Today's Word
By FR. BEL R. SAN LUIS, SVD
July 22, 2011, 11:06pm
Manila Bulletin
Manila Bulletin
MANILA, Philippines — Nanding Balingit was making good in his career
as a company executive of San Miguel Corporation in Makati. After many
years of service, his friends and officemates were amazed when he quit
his high-paying job to work fulltime in the Spirit of Love Charismatic
Community, Greehnhills.
* * *
He needed more time for his apostolate going to nearby towns in
Bulacan and Pampanga to hold Life in the Spirit Seminars (LSS) or
organize Marriage Encounter communities. Once he confided to me, “I may
not be making as much money as I used to but I can’t exchange the joy
and fulfillment I now experience.”
* * *
Nanding’s story is much like the farmer and merchant in this 17th
Sunday’s parable of the buried treasure and pearl of great price (Mt
13:44-46). Nanding gave up everything to devote his life in the service
of God.
What are the values and priorities we treasure in life? For a lot
of people, it is money, pleasure, fame, friendship. It would be
hypocritical of us to consider these as nothing since, for instance,
money is needed to meet our basic necessities.
* * *
Nonetheless, what is important is we should have a
PRIORITY OF VALUES
with God’s Kingdom as the supreme treasure that should eclipse all
others. This greatest treasure,
His Kingdom, is not a place “somewhere
out there” but had begun already in this world when the Lord came to
save us.
In the movie “La Dolce Vita,” the world-famous Italian
director Fellini presents a character named Steiner who seems to have
everything: Fame, prestige, comfort, financial security. A university
professor, Steiner likes good books, good music. He has a fine, elegant
house. He has a beautiful wife and two lovely children.
* * *
On the surface, he seems to know where he is going with his life.
Then, suddenly, comes the shocking scene. One particular afternoon
when his wife is out shopping, Steiner murders his own two children in
their sleep, then kills himself. People who know him are shocked. Why
would such a respectable man who has everything do it?
He does it because at the center of his being, he is
malnourished. The sense of emptiness and purposelessness is so
overwhelming that he can not stand the thought of his children growing
up to experience it, nor can he endure it any longer himself.
* * *
In the first reading this Sunday, King Solomon had a dream where God
asked him what he wanted from Him. Solomon answered “Give Your servant
an understanding heart to judge Your people and to distinguish right
from wrong.”
Note that Solomon did not ask for wealth, a long life, or his
enemies’ lives but wisdom of heart and a sound judgment about what is
more or less important in life.
* * *
ASK YOURSELF: Do I sacrifice my resources, like that merchant in
today’s parable or Nanding Balingit in order to possess that pearl of
great price which is friendship with God or His Kingdom? Do I cultivate
that friendship through constant communication in prayer and works of
love? Life without a sense of the transcendence ends in emptiness, much
like that of Steiner.
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