Pro-God by the Right Reverend Santos Rabang, OSB, STL. Part 2

Avoidance of Sin

After the sin of Adam and Eve, the world is virtually inundated by sin. Cain murdered his brother Abel. Then there follows the universal corruption in the wake of sin. Sin frequently manifests itself in history down to our present-day history. Even after Christ’s redeeming death, sin raises its head in innumerable and countless ways among Christians. A “maka-Diyos” person has to struggle against sin in his life, if he must be indeed such a one.

St. Augustine’s description of sin is any thought, word, or deed against the law of God. St. Thomas Aquinas, on the other hand, defines sin as an act of self-love in opposition to the love of God.

In our time, attempts have been made to describe or define sin, not from the vantage point of God, but from the perspective of man. Here are the major lines: 1) the complete rejection of sin; 2) the fundamental option of God: once a person has made the fundamental choice of God, he cannot sin mortally; and 3) God is all merciful: there is no need to resort to the sacrament of penance for the forgiveness of mortal sin.

In view of all these claims, a “maka-Diyos” educator lives in such a manner as to affirm and uphold that sin is a rejection and a distortion of that central element of new life in Christ. He avoids sin.

Living in Sanctifying Grace

A “maka-Diyos” educator lives in sanctifying grace, the exact opposite of sin. What is this? Five elements comprise it:

1. A supernatural quality

2. Inhering in the soul (intellect and will)

3. Which gives us a physical and formal participation

4. In the very nature and life of God (knowledge and love)

5.  Although in an analogous and accidental manner

As a supernatural quality, that is, excelling all natural things, sanctifying grace enhances our intellect and will and their respective operations. It elevates us, especially our thinking and choosing, to the level of God and deifies us, that is, it makes us similar to God.

Sanctifying grace enables us to participate in the nature and life of God (2 Pt. 1: 4) in a physical and formal way. There are some supernatural operations which are proper only to a superior nature (God’s nature). They become connatural to man only through grace. In other words, they become connatural to man when man is made to participate in the nature of God in a physical and formal way.

Let us be more concrete about these supernatural operations. These are the operations of the infused virtues of faith, hope and charity. For these to operate in us, there must be in our soul a supernatural entity. This supernatural entity is no other than a physical and formal participation in the entity (nature) of God himself.

The soul in sanctifying grace becomes like God in some respect, by way of being a supernatural image of God (adopted child of God).

Sanctifying grace as a supernatural quality of the soul of man is not a substantial form of the soul, that is, it is not the nature of the soul, neither is it its part. Rather, it is accidental to the soul that participates in God’s nature or substance. Therefore, it can be lost. A “maka-Diyos” educator will take great care that he/she will not lose sanctifying grace in the soul by mortally sinning. In other words, a “maka-Diyos” educator lives in the state of sanctifying grace.

Communing with God: Prayer

Prayer is the living relationship of the sons and daughters of God with their Father, with his Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Prayer life is the habit of being in the presence of the all-holy God. And more! It is a habitual communion with him made possible by Baptism.

Christian Tradition has handed down to us three expressions of prayer: vocal, meditative, and contemplative prayer. St. Teresa of Jesus, the Church’s doctor on prayer, whose doctorate was not conferred by any university, but by her lifetime experience of God in prayer, defines prayer as “conversation with God.” The conversation can be brought into effect by our lips, our minds, and our hearts.

A “maka-Diyos” educator sets aside a little of his 1,440 minutes a day, say 20 to 30 minutes everyday for conversation with God. Without prayer there can be no genuine “maka-Dioys” life. Prayer is choosing God, giving time for God, not just when we want, but regularly and consistently.

Sacramental Life

The Catholic Faith has never tired itself of reminding us the significance of the sacraments for our growth in being “maka-Diyos.” Emphasis has never been lacking on the role of the sacraments of the Eucharist and Penance in our being “maka-Diyos.” We do not separate the Eucharist from Baptism and Confirmation with which it constitutes the sacraments of Christian initiation.

One’s state in life, whether married or celibate, constituted by the sacraments of matrimony or holy orders faithfully lived out, leads to growth in a “maka-Diyos” life. Singleness in the world through a life of continence leads, too, to such a growth.

The sacraments are the acts of Christ giving us life, strengthening and nourishing our life in Him, healing us when we are sick and prompting us to serve as He did serve. A “maka-Diyos” life is therefore intrinsically bound with our sacramental life in Christ’s Church.

Respect for the Human Person

Of all visible creatures, only man in able to know and love his Creator. He alone is called to share, by knowledge and love, in God’s own life. It is in this way that he is created “in the image of God” whose life is knowledge and love.

Being created in the image of God, man possesses the dignity of a person (capable of self-knowledge and of freely giving himself and entering into communion with another person).

Therefore, a “maka-Diyos” value chosen as the first of your values must be owned and cherished. Then, it must be acted upon. The acting on must be consistent and repeated, in private and in public. Otherwise, it is a mere paper work, not a lived experience.

“LECTIO DIVINA”

“Lectio Divina” literally means divine reading. It has been loosely translated as sacred or spiritual reading. But there is more to it than spiritual reading. It is a means of encounter with God through reading a spiritual book or writing. It entails the following essential elements: reading, meditation (talking to yourself), prayer (talking to God), and action (putting into practice what you told to yourself and to God).

Principles

1. Conversation with God

      God speaks, you listen and respond.

      You speak, God listens and responds.

2. Quiet

      There is quiet or silence accompanied by interior recollection and abandonment of distracting thoughts.

3. Pause

If some words of phrase strike you, you pause. Something like the following may happen to you during the pause:

· You began to speak simply and naturally to God after a short reflection

· It may happen that God’s presence will be imperceptibly but intangibly obvious, that you rest in quiet.

· You are led to make the words or phrases as your own, humbly involving God with them in prayer.

4. The awareness of God may not abide long and then you find yourself as having nothing more to tell God or some distractions set in.

Steps

1. Sit down.

2. Make an act of faith in God’s presence.

3. Read reverently, slowly and prayerfully the assigned reading material.

4. Pause if some words or phrases strike you.

5. Resume reading again.

6. Repeat the steps for as long as you are impelled by God’s Spirit to do so.

 Posted by Br. Elijah Joshua Donato, OSB