Never a dull moment

 

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

Chaplain

Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE)

Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

THAT is what happens when everything we do begins and ends with God. We no longer labor by ourselves but allow him to work through us. Then it is less our strength than his grace that shapes every thought, every word, and every deed.

With him, nothing remains impossible. Even life's darkest moments can be woven into something beautiful and life-giving. Love becomes our constant motive, because love is who God is and the very way he acts.

That is why we should never allow our bond with God to weaken amid the busyness of life. Every task, every responsibility, every ordinary moment can become a meeting place with him. Working piety is not an option but a vital necessity.

Of course, we carry our frailties wherever we go. We stumble, grow weary, and sometimes collapse beneath the weight of worries and disappointments. Yet faith assures us that God can transform every burden into a hidden blessing.

He wastes nothing—not even our failures. What appears to be a setback can become the seed of grace. Every cross, accepted with him, quietly blossoms into new life and deeper holiness, preparing our hearts for a joy the world cannot give.

The secret is simple yet inexhaustible: remain in love. Not merely with human affection or sheer determination, but with the very love that flows from God's own heart. Only that love never runs dry.

Our willpower alone has limits, and even the strongest sense of duty can grow tired. But when divine love becomes the fire within us, we continue the journey. Even when the body weakens, the soul keeps moving forward.

Let Christ remain always before our eyes and within our hearts. Contemplate him most especially as he stretches out his arms upon the Cross, revealing the fullest measure of love. There we learn how to love without counting the cost.

For this reason, we need a living spiritual life. Prayer, the sacraments, spiritual reading, and continuing formation are not mere devotions. They are the breath that keeps Christ alive and active within us.

We should also learn the beautiful art of constant conversation with him. Let it become natural, intimate, and full of purpose. May our hearts seek him with the same spontaneity by which flowers turn toward the sun.

That dialogue should awaken our faith, strengthen our hope, and set charity ablaze. These divine gifts must inspire our intellect and will. They should also illuminate our memory, imagination, feelings, passions, and every human power.

When faith quietly guides every human faculty, even the smallest duties become offerings of love. The ordinary is gradually transformed into something holy. Our daily work then becomes a silent hymn rising to God.

We should be careful not to let these faculties draw life merely from earthly sources. Still less should they revolve around ourselves and our own interests. Their deepest energy must always come from God.

Whenever we feel empty, restless, or exhausted, it is often because we have drifted from Christ. He himself invites the weary to come to him for rest. His presence restores what fatigue and anxiety have quietly stolen.

Let us never ignore that loving invitation. Let us return to him again and again, drawing fresh strength from his heart. Then we can begin anew, renewed in spirit and eager to fill the world with goodness.

Indeed, a life lived with Christ never loses its wonder. Every ordinary day becomes touched by eternity. And every moment, however hidden, becomes another chance to love as he loves.

The poor rich young man

 

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

Chaplain

Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE)

Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

YES, he may be rich, young, and faithful to the commandments, yet he remains poor in the deepest sense. Though he had accomplished many good things, he still lacked the one treasure that truly matters—to surrender himself entirely to God, letting go of everything so that he could follow Christ without reserve and with joyful freedom.

At first glance, such surrender appears like loss, even defeat, as though everything precious has slipped away. Yet this holy emptiness becomes the doorway through which God enters completely, filling the soul with his own life. There, and only there, do we discover the perfection for which we were created.

Keeping the Decalogue, the Ten Commandments, is truly necessary, for it forms the solid foundation of a good life. Yet it can bring us only to a certain perfection within the natural order. We are called beyond that, into the supernatural life where we become one with God himself.

The lesson is gentle yet demanding: authentic love for God is measured not by how much we offer but by how completely we let go. Only a heart freed from earthly attachments can belong wholly to him. A divided heart may seem possible, but before God it can never truly exist.

There is no middle path in our friendship with the Lord. We either belong to him completely or we remain partly turned toward ourselves. Even if we imagine giving him ninety-nine percent while quietly keeping one percent, the gift is still incomplete and our peace remains fragile.

God asks for everything, because he desires not merely our possessions but our very selves. He invites us to place our hearts, our minds, our souls, and our strength into his hands. As Christ reminds us, we must love the Lord “with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” (Mt 22,37)

May we one day echo the beautiful words of an old song: “I have no use for divided hearts. I give mine whole, and not in parts.” Let that become the quiet prayer of our lives. The journey is demanding, yet with grace and humble perseverance, it is always within reach.

Because of our human weakness, we grow only little by little, learning each lesson in its proper season. Every day becomes another invitation to loosen the grip of earthly attachments. Little by little, we offer ourselves more fully until nothing remains outside God's loving embrace.

The Lord never forces this surrender upon us. He patiently waits for our generous response, gently inviting us to trust that his plans are always greater than our own. Every act of detachment, however small, widens the space within our hearts for his love to dwell more deeply.

We must often remind ourselves that nothing given to God is ever truly lost. What seems like sacrifice becomes abundance beyond measure, for the Lord is never outdone in generosity. Let Christ’s promise remain alive within us: “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto you.” (Mt 6,33)

Our faith and trust in Christ’s words must grow ever stronger. The more generously we give ourselves to him, the lighter and freer our hearts become. It is a beautiful mystery understood only through faith, a reality that belongs to the supernatural life and fills the soul with lasting joy.

Little by little, we learn to release our possessions, our preferences, our opinions, our ambitions, and even our cherished plans. At last, we discover the freedom of giving our whole selves to God alone. In that total self-offering, our lives become one with his, and our deepest identity and lasting happiness are finally found.

God always provides for our needs

 

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

Chaplain

Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE)

Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

THE account of the multiplication of the loaves (Mt. 14:13-21) offers an important lesson about divine providence. Faced with a large crowd in a deserted place, the disciples focused on the scarcity of available resources. Jesus, however, revealed that God's providence is not constrained by human limitations. What appeared insufficient became more than enough when entrusted to him.

This episode naturally encourages confidence in God's care. At the same time, it raises an important question. How should believers understand those occasions when God's help seems absent despite sincere and persistent prayer? There are moments when illness continues, difficulties remain unresolved, and suffering appears to outlast our expectations. Such experiences are neither rare nor insignificant.

The Gospel itself provides the proper response. Rather than turning away from God during these periods of uncertainty, Christ invites his disciples to persevere in prayer. "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you" (Mt. 7:7). 

These words are not a guarantee that every request will be granted exactly as desired. They are an assurance that God always responds according to a wisdom that surpasses our own understanding.

The multiplication of the loaves therefore teaches more than God's ability to provide material necessities. It points to a deeper reality. God's primary concern is not simply to solve immediate problems but to draw people into a more profound relationship with him. Material needs are important, yet they are not the ultimate goal of divine providence. God seeks above all the spiritual good of those he loves.

This perspective helps explain why certain trials remain. Difficulties can become occasions for growth in faith, hope, and trust. They reveal the limits of self-sufficiency and invite greater dependence on God. While human nature naturally seeks quick solutions, grace often works through a slower process of interior purification and maturity.

For this reason, the Church has always encouraged frequent recourse to the sacraments, particularly Reconciliation and the Eucharist. In these encounters with Christ, believers receive the grace needed to persevere, even when external circumstances remain unchanged. 

The sacraments remind us that God's greatest gifts are often invisible. His mercy, forgiveness, and transforming grace address needs that are ultimately more fundamental than material security.

The Gospel also reveals the generosity that characterizes God's love. Christ does not distribute the bread sparingly. Everyone eats until satisfied, and twelve baskets of fragments remain. 

The abundance is deliberate. It illustrates that God's generosity cannot be measured according to human calculations. His love is never merely transactional, granted only to those who have already earned it. Instead, he continually offers mercy, patience, and opportunities for conversion, even when people respond imperfectly.

This same generosity establishes the pattern for Christian living. Those who have freely received God's gifts are called to share them freely with others. Charity, therefore, is not simply occasional generosity but a habitual readiness to place one's abilities, time, and resources at the service of others. Such self-giving reflects the Father's own manner of loving.

The multiplication of the loaves ultimately directs attention beyond the miracle itself. It invites believers to trust that God's providence is always active, even when its workings remain hidden. His care embraces both our temporal needs and, more importantly, our eternal destiny. 

The challenge for every Christian is to remain receptive to grace, confident that God never abandons those who seek him sincerely. As faith matures, it becomes possible to recognize that God's greatest gifts are often those that transform the heart, enabling us to participate more fully in his own life and to love others with the generosity we have first received from him.

Don't be a spiritual workaholic

 

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

Chaplain

Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE)

Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.co

IF Martha were alive today, she would probably own three smartphones, answer emails during dinner, organize family reunions on spreadsheets, and remind everyone that she is "the only one doing any real work around here." Mary, meanwhile, would probably be accused of "just sitting there."

That, more or less, is the timeless lesson behind the Gospel story of Martha and Mary (Lk. 10:38-42). Martha deserves credit. She opened her home to Christ and spared no effort in making him comfortable. Hospitality is a beautiful virtue. 

The trouble began when she became so absorbed in serving that she forgot whom she was serving. Then came the complaint: "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do all the work?"

Christ's answer must have sounded like cold water splashed on an overheated cook. "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things. Only one thing is necessary."

Ouch. Notice that Jesus did not criticize work. He criticized worry, agitation, and the illusion that busyness automatically equals holiness. Apparently, heaven does not give bonus points for looking stressed.

Many of us suffer from what might be called "holy multitasking syndrome." We rush from one obligation to another until we are too busy to remember why we are doing any of it. We can spend an entire day working for God without spending a minute with God.

That is like preparing a lavish birthday party and forgetting to greet the birthday celebrant. The secret is not to work less but to work differently. Work should become prayer.

How? Before attacking your inbox, washing the dishes, attending meetings, or fixing that mysterious office printer that always breaks at the worst possible moment, simply tell God: "Lord, this is for You."

That tiny offering changes everything. The task itself may remain ordinary, but its purpose becomes extraordinary. Typing reports, changing diapers, driving through traffic, or sweeping the floor can all become acts of love.

Of course, offering our work to God is not a magical excuse for doing it badly. Imagine telling your boss, "Yes, the report has seventeen mistakes, but I offered it to God."

Nice try. Love always seeks excellence. If we truly work for God, we avoid shortcuts, chronic procrastination, endless coffee breaks disguised as "important discussions," and the national pastime of waiting until the deadline develops fangs.

Doing little things well is itself a prayer. Another practical trick is to keep short conversations with God throughout the day. "Jesus, help me." "For You, Lord." "Give me patience." These little prayers are like spiritual Wi-Fi. They keep the connection alive even while the work continues.

And when distractions come—and they certainly will—we need not panic. Instead of becoming irritated because our mind wandered, simply smile and steer it back to God. Repeat as often as necessary. If smartphones need constant reconnecting, surely human souls do too.

Finally, don't waste the inevitable frustrations of work. Difficult colleagues, delayed flights, impossible deadlines, traffic jams, computer crashes, and projects that mysteriously disappear after three hours of work can all become offerings when accepted with faith instead of endless grumbling.

Martha and Mary are not rivals. They belong together. We need Mary's heart while having Martha's hands. The ideal Christian is not someone who chooses between prayer and work. It is someone who turns work into prayer and prayer into the strength to work.

That way, even the busiest day becomes less of a rat race and more of a pilgrimage—with fewer complaints and much better company.

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)

https://www.dailyguardian.com.ph/.../from-self-centered...

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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!