What Goes Up Must Come Down
The youth & young adults floor in my Parish is a place that's quite special to me. I must say that I'm really quite blessed that our parish is actually one of the more privileged parishes in the archdiocese that not only has the luxury of a youth room, but also a resource room for meetings, a cosy attic where our young communities gather for Sessions, as well as for Liturgies, a pantry where we share meals together, and on top of that, we have a rooftop garden, all on the same floor!
The Youth Floor in St. Ignatius Church is a place of many fond memories for many people in the DVC Community. It's a place of rest during camps, a place where many of the young ones come to study during their exam periods, a place where many deep and meaningful conversations take place, a place where people pray with one another, a place where many feel the warmth of community and share their lives with one another. In short, the youth floor at St. Ignatius Church is a place where many have come to experience God through the community.
But in order to get to this floor, which is on the top floor of the annexe building, one has to climb. If you're coming from the MRT, or from the market, you'll need to climb the slope leading to St. Ignatius Church, and then, climb the long staircase to the Annexe building. And after that, you'll still need to climb three flights of stairs once you reach the Annexe building! That's a lot of climbing (and a lot of exercise)! There's actually the option of a handicapped lift, but it moves so slowly that it's much faster to just take the stairs. And people are willing to climb whenever they come to the youth floor, whether for community sessions, for meetings, for the celebration of Liturgies with the DVC Community, to pray with the community for a couple who's just about to get married, or even just to chill with friends, or have one-to-one conversations with the young adults or more often our full-time youth coordinators (who are always happy to spend time with people). No matter the reasons for coming to the youth floor, people are willing to climb. And they climb to have an experience of God through the community.
In Last Sunday's gospel, Jesus, together with his disciples, Peter, James and John climbed. They climbed a mountain, where Jesus was transfigured! They had a vision of Moses and Elijah, which spoke of the mission that Jesus was to accomplish in Jerusalem. And we know that the mission that was spoken of was the passion, death and the resurrection of Jesus. They, as a community, had an experience of God when they saw Jesus transfigured, and when the voice of the Father spoke from above, telling them that Jesus is the chosen one, and to listen to him. That sounds quite like the youths in DVC, doesn't it? Climbing to have an experience of God.
But at the end of Last Sunday's gospel, Jesus and his disciples came down from the mountain, where Jesus gave orders that the disciples told no one about what happened at the top of the mountain until his mission was accomplished. They had to come down from the mountain to do what had to be done. To walk the road to Calvary, to carry on the mission to bring the good news of the Father's love to those they encountered, to reveal who Jesus is to the people. They had to come down from the mountain in order to do this. Simply experiencing God in a tangible way was not sufficient. They had to make the choice, not just to come down from the mountain, but to carry out the mission that they were given.
How about us? For those readers who are from the DVC Community, when we come down from the youth floor, after spending time in Church, to go back to our lives in school, at home, or at work, do we, like Jesus and his disciples, make that choice to carry out the mission of making disciples through the living out of our faith?
And even for those who are not from DVC, who are part of the ONE Body of Christ, I suppose that we too climb mountains to experience God from time to time. Whenever we celebrate the Eucharist, whenever we go for retreats, whenever we have sessions with our Spiritual Directors, whenever we pray, we climb a spiritual mountain to experience God. But when we experience God, we too are called to come down from the mountain that we have climbed, and to carry out the mission that we have been given. And that mission, while each of us are called to approach it differently, is the same for all of us. To live the gospel. To share the good news with others. To love one another. This is the mission for all of us, and it's given to us at the end of each Mass.
In truth, carrying out the mission of living out our Baptismal call is a tall task. And personally, I feel that I fall short of living up to the mission a lot of the time because of my pride and other iniquities. It'd be absurd to rely on our own strength as human beings. But while difficult, it's possible, and it has been done by many people, the Saints. These are our spiritual role models, who all were sinners like ourselves, but relied heavily on God's grace to carry out the mission, organically and one day at a time. The good news is that God does not abandon us. He promises to walk the mission with us, just like how he walked with the Saints in their missions while they were on earth.
The popular song, The Climb (by Miley Cyrus) tells us that it's all about the climb. And while that's true, it's more than just about the climb up. The climb down is just as important, and even more challenging. As we go through Lent, will we embrace the challenge of climbing up the mountain when we need to, and coming down from the mountain to carry out the mission?
The Youth Floor in St. Ignatius Church is a place of many fond memories for many people in the DVC Community. It's a place of rest during camps, a place where many of the young ones come to study during their exam periods, a place where many deep and meaningful conversations take place, a place where people pray with one another, a place where many feel the warmth of community and share their lives with one another. In short, the youth floor at St. Ignatius Church is a place where many have come to experience God through the community.
But in order to get to this floor, which is on the top floor of the annexe building, one has to climb. If you're coming from the MRT, or from the market, you'll need to climb the slope leading to St. Ignatius Church, and then, climb the long staircase to the Annexe building. And after that, you'll still need to climb three flights of stairs once you reach the Annexe building! That's a lot of climbing (and a lot of exercise)! There's actually the option of a handicapped lift, but it moves so slowly that it's much faster to just take the stairs. And people are willing to climb whenever they come to the youth floor, whether for community sessions, for meetings, for the celebration of Liturgies with the DVC Community, to pray with the community for a couple who's just about to get married, or even just to chill with friends, or have one-to-one conversations with the young adults or more often our full-time youth coordinators (who are always happy to spend time with people). No matter the reasons for coming to the youth floor, people are willing to climb. And they climb to have an experience of God through the community.
In Last Sunday's gospel, Jesus, together with his disciples, Peter, James and John climbed. They climbed a mountain, where Jesus was transfigured! They had a vision of Moses and Elijah, which spoke of the mission that Jesus was to accomplish in Jerusalem. And we know that the mission that was spoken of was the passion, death and the resurrection of Jesus. They, as a community, had an experience of God when they saw Jesus transfigured, and when the voice of the Father spoke from above, telling them that Jesus is the chosen one, and to listen to him. That sounds quite like the youths in DVC, doesn't it? Climbing to have an experience of God.
But at the end of Last Sunday's gospel, Jesus and his disciples came down from the mountain, where Jesus gave orders that the disciples told no one about what happened at the top of the mountain until his mission was accomplished. They had to come down from the mountain to do what had to be done. To walk the road to Calvary, to carry on the mission to bring the good news of the Father's love to those they encountered, to reveal who Jesus is to the people. They had to come down from the mountain in order to do this. Simply experiencing God in a tangible way was not sufficient. They had to make the choice, not just to come down from the mountain, but to carry out the mission that they were given.
How about us? For those readers who are from the DVC Community, when we come down from the youth floor, after spending time in Church, to go back to our lives in school, at home, or at work, do we, like Jesus and his disciples, make that choice to carry out the mission of making disciples through the living out of our faith?
And even for those who are not from DVC, who are part of the ONE Body of Christ, I suppose that we too climb mountains to experience God from time to time. Whenever we celebrate the Eucharist, whenever we go for retreats, whenever we have sessions with our Spiritual Directors, whenever we pray, we climb a spiritual mountain to experience God. But when we experience God, we too are called to come down from the mountain that we have climbed, and to carry out the mission that we have been given. And that mission, while each of us are called to approach it differently, is the same for all of us. To live the gospel. To share the good news with others. To love one another. This is the mission for all of us, and it's given to us at the end of each Mass.
In truth, carrying out the mission of living out our Baptismal call is a tall task. And personally, I feel that I fall short of living up to the mission a lot of the time because of my pride and other iniquities. It'd be absurd to rely on our own strength as human beings. But while difficult, it's possible, and it has been done by many people, the Saints. These are our spiritual role models, who all were sinners like ourselves, but relied heavily on God's grace to carry out the mission, organically and one day at a time. The good news is that God does not abandon us. He promises to walk the mission with us, just like how he walked with the Saints in their missions while they were on earth.
The popular song, The Climb (by Miley Cyrus) tells us that it's all about the climb. And while that's true, it's more than just about the climb up. The climb down is just as important, and even more challenging. As we go through Lent, will we embrace the challenge of climbing up the mountain when we need to, and coming down from the mountain to carry out the mission?
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