The Eye of Intention

 

 

Christ speaks about the singularity of the eye of our intentions, in the things we do including those that we purportedly do for Him.

Thus to be acceptable to Him we must determine that what we do, we do only for Christ and not also for ourselves.

Most times we do things in the name of Christ but upon examination we and others find that we are doing it to benefit ourselves also.  Attribute that to the self-preserving nature of man.

Many times though we may be quite unaware or clueless about it, thus we court appearing as hypocritical before the eyes of men.

I surmise that what is being asked of each of us is to at least be honest with ourselves and with Him. Thus it is always advisable to test the eye of our intention to measure honesty and truthfulness.

To illustrate, going to Mass or church services appears as practice that could always be regarded as good.  But our differing reasons for attending Mass determine the goodness of that act.

Many people go to Mass because it is a religious obligation that carries the penalty of sin.  So we go because we fear sin and do not relish offending God. Others go, out of habit, curiosity, moral suasion maybe, or whatever.  But there are a few others who go to Mass with only one motive and desire, they bring themselves to God’s presence because they want to show their love of God who is truly deserving of love.  This is the highest level of worship when the eye of our intention is singular, and not colored with our self-serving interests.

This test holds true and is applicable to most things we do in life.  In fairness, keeping the eye of our intentions singular is no easy task.  Still we are enjoined to take the effort and to be forthright about it.

Test yourself!

 Premises:

We expectantly visit holy places because the act shows fealty and reverence and homage to God.

We give alms because we are taught to do charity work to the least of our brethren because it is work done to Him.

We fast to honor God’s command and to show love for Him.

Etc.

 Try to determine whether lurking behind most actions of ours are hidden desires to please or cater to ourselves as the strong driving motivation.

 

 

 

 

What Used to be Mindanao Street (February 26, 2017)

 

 

Sunday morning found me with some idle time, patiently in wait for my lady passengers who had a round of purchases to attend to.

So sat in our parked pick-up truck lazily contemplating what inane thought came to mind. Parked along Tiano Bros. St. which stretches north to south, from Licoan all the way to Dolores (now Fernandez) Street. The spotted camera set the next course of action, which obviously was to take pictures.

In our youth this street was known as Mindanao St., and had been a quiet narrow road lined with residential timber buildings. One of several streets running parallel with the main street Del Mar (now A. Velez) St., much like somebody or something keeping in the shadows of its more famous and more trodden partner.

Not anymore. Now the sky is darkened with the heavy outlines and shadows of high-rise or just tall buildings, some spilling into the narrow street and obscuring one’s views. When did all this happen? Imperceptibly it seems, but maybe we just got distracted by the slew of other and grander construction around other parts of the city.

Anyway, all look impressive, but a lingering doubt dampens the bright prospects. How will these buildings stand a good-size tremor which phenomenon appears recently to be peppering other parts of our big island? When do we get ours for as they say it is only a matter of “time”? We have never been tested by tremors of such magnitude.

To keep tranquil peace and fear, we set aside such ominous thoughts. So enjoy the images, unmistakable signs of a city bursting at the seams and had been a quiet narrow road lined with residential timber buildings. One of several streets running parallel with the main street Del Mar (now A. Velez) St., much like somebody or something keeping in the shadows of its more famous and more trodden partner.

Not anymore. Now the sky is darkened with the heavy outlines and shadows of high-rise or just tall buildings, some spilling into the narrow street and obscuring one’s views. When did all this happen? Imperceptibly it seems, but maybe we just got distracted by the slew of other and grander construction around other parts of the city.

Anyway, all look impressive, but a lingering doubt dampens the bright prospects. How will these buildings stand a good-size tremor which phenomenon appears recently to be peppering other parts of our big island? When do we get ours for as they say it is only a matter of “time”? We have never been tested by tremors of such magnitude.

To keep tranquil peace and fear, we set aside such ominous thoughts. So enjoy the images, unmistakable signs of a city bursting at the seams.

 

The Words of Jesus Christ

 

 

 

 

The vast compendium of knowledge we have gathered and learned about Jesus Christ we collated from writings or traditions handed over through the cascading generations of the ages. We learn of his works and words, and any other activity he did from accounts of third persons who committed them to writing and handed them over to generations.

If one thinks harder on this fact, one begins to realize that of the things we know about Christ, the most indicative and most self-revealing of the person and nature of Christ are the words he uttered when he was with us, and which words we assumed were faithfully transcribed and handed over from one generation all the way to ours.  For after all we are of one mind that these writings are the inspired words of the Almighty

All other knowledge we know about Christ are in the form of narratives authored by third parties who reported on them, using  words and language that informed their own milieu.

When we think about it then, his recorded words are not only as directly attributable to him, but would reveal to us what Christ was as deeply as we can go.  His words showed us what was inside of him, and not just the outward manifestations of his Person as memorialized in his actions.  Actions documented using the language of the ones reporting them.

But His Words are truly what define Jesus Christ for us who share faith in Him.  Unvarnished and recorded faithfully as spoken.  It is then up to us individually how to interpret them, or flesh them out to be pertinent and relevant in our faith observances.

First then, let us revisit how the Words of Christ were taken within the milieu of his life on earth.

Beyond the magnetism and mystique of his physical presence, the report has been that all those who heard Him speak were quite unanimous in declaring His utterances as coming from “one speaking with authority.”

And more than that, they declared with one voice that He spoke like no other man before him.

For Christ spoke with uncanny simplicity using language that honed in perfectly with the different audiences that gathered about him.

Those who thronged about him and who had great temporal expectations of his coming had searched for his striking characteristic and preferences, those that would elevate him above the crowd.  Yet they found none, none striking or fitting their narrative of a temporal king who would deliver them from their dire lot.

And those of us who had expected only grand and high-sounding words from Him would also be greatly disappointed.

 So to the simple folks who included his closest disciples he spoke in words that they easily understood or identified as if coming from their lips, and fleshed out with the same details in their own lives.  So the ignorant passersby and those in the marketplaces, they understood His words completely without hesitation and confusion

But to the learned in the temple he spoke words that expressed grandeur and wisdom enough to baffle them of their eloquence and almost poetic sublimity. 

And to the many of those in authority who stood to render judgment on his fate, his utterances were very crisp, concise, adroit, and to the point.  Like a seasoned lawyer adeptly wading through the deep morass of dated legalism and warped logic.

All this producing the same chorus permeating through all sectors of that society.  That the uneducated carpenter Jesus not only spoke as one having authority, but spoke with words like no man had ever spoken.

This then is the perpetual legacy of the Words of Christ, to be studied, learned, and applied to the details of our own individual lives.  In complete imitation of Him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Longevity In Blogging

Most of my life, I have been a quite ardent disciple of the virtue of longevity, which proclivity has extended beyond things which can be felt or touched.  It has transcended to things that I do like write or collect stuff.

I have had my blog site at the nascent time when blogging was just exploding in numbers and kind in the Internet.  When most anybody who was somebody in the social, political, and business and finance firmaments felt the need to  start one for their adherents to worship in.  And indeed, overnight the numbers exploded into the millions and filled every corner in the Internet.

My blog whose title has without permission co-opted the name of somebody quite famous and influential in the religious realm.  It is called, The Ignatian Perspective, and has been in existence since May of 2004.  To this day, it has been visited by almost half a million viewers, about 430,000 of them.

It has accumulated over 546 entries.  Depending on the subject discussed readership of each entry has wildly fluctuated, from many thousands to less than 50. One entry gathered a total of about 20,000 readers and over 300 comments, and was about the Neri Genealogy.

Conventional wisdom and maybe the human inclination to want to have more readers would dictate that one writes about things that your readers would like to read.

But is that the overriding intent here?  I once tried to find out by experiment what the effect would be if I tried that route.

There was breaking news in the US city where we were residing.  An older American guy was found dead by apparent suicide, jumping from a second-storey hotel window.  He had lived in the Philippines and had married an aging but very popular Filipino actress.  The American had left the country with the pending case against him for the murder of the wife.

The blog entry was simply a first-person eye-witness account of the place where the suicide happened.  Almost instantly, readership spiked to a couple of thousands.  And it felt good while it lasted.

Unfortunately, the intent of the blog was for an entirely different purpose.

I had simply wanted to have a permanent but easy-access medium to translate my thoughts to written form, to record for posterity.  With the silent hope that somehow when I am gone those who will remain could find the time to pore over the entries I had painstakingly created over the many years in existence.

 One self-serving but salutary purpose for this was also the earnest desire to improve my writing by constant practice.  For truly, as one writes more and more, one can sense the developing ease and improvement on the innumerable  ways writing can be done and imparted.

 

A Critical Question

How does one intend to leave this world, to shake off the mortal coil aside, as they say?

As an infirm man, having difficulties caring for oneself?  Utterly broken down and bereft of much value as a functioning human entity?

Or as a man still up to the manifold challenges with the arduous tasks of living?  With plenty of value and usefulness as a human being.  A productive and contributing member of society, rather than a burden. With still a storehouse of value to offer, and still able to do good.

When one trades a temporal thing for another, do we bring a completely rundown thing with the earnest hope of getting something with incomparable value in return?  Or do we present something that is still essentially valuable and desirable?  And thus be somewhat worthy of the trade.

I do believe we like to bring to the table something of value in exchange.  A still serviceable human life in exchange for eternity. 

Not an almost moribund being  with only a slight glimmer of life left, breathing hard and grudgingly desiring release from the onerous vicissitudes of simply living.  Where nothing much else is left to live for.  Where continued living itself has become the burden.

Thus, taking the role of a smart and logical negotiator of our destiny, we ask ourselves this question when we consider our demise.

I say let us bring before the Lord a life still filled with promises and hope, and workable usefulness, in exchange for the incomparable life of eternity.  In other words, value for value.  Temporal value for eternal value.

The value of human life is derived mainly in its sense of integrity and purpose.  And yes, including in its capacity to partake of temporal pleasures and worldly enjoyment. All human life is assigned similar value, differentiated and categorized only by the purposes for which it is lived.

If the human life is simply a hollow shell of what it was before, then it has very greatly diminished temporal value.

While all this may seem logical and understandable, others could opine that the analysis is not tenable.

The human life that is being traded for eternity is not the physical entity one sees, one that has been ravaged by time and elements.  It is what that shell of a life represents.  The spiritual treasures it has accumulated and stored during the sojourn we call life.

While the life may be spent, the treasures gathered endure and hold value.  And that is what will be measured in the momentous barter exchange to be made, in the journey from time to eternity.