psalm 119: to be loved is not equivalent to being made to feel comfortable - 10th week tuesday
Today
I brought with me our grade 7 seminarians. There are 31 of them. We also have 11 Grade 11 seminarians and last
night I talked to them about what they will miss because of their decision to
enter the seminary. Most probably these
young kids have airconditioned rooms at home.
In the seminary, they will have to make do with electric fans. They will also have to do away with their
cellphones. Though they may use it from
time to time but they are to part with it for most of the week. They also have to let go of the kind of food
they want to eat and instead eat what is served at table. They are to part ways with long-time friends,
and on the whole they will spend more time in the seminary than at home with
their families, and there in the seminary they are to form new friendships and
a new family, an extra family, a bigger family.
But most of all they will have to follow a lot of rules, a lot of do's
and don'ts, a lot of regulations. Some
cannot stand this regiment and some will leave, others will rebel and violate
every rule there is, but others will persevere, others will make do, and many I
assure you will enjoy the experience. In
this batch of new seminarians at least 6 of them have fathers who were seminarians
before them.
Rules
are not always liked, and many times, people, especially the young, would avoid
them if they can. We always want to do
what we like, when we like and how we like things done. We are always jealous of our freedoms. But there are people who are happy because of
these guides, and many times we who are older now can only look back with
nostalgia and gratitude to those days when our parents made us do what we did
not want to do.
To
be loved is not equivalent to being made to feel comfortable or to make things
easy for us. That is not loving most of
the time. Many times hardships and
difficulties are part and parcel of allowing a person to grow and mature. Many times to say no to a child can be the
most loving, though it can break your heart sometimes.
God
is a faithful and loving parent. It is
for this reason that he gives us precepts and laws and commands, not to make
things difficult and hard for us but for our own good. God has placed these
upon us so that in the end we can fulfill, we can achieve our deepest yearnings
and desires and in the end we can look back and say thank you.
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