Self-emptying to be properly filled up

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

THIS is what Christ is proposing to us. It is quite intriguing, but to be sure it is what truly is proper to us. We need to somehow lose ourselves to win what is truly necessary for us. We cannot deny that we are notorious for sticking to our own will and ways when it is in God’s will and ways where we would have our real joy and fulfilment.

“Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it,” Christ said. (Mt 16,25) We really have to learn as early as possible how to empty ourselves so we can be filled, by uniting our will with God’s will, with the very spirit and power of God.

Everyday, we have to make the exercise of conforming our will to God’s will by making a bold plan of how to go about following God’s will of personal sanctification and apostolate. In pursuit of these dual purpose of our life, we should try to give our all. We cannot afford to be complacent and lukewarm. We should feel driven and pro-active.

When we notice that we are more dominated and guided by our moods, our emotional and bodily condition which often are erratic and inconsistent, or when we notice we feel lazy and empty, we should immediately react. The ideal condition for us is to burn with zeal to follow God’s will. Absent that zeal, we would be giving a foothold to our weaknesses and temptations.

We have to develop an abiding and burning desire to fulfill the real purpose of our life. We should be clear about this ultimate purpose of ours so we can have the proper sense of direction and focus in our life, and the corresponding urge to fulfill it.

Our problem is that we often take our life’s real and ultimate purpose for granted, preferring to sway and dance according to the music played simply by worldly conditions. We prefer to be guided by our senses and emotions, or by our reasoning alone as expressed in our man-made different ideologies, philosophies, sciences and technologies, etc.

We ignore the guiding light of our Christian faith that gives us not only a global picture of things but also the means to attain our true goal of eternal life with God in heaven. We have to remember that our Christian faith shows us the ultimate dimensions and purpose of our life that definitely includes the spiritual and supernatural dimensions of our human dignity.

We often fail to realize that our earthly life is a voyage of faith in time that is heading towards the eternity of God. This predicament has to be resolved, and the earlier the better—of course, with due consideration to the readiness of each one of us to appreciate the value of our Christian faith, something that has to be worked on.

In this regard, the first thing to do is to look at the example of Christ who is “the way, the truth and the life” for us. In several occasions, Christ would say that what he was doing was in fulfillment of what the prophets of old, the advance proclaimers of God’s will for Christ and for all of us, said. (cfr. Mt 26,54.56; Mk 14,49; Lk 18,31; etc.)

It’s clear that Christ already had in his mind that he has to follow and fulfill a purpose and a mission already spelled out for him beforehand. This should also be the mentality we ought to have. We have a purpose and mission already spelled out for us beforehand, and we should do our best, with God’s grace, to fulfill it.

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com