TRUSTFUL ACCEPTANCE

Acceptance as to who we are is easier said than done, isn't it? Was there a time in our lives that we didn’t accept our painful experiences as part of God’s plan? Realistically speaking, some of us probably asked, "Is it part of God’s plan that I share with Ate Venus or SD my darkest, painful and shameful secrets? Is this what it takes to be a Christian? My brothers, it is not easy to embrace them as part of our vocation. It will really take time for us to accept such painful experiences. (Only) last May, during the Vianney month, I was able to embrace all my ups and downs and firmly declare that indeed God already formed and called me even before I was born. To accept our call as Christians, the first reading today assures us that "there is a season for everything...there is a time to be born and a time to die...a time to weep and a time to laugh...a time to break down and a time to build up..." and remember this, that "God has made everything suitable for its time." See how God puts things in our lives at its proper time and place! If only we accept them as God wills them to be. The Gospel today, Jesus tells his followers that he is the Messiah, but he’s going to be a suffering Messiah; and anyone who wish to follow him must also suffer with him. He assures us that although he must suffer greatly and be rejected and be killed,...on the third day HE WILL BE raised". In order for us to become priests na tama ang timpla, part of our formation is to embrace and accept our pains; but let us not forget to expect a joy that will follow next. The people who watched our cheerdance competition last Saturday had probably been inspired upon seeing all of us rush to the center and congratulated each other joyfully as if nobody lost: "Wow! Ingon ani diay ang Viannista, walay dumot!". But, we all know, that before all those celebrations were experiences of patience and tensions during the games. Yet, we all ended up rejoicing with others, because we trustfully accepted all those victories and defeats as part of the whole competition.
My brothers, our struggles never end here, we continue, and we expect more of them when we become priests. And so, let us continue begging for the grace of trustful acceptance that we may always be able to embrace our life stories, and the sacrifices and struggles that still to come.. Whatever happens, whether in happiness or tears, we can still firmly declare that “God called me by my name. He already formed me before I was born. These are all part of His beautiful plan for me; and as Rupert Mayer prays, “O Lord, because You will it, it is best.”