The divine in us

We have to remind ourselves of the divine seed that is planted in us so we can be more mindful of what such privilege entitles us as well as of what it obliges us. The benefits it gives us are tremendous, even if the duties and responsibilities it asks of us are also huge.

But it is always good to be keenly aware that we have something divine in us, because that is how God created us. He made us his image and likeness, and endowed us with spiritual powers that would enable us to correspond to the spiritual and supernatural reality of God.

Besides, God always gives us his grace, a gratuitous sharing of his divine life. It’s actually up to us to merit and make use of that grace or not. Of course, it would be a pity if we fail to do so.

Let us strengthen our faith in the divine origin, pattern and goal of our life. Remember what the Book of Proverbs says about this fact: “My son, give me your heart and let your eyes observe my ways.” (23,26) And from the Book of Isaiah, we hear God telling us: “Do not be afraid because I have reclaimed you. I have called by name, you are mine.” (43,1)

While it’s true that we cannot overemphasize the burden of our human weaknesses and limitations, made worse because of our sins, it would be wrong if we would just focus on them and forget or take for granted what that divine seed can give us.

We have to be wary of our tendency to doubt this fundamental truth of our faith, lest we also would receive this reproach Christ gave to the crowd who followed him: “To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others: ‘We played the pipe for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’” (Mt 11,16-17)

Let’s be careful with our tendency to justify our purely weak condition, citing the excuse of “sapagkat kami ay tao lamang!” No matter how undeserving we are of this divine privilege, we should always hang on to it.

Let’s remember that our humanity cannot be as it should be unless it participates in the divine life of God. Even now, in the midst of our earthly sojourn, marked with all kinds of mess, we can and should already participate in that divine life.

Such participation of the divine life, while still not definitive, can already give us a lot of benefits. It certainly can give us peace and joy. It will help us to persevere in the good even as we would always be assailed by evil. It facilitates the development of virtues so that little by little we would become more and more like Christ.

And even if we fall and commit all sorts of blunders, all we have to do to recover is simply to go back to Christ, to God who is always a merciful father to us. Christ will also show us how to handle our earthly predicaments.

Let us take care of this divine seed that God has planted in us. For this, all we have to do is to follow Christ, who is “the way, the truth and the life” for us. He is alive. He is not dead. And he is very much in the intimacy of our being since he is precisely the very pattern of our humanity and the savior of our damaged humanity.

Even if we ignore him, even if we run away from him, even if we go against him, he is willing to care and love us, to look for us and to rescue us. He is ever eager to forgive us, willing even to assume our sins if only for us to be with him!