A global healing crisis

Our modern life has definitely made us more materialistic, more egocentric, more impatient and more malevolent. As we begin this Holy Week ritual, we must realize that the paramount importance to consider is the true purpose of life.

It is essential for any traveler to know where he is going. It is every man’s true objective to lead a good, virtuous and useful life in the service of God and humanity, and thus attain the salvation of his soul, and deserve eternal glory in heaven. To this end the question of religion and of mortality is of significant and decisive importance.

Lent is a time to reflect upon the passion and death of Jesus Christ – that is, His sacrifice for the salvation of man and repentance of the sins we have committed in our life. Forty days of prayer, alms giving, fasting and abstinence symbolize Christ’s retreat in the desert and His success in resisting the devil’s temptation to wealth, power, and glory.

Lent is a period to take inventory of our faith, to renew one’s commitment to the commands of God or restate one’s dedication to the Christian way of life. It is a renewal in preparation for the most joyous act of Christianity – the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, our salvation and reconciliation with God.

It is through this time of reflection and self-denial that God speaks His messages of wisdom and shows us the right direction to take in our life.

This is the time to take action and resolve to get rid of old ways. This rapid changing world challenges us to reexamine the essentials.

As Catholics, we are expected to do all of the above. But the question is – Are we truly walking the talk? Are we “conditioned” Catholics? Or has the fiber of our Catholic community weakened?

Today, our world is dominated by desire for possessions and conceit. We are faced with a global healing crisis. The imposing threats of natural and man-made disasters, the recent series of civil unrest and turmoil, so much bloodshed, so many tears, so many broken homes, and so many lives wantonly and horribly destroyed are all tragic effects of man’s irresponsibility in caring and preserving what God has created.

The series of adversities, calamities and afflictions around the world these past months alone are opportunities for us to awaken our spirits. In retrospect, we need to make changes of our actions toward one another and toward our environment so that peace and serenity can descend upon humanity.

Our world is suffering the loss of coastal habitats such as mangroves and coral reefs; landslides aggravated by human activities such as deforestation, cultivation and construction; environmental degradation; environmental disasters; and rapid population growth.

We should go back to the basic essentials of life. For instance, we can never go wrong by being more conscious of our manners, our habits and our core values. Within the family we must strengthen the moral fiber – helping each one act responsibly. Educators should start teaching students values, behaviors and skills leading to sustaining the cosmos. Businessmen can be more conscious of using natural materials that will not destroy our habitat. Traders should be more conscientious on replacing the trees they use, protecting animals or species instead of killing them, breeding more plants for industrial use, etc. Our leaders must commit themselves in protecting cultures, our people and our environment.

During our reflection this Lenten season, it is important that we realize how critical it is for us to align our ideas and actions in respect for life. We must bring to our consciousness all that has been done unconsciously. It is time to participate in this great transformation process, within ourselves and in our shared world.

We are in desperate need for a world that will be founded more on values and morality and not blinded by greed, guilt or pride. We must be wary of our actions during these critical times, or we suffer the consequences beyond repair and help even from above.

By listening to God’s words and remembering His life and works, we can properly discern and use our intuition for the good of many. We must find our hearts and follow His inspiration, for He is the purest guide and the only one who can redirect us to doing our mission in life.

There are men so blinded by ignorance or pride who do not appreciate the immense power of prayer. But it is a fact that, as Tennyson said. “More things are wrought by prayer than this world thinks of.” Even science has begun to recognize this fact, and it has shown that what was considered by the incredulous as superstitious belief in the efficacy of science is not so, for strange as it may sound, it has been demonstrated by science that “prayer is power.”

My grandfather Benito T. Soliven always reminded his family and friends that; “Prayer is not only worship; it is also an invisible emanation of man’s worshiping spirit — the most powerful form of energy that one can generate. The influence of prayer on the human mind and body is as demonstrable as that of secreting glands. Its results can be measured in terms of increased physical buoyancy, greater intellectual vigor, moral stamina, and a deeper understanding of the realities underlying human relationships. Prayer is a force as real as terrestrial gravity. It is the only power in the world that seems to overcome the so-called ‘laws of nature’; the occasions on which prayer has dramatically done this have been termed ‘miracles.’ But a constant, quieter miracle takes place hourly in the hearts of men and women who have discovered that prayer supplies them with a steady flow of sustaining power in their daily lives”.

As we begin this Holy Week, let us usher in a new presence of God in our world and in our personal lives and be open for a true transformation.