‘Crazy love’
I am so grateful to Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates “Soc” Villegas who made time to give a Lenten recollection to a group of us who congregated at the St. Marie Eugenie Chapel in Assumption San Lorenzo last Saturday. He gave us some reflections to ponder on to help us prepare for the Holy Week.
He began his talk by looking up tenderly at the wooden life-sized crucified Christ in the early morning light as he led us to say a thought-provoking prayer…“Dear Lord, trouble us. Disturb us, so that we can become better. Amen.”
“We Christians are an Easter people,” he said. “Our faith revolves around the Paschal Mystery and our focal point is Jesus’ resurrection on Easter Sunday.”
“Do you know when this year’s Easter Sunday is?” he asked. “Do you remember the date last year or the year before? Have you ever wondered why Christmas is always Dec. 25, but Easter Sunday is never on the same date each year? It differs because the reckoning of Easter is based on the full moon.”
“Have you ever heard of the legendary effects of a full moon on some people?” Bishop Soc asked with a mischievous smile. “They become moonstruck lunatics and it makes them crazy in love. That’s Jesus! Jesus fell deeply in love with us! What a mystery! You will never understand how much Jesus loves us! It takes a crazy man to do everything he did for people who didn’t even thank him, betrayed him, doubted and hurt him. Yet he is so blinded by his crazy love for us. He has done the craziest things, including death to convince us of how much he loves us. Our hearts are too small to contain the immensity of God’s love for us. Hence we need cleansing so we can recognize Jesus and be prepared to receive all of his love,” he said.
Bishop Soc said Easter is so important that’s why it has 40 days of preparation. Why 40? “We need more time for cleansing so that the good will come out. Do you remember the story of Noah and the great flood? It rained non-stop for 40 days and 40 nights. The earth was cleansed of the bad and the good were saved to start a new life. It took 40 years for the Israelites to reach the promised land since they were a stubborn lot. Jesus fasted 40 days in the dessert and was tempted by the devil who did not win.”
The Lenten season is one of cleansing so that the good in us will come out. This is when the year of the poor begins. What Pope Francis is asking us to abstain from this lent is indifference. The practice of fasting and abstinence may not be applicable to those who are sick but Bishop Soc said no one has ever gotten sick because they abstained from indifference.
Bishop Soc spoke of three things we should cleanse ourselves from.
1. Walang pakialam (Indifferent). This describes people who pray yet remain oblivious to the needs of others around them like the hungry, the lonely, the poor, the sick, the homeless, victims of tragedy, environmental degradation, corruption, violence etc. In this case, the fruit of real prayer is not peace but “disturbance.” When you pray, you must ask God to disturb you, to trouble you, in order to make you a better disciple. The opposite of walang pakialam is malasakit (concern). The ability to forget yourself and be willing to endure what others are going through. The meaning of Good Friday is to get involved.
2. Walang pakiramdam (Unfeeling). This describes someone who can’t smile with those who are smiling, who can’t laugh with those who are laughing, who can’t cry with those who are crying. Please do not tell your sons that it is unmanly to cry. Pope Francis told the youth in UST that it is good to cry. Tears are gifts. You don’t apologize for crying because every tear is a gift from the Lord.
When asked what was the highlight of Pope Francis’ visit? His reply was the Mass in Tacloban because there he saw the tears of typhoon Yolanda survivors mingling with the rain. Tears are a symbol of desolation while rain is like a kiss from heaven. Tears of desolation and the rain of hope can mingle with the Lord. The opposite of walang pakialam is to be maawain or compassionate.
3. Walang hiya (Lack of shame). This describes those who are not ashamed to cheat on their spouses or others. Children who are not ashamed to lie to their parents. People who are not ashamed to disobey authority, employees who are not ashamed to take home office property, churchgoers who are not ashamed to be late for Mass. The shameless have no guilt but can be proud of sinning and evil doing. The opposite of walang hiya or lack of shame is kababaang loob or humility.
In this Year of the Poor, you can go to confession, receive communion, pray all the Stations of the Cross, but if you go back to your own walang hiya, how can you face our Lord? Humility is the crown of all virtues. How do we get to heaven? St. Augustine said, “First humility, second humility and third humility.”
Bishop Soc shared this charming poem about humility that he learned when he was in Grade 3. “Hearts like doors will open with ease, with very little keys. Don’t forget that two of these are thank you and if you please.”
Lastly, Bishop Soc reminded us, “Please say thank you more often. Don’t take your family for granted. People who say thank you are happy people because they see everything as coming from the Lord. Say ‘please’ to those below you. Please say thank you. May I add a last word to improve your lent in the Year of the Poor? Be quick to say sorry. There are times when it is better to rush to say sorry because your relationship is more important than who is at fault. People who say sorry show humility. Humility is looking at yourself the way God sees you. We are not any better in the presence of God. In all humility we are all sinners. Yet he loves us so.
“Through all this cleansing the good will come out. Please give God a chance to love you, like a father who joyfully welcomes and forgives his prodigal son. Don’t ever doubt His crazy love for you,” he concluded.
The kind Bishop ended his talk by asking us to face Jesus on the cross as he led this closing prayer “Lord change me, even if I am not ready. I give you permission to disturb me. Don’t wait for me to be ready.”
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