Ready, set, go

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

Chaplain

Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE)

Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

IT’S a phrase that is often used to start a race or to signal a countdown, creating excitement and anticipation before a race or an event. It’s a phrase that also can be useful as a daily spur for us as we begin the day.

We know that in a very clear way, our daily life is like a race. We should never be sluggish in life, not knowing exactly where we are going. We should be very clear about where we are going, what real goal we are supposed to achieve. Somehow, we should echo what St. Paul once said in this regard:

“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore, I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave…” (1 Cor 9,24-27)

If we want to have a truly good and happy life, one that is not simply a result of some worldly props that can only go so far, then we should be focused on God and driven and excited in carrying out his will and in following his ways.

And the simple reason is because, to be blunt about it, God is already the supreme good for all of us. There could be no other good better than him to whom we should be attracted more or who should arouse in us a greater attraction.

God is everything to us. More than that, he loves us so much that he created us to be like him. It’s with him that we can have our eternal joy in heaven, and while here on earth we can always count on his help, guidance and powerful, wise and merciful providence.

Obviously, we need to process this basic truth properly and thoroughly, since it is a truth of faith that certainly involves a lot of mysteries that we have to learn to live with. Once we get convinced of this truth, then it follows that God should be the constant and strongest cause of our desire and attraction. His presence and interventions in our life should be intimately felt by us. Pursuing to be with him should give us the greatest joy.

We have to be wary of our tendency to get trapped in some worldly and temporal goals as our main focus in life. These goals, for sure, also have their objective value. But we need to understand that these worldly goals cannot stand on their own. They have to be grounded on God, on his will, on his abiding providence over us. Otherwise, they can only pose as a danger to us.

This truth was articulated quite clearly by Christ when he said, “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.” (Mt 12,30) We really need to know and love Christ, the fullness of the revelation of God to us. He should not only be known by us. He has to be loved too, so that we can truly enter into his life and be identified with him, which is what is proper to us.

We need to examine ourselves to see if we are exerting the necessary effort to know and love Christ. That is why we need to spend time meditating on the life, word and example of Christ to such an extent that Christ becomes alive in us and is the one who motivates us in our thoughts, words and deeds.