Fr. Roy Cimagala is a Catholic priest and the Chaplain of the Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE) in Talamban, Cebu City. A prolific columnist and spiritual director, he provides daily theological insights and moral guidance for the modern believer. His writing bridges the gap between traditional Catholic doctrine and the complexities of contemporary Philippine life, offering a roadmap for spiritual maturity and "new creation" in Christ.
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Advent also means that since it marks the beginning of another liturgical year, we need to re-enliven our sense of making a new beginning in our spiritual life that is the very foundation of our whole life, since it is what relates us to God, our Father and Creator, our be-all and end-all, as well as to everybody else.
We have to remember that if Christ could not help but had to offer his life to save us, how can we think that our life and the world, in general, would take a different path?
We are somehow reminded of all these truths of our faith in that gospel episode where Christ somehow described some terrible things that would happen just before the end of the world. (cfr. Lk 21,5-11)
One lesson we can learn from that episode is that generosity is not a matter of how much we give but rather of total detachment from the things of this world so that our heart can only be for God.
We can also take this occasion to realize how we, especially priests, ought to preach so that like Christ in this gospel episode, we can attract people to our words.
We are given a chance not only to know him but also to love and serve him, which is what is most important to us, the ultimate purpose of our life.
Christ already warned us about this. “If this day you only knew what makes for peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. For the days are coming upon you when your enemies will raise a palisade against you, they will encircle you and hem you in on all sides. They will smash you to the ground and your children within you…” (Lk 19,42-44)
This truth of our faith is highlighted in that gospel parable about a nobleman who went off to a distant country to obtain the kingship, leaving his ten servants with ten gold coins with the instruction to engage in the trade until he returns. (cfr. Lk 19,11-28)
Our Christian faith tells us that God’s love for us is eternal. It’s a love that goes all the way to showing mercy for us in the form of his Son becoming man and taking up all the sins of men by dying on the cross. No greater love can there be other than this love of God for us.
Yes, we need to pray without ceasing, as St. Paul told us in his First Letter to the Thessalonians. (5,16) To keep our spiritual life alive, to make it survive all trials in life, let alone, to make it work effectively and grow healthily, we need to pray without letup.
God does not need anything from us. What he wants is that by being thankful to him, we learn to be with him always since we are his children, created in his image and likeness. He wants to share his life with us.
This truth of our faith was implied when some leading Jews once asked Christ when the Kingdom of God would come. To which, Christ answered that “the coming of the Kingdom of God cannot be observed, and no one will announce, ‘Look, here it is,’ or, ‘There it is.’ For behold, the Kingdom of God is among you.” (cfr. Lk 17,20-25)