The Signs of God’s Presence

Two things struck me in a special way whenever I make my retreat at the Horacio De La Costa Formation Center in Trece Martires, Cavite. They were the  wind  and the  birds. I hear so  many kinds of songs  from the  birds. But  I could not find where they were among the trees. However, from their beautiful songs,  I knew they were there.

The place is always cool and  breezy  in  January  and  February. I could  feel the wind, see the  coconut palms  and  banana leaves swaying  vehemently. But  I could not see the wind. I could only see the things touched by the wind. And  I knew the wind was there.

Then it dawned on me that we  could not see many of life’s most important things such as  air, ideas, courage, love, or God’s grace. We can, however,  see the effects of their presence, the things  touched by the wind, the  song of the birds, the  courage of friends to speak the truth, a man and woman  pledging their undying love and commitment in marriage, and people  stopping to resist God’s grace  in their lives, and the  transformation that takes place as a result.

In today’s Gospel, some  Greeks ask to see Jesus. The  apostles could point out Jesus  and invite the Greeks to listen to him. But what would be  more convincing  than anything else is if they could see the apostles’ lives transformed by Jesus’ message.

Jesus will eventually no longer be visible in the way that his contemporaries saw him. He will be  glorified  and will  return to the Father. How could people see him  then?  And how can people see him today?

We can see Jesus the same way we can see the wind, the birds in their songs, power of an idea, the depth of courage, the reality of human love, or openness to God’s grace. We see these things by the change they make in a person’s life. A good tree must bear good fruit. We don’t see Jesus as the apostles saw him.We cannot see him with our bodily eyes,  but we can experience him. We can encounter him.

During the start of the renewal of the  Christian Life Community (CLC) back in 1967-68,  the CLC (then called the  Sodality) was at the  bottom of the school organizations.

The first  (three-day) renewal seminar  was a combination of  group dynamics  and  prayer.  When the participants went back to their respective schools, there was a notable change in their spirit. There was a  strong bond of community  and  enthusiasm for apostolic action. Other students seeing this outpouring of the Spirit were  attracted to join them.

The  CLC has now produced many members among  students, housewives,  businessmen, farmers, business executives, doctors, lawyers, and civil officials  with strong Christian values. Like in many other movements and organizations, from the effect we know that the hand of God was there. Like those  Greeks  in the Gospel, we long to see a  Jesus who makes a difference in the lives of those who say they were his followers.

Sometimes we hear people make this kind of comment: “Si Doña, nagkokomunyon araw-araw, pa-iyak-iyak sa prayer meeting, pero panay ang tsismis, at nagmumura sa mga katulong at drayber.” (This Doña goes to Holy Communion every day, shed tears at prayer meetings,but often engages in gossips, and curses her house-helps and driver). It’s hard to see Jesus there.

However, we also hear people say of others, who are dedicated to their care and service of others, “How Christian, how inspiring their lives are.” Or, we hear of how people have changed from a  happy-go-lucky, pleasure-seeking way of life to a  prayerful and kind-hearted apostolic life. They are signs that God is present.

Yes, we long to see Jesus today. We long to see a Jesus,who makes us want to rush out and share the good news of salvation. When we have encountered Jesus,  we can no longer stay still and do nothing. We want to  rush out and announce what marvels God has done for us, how good and merciful He is, that  He has come to save us.

We long to see a Jesus  who knows what is in our hearts, who knows  how difficult it is sometimes to do the right thing, who knows  our efforts and our weaknesses, and  is ready to lay down his life for our sake.

None of this can happens unless we see the effects of Jesus’ presence in the lives of other people. We read or heard about the canonized Saints, people whose lives radiated God’s presence and compassionate love. We remember Saints like  Francis of Assisi, Teresa of Avila, and  Lorenzo Ruiz, Pedro Calungsod.

We also know of saintly people who are not well known. For us Jesuits, we can recall such holy persons like the saintly Fr. Pedro Arrupe, the late Superior General of the Jesuits. Here in the Philippines, there is  Fr. John Pollock,  and  Fr. Benigno Dagani, two cheerful dedicated missionaries in Mindanao, models of  simplicity, poverty, and  compassion.

We have  Pope Francis himself – a great model of modern Christian. They are well loved by the people. I’m sure you know of others. We remember these faith-filled people. We know of people who have  God’s love written on their hearts so deeply that their lives would make absolutely no sense if God does not exist.

Fr. Joaquin Villalonga  was a Spanish Jesuit, well respected both by the  Church Hierarchyand the  Spanish Government  of his time. After successfully accomplishing a special mission for the  Holy Father, the Pope  offered Fr. Villalonga any assignment he would choose. Fr. Villalonga immediately asked to be assignedto the Leper Colony in Culion, Palawan. And there he ministered to the lepers for the rest of his life.

We know of people  whose suffering might rival that of Job, but who still  trust in God’s love and goodness. They don’t get discouraged.  They continue to pray and trust.

It’s not enough that we be  on the receiving end of such deep-down faith and compassionate love; we need to be  on the giving end.

How can we do that? We can help others by guiding them  along their faith journey. Today, many people,  especially the youth, are  searching for meaning in life. The traditional dogmatic approach of the Church often turns them off. What they need is the  witnessing of Christians, whose lives stand as  testimonies of God’s love  for humankind – Christians who can  integrate deep Gospel spirituality with their  daily concerns. We can witness by our prayer in easy times,  but  especially in tough times.

Not every Eucharist can be the highpoint of our life, but our faith might help make one particular celebration a highpoint of someone else’s life.

Then there is the witness of the  work of charity,  done  not for recognition and praise,  but because it is Christ, who is hungry, naked, sick, or in some other need, our solidarity with the suffering –especially when we lack the words or the ability to make their pain go away, our concern for those who are grieving can be signs of God’s presence.

“We would like to see Jesus,” people are saying to us.This Eucharist renews our faith and helps us to share it through  words and lives overflowing with Jesus’ compassionate love.