BE GOD-ORIENTED

            “BE GOD-ORIENTED AND NOT SELF-CENTERED”.   This thought has been running in my mind and has led me to believe that it is God’s way of telling me that despite the feelings of weakness that I am sometimes experiencing, I should go on doing what has been entrusted to me as one of the servant-leaders in my community.

          Now and then, I have been considering the option of retiring from rendering services to the Church as a Lay Minister, particularly as an Extraordinary Minister of  Communion (EMC).  This thought comes especially when I experience the unpredictable attacks of “osteo-artritis” on my left knee which then could hardly sustain the weight of my body.   I fear that in case I am attacked while I am giving Holy Communion, I may not be able to safely hold  the ciborium that contains the Sacred Hosts. 

In today’s (September 11, 2011) Second Reading at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, however, St. Paul reminds me of the Lordship of Jesus in the following words:

“Brothers and Sisters: None of us lives for oneself, and no one dies for oneself.  For if we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord; so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.  For this is why Christ died and came to life, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.”

          St. Paul’s statements made me reflect that my life should be fully oriented towards whatever God wants me to do.  And, in doing God’s Will I should depend not on what I feel capable of doing physically or mentally, but rather entrust everything on the GRACE that God gives to enable me to do His Will.

          This  September, God-Willing, I will be reaching the age of 83.  As St. Paul says: “If we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord”.  Hence, for as long as God gives me more time to live here on earth, I should continue to serve Him in whatever tasks that will be entrusted to me, relying not on my strength and capabilities, but solely on the graces that come from the Divine Giver.  In other words, I should  always be  GOD-ORIENTED.

by: Buddy Cagurangan

September 25, 2011