End the day with a smile

By: Fr. Roy Cimagala

THIS, of course, is the best way to end the day. Whatever the drama during the day, we can afford to smile and be at peace in our sleep as long as we reconcile ourselves with Christ. Yes, that is what really matters.

We may still have a lot of unsolved problems and issues, challenges still to be faced, or have committed sins and suffered failures, but as long as we go back to God at the end, we would just be fine.

We can manage to have a smile on our face as we sleep, because God will take care of everything. What we cannot do, or worse, what we have transgressed, will just be taken care of by God himself. He is all too willing to complete what he started with us, to perfect what we cannot perfect, to make right what we have wronged, and to forgive us.

Remember Christ saying, “If they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.” (Lk 17,4) If he teaches us that, it is because he himself does and lives it in the first place.

Thus, a psalm reassures us that God’s mercy is for always. “For the Lord is good, his mercy is forever…” (101,1) And in the gospel of St. John we also read, “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (3,17)

Besides, Christ himself reassured us saying, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (Jn 16,33) And in another occasion, he said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Mt 11,28-30)

Of course, we should not abuse God’s goodness, even if at the back of our mind we know that one day we will fall again. We should just go back to God. In this, we should not hesitate to do. We should never be afraid to go back to him. He is our Father who loves us to madness and is even willing to suffer for us as shown in the life and death of Christ.

It is important that we manage to end our day with joy and peace so that we can live our life better and be more effective in our work and duties, especially our spiritual and apostolic responsibilities. To be sure, we can do and accomplish a lot when we are happy and serene.

Being happy and serene helps us greatly in our spiritual and moral health, and even in our physical health. It makes us more open to everyone and to everything, and more able to properly handle the different situations in our life. When we are happy and serene, we tend to simplify things and to avoid being ensnared by the many false allurements and temptations around.

Obviously, we have to do certain things to achieve this state of mind. We have to know how to rectify our intentions, how to make a good examination of conscience at day’s end which should be concluded with an act of contrition and reconciliation with God. We also need to develop a spirit of abandonment in the hands of God, knowing how to let go of certain things and to move on.

Yes, we have to learn to pray, putting ourselves always in the presence of God especially when we are alone and tired because that’s when we are most weak and vulnerable to temptations and when we tend to see and understand things improperly.

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com