Posted by The WORD in other words (2022) by Fr Wilfredo Saniel SVD – Catholic Trade Manila
Wednesday 6th Week of Easter
A newly married lady once said to me: “Father, I married somebody I know, but I really do not know.” Our conversation went in the direction of an intimate relationship. This relationship begins with a little, superficial knowing and grows along the journey of discovering who the other person really is. It is like peeling the layers of an onion until it reaches the onion’s bulb.
Jesus revealed to us the essence of the reign of God. It is like giving us a newly harvested onion. It is the only truth about God, his Father, and his Father’s dream of a beautiful world for all of humankind. But he did not say everything. The details are left for us to discover as we ‘peel’ the various layers and dimensions.
The paths of discovering who God really is, and his dream of a new heaven and new earth is, in effect, the very nature of the spiritual life. Our Christian life is not confined to pious or religious practices though they may be concrete expressions of our relationship with God. The true Christian spirit is manifested in the efforts to discover what life really is, as it is meant for us, with the use of our human resources in cooperation with the wisdom of the Spirit of God. We encounter this Spirit, who is the Spirit of the Father and of the Son, in our quest for a better human life here on earth.
In the process of this quest, we come to know how to grapple with the challenges of life, unaware that along our journey in this valley of tears, the Spirit of Jesus who is the way, the truth, and the life, is with us. Thus, we begin to live the ‘things that are coming,’ which is our heaven here on earth as we become better persons and better Christians. The spiritual life is to be with God in our journey of becoming more human in the image and likeness of Christ.
When we reflect on who we are today, we recognize that we are no longer the same as before. The Spirit of God has shared with us the truths of life that we are what we are now because of the Spirit that opens us up to the meaning and significance of the message proclaimed by Jesus about the Reign of God. In other words, “hindi pa tayo tapos!” (We are not done yet). We are still on the journey of discovery. God is still doing his wonders in us, through us, with us. We only need to contemplatively listen to what his Spirit is telling us each day.
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