“Unreflected life is a life not lived”

We continued reflecting on the Book of Job and had a sharing about our own sufferings as religious people. We are not people who don’t suffer especially at this point in life where almost of the sufferings were knowned and named, and even owned.

What is the role of suffering in our lives? For Sr. Riva, it is a feast in suffering, the scenarios of her life, spices of good and bad exepriences are what brings her to what is necessary for the K of G.  Without suffering, life is boring and no learning. In suffering, there is the opportunity for growth, though stagnant sometimes, time will come when she realize suffering and its consequences. She added that God is always there in times of suffering except that our human understanding should transcend and never give up for the suffering we exerience is not beyond human’s capacity to bear. Two things she understood: we are put into trial to be cleansed, and the consequence of human’s activity, a disciplinary action and at the end, we will think bigger and wider about life and its purpose of our existence.

(image by www.sito.org)
(Just a reflection of a passionist) 

Sexual feelings and emotions

The first factor says that sexuality belongs to the whole person; body. mind and spirit. It is truly said that every part of person is part of a whole. Attraction is not only an affair of the mind but also of the heart, the body and the spirit. Pleasures and sexual gratification is not for the body’s attainment alone but for the whole self. Attraction is processed by the whole body, mind, by the whole aspect of a person. One may be aware of his attraction to a woman yet it looks also to the physical body which somehow needed to be processed from self-centered level to others. Second factor is on how do I see myself on relating with others, who I am to others and how do I look to others. Lastly, it is the higher level where the level of emotion that is being aware of. The sexual feelings and emotion is rationally evaluated and processed morally while not being repressed.

Healthy integration

When I have reached a healthy integration, I will know that my sexuality is one of the ways in which God reveals himself to me and that through my sexuality, he also reveals himself to others. This I understand that my whole being as a sexual person is significant in relating with others. My mind, my body and spirit relates as one. Being a whole person in having a relationship with others requires integrated self. For being who I am is reflected by other sexual persons. The intimacy I have to myself will be the same intimate relationship I can have to others in summation of my relationship to God. My relationship to other people is how will I relate with God.

Free choice

Free choice, I can say, is learned from the beginning of life, on how I am oriented by my family and to the whole environment and experiences, understanding and development. Psycho-sexual maturity is very important since free choice comes from that maturity. Experiences of being loved and valued by my family and by other people give me positive outlook in life. I will be free choosing the way I value surpasses the difficulties, challenges, and temptations anytime, anywhere.

We were discussing in our class recently about the Book of Job from thre Old Testament. I’m aware that Job is a fictitious person representing the suffering ancient people of Israel after the exilic period from the Persian. These were the times when they were oppressed much and required to pay taxes heavily from thier products. In this book, it is presented how Job questioned about his suffering. He questioned where and when did he committed sin that is why he is suffering.

Job’s friends asked him to admit his sinfulness and curse God. Yet Job, the faithful one, questioned his suffering. His sons and daughters were taken away from him, his wealth of thousand sheeps and cattles, vast land and pastures vanished, and at the end, he himself suffered from a dreadful skin disease.

Who among us can endure such suffering? If, when my father died three years ago, my family suffered such lost, were not able to grasp the meaning of his death, who and how am i coping this time? For sure, not only me and my family suffered such kind of experience. At present, I’m working with the kids in a settlement area where suffering differs from one another. Every family complains of what do they have today. Even when I was still in Payatas area, where this famous mountain of garbage is located, suffering speaks loudly of what I have seen and experienced.

Maybe a lot, and most of us, or all of us question where is God in these times of suffering? Our country is experiencing turmoil, stress and unstable economic. Then does God forsaken us forever? I think he’s not forsaken us. Still, we experience these things for a greater wisdom behind these. It is always a wisdom to recognize God’s unfathomable wisdom, wisdom that we will just realize when we start appreciating his goodness in us in every experiences. It’s on the attitude of seeing them and being hopeful for the greater grace that works, not in our own term but God’s term, not in our own time but in his own time.

The question about suffering is not new, and not to be feared of, for in a very hopeful heart, there is a spark of the divine that works in us, just believe and trust, more than how we trust ourselves…

(Fruit of Reflection)

“….lonely Christmas is coming… Nakaka-miss na… Kelan pa kaya….”