We, by the Virtue of Stewardship

We are born according to the image and likeness of Christ likewise; we are also called to share with His sufferings and missions. The whole world is suffering from total drowning to sin due to the global modernization that brought progress to man’s thinking and man’s way of life but while the whole world is marching up to its progression, man’s level of demand and likeness are also growing. This is a basis of how good and how bad things are affecting us as well as a basis on how strong we believe our beliefs, a basis on how we truly live our Catholic Faith.

             There are many foreign lands that are at the state of total modernization and this big change in our world is greatly influencing the youth of today. Influences are everywhere and once we absorb this kind of influence it affects us in various ways- it may be either for good or for bad.

             The worst thing to know is that we are not using this influence to become someone better. Look, man’s demand for money is rising up for money to make the world go round as the saying goes. Philippines is a rich country when it comes to natural resources but when it comes to money we are at the bottom point. This issue brings about crisis resulting to poverty and as another generation continues to exist. This issue about poverty is still there. It is unbearable.

             In this upcoming election, who are the mostly affected? Who will acquire the long-awaited fruit of goodness? This election would eventually give. It is us. Or will we stay in the words of poverty, criminality, corruption and insensitivity that we see daily in the media and other published items directly pinpointing to the moral decays of our society?

            Poverty is the main problem of the country. The number of criminality in the country for the past years is rapidly rising. Corruption is maybe lessen in the current administration but is never ceaselessly. Insensitivity is anywhere. As citizens of this country, disregarding our social status, how can we afford to be unmindful of what is currently happening in the place where we are born and raised? How can we be insensitive?

             This poverty in the Philippines is really bad atmosphere for it is one of the reasons why our ethics is at its melting point. Crimes are rampant. Immorality increased. This is a sign that we are not truly living our Christian Faith and supposed to be our faith is truly shaken by the changes that our world is facing. This is the reason why Pope Francis invited us to renew our personal relationship with God-to accept Him in a more open way through the joy of the Gospel.

            The Church herself is a gospel. It gives us the true meaning of what the Bible says. It is where we experience Christ. It is where we witness His blood and body. It is where we encounter Christ in his saving presence but not all of us fond of doing to the Church. Our mission as children of God never stops by just visiting the Blessed Sacrament or by kneeling down the whole day praying. The church has the bravery in defending herself against social issues. Likewise, we should also have the courage to defend the good and reject what is bad in fulfilling our mission as Children of God.

           But how are we going to do that?

          Our life is God’s gift to us and what we do with our life is our gift to God. Life is all about living it with Him, through Him and in Him. It is all about responding to Him in a more faithful way through the Gospel, the sacraments and the sacramental as well as on our day to day actions covered with genuine love and unselfish service.

          Since Christ rose again from death, we should also rise up again to live a brand-new life. CHARITY, the main core of Christian love, is about the unselfish desire to share our life with others with the aim of giving them happiness and lending them help. See, if we are charitable enough to help others; do you think crimes will ever exist? And when we learn what charity is and practice it, Christ will truly dwell in us.

          Another thing is OBEDIENCE. It is easy to become obedient if we are really tuned to God himself but the problem is a big percentage of all the Christian today do not really know God. If we do not recognize God, how will we know His commands? How will we know His wants? Disobedience is the root of all the sins of the world. Let us not forget what Adam and eve did thousands of years ago.

         Let us also be evangelizers joining Christ in carrying His cross. Let us deny ourselves, carry our own cross and follow Him for He promises us that whoever desires to lose His life for the name of the Lord will save it in His Kingdom.

         Let us also not lose our fellowship with Christ for He is the light and since we are with Him, it only means that we are leaving with Him in light.

         From this essay, we have learned that everyone is called to follow Jesus. Though it may be difficult, it is attainable since God endowed upon us the moral capacity to do what is good- strengthened with graces and virtues which will help us.

Here are some helpful guides that may further assist us to live a moral life:

# Read the bible instead of others. We may have been used to reading pocketbooks, comic books or novels that we find time to include it in our busy schedule. Much as we devote time for such, we should not neglect reading the Holy Bible. Through this, God communicates to us, teaches us and reveals to us who He is and how much He loves us not only do we learned on the human situations presented in the bible but we also get to leaarn what we oath to do if confronted with the different moral life situations.

# Be wary of temptations. Be aware that as humans we may sometimes be blinded by emotion, greed or pride. An awareness of temptation and how can it lead to sin will open our eyes and our minds to think and to discern before we act.

# Offer little sacrifices. As we experience pains, frustrations, and hardships each day, we remember Jesus offering of life to us and willfully take all sufferings as offering to Him. Simple things like doing graciously things we should do but hate doing them, being nice to people who we dislike for no reason at all, or just keeping quiet when we feel like criticizing others, can be offered to Jesus in unity with Him.

# Be a peacemaker. Give peace to yourself and to others as well by being a forgiving person. It may be difficult to forgive someone who hurt us deeply. Praying sincerely to God to heal you of hurts and to give you a forgiving heart opens door for peace. As you give, you receive. Be generous.

# (BEATITUDES)

Be:

A- ttentive to the needs of others and do something to help them.

T- hankful for all the things that God allows to happen in your life.

I- nspired by the example of great saints who found true happiness in God’s love.

T- rusting in God’s will especially in times of difficulty and trials.

U- nderstanding towards others rather than judge them.

D- ifferent from those who prefer the easy path over the right path.

E- nthusiastic in doing good deeds so as to inspire others to do the same.

S- imple and do not aspire for what is unnecessary.

           LET US ALL REMEMBER THAT THE JOY OF LIFE IS NOT HAVING MATERIAL POSSESSIONS BUT IT IS ALL ABOUT HAVING CHRIST IN US, that being a Christian is about having fidelity and genuine truth to build peace because there is no true peace without truth and finally, let us remember that we should be courageous enough to profess our faith and to believe our beliefs and if the whole world is drowning to temptations, let us start it is from ourselves to react just like how Christ responded when He is tempted by the devil so that we will not be like the others who has fallen into evil.

We, the youth of today should be the starters of new world- a new generation of true Christians who are united under the Mystical Body of Christ sharing one faithful mission by the virtue of stewardship in building up a better world.