My "Summum Bonum"

Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you...

Today I have learned an important phrase through the homily of Father Mario Sobrejuanite (aired over Studio 23 every 9:00 A.M.).  Summum Bonum is a latin phrase which stands for highest good.

While many are already in their journey, some are still unable to understand what they should look for to attain happiness. In fact, many have gone to their rest not being able to grab a hint that for a life to be fully lived, one has to identify his “summum bonum” and has to pursue for it no matter what.

Ones “summum bonum” differs according to the status and the kind of perspective one keeps. To some, accumulating wealth and living a comfortable life might be a worthy goal to chase; to others, finding the right person to love and to some more others, getting out from a very unhealthy relationship. But in some parts of the world “summum bonum” has been reduced to a meal for a day, a room for shelter, and paradoxically death. This makes us luckier than those whose only option is to choose death as answer to their unending struggle.

The realm of spirituality urges us to seek for God as our “summum bonum”. I strongly agree that indeed if you have a God you can call your highest good, everything else follows. When your greatest pursuit in life is to be in communion with the God you believed in, you get the best of life along your journey.

When you have God in mind while building up your wealth, you don’t accumulate more and more for selfish reason. Your aim is to increase your riches so you can share to as many as possible. When you have God in your heart while going into a romantic relationship, your end goal is not to hurt but to create a happy family with that person.  When you have God in your daily dealings, your aim is to establish good human relationship with those you meet. And all through these, you not only traverse the best road life can offer on your way to your “summum bonum” but you also get the most out of life as if you have already reached your goal.

At times along the way, we divert our energy to the many enticements our material world offers.  And oftentimes we lose sight of our target and even become so attached with the fleeting things we mistakenly identify as equal or even of greater value than our “summum bonum”. The good news is, we can always “refresh” our lost goal and continue to pursue what really matters most. And to refresh means to forgive those who have wronged us; to reconcile with those we have hurt; to rekindle old friendships that have gone cold for quite some time; to be more generous for the needy; to live a healthy lifestyle; to shift focus everyday on the things, events, people that make us better person inside and out and etc...

Today I have not only learned two latin words. Today more than ever the phrase “summum bonum” reminds me that life must not only be beautiful. Life must be meaningful as well. Choose God to be your “summum bonum” and you will have a blessed life here and in the hereafter.

Having Faith Faithfully

Having faith is to walk in the dark and to continue walking despite the seeming absence and silence of God.

Faith is amazingly a big word. It is a special key to all of life’s padlocks. That is what I believe it is. One has to have faith to live a life. Otherwise, life becomes hard and meaningless.

After watching  Father Mario Sobrejuanite’s homily over Studio 23 (October 03, 2010), I can’t help but agree that faith is indeed of two aspects: BELIEF and TRUST. Belief, as he expounded, is something that is in the head while trust is what is in the heart. In other words, to believe is to recognize an idea, a person or a thing supported by a fact while to trust is to believe unconditionally.

With that in mind, faith therefore is accepting those that are visible and justifiable and recognizing those that are beyond explanations.

When I decided to quit working three years ago (for health reason), I was terrified where a jobless life would lead me. I have a monthly amortization to attend to and I have the usual expenses to incur every day. I was afraid I have to admit. But more than the fear was my faith that God will always find ways for me. And true enough He provided everything and is continually supplying my daily needs small and big alike until now.

Faith to me is trusting God’s will. Faith is believing that God has plans for us. When we start to trust God, everything falls into its proper place. We become awed with the things that we don’t realize we are capable doing of. We attract people who bring unforeseen opportunities. We start to open up ourselves to changes that surprisingly help us become better persons.

Having faith is really having control over all the energy in the universe. When we trust that our dreams will come true no matter what, we are ordering the universe to manifest the details on the fulfilment of what we think we can have or what we dream we can become.

Faith brings positivity too. When we have faith in our hearts, we see only the positive implications to all the incidents that unfold everyday. We automatically find good reasons why an event has to take place. We become less critical of our failures and that of others. We start to see the glass half full and not half empty. And this is good because as we become positive energy-driven, we attract only positive things and events to manifest in our lives.

Today I don’t anymore say to myself “ I am unemployed.” Because I don’t perceive my current state as a misfortune. Today, I am very self-assured to say I am on a new chapter of my life. And with faith, I am confident to realize the dreams I have in my heart.