What is the best thing to do if & when we get lost our way?
The best way to do if & when we are lost is to first stop our journey, and look for some higher grounds, so that we may know and see where we are, where we have been, where we want to go and the best way or path to take. Meaning, we have to stop first then climb a high place – a hill, mountain or a tree, so that from there we get a much wider perspective of our journey and travel.
Losing our way may also reflect our experience of life. There are times in our lives that we feel lost & confused in all our endeavors and dreams. Because of this, like being and getting lost in the forest, it is easy for us to feel tired, dry, afraid, anxious and hopeless in life to reach and achieve our aspirations, hopes and dreams in life.
Our gospel today narrates us the Transfiguration of the Lord. We hear Jesus brought his apostles to Mt. Tabor so that they would witness the glory of God revealed before them. After they have followed the Lord in his preaching and ministry in many towns and villages, the apostles have now experienced weariness and exhaustion in their journey, even to the point others have cast doubt in the Lord’s person and authority.
For them to be inspired (to be in-spirit) and encourage once again, Jesus brought then to mountain of Tabor to have a preview or prelude of God’s glory so that they themselves taste and witness God’s glory made manifest in Jesus Himself. And then, they hear & encounter anew for themselves the call & challenge from God to listen and have faith in Jesus, his beloved Son.
Sometimes in life, we need to stop for awhile from all our endeavors and aspirations, and then, climb the Lord’s mountain in order for us to view a much wider perspective in life and our journey. Like in our modern lingo of cellphones, we need a higher ground to get a good signal; sometimes we need to climb the mountain with the Lord for us to get a good and strong signal of God’s presence and love.
We call this nowadays as RETREAT with the Lord – a time in our life where we stop or slowdown from all our plans, aspirations and activities in life, spend some time to distance from our usual routine and look and climb for a high place in order to get a wider perspective of our life. Time and place to ask ourselves: “where am I now in relation to my life, dreams, aspirations and commitments? Am I lost or in the right path? What else should be done? What need to be change?”
Retreat would also mean to treat ourselves again & anew to God’s vision of life-glory. In other word, to take care & nourish ourselves anew to the vision & fervor of God’s glory. And above all, in the Lord’s transfiguration & our retreat moments, we are challenged also to be “transfigured”, i.e in our modern-tech language, to do “system update” for us to be in sync, upgraded, & outfitted with the current plans of God for our redemption.
As we follow the Lord, as Christian, it is healthy then for us to sometimes to retreat & be transfigured, i.e., to stop and climb up on a higher ground with the Lord in order to have a wider perspective of life, to witness God’s presence revealed in Christ, and to hear again God’s call to us “This is my Son, the beloved. Listen to Him”, and so be updated & challenged anew of our vocation to follow Him.
As our way of doing a retreat with the Lord these days, may our Lenten discipline of prayer, fasting & almsgivings bring us to a much deeper spiritual updating and growth in our Christian faith & journey now & always.
What kind of temptations that we find ourselves struggling from? There could be small and simple temptations that may come and easy for us to overcome. Some are quite difficult to avoid when such a temptation is what we also desire.
To name a few of common temptations may come in these forms. For example, students are tempted to watch their favorite TV series or play “Mobile Legends” with their friends rather than to study. As a consequence, a temptation to cheat during exams can be possible or super late submission of paper works. Workers or employees are sometimes tempted to steal from their company or employer, or place of work perhaps because of a need at home or because of a lavish lifestyle. This can also be true among business owners or employers who do not give just wages to their workers. Others would even treat their workers in an inhumane way. What they were after is merely profit.
Among our political leaders, because of the prevailing culture of dishonesty and corruption, they could easily fall in the corrupt system of politics that instead of serving their constituents, then, they seek to amass wealth and protect their business interests. And because it is not easy to be an honest, a counter-culture and self-sacrificing public servant, it is a temptation to just “go with the flow” and join the band of corrupt officials – because confronting the powerful will mean persecution and pressure from the political-powers-that-be.
On a personal level again, sometimes we are also tempted to be complacent, to stay in our “protected shells” or settle to what is only easy and comfortable because we do not want to be disturbed, we do not want to take an extra mile or refuse to take the risk. Sometimes we too are tempted to just go with the flow and to become passive in our relationships because we do not want to face our issues and refuse to admit what is wrong with us.
Husbands or wives succumbed to the temptation to engage in extra-marital relationships perhaps because their married life has become cold. We, as sons and daughters, may be tempted to escape from home and seek for what is fun and entertaining outside because the home has become a source of boredom for us. Or we may also seek more attention outside our home or seek love and acceptance from other people because home has become a source of despair, condemnation, of pain and trauma. Others also yielded to alcohol and drug abuse or worst to commit suicide to forget or end their overwhelming problems.
Until the very end of our life, we face temptations. And so, on this First Sunday of Lent, let us understand better our human tendency towards sin and how we can overcome temptations in life.
In the biblical understanding, temptation means a “test” – that is of putting a person to a test. Temptation is also the urge or desire to engage into something which may result to a long-term consequence. It also makes us inclined to commit sin and thus, being away from the grace of God.
If this is a test then, why would God bring us to the test? The common understanding in the bible is that, God tests His people to put them in situations that would reveal the quality and sincerity of their heart, faith and devotion. In trials, God strengthens our patience and hope, matures our faith and assures us of his love.
Though God allows trial and suffering but it is the devil who brings suffering and pain. The devil’s intention is to bring us into hopelessness so that we give up on God. The devil tries to crush a person by putting so much pain and suffering. The devil deceives us to choose what is easy and what is naturally appealing to us, to make short cuts, and more reasons for giving up. The devil will discredit God’s love and mercy when we are in so much pain and confusion.
This is what the Gospel brings us today. Jesus was alone in the desert but filled with the Spirit of God. Then, the devil came to tempt him in three different situations.
The first temptation was to turn the stone into bread. Jesus by that time was starving. He was weak and so the devil used the weakness of Jesus to tempt him. This temptation was an offer to give in to the basic “human need.” It was to respond immediately for one’s “self-satisfaction.” Yet, the Lord understood well that his mission is not to satisfy himself but to do the will of his Father. Thus, Jesus chose to be hungry so that He too will experience how to be hungry. Through his hunger, Jesus can fill our hunger not just for food but for love, for affection and for God.
The second temptation was to worship the devil instead of the Lord God in exchange for all the kingdoms of the world with their riches and power. Jesus was poor and had no influence. The devil knew this and that’s why the devil offered Jesus riches, power and dominance. However, Jesus chose not to worship Satan, not to worship riches and wealth, not power and dominance over others, not control and influence or independence from his Father in heaven. Jesus chose to be powerless and vulnerable like the poor, the sick, the dying and oppressed.
The third temptation was to test the goodness and fidelity of the Father to Jesus. Jesus was alone in the desert and had surely felt loneliness and abandonment. This experience was used by the devil to tempt Jesus to test his Father’s faithfulness. The devil knew that Jesus had become insecure of what lies ahead. Being human, the future is always uncertain. But then, Jesus did not give in to that temptation to make certain of his Father’s love. He showed the devil that there is no need for testing God’s goodness to be certain of it. He showed that true faith in the Lord God is to embrace trust and hope in the midst our uncertainties and doubts.
All those things that the devil offered were actually not necessarily negative or evil. Satisfying ourselves, having riches and material possessions, and being certain of what lies ahead in life, are good in themselves.
Yet, be aware of this. Such good things can become a trap of the devil to allure us and keep us preoccupied, anxious, doubtful, fearful and insecure. These good things may then, keep us away from the grace of peace that God gives us. That is why, when something preoccupies and makes us anxious other than loving God, then, it comes from the devil.
Hence, our own hunger for attention, love and intimacy can become a trap when these are only directed for self-gratification. It happens when we immediately choose what is only comfortable and beneficial for ourselves without considering others or even at the expense of others. This leads us away from God.
Something can also spring up from our desires to be self-sufficient, the desire to exercise power and dominance over others, or simply to be successful. However, when our possessions, gadgets, work, fame, career and ambition preoccupy our heart and mind, then, we allow the devil to work and control our life.
Indeed, it feels so good to be served, to be self-sufficient, to have anything we need and want immediately. It feels good to be praised and be recognized because of the good things we did. It feels good to be able to exercise influence and power over the inferior ones.
But, when all of these only serve the ego (self) and feed oneself, then, we begin to become corrupt. The desire to have more and gain more becomes addictive. We will tend to worship ourselves rather than God, the Giver of everything and the source of all riches.
Moreover, our anxiety to be certain at everything about life can also become a great temptation. This anxiety can be very strong because when it controls our mind and heart then we begin to lose our peace of mind and become doubtful of God’s goodness. We will lose our self-confidence because we become fearful in making mistakes and taking risks. The temptation lies in our tendency to be masters of our own lives, to be independent from God. This will not surely bring us closer to God but in fact, we choose to be isolated from the grace of God.
The Gospel tells us that Jesus was actually led by the Spirit of God into the desert to be tempted. And Jesus was victorious over the temptations because he chose life and hope not death. Jesus chose his Father in heaven rather than the devil. This is how Jesus chose us.
And so, as we will all face temptations, let us also allow the Holy Spirit to lead us into our own deserts, to face our own struggles and difficulties. We are called not to escape from life but to face them with courage and faith. In this Season of Lent, we may discover and reaffirm God’s tremendous love and forgiveness for us. Hinaut pa.
What is our attitude about temptations in life? How do we act in response to our experiences of temptations in life?
Consider this… three men and an elderly priest had once a discussion. The priest asked: “supposing a corrupt politician approaches you, gives you lots of money and promises to grant you more favors if you vote and support him in the coming election, what would you do?”
The first replied, “I will return him the bribe-money”. The priest told him, “You, stupid fool”. Then the second replied, “I will take the bribe-money. I will keep it in my pocket. Surely, I will not waste such fortune”. But the priest replied, “You, shrewd crook”. And the last man said, “I really don’t know what to do? Will I overcome my evil inclinations? Or will my evil inclinations overpower me to claim what is not mine and to do what should not be done? I really don’t know. But if God will bless me and strengthen me to go against all my evil inclinations, I will return the bribe-money back to the corrupt politician.” The priest then said, “You are right, and you are a wise man.”
Why? The priest called the first man “stupid fool” because he doesn’t know himself. He believes that he is too strong to resist temptations in life. No men, by himself, have ever overcome temptations in life except Jesus.
Usually, temptations overcome us not because we are weak but because we are too proud to think that we are strong enough to overcome temptations. The second man was a “shrewd crook” because he is willing to claim what he does not own, and to do wrongdoing, without any qualms whatsoever. For such kind of men, temptations are opportunities for them to take advantage of others for their own benefits.
The priest praised the third as “good and wise man” because he knows that like all of us, we are basically weak people. He hopes that in the midst of temptations, he will be strong enough to do what is right. But he also knows that he can only do this with God’s help and strength, and he is most willing to ask and pray for it. He knows that in dealing with life-temptations, there is always a struggle within as well as reliance and faith in God’s help.
Like the stupid fool, we could resist & reject temptations on our own… Or like the shrewd crook, we could give in to it…. Or like the wise man, we could struggle in faith with temptations & evils in life.
We can say the temptations Jesus experienced in our gospel are still very much present and true in own lives today. To live in humanistic and materialistic life, to strive for our own self-glorification and not for God’s glory, and to worship not God, but worldly power and honor are still very present and true in our lives today anywhere, both here at home and abroad.
Surely migrant workers and their family today can attest to the reality and experience of temptations, struggles and reliance on God within themselves and their own family. They know the better and the worst realities and effects of how to live within the context of a Christian migrant family.
Yes, our ability today to live and work abroad either as migrant worker presents us great opportunities to make and build up our lives. But it also presents us great temptations to break and destroy our lives. Wherever we are, whether we are at home or abroad, we confront the same temptations and struggles as well as we need to rely and trust on God’s strength and power.
Easy for us indeed to fall into temptations. The biggest problem in struggling with temptations is our lack of self-knowledge – our lack of recognizing and overcoming the evil within ourselves. We struggle with the evils of others and in our society but the toughest struggle is to acknowledge and overcome the evil within our own selves – the evil within our own hearts.
We were born with conflicting goodness and evil within. That is why we can be good and can do good… but not without difficulties, since there are always tensions and struggles within ourselves. Moreover, we can only withstand these difficulties, if we are wise enough like Jesus in our gospel today, to rely and have faith not only in our own strength but in God’s help and power.
Like the stupid fool, if we think we can overcome these life-temptations and evils only by and through own strength and power, we are surely wrong and are doomed to failure for we don’t have the power and capacity to resist temptations. But like the wise man & Jesus, if we are wise enough to acknowledge and ask for, and have faith on God’s help and strength, we surely can overcome evils and temptations in others as well as within ourselves; – hoping not to be a shrewd crook falling into temptations.
St. Augustine is wise enough to say, “Through temptations, we come to know ourselves. We cannot receive the crown of salvation if there is no victory. And there is no victory if there is no struggle. And there is no struggle if there are no enemies and the bearers of these temptations.”
Meaning, we can bring about our salvation through and as we struggle with life-temptations and we recognize that human as we are, we are weak, but in faith with God, we are strong enough.
With our faith in Lord in our struggle with our day-to-day life-temptations & trials, we pray “Father, Lead us not into temptations, but deliver us from all evil.”
So be it. Hinaut pa unta. Kabay pa. Siya Nawa. Amen.
Do we often find ourselves judging quickly others or to speak ill of someone? Is it easy for us then, to find faults and ugly things when we are with others? Does our speech express bitterness as we describe others?
Judging others is actually natural to us. It is our way of assessing possible threats. We use it to create social order and hierarchy. It also helps reinforce our own beliefs and values.[1]
Yet, when we find ourselves having such tendencies, we might also easily fall towards self-righteousness and superiority. When we only focus on what is wrong and ugly in everything and everyone, we become more inclined to complain. We accuse and blurt out the faults and failures of others. This behavior creates a lot of toxicities and negativity in our relationships.
We may be unaware of the poisonous attitude we bring. We could believe and think that we have the best ideas and solutions. We might also think we have the best personality and attitude. Yet, we become a person who is very difficult to deal with. We are difficult to please and in need of constant affirmation.
On this Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, the Lord calls to pinpoint such tendencies in us. This is for our own growth as a Christian Community. Let us discern together the invitations in our liturgical readings this Sunday. They concern the intentions behind the words we speak.
In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus wanted his disciples to realize the danger of self-righteousness. This leads to bitterness, discontentment and insecurity. We need to recognize our own faults and sinfulness. We should not undermine them by finding the fault of others.
Jesus addressed the Pharisees and Scribes who seemed to be so righteous, yet, sick and sinful inside. Jesus compared them to blind men leading the blind. They noticed the splinters in other people but were blind to the beams in front of their own eyes. Jesus called them hypocrites.
This was clear at how these people would always notice even the minutest details of the defects of others. They were filled with complaints and biases against others. These people’s malicious words consistently attacked Jesus and his disciples. Their words revealed their evil intentions.
In fact, the First Reading from the Book of Sirach reminds us of the image. It says, “when a sieve is shaken, the husks appear, so do one’s fault’s when one speaks.” When we speak and use words that destroy others’ reputation, we reveal that we have a sick and rotten heart. Words that degrade and hurt others also show this. Similarly, words that only curse and bring insult to others reveal the evil in us.
Jesus captures this in his words, “an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil.” Let us be mindful then of things that we nurture in our heart because these are manifested in what we speak.
Moreover, to pinpoint the wrong or the faults of others is not entirely wrong. It is also our moral responsibility to express what is not good. Indeed, there is wisdom and goodness in criticism in itself.
We remind ourselves also of these two kinds of criticism. There is a constructive criticism and destructive criticism.
A constructive criticism seeks the good of my brother and sister. In this criticism, we do not seek to bring insult to the person but to help the person grow and learn from mistakes and failures. It gives both positive and negative feedback. This is done with honesty and sincerity from our part.
On the other hand, destructive criticism is hateful and malicious because it desires damage to my brother and sister. It is destructive because it puts down and humiliates the person and has no desire to help the person to grow and learn. Further, it is a mere accusation filled with bitterness and hate. In the words of Pope Francis, when we tend to destructively criticize and simply accuse others, then, we are friends of the devil because the devil is the Great Accuser. Thus, this is done with evil intent. We commonly do this when we talk behind to speak ill about the person in initiating, perpetrating and joining others to destroy the image of my brother or sister.
Jesus does not want us to be that bitter and hateful accusers. Jesus desires that each of us becomes free. We achieve this freedom by being capable of recognizing our sins. This recognition makes the transformation of hearts possible. In this way we become a help to one another, so that as parents, leaders, mentors and authority figures, we will not be leading others blindly but with humility and willingness to be corrected, affirmed and challenged.
As disciples of Jesus, he demands consistency in our words and actions, in the way we relate with others and with God, and in the way we look at ourselves.
And so for this Sunday, these are your take-away.
First, let us begin in recognizing our own “beams,” of our inconsistent words from our actions, our bitter and hateful words, our quick judgments and biases against others and other attitudes that make us hypocrites. Remember, when we choose to blind ourselves from these, then, there is a danger of making ourselves distant from God, from others and from our own reality.
Second, avoid speaking ill of others, even in joining or perpetrating or encouraging others to do so. This makes our heart free from bitterness.
Third, constructively correct others. Use words that uplift and motivate others to become better persons rather than being harsh and portraying ourselves to be superior. That’s again the attitude of a hypocrite.
As we dare to look at ourselves and confront the evil within us, may we also find Christ most willing to embrace us. Hinaut pa.
[1] Mike Robbins, “Why do we judge others?,” published on February 15, 2024,
When I was a newly ordained priest in Iloilo, there was such a time that while waiting for the mass to begin, I sat in a corner of our church. Few pews away from me, were a couple with their daughter who was probably about 3 or 4 years old. As I observed, she was very playful and while playing she accidentally hit her head on the pew. It was quite hard and painful because there was a loud cry after that. She sought the comfort of her parents. The father took her up. But what surprised me were the words of the father which I cannot forget. He said, “the chair hit you, you hit back then.” The little girl did as she was told and after that she was comforted not to cry anymore because she was able to hit back already. The little girl hushed from crying and rested on the shoulder of her father.
I am sure this is not something surprising to many of us. Some may have done it too to their children or grandchildren and perhaps you yourself experienced this. I have also experienced this at home when I was a little boy – to hit back whenever I am hurt, believing that the pain will fade once I have my revenge.
Indeed, to take our revenge when we are hurt may have been there in our hearts and sub-conscious because that was how we were brought up or perhaps that was how our environment and culture taught us to do. This sounds actually simple yet this has big implications when we are grown up and interact with one another. With this, we may ask now, is the attitude of taking revenge a Christian way?
In the First Book of Samuel, King Saul was in search of David. David had become an enemy to Saul because David became a threat to his kingship. Thus, Saul wanted to eliminate the threat by killing David. However, we were told that David slipped through the soldiers of King Saul and managed to get near to Saul while he was asleep. David had all the opportunity to kill Saul, his enemy, yet, when David had the chance to take his revenge, David spared the life of Saul.
David believed that vengeance and violence against the man that God has chosen was not the answer to a free and good life but rather in showing mercy.
The Psalm which has been attributed to David expressed such attitude of David too. – “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in kindness and the Lord deals with us not according to our sins.”
This story of David prepares us of Jesus’ absurd and seemingly illogical teaching. Many of those during his time, found it radical and crazy. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus taught his disciples to “love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray those who mistreat you.” Is it not ridiculous?
We were taught to be vengeful. We were taught to believe that hitting back takes away the pain that we have endured. Yet, Jesus teaches the other way around.
How could we love those who have hurt us? Those who have abused us? Those who betrayed us and caused so much pain in our life? How could we not hate and curse them when we are suffering from what they have done to us? How can we give forgiveness when they do not own the responsibility?
Our immediate response is to retaliate, to take our revenge. Some may result to physical violence which can terrorize the community. And if we cannot express physical violence against them, then, we express it in our words and on how we treat people. But most of all, we linger to hatred, to pain, anger and bitterness.
However, we do not realize that once we let aggression, violence, hatred and anger to dominate our hearts and minds, we, in fact, become prisoners of our own pain. Then, the pain that we endure leads us to feelings of anger, hatred and bitterness. When we linger to these they will lead us to a heart that seeks only revenge. This will be our tendency from our belief that by hurting the person back, our anger and hatred will be satisfied. But then we are wrong because anger and hatred will never be satisfied by violence. Violence only makes us angrier, more hateful and more bitter. The more we linger to these emotions; they become a cycle of violence that never ends.
We create our own cycle of violence, revenge, anger and hatred. We become prisoner of our own pain. All of these will control our life, thoughts and actions towards others. This is how our person and our relationships are so affected that we become toxic. We will never be free because we will try to avoid those who have hurt us and avoid occasions of meeting them. We will begin to become suspicious to our other relationships. Yet, we are afraid of trusting others, of loving others again and even ourselves. We are afraid because we linger to that pain thinking that other people might do it again to us. Thus, we become judgmental and condemning to those who are around us and even of ourselves.
However, it is when we find love and forgiveness in our hearts that we will be free. But remember, this begins in accepting and embracing those painful experiences we have so that we can go on with life.
This tells us, that loving one’s enemies or those whom we hate is an expression of mercy and forgiveness that makes us free. It will not erase the scar of betrayal or abuse or pain or any trauma that we endure; but we will be able to stand up, to wipe our tears, to go on with life and to transform our pain into kindness and forgiveness.
This is what Jesus wants for us. Jesus wants us to be free and not to be prisoners of anger, hatred, bitterness and violence. It is in showing love, kindness and mercy that we actually find peace and reconciliation, justice and freedom.
Showing love then, is not about telling the person, that what he/she did was okay and we pretend as if nothing happened. No! Love and forgiveness bring healing to our wounded heart that will make us say to the person, “I forgive you not because of who you are but because of who I am.” This is what the Dalai Lama said. This is a gift from the Lord because we deserve peace and freedom. This also means that I choose to be free and at peace. I choose love and not anger and hatred and I choose God and not evil.
The invitation of Jesus for us now, is an invitation to freedom from hatred, bitterness and violence and freedom to love, to be merciful and forgiving. This the attitude of the heart of a true believer of Christ Jesus. Hinaut pa.
A DOSE OF GOD TODAY 