Posted by The WORD in other words (2009) by Fr Mechor Bernal SVD – Christ the King Seminary, Quezon City
Friday 4th Week of Lent
One of the great contributions of the Ignatian spiritual exercises is the discernment of the spirits. In a prayerful ambiance, individuals are invited to experience the kind of spirit that is moving them in making a choice. Immersed in silence, and guided by the Word of God, individuals attentively listen and discern, opening themselves up to God. Pure ego control surrenders to the Spirit of God.
The exact opposite of the openness to God is the “wickedness” that makes people deaf and blind, rendering them oblivious of the “hidden counsels of God.” This is a fixation that closes one’s capacity to see and hear God’s counsels, precluding any influence by God.
The two readings for today illustrate the second attitude. When our sense of security is not based on God, we immediately feel threatened by anything that disturbs us. When our comfort zone is not illumined by God’s grace, our immediate reaction is to fight this threat. Call it prejudice, ill will, animosity, or simply wickedness. This attitude is poisonous. It sucks the oxygen out of any relationship. The readings point out our tendency to snuff out anyone or anything that threatens our comfort zone. This attitude closes dispositions of individuals who remain fixated by the poison of ill will.
Human interactions are littered by oxygen sucking prejudice. The extreme in this continuum is death seeking, just like what the readings tell us. This fixation to an idea, project, relationship, etc., precludes any development in oneself, in the other, and in the mutual growth. Prejudice sabotages links, which may bridge people, communities, and nations.
Lenten season highlights the need to reassess our attitudes that are closed off to God’s hidden counsels. God’s counsels are spoken through one’s conscience that becomes more accessible through prayer and silence. God’s counsels are revealed through the inarticulateness of the marginalized, the shoddy looking, the uneducated people whom we look down. God’s counsels are those disconcerting words that point to our selfish interests. God’s counsels are His invitations to become somebody for others instead of being for oneself, alone.
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