By Fr. Roy Cimagala *
IT’S a question we have to ask ourselves, especially these days when we are hounded by a heavy wave of darkness, uncertainty and even pessimism, what with the pandemic and the spoiler Odette still gripping us in abnormal conditions. If what excites us the most are earthly and temporal things, then we would be very vulnerable to the predicaments of sadness and depression.
We should see to it that what should excite us the most, what our soul should magnify is God, our Creator, Father and Savior. We need to train our mind and heart, our feelings and all our other faculties and powers we have to make God as the ultimate and constant source of our joy.
We are reminded of this truth about ourselves in that beautiful prayer, the Magnificat, that Mary said upon visiting her cousin, Elizabeth. (cfr. Lk 1,46-56) It’s a most wonderful prayer that simply drips with the highest aspirations and noblest sentiments any human being can and should have.
Yes, we have every reason to feel intense joy and thanksgiving and to feel blessed, regardless of whatever, because the Son of God, the very pattern of our humanity, has himself become man to bring us back to where we all come from and to whom we belong. Whatever situation we find ourselves in, good or bad, happy or sad, should always be infused by the spirit of the Magnificat.
We should repeat the words of the Magnificat daily, and, in fact, often during the day. We should repeat them from the heart, especially when we encounter difficulties and failures in life, because they remind us that God never fails to bless us. Yes, we should always feel blessed even amidst our problems and mistakes.
Feeling blessed is important and indispensable to us. Without it, we would be putting ourselves in great danger as we would simply stand on an unstable ground, totally dependent on the shifting world of chance, luck and fortune.
To us, the Magnificat should be the pledge that God loves and blesses us, no matter how undeserving we are, as well as the means to face all the vagaries of life, praising God, thanking him, asking for pardon and favors with confidence.
The Magnificat should remind us that even in our worst predicaments, God is always around and Mary is showing us how we can be united or reunited with her Son. She would infuse confidence into our heart especially at a time when we would be most vulnerable to lose that confidence and opt to become a fugitive from God.
The Magnificat is like a most precious and useful family treasure in a Christian’s life. It’s not meant to be kept in some secret vault. It has to be used frequently, for it has tremendous power to bring us back to a vibrant Christian life if we have slackened or to keep the fire of love burning, full of action and not just of desires.
Like Mary who quickly visited her cousin to help, we too can quickly involve ourselves in the lives of others. Let’s always remember that our relationship with God and with all the saints in heaven develops through our relationship with others in our present life.
Loving God is inseparable from loving others. We should try our best that we truly involve ourselves in the lives of others, helping them in any way we can, since that involvement can only prove our love for them and for God.
* Chaplain Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE), Talamban, Cebu City
Email: roycimagala@gmail.com
