– Ross Belle Santos-Balatbat
“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” (Romans 5:1-2)
God created us according to His image and likeness. But we offended him. In spite of that, all of our sins have been forgiven because of the paschal mystery of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Because of this, we have peace with our Heavenly Father – and we should have peace within ourselves! During this pandemic and coming Holy Week, let us reflect on what Jesus’ sacrifice actually means – eternal life and forgiveness of sins!
Now that we are advised to STAY HOME, this is an opportunity for us to do self-reflection, recollection and become aware of who we are. Knowing ourselves will make us prudent, stand firm and consistent with a balanced IQ (Intellectual Quotient) and EQ (Emotional Quotient) which is equivalent to a high SQ (Spiritual Quotient) .
Sin is like this virus, anyone can be infected by sin whether venial or mortal sin. It is also contagious if anyone has a weak spiritual immunity. During the season of Lent, we commemorated how our Lord became Man and through the Paschal mystery conquered everything. Every forty days of Lent, God had already been preparing us even before NCOV became pandemic. We should have been immunized as we stand firm with our faith. We know a lot but we tend to go with the flow and say everyone is on it and why won’t I. We become numb and lose our sense of sin. But if we know the truth and let the Holy Spirit work within us and manifest through us, then we will experience God’s mercy and compassion. He will bring about our conversion and transformation. During this time, we can all move on the path Jesus leads us by fasting, praying, and almsgiving as simple as treating people with respect.
The liturgy of the Church, the celebration of the sacraments, and the seasons of Lent and Easter are particular times when we pay attention to what Jesus Christ has done for us.
Before going to sleep each night, let us ask ourselves: what is the dying or rising that I have experienced today, this week, this year? Let us meditate on that experience in the light of the event of Jesus Christ’s Passion, Death and Resurrection.