“The Love of God is the Health of the Soul”

(Message of Fr. Edilberto Mahinay, STL, during the ReMaSe Commencement Exercises, March 20, 2017)

“THE LOVE OF GOD IS THE HEALTH OF THE SOUL” is the theme on these 23rd commencement exercises, which is coming from the inspiration of St. John of the Cross.

When I asked one of the graduates where they took the inspiration, he said, “sa picture frame na father nga naa sa among classroom.”

Since I also have no background where these words of St. John of the Cross could be found, so I sent a text message to one Carmelite Nun here in the City and asked her what book or where I could find these insight. She said first, “Father, will try to be exact but for now it’s in the living Flame of Love…but it could be found also in the Spiritual Canticle. E review sa nako kadali father.” The following day, the sister sent a message and told me that it could be found in the Collected Works of St. John of the Cross- where his Spiritual Canticle is also included. Sr. Therese exactly told me that it be found on page 514 of this book.

To continue my query, I also asked Mother Lourdes of the Carmelite Mati if they have a copy of this book in their library and thanks be to God, they have a copy and allowed me to borrow the book.

Here is the complete paragraph where our theme is taken and I quote:

“The reason for this is that love of God is the soul’s health, and the soul does not have full health until love is complete. Sickness is nothing but the lack of health, and when the soul has not even a single degree of love, she is dead. But when she possesses some degrees of love of God, no matter how few, she is then alive, yet very weak and infirm because of her little love. In the measure that love increases she will be healthier, and when love is perfect she will have full health. It should be known that love never reaches perfection until the lovers are so alike that one is transfigured in the other. And then the love is in full health. The soul experiences within herself a certain sketch of love, which is the sickness she mentions, and she desires the completion of the sketch of this image, the image of the Bridegroom, the Word, the Son of God, as St. Paul says, ‘is the splendor of his glory and the image of his substance’…and into which the soul desires to be transformed through love. She does well to call imperfect love; ‘sickness’ for just as a sick person is too weak for work, so is the soul that is feeble in love too weak to practice heroic virtue.”

Reading and reflecting these words of St. John of the Cross, one of the questions that came into my mind is: How can the love of God become the health of the soul?

Following his thought, the answer to this question could be found in what he said, that is, our complete and intense love of the Lord, the Bridegroom, the Son of God and at the same time our complete and intense love in growing the virtues of the Lord.

There is also a beautiful description in what he said about sickness. Sickness is imperfect love. Our heart is sick and unstable when we do not completely love God and when we do not intensely grow in the virtues of the Lord.

It is from this line of thinking where I would like to mention points for our dear graduates.

FIRST – BE ALWAYS IN LOVE WITH THE LORD. Yes I believe that during your five years here in REMASE, you have grown so much in loving the Lord. I could testify to that. I could remember during your Pre Theology Year, one of you shared and told me: “kadaghan ba ug Holy Hour diri sa PTY Father sige raman ta ug ampo.” This he told me because at first he really had difficulty in feeling at home in this solemn activity that was totally different from his college experience. Hopefully after 5 years of theological formation, you are already at home in doing the Holy Hour and have grown so much spiritually in loving the Lord.

I know that you will agree with me that to be in love with the Lord is a definite act of abandoning the self into the presence of the Lord who immensely loves us first and it needs concrete or actual expression. And I would like to believe that this one concrete or actual expression where we can totally abandon ourselves in the presence of the Lord is to spend time with HIM in front of the Blessed Sacrament. It is on that moment where we can totally conform ourselves unto HIM.

St. John of the Cross says, “It should be known that love never reaches perfection until the lovers are so alike that one is transfigured in the other. And then the love is in full health… and into which the soul desires to be transformed through love.

To be always in love with the Lord is also crucial challenge for all of you because you will be in your transition period. You will be facing different challenges as you move for another stage of your ministry. After tomorrow, you will be away from the four walls of the seminary and you will start to regroup yourself again in order for you to be ready to face these different challenges. IT IS FROM THIS TRANSITION PERIOD WHERE YOU ARE INVITED TO BE INTENSE IN YOUR PRAYER AND IN YOUR DESIRE TO BE IN LOVE WITH THE LORD. Do not forget to pray. Do not forget to spend time with HIM in prayer in front of the Blessed Sacrament.

Much more if you are already in your ministry as deacons and as priests. The ministry ahead of you is really huge and a delicate one.

Though I am only 9 months in the parish where I am serving after my seminary ministry here in REMASE and I could say with humility that my experiences are not enough to be set as examples BUT in these 9 months, I could already tell you that the ministry ahead of us, since it is huge and a delicate one, needs a clear, pure and sincere MOTIVATION AND DISPOSITION OF THE SELF as ministers of the Church who are highly motivated by the Spirit of the Lord and desirous to love the people we serve. This could be done once, our MOTIVATION and DISPOSITION to pray and to abandon ourselves in the Lord is always moved by our love of HIM.

It is only in this context where our health of the soul is complete since our love of God and our love of people are also complete.

SECOND: WE CAN COMPLETELY LOVE THE LORD AND ALWAYS IN LOVE WITH HIM WHEN OUR ATTITUDE OF SIMPLICITY IS VISIBLE.

St. Francis de Sales said, “Simplicity means single-hearted. The only desire of the heart is God and to please Him.”

It is a given fact that we cannot completely love the Lord and totally give ourselves to service in the Church when we are complicated. Many of us today, for example in the Facebook, would tell us that their status is complicated. But it is not for us. We have to have a clear and pure status. When we are not simple, it is so hard for us to give up and to let go. Even if we are going to understand this from the psycho-spiritual point of you, when we have a lot of baggage we carry, it is so difficult to be simple and to move on.

Plant this in your heart; the parishioners who you will be serving are simple people. They are not complicated. In some remote and far-flung GKK’s they still have “Carabao and Kabayo” to be used in order to fetch the priest. They serve in their chapels according to their means but they serve with love and dedication. They also love their priest simply. One time in my GKK mass, I saw my parishioners washing their feet before they entered into the chapel. Nanghimasa sila kay layo ang gibaktas unya lapok kayo ang dalan.

Given this reality, in our ministry therefore, we cannot afford to be complicated, to be extravagant and to be luxurious. We cannot afford to have luxurious cars and fancy things and to be demanding and thereby neglecting or forgetting the very call of the ministry. We cannot afford to waste the property of the Church and to neglect the call to become real and true stewards of God’s mystery, according to St. Paul.

Following the insight of St John of the Cross, this causes sickness of the heart, thus, the soul is weak, infirm and not in good health because is not conformed into the image of the beloved.

This is one of the most profound realizations that I have in my heart while reflecting the ministry that I did in the seminary before and much more now that I am in the parish.

It is really difficult for us to completely love and abandon ourselves into the Lord and to totally serve the people when we are complicated, when we are not clear of our motivation and disposition, and not simple.

For after all according to the Gospel of St. John 3:30, “ILLUM OPORTET CRESCERE” (I must decrease). This is also the Coat of Arms of our beloved Archbishop. In our ministry, the attitude of simplicity and humility is what the parishioners want to see from their priests. These parishioners want their priests to be simple. One time I was introduced to a group of people from other diocese (not from Mati) and when I knew that my bishop is Bishop Alo, immediately they told me, “Your bishop is very simple and it attracted us so much. His simplicity attracted us to the Lord.” (And I could not forget what they said.)

Because of this, our intention therefore every time we pray in front of the Blessed Sacrament in order for us to be healthy in soul and body is to ask the gift of the Holy Spirit to help us conform into the image of the Beloved – Jesus Christ. And in doing so, we grow in His virtues particularly, the virtue of humility and simplicity.

Later we can claim and pray together, “He must increase and I must decrease,” “ILLUM OPORTET CRESCERE” because after all it is not ourselves but the proclamation of His Kingdom and by doing this, we can bring the people to experience the kingdom of God and His love in the midst.

This we can do if our soul is healthy and our life as ministers are conformed into His image. This is what our ministry is all about… we bring the people to become healthy in their love of God.

Thank you so much and good afternoon to all. God bless.