Good governance and visioning

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

THAT gospel parable about a king who gave a wedding feast for his son (cfr. Mt 22,1-14) reminds us that we should be ready when God calls us to himself. In that parable, the king was frustrated because all those whom he invited refused to come. And so, he ordered his servants to call whoever they would meet in the highways and byways. Still, he expected that those who would come would at least be properly dressed.

This means that we should truly be prepared for the eventual call and invitation that God would give us so we can be with him as he wants us to be. In this regard, we have to know how to “govern” our life such that at any time we would be ready for this eventuality.

Yes, some art of good governance over our life should be learned. We just cannot be at the mercy of chance and fortune. We need to know and be constantly aware of the real and constant purpose of our life, and arrange our life in such a way that that purpose is always pursued.

Just like in any serious business enterprise, there has to be goals set, short-term and long-term plans made, regular reviews, auditing and pertinent modifications made. We should have the sensation that there is progress in the pursuit of the real purpose of our life. Of course, when we notice that the “balance sheet” at any given moment of our life shows a red rather than a black, we should immediately do something to correct it.

Knowing that the real progress in our life is ultimately measured in our love for God and for others, we should somehow try to echo some lyrics of an old Spiral Staircase song which goes this way: “I love you more today than yesterday, but not as much as tomorrow!”

We should have a clear vision of our ultimate and definitive eternal destination and able to relate everything in our life to that goal. For this purpose, we should develop the practice of making daily examinations of conscience.

In our spiritual life, it is important that we settle accounts with God regularly. In fact, saints and the Church herself have recommended that we make a daily examination of conscience just before going to bed.

This practice can only mean that we understand that our life is not just a natural, material, individual or social affair. Or that it is simply our own life. It would show that we know that our life is a life with God and with others, pursued and developed in the spiritual and moral spheres more than anything else.

We need to do some accounting of it not only for our own interest, but also and more importantly for the sake of God and of the others. It would show that we understand that our human acts—those that we do knowingly and freely and thus we are responsible for them—either lead us to our proper end or not. Thus, we understand that our human acts have a moral dimension and therefore need to be assessed by us.

It would also make us aware of our most basic duty as children of God to pursue our own personal sanctification and to cooperate in the continuing work of God’s redemption of mankind through personal apostolate.

This way, we can somehow feel secure that at any given moment we would be eternity-ready, prepared to see God for judgment when he would finally call us to himself!

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com