Losers

The story is told about a hold-up man who went behind a well-dressed man, stuck a gun in his ribs and said: “Give me your money!”  The man responded: “You can’t do this. I am a congressman!” “In that case, give me my money,” the hold-up man replied.

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In today’s Gospel (Mt. 16, 21-27) Jesus reminds us: “What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?”

How many people have lost their health, reputation, family, friends, values, and even their very souls for the sake of money? Is it worth it all?

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Money has a way of blinding people and making them believe that they are invincible.  They begin to see everything and everyone with a price tag, i.e., everything and everyone can be bought. In doing so they demean people. What they don’t realize is that they degrade themselves.

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I wonder how people who are accused or branded as thieves, liars, or cheats feel? Or do they still feel or care at all? Money has a way of numbing the conscience and values of a person. The height of this arrogance is the thought that even God can be bought and manipulated with donations and “good deeds” on the side.

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“For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” By worldly standards, this statement is for losers and anyone who follows it is bound for failure, if not disaster. For the world, success is getting and having it all. For the follower of Christ, success is giving, and even losing it all, for His sake.

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I have met all sorts of people in my lifetime, and I can say that the happiest people I have met are those who know how to fade away, while the most miserable are those who just get and get. This may be scoffed at as sour grapes, but I still believe that success is measured not so much by what we carry in our hands but by what we carry in our hearts.

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“You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” Indeed, herein lies the difference. This world has a different set of values and goals which go contrary to that of the Gospel. The choice is ours. The end result too is ours. In the end, when we choose the path of righteousness, we have that peace which the world cannot give or take away.

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By the way, those who take the righteous or the straight path must realize that it is also the path of humility. Righteousness without humility is self-righteousness which could lead to unnecessary arrogance and pride.  What I know is that while righteousness cannot be compromised, that does not mean to say that it is unbending and uncaring.

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Yesterday, I texted back a friend who was inquiring about my whereabouts that I was in the ICU of Capitol Medical Center. Soon after, I received about 10 text messages inquiring if I was all right, all very concerned about my health. My mistake was that I made people know where I was, but forgot to tell them why I was there! A very good reminder for us all not to forget the why, the reason of our existence.

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Why was I in the ICU? To be with my ex-seminarian classmate Gilbert Joaquin who just lost his 33-year-old daughter Michelle, who some five months earlier lost her 5-year-old son Matthew. In moments like these, there isn’t much to say, but to be present, and to make God present in the most painful moments of life, and to somehow give hope and meaning. Those who put their trust in money and riches indeed are fools. Those who put their trust in God are assured that there is meaning, there is a big picture, there is a plan.

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There is that stretch, that lonely road which you and I will have to travel alone in our journey to God. At that point, no matter how much they want to, those who are dearest to us cannot accompany us. In that final stretch, no amount of money and power can save us. May we not wait for those final moments to come before we hold on to our Lord.

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“What will it profit when life here is over, though faraway places I see, if going my way and doing my will, I miss what God planned for me?”  (Anonymous)

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Friends of the late Fr. Adonis Narcelles Jr., SVD, are invited for a memorial Mass today at 3 p.m. at Christ the King Seminary, E. Rodriguez Sr. Ave., Quezon City. This will be preceded by the launching of his 5th book “Words of Faith” at the Divine Word Shrine Hall, Christ the King Seminary, at 1 p.m. Let us remember and give tribute to Father Adonis, our young missionary who humbly and joyfully served our fellow Filipinos in Germany.

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A moment with the Lord:

Lord, remind me that the biggest losers in this world are those who have lost their very souls in their pursuit of this world. Amen.