Leave Your Riches, Grant His Wishes

Mt. 19: 16-22

Leave Your Riches, Grant His Wishes

“If you wish to be perfect, go sell what you own and give the money to the poor,

and you will have treasure in Heaven; then come follow me.”

Living a religious life can be quite challenging. Full of prayers, work and most of all… sacrifices. For those who wish to enter the religious life, they must have the greatest endurance-physical, mental and spiritual. It is giving your whole self to the Supreme Being who is behind all these things.

When I first told my friends that I’m entering the seminary, they were a little bothered because they had seen me grow up with them in a world full of pleasures and leisure in life. They did not expect that I, being one of them, would choose this kind of life. I came from a rich family. And by that I meant rich in LOVE and PRAYERS. My parents are both working in order for them to provide us with what we need and what we want. There is just one person who really do not want me to continue priesthood and that is my grandfather. I understand that being the eldest among their grandchildren, I am expected to support our clan’s wealth and they wanted me to become a lawyer.

For me, worldly pleasures are temporary sources of happiness. We often forget that the One above has provided us the purpose of being happy since the time we were delivered in this world. We should be ready to leave all our wealth and riches if we want to follow God. In the Gospel, the rich young man had been very obedient with the Commandments but he wasn’t ready to leave his wealth behind. This is the problem to most of us these days. We have been clinging to the wrong master. These are just bills and coins but they sometimes can own our souls. If we believe that God will always provide us what we need, He will always be there for us. I know that He will not leave us being poor if we are doing our part in this world. Make life simple.

If we really are ready to offer our lives to the Lord, we should forget the worldly pleasures starting now. We are living the life of a religious. I know that it is hard but life really is like that. We can never have the best of both worlds. You can never be a priest and at the same time a president of a company. The best company to have is the company with Christ and that will make us a team with Him having the treasures of the church-the faithful. What should triumph is the contentment in our hearts. And this will make us all happy.

If only we can hear Christ speak to us directly, probably He will say in Filipino: “Halika, sumama ka sa akin, wala kang ibang kakailanganin at walang ibang proproblemahin.”

How contented are you? How are you willing to give up everything to follow Him?

I, _______________, am contented, willing to give up everything just to follow Him.

Metal on a Furnace

“I have tested you like a metal

On a furnace”

We all have different backgrounds in life. Some of us came from descent living and some of us came from hardships. In my case, I may say that I came from a good family. I have parents who can provide me with the things I need. But I do not limit myself to a life of pleasure. I want to show that happiness is open to everyone because we strive to do so. And hard work is a manifestation of such and that is the life I am choosing- to serve my family, and now, the church.

 My family is not rich. We only live a simple life. We don’t even have maids at home due to the issues that they take advantages of our properties. Early as 12 years old, I already experienced being the father of the family. Not because my father already passed away but it is because he does not stay home often. Those times were really hard for me especially in maintain the household and it continued until I reached my adolescence. My mother taught us that life is never easy but we should always strive to be happy. It wasn’t easy for me to study during my high school days because I had to attend to the needs of my siblings. But no matter how hard it was, I know that God was always there, and He helped me until I graduate as one of the best students in our batch.

God has tested me from the time I had realizations of the world until today. Wise people say that problems will never be gone but we surpass them. At the same time, things do not get easier, we only get better. Before entering the seminary, I had doubts to myself if I can really continue until priesthood because I know that it is not easy to serve especially the Lord. But then, I told God, “Lord, I am not worthy, but for you, and if only you would accept, may I please serve your church.”

I can feel our Lord’s test of faith. During my first week of stay in the seminary, I had been crying because of home sickness. I understand that the Lord has always reserved for us the best of the bests and He will never leave us. WE shall carry our own crosses if we want to follow Him. It is never easy because we believe that our homes do not belong in this world but in Heaven. I grew up to be prayerful, and my mother always reminds me of that. Christ bore the heaviest Cross and the hardest sacrifices in order for us to be brought back to our real home. No one can stand the level of love He is showing unto us. We should offer our life-joy and hardships- to Him. So, into His hands, we should commend our spirits.