CHRIST IS ALL AND IN ALL

Seek what is above, think of what is above, not of what is on earth. Put to death, then, the parts of you that are earthly: immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and the greed that is idolatry. You must put them all away: anger, fury, malice, slander, and obscene language out of your mouths. Stop lying to one another.

You have taken off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed, for knowledge, in the image of its creator.

Here there is no Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all and in all.

REFLECTION:

Since I joined some blog communities, I met new Christian friends where we share each other’s faith experiences. We draw strength and inspiration from one another although we differ in religion. This is one living proof that Christ is all and in all.

I read an email from a friend who is longing to have servant’s heart. I shared with her my belief that all of us do have a servant’s heart and that all Christians are Ministers. What is important is to be transformed and be renewed in order to have a fresh start. After this, I went back to my routine work in my office.

Hours later, another email came in and this is about my Gospel Reading for the day. The 1st Reading was taken from Colossians 3:1-11. After reading this, I immediately remembered the email I received from a friend earlier.

She made mention that she is not a Catholic; The bible says “Christ is all and in all”. I mentioned to her about being renewed; The bible says “…put on the new self, which is being renewed...”

Coincidence? No, the Lord just affirmed the sincerity of a servant’s heart.

To be transformed to a new life is to personally encounter the Living God and that is the Holy Spirit. Once this happens, your life will never be the same. This is an experience similar to Pentecost when the apostles received what was promised to them by Christ. After this event , they were all transformed into a new life with God.

I went through a “Pentecost Experience” and at first I was skeptical about it. Maybe the reason for such an attitude is the fact that I am a Science Scholar. On my first day, I argue a lot with my spiritual guide, showing off my human knowledge in all the topics shared. What puzzled me is every time we go into a one-on-one, he will just remain silent and listen to all that I have to say. At the end of every session, he will hold my hand and lead a closing prayer. Most if not all of his ending words are “Fill him with Your Spirit O Lord, the he may realize that You are truly a Living God”.

Then the moment of truth came when we were about to experience the in-filling of the Holy Spirit. The last thing I remembered was I was standing with my palms open praying to receive the Holy Spirit, then . . . Boom!!! I was knocked out!

When I regained consciousness, I was lying on the floor and could not lift myself up as though I was nailed on it. My tears kept on falling as I see my life unfold before me, and all I can cry out is forgive me Lord!

Then my spiritual guide lifted me up, embraced me and whispered, “Now you know that God is alive”.

Read: Colossians 3:1-11