Before entering
the seminary, I was in the Human Resources profession, working for a time in
three manufacturing companies. A big
concern for us then was the problem of DEHUMANIZATION. Factory workers coming in, day in and day out
... 1st shift ... 2nd shift ... 3rd shift ... doing the same thing, logging
in and out at exact working periods, staying on the same equipment and at the
same working station, seeing the same people ... coming in again the next day ... and life goes on ...
over and over and over. If you had been
in such a similar circumstance, isn’t this like MAN simply functioning as a
MACHINE. Social scientists call this kind
of an experience as ALIENATION. We can be quite functional and efficient .... but
because of the routinary-ness of things ... it is as if we had been ALIENATED
from our own selves. I had become simply
a machine (I’ve heard someone saying: Naging tao-taohan na lang ako). I had
lost my self-worth. I had not become the
person that I really am. A machine is
not human. I had been DEHUMANIZED.
And so ... as a
then human resource professional, one of our tasks was to introduce programs
that hopefully minimize at least to some degrees the levels of alienation and
dehumanization from the routinary-ness of life in the work setting. If not ... there is UNPEACE; if not ... there is INFIGHTINGS; if not ...
there’s a lot of discontent, etc.
Specially during
this time in the liturgical calendar which we call as the ORDINARY TIME, we are
asked to reflect on the routinary-ness, the ordinariness, the regularity of
life that we live ... and to say in all honesty ... I seem to already be losing
my REAL SELF to this cyclic way of living my life. There must be something MORE, a greater
meaning to the life that I am living. I
am also prone to being ALIENATED from my own self, not discovering what I can
truly be ... and what I truly am.
Our Gospel tells us: You are
the SALT of the earth and LIGHT of the WORLD.
Firstly, I think
... what this is telling us in a most practical way is this: We will need to acknowledge our needs for
SPICE and FLAVOR to the routinary, ordinary and regular lives that we live. If I examine the way I proceed with my life,
what have I devised to add SPICE and FLAVOR to my life? Believe it or not ... we sometimes cling to many
a STRANGE, UNUSUAL and more so ABSURD preoccupations simply to SPICE UP and ADD
FLAVOR to our lives. (Last night someone
was relating to me the plot of this Oscar nominated film ... about a man
falling in love with an OPERATING SYSTEM ... a computer generated
persona). What is trending now on
FACEBOOK? Throwback history time of your
past 4 years with Facebook. Before ...
there was ANGRY BIRD ... now we have FLAPPY BIRD. When I talk to young people nowadays, they
know of a lot of CREATED characters that for me can be quite fascinating (i.e.,
MASHIMARO ... chocomaro).
Believe it or
not, I’ve met someone whom I termed as a building specialist. This is strange ... but to SPICE UP and ADD
FLAVOR to his life ... he counts the number of floors of most buildings under
construction in the metropolis.
Wow! What a specialized field ...
and he can be quite amazing ... not only in remembering the new construction projects
in the city but likewise the number of floors of each building being
constructed. There’s a need for us to
SPICE UP and ADD FLAVOR to our lives.
But the question is: HOW DO WE DO
SO? What is the Christian Catholic way of doing so? Let me propose a few suggestions:
YOU ARE THE SALT OF THE EARTH. SALT means FLAVOR. What flavor do we
contribute to our being Christians? There
is a word that is very familiar to us: TRADITION … (in Lat: TRADERE … in Gk: PARADIDONAI … which
means to hand on / to hand over.
Ordinarily, when we talk about “tradition” we simply imply all the
practices that we perform.
Examples: First Friday Devotion
to the Sacred Heart of Jesus; praying
the Rosary; Visita Iglesia during Holy Week;
vigil … last Friday to the Twin Hearts of Jesus and Mary. Why do we perform such practices? Some would say … TRADITION na yan,
Father!
In Scriptures: PARADIDONAI … the Father handed over His Son
to us; the Son handed over himself (it
is finished … he handed over his Spirit);
the Father and Son handed on the Spirit.
PARADIDONAI! There is a TRADITION
of SELF-GIVING in the Church, in the faith system we subscribe to. As the Father, Son and Spirit exemplified
SELF-GIVING … this self-giving … the handing over of oneself is commanded of us
as well. This is our TRADITION … the TRADITION of self-giving.
How much have we given to
our Church? I do not mean, of course,
financial help only. How much have you
given of your time? Your moral support? Your involvement? Or even … actively promoting vocations to the
Church? Would you wish our TRADITION to continue? That tradition is precisely the TRADITION of
SELF-GIVING. In Greek: PARADIDONAI. This is the unique FLAVOR … contribution that
we give … our capacity for SELF-GIVING.
Paradidonai ... SELF GIVING
adds flavor and spice to our lives.
WE ARE IN THE BUSINESS OF
SHARING GOD’S LIGHT AND MAKING THAT LIGHT TRULY PRESENT IN THE WORLD. Jesus said to his DISCIPLES (not
Apostles): YOU ARE THE SALT OF THE
EARTH! YOU ARE THE LIGHT OF THE
WORLD. He meant this EMPHATICALLY. There is URGENCY to the word he is using ... (humeis) - emphatic meaning "you
yourselves". "You and you alone (no one else) are the
light of the world." NOW NA!
Light is that which enables
you to see or which make vision possible amidst the darkness (brown-out). Light
goes with sight. Light illuminates,
exposes, guides, and directs. Light
gives life. The nature of light is to
shine. There is no such thing as light that does not communicate itself. There
is no such thing as self contained light. In our case, there is no such thing as an
invisible believer! Our light must SHINE FORTH. Light may
originate in a distant star and travel a span of light-years, but it does not
get tired of shining and ceasing to shine. Its nature is to shine. Christ says
He has made light of the world, and we are not self-contained. It is the nature of the child of God who has
been made light to communicate the light given to him. LIGHT IS THE TRUTH THAT YOU SPEAK ... the
INTEGRITY WITH WHICH WE LIVE OUR LIVES.
That will need to SHINE FORTH.
(We pray for our whistleblowers ... those who risk lives and limb to
speak the truth and scatter forth light).
As we live our ordinary
life ... we acknowledge our need for SPICE and FLAVOR to the lives that we
live.
PARADIDONAI ... to
hand-over ... there is a tradition of self-giving in our Church ... a way to
add meaning and flavor to our very existence.
LIGHT is the TRUTH that we
SPEAK. We need always the COURAGE to
shine forth and reflect the truth and light that comes from Jesus himself.
