Community Word: Trusting God is living in His righteousness.
Order: “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides.” (Mat 6:33)
Reflection:
“Righteousness” sounds like a big word, but what does it really mean? Let’s go back to our basic Catechism classes, when we were taught that we are born in a state of original sin, and it is only through the sacrament of Baptism that we are “justified.” By justified, is meant someone who is right or made righteous in the eyes of God.
As followers of Jesus, we spend a whole lifetime striving towards holiness to merit eternal life at the end of our journey. Everything we do in the service of the Lord as members of the Bukas Loob sa Diyos Community, is a step towards righteousness. And as we mature in our Christian growth, we become more righteous through the grace we receive from the Holy Spirit. “Sanctifying grace is the gratuitous gift of his life that God makes to us; it is infused by the Holy Spirit into the soul to heal it of sin and to sanctify it,” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2023). Therefore, righteousness is defined as the state of moral perfection that is pleasing to God.
Our Community Word for the month of March states, “Trusting God is living in His righteousness.” This word is quite timely given that the Lenten season is fast approaching and will officially begin on Ash Wednesday. Lent is the best time for us to break our own self-centeredness, detach ourselves from mundane things that normally come first in our lives and put the Lord as a top priority in everything we do, no matter how difficult. As Covenanted and Committed BLD Disciples, to be righteous also means being faithful to our 8 and 5 pledges, respectively.
“Justification detaches man from sin, which contradicts the love of God, and purifies his heart of sin, (CCC 1990). The Catholic doctrine of justification or righteousness is a process of human sanctification or internal renewal. Our themes for the 5 weeks of March as summarized below, seeking the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, trusting that the Lord will provide for all our needs. These weekly themes emanate from the Lord’s order to the BLD Community for March as received by the Executive Council of Servant Leaders (ECSL): “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides.” (Mat 6:33)
Week 1 (Theme: We live in God’s righteousness when we trust His sufficiency)
Our readings for the 1st week of March remind us not to worry about worldly concerns but rather focus on eternal life. We should be like the birds in the sky and wild flowers on the field that have complete trust in the providence of God. After we do what we reasonably can and must do, we can only kneel down and pray with the psalmist from the Book of Psalms: “He only is my rock and my stronghold; I shall not be disturbed,” (Psalm 6:6). No matter how difficult our struggles are, there is no need to worry because God’s love will always sustain us. He will never forsake us, even if a mother may forget her infant that comes from her womb. This is His promise: “Do not worry about tomorrow, tomorrow will take care of itself,” (Mt 6:34).
Week 2 (Theme: We live in God’s righteousness when we resist temptation through His word)
Ash Wednesday signals the start of the 40-day Lenten season, a period of self-sacrifice consisting of three basic components: fasting, almsgiving and prayer. Fasting is the most difficult to do for most because it entails letting go of what we cherish most in life such as our favorite food and drinks, cigarettes, television, internet access, etc. We let go of one or more of theworldly allures to make room for God. It is when we’re undergoing a form of self-denial that we become susceptible to temptations, as Jesus was during his40-day fasting on the desert. But He was triumphant in resisting all 3 temptations by using the Word of God as His weapon. Being followers of Jesus, we should do the same.
Sometimes, we mistake a temptation to be harmless that is easily rationalized. Such was the case of the tree in the Garden of Eden where the seemingly insignificant fruit caused the downfall of the entire humanity, until the time our Lord Jesus Christ became man to redeem us. No temptation is ever trivial. So whenever a temptation presents itself as a small matter, let’s think again, pray hard, and turn to the Word of God that is true yesterday, today and tomorrow. This is the Lord’s promise for the week: “For just through the disobedience of one, the many were made sinners, so through the obedience of one, the many will be made righteous,” (Rom 5:19).
Week 3 (Theme: We live in God’s righteousness when we bear our share of hardship for the Gospel)
There is no better character in the Old Testament that exemplifies our theme of bearing our share for the gospel than Abraham who was commanded by God in our 1st reading, to uproot himself from his homeland. At such a late age, he was asked to give up his life in a place he was accustomed to together with his aging wife to venture and start over in a totally foreign land. In contrast, in the 2nd reading we find Timothy young as he was but was similarly asked by Paul to remain steadfast in proclaiming the gospel, notwithstanding the trials he was to face. The same is true for us today. As modern-day disciples of Jesus, we are commanded to obey and respond to our calling, to give up the comforts of life and pursue a path that is ridden with conflicts and difficulties.
What motivated Abraham and Timothy thousands of years ago is the same inspiration we have today; and that is the promise of a glorious life that is to last forever. The apostles who would soon witness the horrifying passion and crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ were given a foretaste of the glory that awaits them. Jesus allowed His apostles to witness the Transfiguration, to give them hope amidst the adversity that was about to confront them. It is the same promise we have today, “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing,” (Gn 12:2).
Week 4 (Theme: We live in God’s righteousness when we believe in Him because of His word)
This week’s gospel is a story of conversion. By listening to His Word, the Samaritan woman at the well was pulled out of a dark life and was instantaneously converted as a believer and a follower of Jesus. The conversion took place in a very ordinary encounter while Jesus was resting by the well, feeling tired from a journey. The Samaritan woman came along to fetch some water and then it happened. In the same manner, we don’t have to be doing mission work in an outreach community for conversion to take place. We can make believers out of people we meet in the ordinary circumstances of our lives, by proclaiming the Word of God. The season of Lent would be more meaningful and fruitful if we allow ourselves to be used by the Holy Spirit to touch the hearts of God’s people. And as we go about reaching out to others, we are being immersed in His Word like a spring of water welling up to eternal life. This is our promise for the week: “Whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life,” (Jn 4:14).
Week 5 (Theme: We live in God’s righteousness when we do the works of God as children of light)
The last week of the month takes us halfway through the Lenten season and the gospel reading provides a glimpse of the glory of the Lord’s Resurrection on Easter Sunday. Like the water in our baptism, Jesus brings sight to a man born blind with the waters of the pool of Siloam, washing away the muddy earth from his eyes. As Life in the Spirit Seminar (LSS) graduates, we are to bring a shining light and a word of hope to the nations for the whole world to see the glory and the power of God’s name. The Gospel urges us to live faithfully by the light that Jesus gives us, just as the blind man did. We should not behave like the Pharisees who were blinder than the blind man by refusing to believe what was reported to them. As children of the light, we should keep the fire burning in our hearts until the whole world knows that Jesus Christ, the source of the light, is Lord and Savior. This is our promise for the week: “Awake and arise from the dead and Christ will give you light,” (Ep 5:14b).
