“How Many Souls can You Save?”

When I was doing my Officer Training School, an MTI (military training instructor) gave us a meaningful lecture when we were lined up after dinner. Instead of being like other MTIs who typically tend to yell at us when we do something wrong, he conversed with us. He asked us many questions, ranging from our AFSC (job code) to where we would be stationed after the training. He asked what we hope to become as United States Air Force officers and how we would like to change the current situation. He inspired us to become the change, not just with words, but with true servant leadership, true integrity, service, and excellence for the common and greater good. That conversation stuck with me because he spent the time teaching and explaining matters to us instead of simply yelling at us.

When I was standing in line with my flight mates, he, in turn, asked me (because he saw my chaplaincy cross insignia on my OCP uniform and patrol hat) this question, “Chaplain, how many people are you hoping to help?” I answered him, “I hope to help as many people as possible — whoever will cross my life.” To which he answered, “Millions, sir, millions!” He then told us to keep the course and be focused on finishing the training so we can be out there in the operational Air Force to help those who will come into our lives.

Even though it might sound like the conversation particularly applies to priests, I believe we can apply it to a wider, general audience as well. We often think that missionary works are reserved or particular to priests and religious, but we often forget that each and every one of us is called to be witnesses of faith by how we live. Too often, we will not be allowed the opportunity to defend or preach our faith in the traditional sense because the situation, relationship, or people around us are not open to that dialogue or conversation. As a matter of fact, a lot of people nowadays do not want to talk about faith because they have experienced some types of religious or fanatical hypocrisy in the past.

I can personally see why religion and faith can be an off-putting matter for many because I have experienced similar situations many times. In fact, I tend to be very reserved and uncomfortable when someone approaches me, trying to talk about matters of faith. Too oftentimes, they tend to sound very condemnatory, self-righteous, and stereotypically negative and presumptive of people. Those people who tend to set out to convert and change people do not want to want to dialogue and converse with respect, dignity, and openness. It is too easy to try to change people instead of trying to change ourselves, and that tends to lead people nowhere except being more resentful, negative and shut off from real, personal, respectful, and life-giving conversations.

How effective are we if we only preach to instill or prove our righteousness instead of bringing people to the Lord? How genuine are we if we only want to instill fear, guilt, and shame in people but do not empower them to seek conversion and be disciples? I believe we have approached evangelization and missionary efforts in the wrong ways. Nowadays, people do not care about how religion is preached or believed. They tend to believe those whom they trust, and that will lead a dialogue that might take a long (or even lifetime) process of planting seeds, cultivating the ground, and waiting for the Lord’s providential timing to bring matters to fruition. This takes a lot of time and patience, especially to really hope and wait in the Lord instead of expecting or depending on ourselves to see the results as we would have liked or wished things to be.

When I was in initial military training, I did not talk much about faith to my flightmates. Even though they could tell I was a chaplain, many did not care much about religion. While many say that they believe in God, many do not have any particular religious affiliations or a deeper sense of faith, hope, and trust. Many of them depend on their own ability, thinking that they will achieve whatever they have worked very hard for if they just try hard enough. Nonetheless, that is not always the desired outcome in life!

I never forced anyone to attend faith-sharing sessions when we were on ROM (restriction of movement) for the first two weeks. The first gathering was with a few people, and only a few more joined us in subsequent weeks. Some never chose to join… but that is perfectly fine, too! I never forced anyone to believe or guilted a person to have faith because I know that method will never work in my personal and ministerial life. Nonetheless, I never stopped reaching out to people and checking up on them.

I chose to be kind, respectful, and genuine to people. I chose to be myself and care for them as the Lord has been caring toward me! As a priest, I have always chosen to believe and allow what the Lord has given me to be enlivened in my own life. I know some people who accused me in the past of being rigid, but I had to defend and teach the faith as a priest. Nonetheless, even when I had to be firm, I always tried my best to ensure I was kind, respectful, and compassionate as much as possible. As a human being, I know I am not perfect, but I always try to make people know I will NEVER abandon them!

Going back to failures, those who try their best to achieve matters through their own efforts will sooner or later face shortcomings, limitations, and imperfections that are natural and unavoidable parts of life. Those who try hard to achieve excellence and perfection will have to face failures. Hence, at those moments, it will seem easy to beat oneself and give up. When we feel like everything we have worked so hard for is falling apart, we tend to give up and give into hopelessness and despair. Nonetheless, those are moments of grace and faith-filled opportunities.

When we put a lot of trust in ourselves, and things fall apart, we will end up by ourselves. Hence, those moments will be great opportunities to care for, sympathize with, and assist those who are alone by themselves. If we choose to be genuinely loving and empathically compassionate, we might have an opportunity to save those who are stuck and lift them up to higher ground. Perhaps we can even help them lift their hearts up to God, who is present and loving when everything else fails! I know that I have been surprised over and over again how a small moment of genuine care can change a life.

When I first came to my three parishes in 2015, I wrote letters to parishioners and families who had been inactive in our parish registration system. A few came a few times and stopped because going to Mass was too inconvenient for them. Some told me they came back to the Church because someone reached out to them, and God was using that opportunity to ignite their lukewarm hearts for His love.

This is who we are, I believe. Perhaps some are gifted with eloquent speech and preaching, but many preach through our lives. I believe that we preach louder with life than with words! If we truly live what we believe and give testimony to our faith with what we profess, we will definitely change the world with genuine, personal, and caring respect, dialogue, and evangelization. If we truly believe and put our hope in His everlasting love and faithfulness, we can and will choose to love and serve, trust, and open ourselves up to others with genuine charity even when it seems so easy to close up, push others away, and isolate ourselves.

Perhaps we will never change others… Perhaps we will continue to be hurt by others and bear the hard pains of our past hurts and struggles… Perhaps things will never be as we would liked… Perhaps our lives will continue to be imperfect, messy, and constant struggles at times, we choose to move on with genuine faith, hope, and love because we believe that God will give us the sufficient grace to overcome the challenges that are all around us. It is truly freeing to live with little but have a lot, not in humanistic quantity but in His qualitative love. Simplicity and purity of heart allow us to receive the necessary strength and love of God even at times when we do not know or are able to see what good can come out of the present trials, hardships, challenges, or storms of life.

Therefore, my brothers and sisters, I would like to invite you to live in His loving presence. Do not be afraid to be humble, open up, and allow yourself to love and be faithful to God, even if it gets hard. Please be genuine and honest so that our faith gives us life instead of simply being a cheap, egocentric, and selfish weapon of false righteousness and against charity. Perhaps we will be misunderstood, dismissed, and ignored by others because we do not play their game, but do not let the petty, hurtful, and fragile egoistical people rob us of the true joy and simplicity of life we have in Him who truly loves us. While it can seem to be a hard journey to begin, hard at times to persevere, it is truly a journey worth pursuing, for we are never alone, and He is always with us. Faith is real and alive, but only if we allow ourselves to open up and receive from His unimaginable love because it is humbly and genuinely grounded in true hope and self-giving charity. Therefore, let us not use fake faith to attack one another but use it as the true and real weapon against the lies, manipulations, and attacks of evil ones because God is with us, and we belong to Him.