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| Photo credit to@Juan Tateisi. Please follow Juan Tateisi. |
Indeed, not everyone in this life is given second or multiple
chances in life itself or
in personal circumstances. As there are people who when poked by tragedy or
sickness eventually succumbed to death. But there are people who were blessed
and gifted with extra life to live.
But to those granted to live a little longer, what could have they done with their life extension? I posed this question because today, exactly five years ago I almost lost my life because of a stroke. Fortunately, a doctor in the family convinced me to go to the hospital before my condition got worse as I was hesitant at that time due to financial considerations. That day, I thought I fell asleep for a whole week but apparently, it was an eight-hour or so to t perhaps allowed me to rest my mind and body from all the troubles of the world. That was when I woke up with a slight physical condition that I still carry to this day I felt very light and relaxed.
Moving forward from that tragedy, and this goes also to all those who woke up from comatose, those who go through crucial surgeries, those who were stabbed multiple times, as well as those thrown from the creeks and bridges yet survived to live, were the extra life given to you were put to good use especially for the benefit of other people?
I remember Fr. Jerry Orbos SVD, in one of his
Sunday homilies and reflections, he discussed the Four Loves in
every man's life. These according to him is the love for the human body,
possession, family and friends, and the soul. Fr. Jerry
explained that no matter how you cared for your body including the amount of body
treatment and wellness you give to it when you die, your skin would
eventually die. As for the human possession, such as achievement, work and
money would also be left behind and passed on to others when you are gone. And
while your family,
friends, and loved ones profess their unconditional love they could only
take care and attend your funeral ceremony but will not die with you. Lastly, and often
the neglected kind of love is the love for the soul that
goes with everyone who perishes from this lifetime.
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| Photo credit to @Clark Tibbs. Please support Clark Tibbs collection. |
So in general, men are called by the church to share their
precious time and be of service to other people while time still available as this is God’s
way of nourishing our spirits.
And as Fr. Anton CT Pascual MDM, puts it in his homily earlier today, serving God also allows man to know his true self. The same reason that men are called to worship Him in the church is that God wants men to see Him as their purpose. Fr. Anton likewise talked about how God wants everyone to belong to His family through church. This is precisely the reason why people are called to attend a mass on Sunday, to join Him in a fellowship. He said God wants you to grow in spiritual maturity. He wants men to be better than what they are today than yesterday because no one is sent in this life to be greedy and to sow violence but rather to live an attitude of Christ. He said God also wants men to be of service to others. Because organized service if put together with other efforts becomes a ministry, a ministry of charity, to provide assistance for the needy.
And so is my purpose, that I have realized upon waking up from that long sleep, that I can use the skill in writing to ask you to communicate with Him, to include God in your life, and to be a service to others through this blog writing. Because in this post-truth era, men are often caught up in chaos due to misinformation, fake news, and revisionism. Thus, we need to keep God at the center of everyone’s lives for peace.
How about you, have you found your purpose?