Don’t delay, just begin again

By: Fr. Roy Cimagala

THIS is a good advice for those who are trapped in a predicament that tempts them to plunge into hopelessness and despair. We should not delay in having to begin and begin again, no matter how many times we have to do it. We just have to move on. God is always merciful.

Whatever failures or sins we may have committed, no matter how grave and ugly they are, we just have to go to him, asking for forgiveness and he will forgive us. We just have to move on.

Remember the parable of the prodigal son. That spoiled brat finally came to his senses after suffering so much for his stupidity and decided to go back to his father even if he would not anymore be considered his son. The father welcomed him back with great joy and restored him to his dignity.

The important thing is just to come home. We may have strayed from the right way and have done it knowingly and freely, and therefore with guilt. But God is always a father. He will never reject his son.

In other words, we should just come home. It’s understandable that we can present ourselves to God with shame and fear, but let’s be reassured that God will always take us back most happy with our return.

This piece of advice is most relevant to those who suffer from some persistent weakness and misery that tempt them to fall sad and depressed. And many people nowadays find themselves in this predicament. They try their best to be and do good, but somehow one day they fall again into the same weakness or sin.

At the beginning, they manage to go back to God asking for forgiveness without difficulty. But since they seem to be falling to the same predicament in spite of their resolutions and effort, they feel that they are already hopeless, that they are already abusing God’s goodness, that they are insincere and are hypocrites.

These thoughts and reactions usually are the ones suggested by the devil who take advantage of our sadness and sorrow to inflict a greater harm on us. He will do everything to convince us that we are a hopeless case. We should be forewarned of this possibility.

There is no denying that while we are here on earth, we will always be hounded by all kinds of trials coming from our weaknesses, the allurements of the world and the wiles of the devil.

With our weaknesses alone, we already have a lot of load, and they can be very disgusting. Something in us will always push us to be and to do good, and we try to follow that urge. Yet, for one reason or another, we would just fail. This can happen even in the most unlikely moment when we are in the middle of sacred act.

We have to remind ourselves that our condition here on earth is always precarious and tenuous. We may be highly gifted, and yet we know that we have feet of clay. We should not be surprised and too worried about this condition of ours. We know that God is always around. The important thing is always to go back to him, no matter what happens. He will always receive us with open arms.

In this regard, it would be good that we develop a deep sense of sportsmanship in our spiritual and moral life. We may commit a mistake often, we may also be fouled by others many times, but we should just get up and move on with the game of life whose end is surely a victory as long as we go back to God.

We have to have that attitude of having to begin and begin again, without delay and without tiring as much possible. Let’s never pay attention to the devil’s whisper that we are already a hopeless case. We are not. We never will be, with God.

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com