doing things for love of God: 7th week tuesday

In the prayer Act of Contrition which we recite during confession there is that phrase there which says, O my God I am heartily sorry for having offended you because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell.  I am sorry for my sins because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell.  It is an acknowledgement that losing heaven and being assigned to hell for all eternity are the motivations moving me to go to confession and be sorry for my sins. As human beings we are always drawn to do good because of the prospect of rewards or the fear of punishment. This does not just rule our relationship with God but also most often our relationship with each other.  And recently I discovered this is how things really are.  I peered into a resume of an ex-seminarians applying for a job and there written are all the awards, all the recognitions and it seems all the good he has done. And they explained to me that that is the reason why it is important to always give certificates for any services rendered for this can count as extra points that would make your prospect of getting hired easier.

Again, I said, it is an acknowledgement of our human desire to be recognized, affirmed, and a motivating factor for us to do more good and to avoid doing bad or evil things.

But there is a continuation to the prayer Act of Contrition which says, “but most of all, I am sorry because they offended you my God who art all good and deserving of all my love.”  This phrase in the prayer presents what should be the ideal in our relationship with God and with each other – to do things not for rewards, not for fear of punishment but because I love God period.  Whether I am rewarded or punished for it, whether I am acknowledged or not, I am doing the good for love of God.  This way we can avoid comparing ourselves as to who is the greatest or the first among us.  The good act may be in the form of humble service or doing acts of great significance to many people – great or small do not matter.  What is important that this is done for love of God.

One day an angel appeared to a good man and told him how grateful god was that he has served so many people and served them well.  And the angel narrated everything that the god man did complete with a visual aid nga daw sine nga samtang naga-narrate ang angel naga-flasback sa screen ang mga kaayohan nga ginhimo sadtong tawo.  Then the angel concluded her marvelous presentation saying “God has been touched by your generosity and he has granted you one wish, what would that wish be.”  The man thought hard and finally made up his mind and said, tell God dear angel that in my lifetime I will continue to do good to all without knowing about it. Nga makapadayon ako sa buhat sing kaayohan sa tanan kag indi ko ini mahibaluan.  That I may continue to do good and not know about them in my lifetime.  

Do things always for the love of God and not to fill up your resume.