT’S what Christ practically told his disciples as to how to pray. “When you are praying, speak not much, as the heathens. For they think that in their much speaking they may be heard,” he said. He then continued: “Be not you therefore be like to them, for your Father knows what is needful for you, before you ask him.” (Mt 6,7-8) And he concluded by saying the Lord’s Prayer or the Our Father.

This prayer is the model prayer because, first of all, it came directly from Christ who can rightly be regarded as the master and model of prayer since he gives us what the Father gave him. And as the Word made flesh and as our Savior, he knows our needs and teaches us how to express them. He is the perfect link, perfect mediator between God and man.

This prayer is the model prayer also because it gathers the whole Christian Gospel into a simple form. It is the summary of the whole gospel, reflecting the heart of Christianity that shows us who God is and how we, as God’s children, should respond.

It also teaches us what to desire and in what order, showing us how our priorities should be with respect to what we have to ask God our Father. In other words, it orders our desires. It also trains us to pray as God’s children, and not just as isolated individuals. Thus, it is considered as the prayer of the whole Church.

This prayer is also considered as the model prayer because it is ordered toward God’s glory and God’s will. It includes the duty to ask for forgiveness for our sins as well as to extend mercy to those who may have done us wrong.

More than that, this prayer asks for deliverance from the real spiritual dangers we face in this life. In this prayer, we ask for protection even as we are encouraged to be vigilant and confident of God’s ever-ready help.

But more importantly, Christ tells us that our prayer should be trustful, God-centered and morally transformative, and not just performative or merely wordy. He warns us against “heaping up empty phrases” and “vain repetitions,” since prayer is not persuasion-by-volume, but rather is humble asking.

We have to understand that to pray properly means that God already knows our needs. It is not about informing God about what we need. It is rather turning our heart to him, showing how our relationship with him should be one of dependence on a Father who already knows our needs and cares for us.

Our prayer should have as an effect a certain conversion of heart and not just some vague feeling of being spiritual. It should lead us to acknowledge our sinfulness and our sins and should lead us to desire for reconciliation and change of ways.

We should therefore realize how important it is for us to know how to pray properly, since it is our way of uniting ourselves with God, our Creator and Father, with whom we are supposed to be always, since our life, as an image and likeness of God, is meant to be a shared life with God.

Praying is to our spiritual life what breathing and the beating of the heart are to our biological life. That is why St. Paul clearly said, “Pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (1 Thes 5,17-18)

When we manage to truly pray, we can also manage to protect ourselves from all kinds of evil, and to heal whatever wounds and weaknesses we may have because of our sins. A sense of holy invulnerability can come to us. 

Loving enemies as mark of Christian perfection

 

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

Chaplain

Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE)

Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

THIS is what we can gather from that gospel episode (cfr. Mt 5,43-48) where Christ told his disciples: “You have heard that it has been said, Thou shall love thy neighbor, and hate thy enemy. But I say to you, "Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that persecute and calumniate you.”

And then he gave the reason for this incredible commandment by saying, “That you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven, who makes his sun to rise upon the good, and bad, and rains upon the unjust and the unjust.” Then, at the end, he concluded by saying, “Be you therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect.”

As we can see, the love we ought to have for one another should have no boundaries, since it has to include our enemies. We are asked to love without keeping score. Everything has to be done gratuitously. And our love would be more perfect, more meritorious the more unlovable our enemy would be.

Said another way, we can say that loving our enemies can only show how mature our faith is, how complete our discipleship to Christ is, and how we are more identified with God who created us as his image and likeness, sharers of his life and nature.

Loving our enemies is not merely a human moral improvement. Rather, it is a living participation in the divine manner of loving, shaping us into the likeness of God’s fatherly goodness. Loving our enemies, therefore, constitutes the perfection of charity.

Still, we have to clarify that we love our enemies for who they are, children of God as we are, and not for whatever evil or mistake they have done.

We just have to understand that we can only manage to love our enemies if we truly are with God through Christ in the Spirit. He, after all, is the source, the power and the pattern of how this kind of love can take place.

So, the challenge to face and the task to do is how to immerse ourselves in God, practically identifying ourselves with him, since we are meant to be his image and likeness. Our true and ultimate dignity and identity is that of being children of God. 

In other words, the fullness and perfection of our humanity is when we finally become like God which can only take place in heaven. But while here on earth, we just have to do our best to pursue that ideal. 

To be sure, on God’s part, all the means are already made available. We are already given the doctrine of our faith so we would know what right and wrong are in our earthly pilgrimage. We are given the sacraments, especially the Holy Eucharist, so we can truly be identified with Christ who is the pattern of our humanity. We have the Church and the accompaniment of angels, saints and holy people, etc.

On our part, we just have to learn to pray and to truly have a vital encounter with God, which is actually possible and doable, because God is already with us. Being our Creator who puts and keeps us in existence, he can never be absent from us. We just have to learn how to get in touch with him, for only then can we aspire to be in our ideal condition as man.

We have to understand that the commandment to love our enemies is due to the fact that we are meant to be truly one with God. And it is the fullness of love that can do that.

Not against, but beyond

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

Chaplain

Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE)

Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

THIS is about charity, the very essence of God. And as God’s image and likeness, we are supposed to also have this essence. It’s a charity that is not simply human and natural, but rather divine and supernatural. As such, it requires the very grace of God for us to have it.

But we have to understand that this charity does not go against our human nature. It simply goes beyond it, purifying and elevating our human love to make it also divine.

This truth of our Christian faith is illustrated in that gospel episode where Christ spelled out how we have to love. “You have heard that it has been said, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth,” he said. “But I say to you not to resist evil: but if one strikes you on your right cheek, turn to him also the other; and if a man will contend with you in judgment, and take away your coat, let go your cloak also to him.” (Mt 5,38-40)

More than that, Christ also said, “And whosoever will force you one mile, go with him other two. Give to him that asks of you and from him who would borrow from you, turn not away.” (41-42)

It’s indeed a mind-blowing description of how our charity should be. We are asked not to retaliate from unregulated revenge while defending justice. We are directed toward patient endurance.

We are asked to train our hearts to respond with mercy and self-giving, refusing to escalate when struck, giving more rather than grabbing back, and being willing to endure inconvenience.

This is not, of course, about self-destruction for its own sake, but rather about self-restraint and mercy even while suffering injustice. That way, our response to injustice would not become another act of harm and would thereby end the cycle of counter-attacks.

We have to learn to overcome evil with good, a very intriguing part of Christian charity. Not only should we love our enemies, as Christ taught us, but we also need to drown evil with an abundance of good.

We have to try our best to erase whatever disbelief, doubt or skepticism we can have as we consider this teaching, since most likely, our first and spontaneous reaction to it would precisely be those conditions. We can ask, even if done only interiorly, “Is Christ really serious about this? Can this thing that Christ is telling us, possible, doable?”

When these reactions come to us, it is time to remind ourselves that we just have to follow our faith that definitely contains a lot of mysteries and supernatural things that we are not expected to understand fully. Like Our Lady and all the saints, we should just believe and do what we are told because it is Christ who said so, and because it is the Church that teaches us so.

That’s what faith is all about. By believing first, then we can start to understand things that are hard to explain or articulate in human terms. As they say, that’s how the ball bounces. We should not waste time trying to understand everything at once or at the beginning. Let’s be game enough to go through some kind of adventure that, no matter how the outcome would be, we know that God is in control of everything.

We should just beg for God’s grace.

Our need for a daily reset

 

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

Chaplain

Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE)

Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

GIVEN the obvious fact that we are easily trapped in our worldly condition, practically unmindful of the ultimate spiritual and supernatural dimensions of our life, we should feel the need for a daily reset so as to be properly anchored and directed to the ultimate goal of our life.

Yes, we are meant for keep a spiritual and supernatural bearing in our life here on earth. This is not only for some people. It is for everyone. We just have to help one another to develop this spiritual and supernatural bearing, since this is what is proper to us.

As persons with intelligence and will, we cannot help but have a spiritual character in our life. With these natural endowments, we are meant to enter into the spiritual world of ideas and rationality, of cognition and love that goes beyond the material and sensible aspects of our life.

And as children of God, created in God’s image and likeness, we are meant to enter into an intimate relation with him, which cannot be other than supernatural, since God is beyond our nature. 

This is always possible since God gives us his grace, and we, on our part, with our spiritual endowment of intelligence and will, are enabled to be elevated to the supernatural order of God when we, with the proper disposition of humility, faith and charity, correspond to God’s grace. That’s when we enter into the supernatural world of God.

This basic truth of our life should always be on our mind, and should animate all our thoughts, words and deeds. We need to pause from time to time to allow this truth to take hold of our mind and heart, and of our life, in general, using the appropriate means.

We really have to learn how to deal with our spiritual and supernatural world because that is where the real action is and where our ultimate goal is. That’s where we are truly defined, where our radical dignity is established. That’s where we can have our encounter with God.

For us, the material and natural world is nothing if not related to the spiritual and the supernatural world. Our material and natural world can only have meaning and purpose if related to the spiritual and the supernatural, that is, if related ultimately to God.

In this regard, we should have some working plan and strategy, consisting of some practices of piety, like prayer, presence of God, recourse to the sacraments, etc., so that we can keep that spiritual and supernatural bearing even as we immerse ourselves in the things of this world, as we should.

To be sure, there is some kind of awkwardness involved at the beginning of this effort. In this, we should not be surprised, since what is involved requires us to go beyond, but not against, our natural self. We have to train our natural powers to align themselves or to correspond properly to the spiritual and supernatural means that are needed.

Again, a lot of humility is needed here so that the powers of the divine gifts of faith, hope and charity can operate and lead us to where God himself wants us to go. Let’s remember that as creatures of God, let alone, adopted children of his, meant to share his life and nature, we are supposed to follow the guidance of God through his providence.

This daily reset can be done right at the beginning of the day, as we wake up, when we remind ourselves of who we really are, what our ultimate goal in life is, what means we can use, and always reminding ourselves that God is constantly guiding us.

Mary as Mother of the Church

 

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

Chaplain

Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE)

Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

IT is no surprise that Our Lady is given a lot of titles and invocations, since among all men and women, she is the one who most closely identified herself in the life and mission of Christ as the Redeemer of Mankind. Since Christ is her son and is the Head of the Church, it should be very logical to call Mary also as Mother of the Church.

This has Scriptural basis on that gospel episode where Christ, already moments before his death on the cross, entrusted her to St. John, and through St. John, to all of us. That’s when Christ said: “Woman, behold your son…Behold your mother.” (Jn 19,26-27)

Thus, among the titles and invocations mentioned in the Litany of Loreto or the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the title of Mary as Mother of the Church had been added relatively recently by Pope Paul at the Second Vatican Council. 

It’s a title based on her divine motherhood of Christ, her close cooperation in Christ’s work of redemption, and her continuing spiritual motherhood toward all the members of the Church which is referred to as the People of God and the Mystical Body of Christ, highlighting the unity and interconnectedness of believers with Christ as the head.

As Mother of the Church, she is regarded as the one who closely cooperates in the birth and development of divine life in the souls of the redeemed. Though not considered as above the Church, she is nonetheless seen as the Church’s pre-eminent and singular member and an excellent exemplar in the faith and charity.

Her maternal care and concern for all the believers of Christ persist in heaven, always supporting the unique mediation of Christ, the only mediator between God and man. (cfr. 1 Tim 2,5) She is actively interceding for all the Church faithful who are still in their pilgrim journey toward our definitive home in heaven.

In the encyclical of St. John Paul II, entitled “Redemptoris mater,” Mary is regarded as “present in the Church as the Mother of the Redeemer who takes part as a mother in that monumental struggle against the powers of darkness.”

Besides, Mary is also considered as exemplifying the Church. As virgin and mother, she preserves the faith purely while generating new life through Baptism and preaching. The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes this aspect in the following words: “At once virgin and mother, Mary is the symbol and the most perfect realization of the Church.” (507)

Our devotion to Mary as Mother of the Church should lead us toward filial veneration and imitation of her virtues. It should be expressed through prayer and service, developed via liturgy, popular piety, and theological study. It should always be Christ-centered for the Church’s growth in holiness. It should avoid isolating Mary from Christ or the Church. Rather, she should guide us toward the Eucharist and communal solidarity.

Like any Marian devotion, it must be developed in “harmonious subordination” to Christ-worship that reflects God’s plan where Mary occupies a singular place. We should consider her always in relation to the Church as the Family of God, the People of God and the Mystical Body of Christ. In other words, our love for Mary should be inseparably united with our love for the Church.

Like any devotion, it should foster both personal and communal exercises, interiorizing piety amid modern changes.

The breath in Pentecost

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

Chaplain

Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE)

Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

THE gospel of the Mass on the Solemnity of Pentecost reminds us of that part where Christ breathed on the apostles and gave them the breath of God in a way that was new and was greater than the breath God gave Adam during the Creation.

“Peace be to you,” Christ told the apostles. ‘As the Father has sent me, I also send you.’ When he said this, he breathed on them, and he said to them: ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.’” (Jn 20,21-23)

This breath in Pentecost signifies the Holy Spirit, making us have the very life of God. It surpasses the breath in Creation that simply makes us a living being that came from dust. In other words, the breath in Creation gives us a biological and rational life, while the breath in Pentecost gives us sanctifying grace, making us adopted children of God.

We have to feel very much at home with this very wonderful reality and start to correspond to it as we ought. We have to go beyond our earthly dimensions and enter into the more fascinating world of the spiritual and the supernatural life of God and with God.

This does not mean that we escape from our earthly reality to be in the spiritual and supernatural reality. No. It means that while deeply immersed in our mundane conditions, we also have to learn to go beyond them to be with God. This is what the word ‘transcendence’ means.

To be sure, we are enabled to do that, because of our intelligence and will. These are powerful faculties that would enable us to know and to love, and eventually to enter in the lives of others and ultimately to be with God.

But more importantly, we are always given the grace so that our capacity to be with God is actualized. It’s not enough that we are enabled to know and love God. That potency has to be put into act with the grace of God who gives it to us in abundance.

We have to do our part, of course. And the first thing to do is to be aware that there is such a reality as developing a life in the Spirit, and from there start cultivating the proper attitudes, skills and virtues.

This may look like a daunting, overwhelming task, but it can always be done. Sure, there will be difficult, awkward moments, but those usually happen in the beginning of the learning curve. As long as we persist, time will come when living in intimate relationship with the Spirit becomes second nature to us.

We need to spread this Good News more widely, because many of us are still completely ignorant of it. And of those who may already know about it, a lot of confusion, doubts and misunderstanding abound. 

So more than spreading the Good News, we need a lot of teachers and models who can clearly show how this life in the Spirit can be achieved. Let’s hope that we can count on many people, especially those who are already active in the Church, to serve as teachers and models for this purpose.

Of special interest in this regard is the crucial role of parents. They should be the first teachers and models of their children in living the life in the Spirit. That’s why parents should do their best to be very consistent with their faith, because the most important duty they have toward their children is to make their offspring children of God, living the life in the Spirit!

Freedom of spirit

 

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

Chaplain

Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE)

Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

LET’S hope that more and more of us get familiar with this freedom of spirit which is actually the true freedom meant for us. It’s not a freedom that is guided only by our own estimation that is steered only by our reason, by some social trends and ideologies, and much less by our animal instincts and urges.

To arrive at this knowledge about our true freedom which is the freedom of spirit, we need to ask ourselves the existential questions of where we came from, what the meaning and purpose of our life are, etc. For this, we just have to go from the natural and social sciences and to launch into the philosophical, metaphysical and theological.

This freedom of spirit is where we act in accord with God’s truth and goodness. It is exercised at the instance of the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Our freedom is not simply the power to act or not to act, and so to perform deliberate acts of our own. Our freedom attains its perfection when directed toward God, the sovereign Good, from whom we come and to whom we are destined to share in his very life and nature.

This is the freedom that was won for us by Christ who redeemed us from the bondage of sin. That is why St. Paul said: “For freedom Christ has set us free.” (Gal 5,1) And it is in Christ that we share in the truth that would set us free, as again articulated by St. Paul in his Second Letter to the Corinthians where he said: “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” (3,17)

This is the kind of freedom that springs from an inner habit of virtue and not merely from some external command. This is when we do things under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and do it willingly, with our whole heart.

This can only mean that our true freedom is the result of our docility to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, the promptings of the grace of God, making us free and effective collaborators in God’s continuing work of human redemption that would complete our creation by him. Our freedom is not meant only to achieve an earthly and temporal goal.

In other words, this freedom of spirit enables us to grow in docility to God’s grace, and to collaborate freely with God, serving others with love and building a society on the basis of truth, justice and charity. It also protects us from the slavery of sin, from worldly pressures and false liberties that lead to license.

We can have this freedom of spirit if we live by faith in God. It is made alive especially through the sacraments—Baptism, Penance and the Holy Eucharist. It is nurtured in prayer and the continuous growth of the virtues.

The role of prayer is crucial because that is where we can discern and embrace  God’s will. St. Paul, in his Letter to the Romans, said in effect in this regard that we must pray to be able truly to know what God wants. (cfr. 8,27)

It’s clear that this freedom of spirit is a matter of being docile to the promptings of grace. It is what perfects our natural freedom, aligning it with the will and the ways of God. It’s important that we form our conscience according to the truths of our faith. For this, a lifelong formation of conscience is needed. Our freedom of conscience should be the freedom of spirit!

Keeping an intense desire to see Christ

 

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

Chaplain

Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE)

Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

LET’S be like Mary Magdalene, a repentant sinner turned loyal disciple, who went early, even while it was still dark, to visit the tomb of Christ. When she found the tomb empty, she was, of course, heartbroken and went immediately to tell the other disciples. When the others came and saw the empty tomb, they could not do much, so they left. But Mary Magdalene stayed behind. That’s when she finally met the risen Christ. (cfr. Jn 20)

There is something in Mary Magdalene that is worth taking note of. More than that, there is something in her that is worth following. And that is none other than to have an intense desire to see Christ always, no matter what the conditions of our life are.

Like what happened in this gospel episode, Christ will always come to meet us and to give us some specific instructions. In this case of Mary Magdalene meeting Christ, she was told to tell the other disciples that he was going to ascend into heaven.

There should be no day, not even a moment, where we can have no concern about looking for Christ. This may require some drastic effort, but it really is something to learn since it is what is proper and ideal for our life. There is nothing in our life where Christ is not involved. 

We have to be most wary of our tendency to think that in our life there are times and occasions when Christ can be ignored and left out. This usually happens in our daily affairs, in our routinary work, or in such human concerns like politics, business, recreation, etc. It’s precisely in these areas where we most need Christ, and where Christ, to be sure, is most interested to meet us and to guide us.

We therefore need to develop an intense desire to look for Christ. For this, we first of all should ask for God’s grace which is actually given to us in abundance. And from there, let’s go through some systematic plan of life that will nourish and strengthen our constant and intimate relationship with Christ, a relationship that should involve our entire self—body and soul, feelings, emotions and passions down to our very instincts, as well as our mind and heart.

It should be a plan that should obviously include prayer in all its forms—vocal, liturgical, ejaculatory, mental, contemplative, etc. Our life of prayer should be such that even when we are immersed in the things of the world due to our work and our temporal duties, we would still be aware of God’s presence, and it is doing God’s will that should always motivate us.

The plan definitely should include practices that will foster our spirit of sacrifice, penance and purification, given the obvious fact that no matter how much we try to be good, we would always be hounded by our weaknesses and the temptations around, and the possibility of falling into sin is high. This spirit of sacrifice would help us discipline ourselves in order to rally all our faculties for the service of God and of everybody else.

The plan should include a daily effort of ascetical struggle where, aside from fighting evil, we should aim at growing in our love for God and others, by developing the virtues as well as always strengthening them. It should help us to develop a growing concern for others, doing personal apostolate wherever we are and whatever the occasion and circumstance may be.

The empty tomb

 

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

Chaplain

Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE)

Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

IN the gospel of the Mass on Monday within the Easter Octave (cfr. Mt 28,8-15), we are given a vivid description of the immediate aftermath of the empty tomb that gave 

rise to different reactions.

When some holy women discovered the empty tomb where Christ was buried, they immediately went to inform the disciples, joyful yet also fearful. But along the way, they were met by the risen Christ himself who made them literally ecstatic, overwhelmed with joy.

But the guards of the tomb were deeply disturbed by what took place. They also went to report to the chief priests who bribed them to fabricate the story that the disciples stole the body while they slept.

All this simply shows that the things of God will always cause different if not conflicting reactions of belief and unbelief with disbelief playing in the middle. It shows how this supernatural gift of faith can be received by us.

We just have to know where and who to believe and who not to. The episode of the empty tomb is actually a test of where to base our faith. Would it just be anybody who can appear to us as reasonable, or would we look for the one with real authority?

We know that the authentic authority to teach the truths of our Christian faith belongs to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church which is the living teaching office entrusted by Christ to the apostles and their successors, the bishops in communion with the successor of Peter, the Pope.

This authority ensures the faithful transmission of the Gospel, guarding against error and providing definitive interpretations of Scripture and Tradition. No individual or community can claim this mandate for themselves. It comes from Christ through the sacrament of Holy Orders, empowering the ministers to “in persona Christi” (in the person of Christ).

The Pope, when he speaks “ex cathedra” (from the chair), that is, in fulfillment of his office as pastor and teacher of all Christians, possesses the infallibility promised to Peter when defining a doctrine of faith or morals to be held by the whole Church.

That is why, we should always make it a habit to refer ourselves to this teaching office of the Church to see if we are truly dealing with a truth of faith, and not something that is just a human invention.

Nowadays, we have to be wary of the flurry of false prophets and demagogues who make their own interpretation of the truths of Christian faith. They can appear and sound credible through a smart use of words and persuasive techniques. But if their teaching on truths of faith does not channel what the Church Magisterium teaches, then they can only be false.

A false doctrine can sound good and can come up with fair promises and assurances, but they actually lack the power to make things happen. They can contain many theoretical truths and can also be supported by a lot of data, facts and other so-called scientific findings, but they lack the most crucial element—the proper spirit.

A true doctrine is not some clever human wisdom that can yield at best some worldly results. It goes far beyond that, though it can be accessed and lived quite easily if one simply has faith. A true doctrine always requires faith!

Thus, in Psalm 119,100, we read these consoling words: “I discern more than the elders, for I obey your precepts, Lord!”

How to keep the flame of love burning

 

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

Chaplain

Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE)

Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

THERE’S a Gospel Acclamation that can give us the idea of how to keep the flame of love, notorious for being fickle given our wounded condition, ever burning. It’s from the Acts of Apostles where it says: “Open our hearts, O Lord, to listen to the words of your Son.” (16,14)

God, whose very essence is love, has made this love known to us by its incarnation in the Son made man, Jesus Christ. More than that, this love can also be ours as long as we precisely would open our hearts to listen and make as our own the words, the teaching and example of Christ.

It’s a love that goes all the way, and remains unfazed regardless of whatever condition we may have in this life. Yes, it’s a love for all seasons, always taking the initiative to reach out to others, again regardless of how the others may be toward us.

As St. Paul would put it, it’s a love that is patient, kind, does not envy, does not boast, is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, not easily angered, keeps no record of wrongs. It does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. (cfr. 1 Cor 13,4-7)

In other words, it’s a love that would lead us to always think well of others, to be willing and happy to serve others, again regardless of how they are to us. It’s a love that would enable us to love even our enemies. 

It always thinks ahead of what to do for others. It does not wait for some favorable conditions to come before it is given. Yes, it is given gratuitously, without counting the cost nor expecting any reward. It’s quick to forgive and to ask for forgiveness.

With this kind of love, we will never have a dull moment in our life. We would never run out of ideas and initiatives. We would always feel hot and energetic, if not always bodily or emotionally, then always spiritually and morally. It will always keep us going, irrespective of the varying circumstances of our life.

It’s a love that goes beyond the limitations of our natural powers, since it can only be generated and kept with the grace of God. That is, if we listen to Christ’s words, follow his example, and incarnate him in ourselves through the sacraments, etc. 

This means that we should animate our human powers with God’s grace, and not let them remain on their own, relying only on natural elements. For this, we need to wage continual struggle since we cannot deny that we also have a strong tendency to depend solely on the natural rather than on the supernatural.

To be sure, this kind of love would keep us always calm, happy and cheerful, confident and hopeful. It would always prod us to be generous in our self-giving. It is this kind of love that would already give us a foretaste of the bliss we can expect in our definitive home in heaven when we become truly one with God as we should.

We need to spread this Good News more widely and think of ways of how this kind of love can be pursued effectively by all. We have to assure everyone that our ideal condition, the perfection and fullness of our humanity would be achieved if we learn how to have this kind of love.

“Christ took away our infirmities and bore our diseases”

 

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

Chaplain

Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE)

Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

THAT’S a verse from the Gospel of St. Matthew. (8,17) It’s actually from the Book of Isaiah (53,4) expressing a prophecy that Christ fulfilled through the many miraculous healings he made while going around preaching.

It’s a truth of faith that we need to cultivate and keep deeply and strongly in our mind and heart, especially when we find ourselves hounded by all kinds of infirmities and suffering all kinds of diseases. This way we would not waste time suffering unnecessarily and would just learn to bear all the inconveniences, convinced that in the end Christ would take care of everything.

We should just have a sporting spirit, spiced with a good sense of humor as we go through the unavoidable sufferings we would encounter in this life. We need a sporting spirit because life’s true failure can come only when we choose not to have hope. That happens when our vision and understanding of things is narrow and limited, confined only to the here and now and ignorant of the transcendent reality of the spiritual and supernatural world.

Besides, life involves a till-death struggle against all sorts of enemies, starting with our own treacherous self, the ever-seductive world, and most of all, the spiritual enemies who certainly are more powerful than us.

Finally, life involves pursuing a goal that is much greater, yes, infinitely greater than ourselves. We should not be a bad sport who gives up easily without even trying, or who surrenders in the middle of an exciting and suspenseful game.

We therefore have to develop a strong spiritual sportsmanship in the tenor expressed in some words of St. Paul: “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.” (1 Cor 9,24)

Aside from a strong sense of self-discipline and submitting ourselves in a continuing training program, an indispensable ingredient of this healthy sporting spirit is the sense of acceptance and abandonment that we need to deliberately cultivate. This does not come automatically, as if it’s part of our genes. We have to develop them.

We have to learn to accept things the way they are or the way they can be. Yes, it’s true that we can shape things and events in our life. We can even shape persons to a certain extent.

While some heavy drama may be involved, let’s be convinced that we are given a game plan that assures us of victory. It’s the game plan of hope in the ever wise, omnipotent and merciful providence of God. What is needed here is precisely a healthy sense of acceptance and abandonment in the hands of God.

Added to that is a good sense of humor which definitely has very salutary effects and advantages. It makes us see things better. It makes us more flexible and more able to handle varying situations. 

It gives us some space and distance from events so that we would be able to assess and judge things calmly and properly. And all this aside from its immediate effect of making everybody feel good, which is already a tremendous thing.

In the face of severe trials, joy expressed in wit and humor is a precious element to have. It can only show one’s deep trust and confidence in the providence of God. There’s absolutely nothing to be afraid of. There’s the conviction that everything, including martyrdom, is an organic part of God’s saving plan for the person concerned and for everyone else.