Lenten Reflection: Above and Beyond
16 Apr 2025 | Office for Mission and Identity (OMI)
No matter how we try not to, we can’t help but have some expectations. Consciously or unconsciously, we anticipate the fulfilment of our desires. We hold onto ideas of how our days unfold. We have standards we hope others meet. When it comes to God, whether we fervently believe in one or not, what is it that we expect?
Certainly, with the nature of our being created and Him being our Creator, we can never fully capture what a god, what this God, means. Even with our experiences of bosses, leaders, landlords, parents, and other figures of authority and power, we do not have enough to grasp and understand who and what our Lord is. And maybe this is not just because of the strength and might He has, but because of the love he holds us with. If we allow ourself to see, we would know that it is anything above and beyond we have ever felt and we could ever show. As has been said, there’s no greater love than to offer one’s life.
Perhaps it is not a coincidence that the plus sign looks similar with the cross. When Jesus was crucified, something incomparable was added into our life, something we did not expect or hope for. What His passion means is also personal, for each of us needs a different kind of saving, a distinct way of healing or a special way of holding – and our Lord answers all of us if we allow Him. This week invites us to see what He has already done for us and together with this, what He continues to do for us. In our heart we can know that it is above and beyond any standard, any imagining, any expectation we can have for ourself, about love, of our God.
Subukan man natin, hindi natin mapigilang umasa. May pagsasadya o wala, inaabangan natin ang katuparan ng ating mga nasa. Kumakapit tayo sa mga hinagap kung paano malalantad ang ating mga araw. May mga pamantayan tayong inaasam na makamit ng kapwa. Pagdating sa Diyos, marubdob man tayong naniniwala o hindi, ano ang ating inaasahan?
Tunay na sa pagiging nilikha natin at sa Kanyang pagiging Tagapaglikha, hindi natin lubos na mapanghahawakan kung ano ang kahulugan ng isang diyos, nitong Diyos. Kahit pa may mga karanasan tayo ng mga amo, pinuno, tagapangasiwa, magulang at iba pang may otoridad at kapangyarihan, hindi sapat ang mga ito upang matukoy at maunawaan sino at ano ang ating Panginoon. At marahil hindi lamang ito dahil sa lakas na Kanyang taglay, ngunit dahil sa pagmamahal na mayroon Siya para sa atin. Kung tutulutan natin ang sarili, mababatid nating lampas at higit ito sa anumang ating nadarama at maipapakita. Gaya ng nasambit ng iba, walang mas dadakila pa sa pag-ibig na nag-alay ng buhay at sarili.
Marahil hindi lamang nagkataon na ang simbolo ng pagdagdag o plus sign ay halintulad sa krus. Nang ipinako at inilagak si Hesus doon, walang katulad ang nadagdag sa ating buhay na hindi natin inasahan o inasam. Ang kabuluhan ng Kanyang pagdurusa ay kaiba sa bawat isa sapagkat lahat tayo ay nangangailangan ng sariling pagliligtas, natatanging landas ng paghilom at kaibang paraan ng pagyakap – at tinutugunan lahat ito ng Panginoon kung hahayaan lamang natin Siya. Inaanyayahan tayo ngayong linggo na masdan ang Kanyang ginawa para sa atin at kaugnay nito, kung ano ang patuloy Niyang isinasagawa para sa atin. Sa ating puso, mababatid natin na higit at lampas pa ito sa anumang ating pamantayan, paghihiraya, at pag-asa para sa sarili, tungkol sa pag-ibig, at ng ating Diyos.
#ateneoishome #aihlentenreflections
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