a Reflection on "Service" (I)
Dearest brothers and sisters,
I would like to share my reflection on service. I often ask myself what is the important of service and serving the Lord. Why do we serve? Do we have to serve God?
My first thought why we serve God goes back to my first Life in the Spirit Seminar (LISS). In the "Growth" session the speaker told me and the other participants about four things that makes our spiritual lives going: prayer, reading the Word of God, community, and service. And since that LISS, I went to my prayer meeting and tried to serve God in the community.
But why do we have to serve God? can we not just enjoying our lives? Well I sometimes ask this questions.
Recently I came to a prayer meeting and the speaker said something that made me realize onething. He said, "We usually think that doing the will of God is something that contradicts our will to be happy. It does not."
It does not contradict at all. Achieving our own happiness and the doing the will of God is something that goes along the way. But most of us, if not all of us, always think that if I do the will of God, then it means I have to sacrifice my own happiness. It shouldn't be.
As I reflect on this, I realize that it is true. It does not contradicts at all. It is not that we have to serve, but we Want to serve. It is our desire to serve God. Hey, wait a minute! you might say, I don't really think so. It's not me.
I love to start by thinking what do we actually really desire? We have a lot of answers to this questions. But if we really go deeper and ask ourselves, each and everyone of us would answer the same thing,"Happiness".
Deep inside our hearts, we long for happiness.
1718 The Beatitudes respond to the natural desire for happiness. This desire is of divine origin. God has placed it in the human heart in order to draw man to the One who alone can fulfill it:
Where can we find this happiness? How can we obtain this happiness? I tried to think about this and what I found is that we can find happiness in Love. It is when I experience Love and when I give love to others that I feel most happy. Doesn't it make sense?
We desire for happiness, and this happiness can be found in Love. And God is Love.
1John 4:8 " He who does not love does not know God; for God is love."
45 Man is made to live in communion with God in whom he finds happiness: When I am completely united to you, there will be no more sorrow or trials; entirely full of you, my life will be complete (St. Augustine, Conf. 10, 28, 39: PL 32, 795}.
Next >>
----to be continued
I would like to share my reflection on service. I often ask myself what is the important of service and serving the Lord. Why do we serve? Do we have to serve God?
My first thought why we serve God goes back to my first Life in the Spirit Seminar (LISS). In the "Growth" session the speaker told me and the other participants about four things that makes our spiritual lives going: prayer, reading the Word of God, community, and service. And since that LISS, I went to my prayer meeting and tried to serve God in the community.
But why do we have to serve God? can we not just enjoying our lives? Well I sometimes ask this questions.
Recently I came to a prayer meeting and the speaker said something that made me realize onething. He said, "We usually think that doing the will of God is something that contradicts our will to be happy. It does not."
It does not contradict at all. Achieving our own happiness and the doing the will of God is something that goes along the way. But most of us, if not all of us, always think that if I do the will of God, then it means I have to sacrifice my own happiness. It shouldn't be.
As I reflect on this, I realize that it is true. It does not contradicts at all. It is not that we have to serve, but we Want to serve. It is our desire to serve God. Hey, wait a minute! you might say, I don't really think so. It's not me.
I love to start by thinking what do we actually really desire? We have a lot of answers to this questions. But if we really go deeper and ask ourselves, each and everyone of us would answer the same thing,"Happiness".
Deep inside our hearts, we long for happiness.
- We all want to live happily; in the whole human race there is no one who does not assent to this proposition, even before it is fully articulated.
- ---St. Augustine
1718 The Beatitudes respond to the natural desire for happiness. This desire is of divine origin. God has placed it in the human heart in order to draw man to the One who alone can fulfill it:
-
How is it, then, that I seek you, Lord? Since in seeking you, my God, I seek a happy life, let me seek you so that my soul may live, for my body draws life from my soul and my soul draws life from you.
-
--St. Augustine
God alone satisfies.
-
--St. Thomas Aquinas
Where can we find this happiness? How can we obtain this happiness? I tried to think about this and what I found is that we can find happiness in Love. It is when I experience Love and when I give love to others that I feel most happy. Doesn't it make sense?
We desire for happiness, and this happiness can be found in Love. And God is Love.
1John 4:8 " He who does not love does not know God; for God is love."
45 Man is made to live in communion with God in whom he finds happiness: When I am completely united to you, there will be no more sorrow or trials; entirely full of you, my life will be complete (St. Augustine, Conf. 10, 28, 39: PL 32, 795}.
Next >>
----to be continued
posted by Oka | 7:13 pm
1 Comments:
Wah, oka has time to write and reflect so long yah... i can't stop to marvel how he can manage to study well, research well, reflect so long, service so much, and still care for Maya so much... I envy you, my brother.. Hehehe... God's blessing is abundant in you :)
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