MEET THE BETTER COMMUNITY MEMBERS

MEET THE BETTER COMMUNITY MEMBERS

 

“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled…” – Luke 9:14

 

Our community often holds prayer meetings, seminars and other events in Quezon City and because we live there, my husband Ed and  I hardly miss the gatherings. I must admit, there were times that I thought we impressed the Lord with our commitment to community life and wondered how others could not be so committed.

Then one time, the community announced that our Caring Group Heads Conference would be held in Alabang.

Alabang! That’s about 20 kilometers from where we live. Very far, Ed and I groaned. And we groaned some more as we negotiated the traffic jam going to the conference venue. Then it occurred to me: We have many members from Alabang — or from Rizal and Bulacan — who come all the way to Quezon City every time we have a gathering. They spend money on gas, they suffer through the traffic, they brave the danger of going home late at night when our events wrap up at 10 p.m.

And I thought we were the better community members. The Pharisee in today’s Gospel also thought that he was a lot better than the tax collector. Cynthia Santiago (boses2go@yahoo.com)

 

REFLECTION:

Are you really committed to Jesus?

 

Lord, may I boast only of my true love for You.

he Trouble with Our Retreats

 

Reading and re-reading our Gospel lesson, I am led to recall candid instances in a good number of retreats and recollections that I have facilitated for various groups. Aside from giving conferences, celebrating the liturgy, making myself available for arduous sessions of “confessioncum- counseling,” there were times when I was also asked to host an open forum that was purportedly for the “greater enlightenment of the retreat participants.” To facilitate the open forum, I often asked the participants to write their questions and concerns in pieces of paper, so we could avoid duplication of questions. I have, in turn, kept a good number of those pieces of paper for deeper thought.

In retrospect, I realize that the majority of the questions and concerns raised by the persons on retreat — persons who were supposed to be focused on their lives and their spiritual walk — is about the lives and life-complications of other people around them: their family members, their next-door neighbors, their officemates, and their friends among many others. Jesus, in our Gospel, calls our attention to this human tendency that we all suffer from. Many times, we tend to make ourselves feel better by comparing ourselves with others. Many times, we tend to ask questions and make a lot of observations about others’

lifestyles, more than about our own.

Lent comes from the Old English word “lencten,” which means “springtime.” The aim of all our sacrifices and rituals is renewal, repentance, renovation. For this to happen, we have to shift our focus from criticism of others to self-critique.Fr. Domie Guzman, SSP

 

Reflection Question:

Do you have the tendency to while away time sitting by your window or by your balcony while paying attention to all that your neighbors are doing? Make a Lenten discipline of cutting much of these moments.

 

Help me during this time of Lent, Lord, to have the courage to look deep inside myself through Your eyes and resolve to change anew.

 

Blessed Agnello of Pisa, pray for us.