Lenten Recollection – Santuario de San Antonio Parish

“The only tragedy in life is not to be saint.” – Léon Bloy

At this year’s Lenten Recollection, Fr. Robert Manansala, OFM delivered a stirring reminder of the message of Pope Francis and how we can each internalize the Holy Father’s teachings. The message he focused on was Francis’ call to use the threefold human language of the mind, the heart and the hands. As Christians, we need to be able to strike this threefold balance in order to authentically live out our calling.

Fr. Robert starts out by saying that the wisdom of Pope Francis is as ancient as the Church itself. According to our Lord, the greatest command is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” (Lk 10:27) In that statement, we can already see the idea of the necessity of the mind, the heart and the hands – to think, to feel and to do.

But how are we supposed to apply this pattern of “think – feel – do” to our lives? Fr. Robert suggests that we can understand this from the background of Pope Francis as a Jesuit – rooted in the teachings of St. Ignatius on discernment. In his writings, Ignatius emphasized the necessity of these three faculties in order to effectively carry out the will of God.

The first step is to think: In other words, to use our intellect to understand the situation that is presented before us. To consider all the possibilities, the risks, the benefits, the consequences all one or more situations.

Thinking is not enough though, we are also called to feel. In this step Ignatius says that we are to pay attention to the stirrings in our heart. He believes that God can speak to us through the deep emotions we feel. If thinking about a situation fills us with consolation, then it may be that is what God desires for us as well.

The final step is to act! Ignatius with his military background was a man of action, and he applied this to the spiritual life as well.

It is not enough to strategize and plan all day. As in battle, there must necessarily come a time for execution. Once we have considered the possibilities and reflected on our inner stirrings, we are to act – trusting that we are responding to the will of God.

We would like to invite anyone interested to a short Lenten Recollection this coming Saturday, March 7 from 10am to 12noon to be given by Fr. Robert Manansala OFM.

Our goal for this brief talk is to take some time to reflect a little on the seeds that have been sown by Pope Francis. We’re soon approaching the two-month mark since Pope Francis’ historic visit to the Philippines. For most of us by now, the spiritual euphoria that everyone felt has subsided and we’ve gone back to our everyday routines. There is a danger then that we will start to treat the graces of this visit like lightning in a bottle – something that happened once and we cannot recapture ever again. Certainly this is not the goal of Pope Francis himself! It would be more fruitful to think of the graces we have received as seeds – planted deep down by Francis the laborer. Thus, these seeds need to be nurtured, cared for and allowed to grow and blossom.

Our vinedresser will be Father Robert, and he will guide us in nurturing the seeds of Pope Francis’ visit. He will lead us in reflecting on the wisdom that Pope Francis gave us while he was here. Together, let us explore the words of Francis to use the language of the mind, the heart and of the hands in our Christian lives. “To think – To Feel – and to Do.” This is the wisdom that Pope Francis has given us.

Let us reflect on these words together, and see how we can apply them to our lives during this season of Lent. Again, March 7 from 10am to 12nn at the Parish Center. We hope to see you there!