Everything can and should be a path to sanctity

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

WHEN Christ compared the Kingdom of God to a mustard seed and a yeast that start small and insignificant but can grow big in time (cfr. Lk 13,18-21), he was highlighting the truth that our sanctification can be achieved by taking care of the small, ordinary things in our life, doing them with love for God and for others.

Not only that. We also should have in mind that even in our sinful conditions, as long as we go back to God asking for forgiveness and his grace, we can and should still pursue the all-important task of sanctifying ourselves. Indeed, everything and all conditions and situations can and should be an occasion to attain our ultimate telos in life.

We have to learn how to see the sanctifying and salvific potential of the little ordinary things of our life, and even of our wounded and sinful condition.

We have to realize that it’s in the little things, it’s in the care we give to the small, ordinary, prosaic activities and concerns of the day that would prove whether we are really true to our good intentions and to our fervent affirmations of love for God and care for the others.

We need to train ourselves to see God in the little things. The objective reality is that God is everywhere. He’s not only in the extraordinary events in our life. He is always with us.

Thus, we need to learn to be contemplative even in the middle of the world, able to see God in all the good, the bad, and the ugly that the world contains. We need to learn how to be recollected so that even as we engage our senses and faculties with the many immediate things in life, we don’t lose sight of the ultimate end.

With respect to our sinful condition, while we should try our best to avoid committing sin, we should not fail to realize that that condition can and should occasion a stronger urge to go back to God. Let’s make these words of the psalm our own, “In my distress I called upon the Lord, and he heard my voice.” (Ps 18,6)

These words should be carved deep and hard into our mind and heart, so we can always remain at peace and with great hope despite our weaknesses and sinfulness, and all the many other things that can cause us anguish—difficulties, trials, failures, setbacks, etc.

We should not delay in going immediately to God asking for help whenever we find ourselves in situations of distress. God is our Father who will always listen to us, who will always show compassion to us, who will never fail us.

We may fail him many times, but he will always be understanding with us. We should be careful not to be too overwhelmed by our weaknesses and sinfulness as to fall into despair and run away from God.

It’s precisely when we are down when God shows his greatest love for us. We should never doubt this truth which can be validated by the mere fact that God sent his Son to us, and the Son became man and assumed all our sins by dying on the cross.

We obviously should not abuse the goodness and mercy of God, though we also know that somehow we cannot avoid abusing it. What we can do is to learn as quickly as possible the many precious lessons and other good things our weaknesses and sinfulness can occasion in us.

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com