Contending with the world’s evils

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

A DAY after Christmas, a day after that Good News of great joy about the birth of Christ our Savior, we are made to consider the Feast of the first Christian martyr, St. Stephen, that somehow reminds us that despite all the goodness God gives us, we still have to contend with all sorts of evils in this world due to our wounded flesh, the sinful allurements of the world and the devil himself who has definitively chosen to go against God.

That is the naked truth of our condition here on earth. Just the same, we should not worry too much since as long as our faith is strong and deep, we know that God takes care of everything. He is in full control of things and he is bent that what he started would also end with him.

We, of course, have to do our part of the bargain, so to speak. We really need to struggle since our life here on earth is nothing less than a battleground between the forces of good and evil, and we should just choose, with God’s grace and our all-out effort, the right option.

To be sure, if we have to be truly Christian, we need to be tough, really tough. Christ himself was tough, but with the toughness of love that goes all the way of assuming all the sins of men by offering his life on the cross. To be Christ-like we need to be tough. At the same time, to be tough we need to be with Christ. Otherwise, whatever toughness we may show would not be the real toughness expected of us.

This toughness of Christ was described by St. Paul in his second letter to the Corinthians: “For our sake, God made Christ to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (5,21)

St. Peter made the same assertion: “Christ bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.” (1 Pt 2,24) In other words, Christ was not afraid of sin if only to save the sinner out of his love for all of us who are all sinners. He was and continues to be willing to assume our sins, as if they were his own, if only to save us.

We have to understand that toughness is not just a matter of physical strength or intellectual superiority. Much less is it a question of wealth, power and fame. These only have very limited effectiveness.

Toughness has its roots, branches and fruits mainly in the spirit. And it’s where our spirit takes root, where it’s established and fixed that determines the quality and authenticity of our toughness, to see if our toughness can really run the gauntlet.

In other words, it’s in our living union with God, through grace and our will, where we can develop our true life and derive our toughness. Such toughness combines both hard and soft qualities, enabling us to be strong without being rigid, energetic without being violent. It lets us to be patient and hopeful without being inactive. On the contrary, it allows us to be creative and flexible, resourceful and enterprising, full of initiatives.

Such toughness distances us from the clutches of excessive worries and self-pity. It empowers us to find joy and peace even in the midst of suffering. It teaches us how to suffer with a smile, and how to wait productively. It breeds and keeps our determination to fight for the good all the way to the end!

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com