Focused, engaging, agile
In all our dealings with the others, which one way or another should never lose the apostolic dimension, we should try our best to be laser-focused, very engaging and agile in handling any situation those dealings might produce.
We have to remember that since we are Christians, we cannot but be apostles also -with eagerness always to do apostolate. Apostolate for us should not just be an intermittent concern. It is a permanent activity we do, an inherent part of our Christian identity. We just don't do apostolate. We are apostles, first and last.
Toward this end, we need to be truly identified with Christ, well-versed in his teaching, and willing to follow Christ irrespective of how our life and concerns turn. We should be willing to follow him till the end, till death, willing to deny ourselves and carry the cross, as he himself said.
That should be our main focus, and everything else will just follow as a consequence. If we have him in our mind and heart, we cannot but have a universal love for everybody, irrespective of how they are toward us, whether they are friendly or unfriendly, etc. Christ commanded us to love everybody, including our enemies.
We should try to do everything for us to be able to engage ourselves with everybody else. To be sure, it would greatly help if we develop our social skills, if we keep an open-minded outlook, if we show warmth towards all, with a smiling friendliness to boot.
For this to happen, I imagine that what we need to do also is to forget ourselves and to adapt the mind and heart of Christ instead. That way we can be full of mercy and compassion, patience and understanding. We don't waste time getting entangled in our unavoidable differences and conflicts among ourselves as well as in our own personal problems.
That was what St. Paul said of Christ himself. "He emptied himself, taking the form of a servant…" (Phil 2,7) We have to understand that by emptying ourselves like Christ, we put ourselves in the condition to serve others.
We have to find ways to foster interaction among ourselves. We don't wait for these opportunities to interact with others to come. We look for them. We create them. That is why we need to be inventive and creative also. We should not allow ourselves to be fully at the mercy of events. We should try to create, shape and direct the events of our life.
And when unexpected things come, let's be agile to handle them. Somehow, we should expect the unexpected and the surprises. They are part of our life. We cannot avoid them, and so we just have to be prepared for them as much as we can.
The important thing, as mentioned before, is to be laser-focused on Christ. He will provide us with everything we need in making ourselves a true apostle of his. Whatever the circumstance, whether it is favorable or not, we somehow would be able to do apostolate if we have Christ in our mind and heart. We avoid getting lost or confused in the maze of things.
- Latest
