I do not know about you, but I get tired of hearing Catholics attacking one another, spending so much time proving how much better they are in comparison to others, and how less Catholic other people seem to be. In a day and age when many people have turned into walking microphones and speakers of self-righteousness, we are called to be genuine in how we choose to live the Gospel. If we spend so much time arguing and pointing fingers at others, are we really taking time to look at ourselves to choose holiness and desire the little things to sanctify ourselves and become more Christlike in our words and actions? At the end of the day, we can only be genuine and contrite of heart, offering to God the very gift of ourselves in loving Him and embracing His will for us.
Written to his congregation in the fourth century, St. Augustine said in a homily:
Let us never assume that if we live good lives we will be without sin; our lives should be praised only when we continue to beg for pardon. But men are hopeless creatures, and the less they concentrate on their own sins, the more interested they become in the sins of others. They seek to criticize, not to correct. Unable to excuse themselves, they are ready to accuse others.
Those words hit hard. They pierce our souls. His teaching humbles us. No frills here, just honesty and truth that make us think and reflect!
Imagine that… we still have the same struggles as Christians who were around 17 centuries ago! Who would have thought that we, even as Christians, tend to make it a hobby to talk about the faults and point out the sins of others, but are ignorant of our very own? We are quick to justify our failures and weaknesses, but have no problems condemning others who are around us! So much of our idle time is spent talking, speculating, commenting, and disapproving of others, but never using the opportunity to seek and grow in God‘s will for us. If we spend time talking about others but miss the opportunity to change our lives, we are nothing but the most miserable people in this world because we missed the call to conversion.
The Lord Jesus Christ spent time with prostitutes, tax collectors, and sinners because many of them were willing to listen to Him and seek conversion. They might be rough around the edges and looked down on by others, but at least they were honest enough to recognize that they were not perfect. Nonetheless, He could not dialogue with the ruling class because they were too full of themselves and were blinded by their own ego and self-righteousness. Both extremes of narcissism and hypocrisy, abuse of His mercy, and over-reliance on self need to be avoided.
We are all reminded that salvation is not dependent on us, for we are simply children of God, disciples of the Lord, and instruments of the Holy Spirit. The salvation of the world is not dependent on us, because His grace is able to bring into fulfillment what we ourselves can never do or ever imagine! It is a humbling experience, but a sober reality, for us to remember our place and not be too hard on ourselves, for there is only ONE Savior and Redeemer. We cannot save everyone or do everything, for we can only do what is able, and He will work in and through our shortcomings and limitations if we unite everything that we have said and done through our very own life of prayerful discernment, reflection, self-giving abandonment, and complete trust in His goodness. It is a liberation to recognize that God is not dependent on us to save others, even though we can, at times, play an important and instrumental part! We offer Him our talents, blessings, and gifts, as well as our brokenness and its limitations, so He can work in and through us.
Perhaps our current world is becoming more polarized, vocal, but indifferent, because we have not chosen to love and allow ourselves to be instruments of His loving miracles for those who are in need. Faith is lacking within our homes and society because we have not put love in actions — only saying this with empty words. Hence, hope is lost, and the world is becoming darker when we truly lack genuine faith to lay down our lives and follow and love the Lord with all of our hearts. Hence, please let me affirm this again: works of charity and mercy are works of love that are motivated by faith! Without the same faith that we professed on our lips, enlivened with real works of mercy, we end up being cymbals and gongs of empty noise.
So, what does it take to save a soul? Perhaps this is a very hard question to answer because it is not to be objectified, quantified, or measured in the eyes of the world. The answer is complicated because it would entail us to do all that we can to save a soul from perdition, to bring those who are lost, destructive to themselves and others, and hopeless in life so they can be free from the enslavement to sin, this world, and everything that the Devil and his minions are doing to keep us away from the eternal reward. It is not an easy question to answer because the evil ones are doing their best to kill a soul and cut it off from the truth so that it will be worldly worried, vainly lived, insecurely empty, and eternally miserable.
Of course, we should do everything that we can to genuinely love, guide, and bring the one who is lost back to the Lord with heartfelt witness to the truth and personal testimony of His love for us. At times, it will also require us to admonish with charity and patience so they are not enabled but empowered to live as sons and daughters of God, disciples of Christ Jesus, and instruments of the Holy Spirit instead of objectified means and goods for others, enslaved to sin and its deceptions by the Devil, and pitiful because of their own self-made miseries. It will be tiring, challenging, and trying at times, but we must not give up, especially in prayer. Nonetheless, we also have to recognize that he or she has his or her own free will to choose! No one is able, not even the Almighty Himself, to save a person if he or she is not willing to accept, be open to receive, and humbly change his or her life for goodness and truth.
Each and every one of us should ask ourselves the personal questions of what we can do in order to live a life of humble service, loving charity, genuine kindness, and gentle teaching to bring souls back to Christ! Many saints had said in the past, and St. Pope John Paul II, too, has affirmed that we need more witnesses of faith in this third millennium! We indeed preach louder when we desire to live our Christian discipleship in genuine faith, hope, and charity. If we do not live in humble service and choose to be His instruments in collaborating with others in His vineyards, we will burn ourselves out with bitterness, resentment, and destructive control issues.
The Lord did not come to die for angels; He came to give His life to set us free from slavery to sin and bondage from this world. Many saints have attested that the angels are jealous of us in a way because the Almighty took flesh, lived like us, and chose to die for us as both God and man. Therefore, we are rightly called to be Christlike by seeking holiness, sanctifying ourselves to become more united with Him in words and actions. Simply put, we are called to be saints in reflecting His light to the world by how we live, for our words and actions are the manifestations of our hearts and souls that belong to God.
Let us not, therefore, forget our universal call to holiness and to live as Christ did, not only for ourselves but for the greater good and sanctification of this world. Through our genuine gift of faith, we are able to lift one another up and help each other along the way. We are all sinners who are trying each day to be more holy by conforming our lives to Christ Jesus and allowing His loving grace to change us deep from within. Of course, there will be challenging days with their obstacles, hardships, and trials along the way, but as long as we fix our eyes on Him, we can live for Him and with Him. Thus, let us not be scared to be holy and try our best to become saints in our own journey of faith so we can radiate His love to others and help them along their journey as well. May our God be our everything, and Heaven, our true homeland and final destination.