Freedom from fear

Here is a challenging description of the Resurrection that we are missioned to live by here and now, and not after we die.

“Clearly, on that Easter morning, something happened to Jesus. But something happened to his disciples, too.

“They went hiding after the crucifixion, but after the news of Mary Magdalene, Mary, and Salome, and the resurrection appearances, they walked back into the world. They became braver and stronger; they visited strangers; they healed the sick. It’s not only what they saw when they saw Jesus, or how they saw it, but what was set free in them.

“What if the life after death Jesus reveals is not a life exclusively for the dead? What if it’s a life available to us all, something that we the living can participate in, too?

“What if the resurrection is not about the appearances of Jesus alone but also about what those appearances pointed to, what the Risen Jesus asked?

“The resurrection of Jesus is a resurrection within us, now, in this time and place. A new pattern of events is set free around us, a new way of looking at one another and our world is opened up. It is what we do with this new freedom that matters.

“We have to practice resurrection.” (From Connections, April 2009)

You and I are missioned by the Lord to be aware, experience, and practice resurrection in the here and now, from day to day, month to month, year to year, until we move on to an even greater and eternal resurrection. And this involves an absolute freedom from fear. A total attachment to the Risen Lord as the only absolute in life. Everything else is relative. Everything. My life, my relationships, talents, and treasures. They come and go, in God’s own time. Wealth, power, fame everything. God is the only absolute. So that when I attach myself totally to God, I am liberated from all my human fears fears of my own pains, losses, crosses, and failures. All this and more is a way of life, a spirituality all its own, and we are invited by the Risen Lord to experience it in our lives, here and now.

This family-loving Filipino was 40 years old when he was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Six months later, at his deathbed and surrounded by his wife and four, growing children, he expressed between sobs his last goodbye: “I never thought I would go this early. It was for all of you that I lived my life. Very soon I must go. But God is with you, and He will never go. He will take care of you much better than I ever did. So do not be afraid. I know you will miss me terribly, as I will miss you, too. But do not be afraid, for God is always with you…” He closed his eyes, and after a little while, he breathed no more. The family mourned for many, many months, but at the same time lived their resurrection with the Lord. They became even closer to one another than ever before.

Side by side with our resurrection in our personal and family lives is our resurrection in our national life. National elections are coming in 2010, and in my deepest faith, I trust that in God’s own providence, we are experiencing a national dying as well as a national resurrection.

Time and again, I have emphasized in this column our national mission from God as POLITICAL SPIRITUALITY. We must not separate our affairs of state from the sovereignty of Almighty God. We must not separate the secular from the sacred. All our efforts for the common good of our people and motivated by love and justice is no less than political spirituality. Interfaith. Interreligious. This must be activated both from below and from above. It is in this context that our choice for the next President of our beloved country is crucial and must be God-inspired.

This is where our leaders from the different religious denominations must collaborate in the moral and spiritual politicization of our people. Many of our voters need a lot of maturing and guidance. Voting out of God-inspired moral principles and not out of personality cultism. This is our mission from the Lord.

Some qualities in the person of our next President must be clearly and consistently present: A marked competence in political leadership and governance; undisputed moral integrity; a deep love for our country and our people, especially the poor and underprivileged; and most of all, a God-centered life. And by God-centered, we do not mean a political leader who religiously goes to church services on Sundays or the Sabbath, but is actually a trapo politician for the rest of the week.

The way we will choose our next President is no less than a practice of the resurrection. The Risen Lord is with us and will always be with us, for as long as we surrender ourselves to Him as the Only Absolute in life. Amen.