We are all facing a crisis in our lives. One recent crisis that I share with the rest of SFC Manila is the Metro Manila Conference (MMC), particularly the (lack of) venue.
We had a lengthy discussion about it last week which started with this powerful statement from Rahm Emmanuel, former White House Chief of Staff and Chicago Mayor: “You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that is it’s an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.”
Instead of pointing fingers on people, we processed the series of events that led to the main issue. One big concept that was raised was malasakit. And from the discussion, two major agreements were made:
- I will trust in the love of my fellow MM members that if I verbalize a dissenting view or express discomfort, I am assured that I will not be judged AND what I say will not be taken against me.
- I will believe that whatever I say will be received as an input in our common desire to do what is best for the SFCs that we serve.
But if there's one big message that I got from that discussion aside from "malasakit", it will have to be this: "I never lose when I love, but I will always lose when I hold back." Fr. Benedict once said in his homily, "If we do things because we need to prove ourselves, it will gain us nothing, we will never be truly happy. But if we do things out of love, our joy will be complete." This whole MMC (from preparations to the evaluation) should be an act of LOVE, not because we want us SFCs to be filled and be satisfied, nor because we want to experience not just the biggest but the best MMC yet, but because we are just responding to the unconditional, merciful, and eternal love that the Lord has given us first. This MMC is an act of love because it is our "I LOVE YOU, TOO" to our greatest lover. :)
In the midst of crisis, we continue to hope, to have faith, and most importantly, we love all the more. It has been proven throughout history that it is in times of great persecution, when the church flourishes. Rahm Emmanuel must be right, we never let a crisis go to waste, we allow that crisis to bring out the best in us, we allow that crisis to reveal Christ to us.
We have different realities in life - some are great, some are really awful (think of the worst crisis that you had to face). But whatever our realities may be, one thing remains the same: the truth that every detail of our life is a loving gesture from the Lord. THIS (whatever "this" may refer to) is HIS LOVE. :) And we can always have the assurance that where there is crisis, there Christ is! Because every crisis is an opportunity for God to be God and for us to fully rely on Him knowing that He will never fail us because we are His BELOVED. :)
We have different realities in life - some are great, some are really awful (think of the worst crisis that you had to face). But whatever our realities may be, one thing remains the same: the truth that every detail of our life is a loving gesture from the Lord. THIS (whatever "this" may refer to) is HIS LOVE. :) And we can always have the assurance that where there is crisis, there Christ is! Because every crisis is an opportunity for God to be God and for us to fully rely on Him knowing that He will never fail us because we are His BELOVED. :)
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| Beloved. 1 John 4:19. |
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