Reflections for the Working Soul: Repentance and your nobility

Monday, March 11, 2013

Repentance and your nobility

+ RWS 536 March 2, 2013

3^rd Sunday of Lent

Luke 13:1-9

“But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish …

True repentance

By Bishop Precioso D. Cantillas, SDB, DD

Repentance is changing our ways from that which will lead us to sorrow and destruction. In our life and work we need to repent from everything which will displease those for whom we live or work. From doing what we want we orient our minds to obeying those in authority at all levels and in all areas of our life. From the desire of pleasing only ourselves we adopt an attitude of working hard for the welfare of others. From working for our self-fulfillment we gradually search for the perfection God has for us. This conversion in our life and work is the repeated call Christ made to all.

The worker needs to be sorry not only for mistakes he commits over work or hurts he inflicts on his boss or co-workers, or other failures he is responsible for to others; he needs to realize that he has offended God, too, and above all else. After all, this is the reality—there is a connection of our earthly activities to God. Understanding this connectivity makes our repentance greater than that which is felt through human consideration alone. Moreover, when the worker feels sorry to God for his sins, among which are work-related, he should express a repentance which is not due to fear, for the pains of hell, but because of the love God has for him and because of his love for the Lord. This perfect act of contrition is what will earn for him God’s forgiveness for his sins. For a more complete teaching on God’s forgiveness, faith in the Sacrament of Reconciliation which the Catholic Church continues to offer, is necessary.

True repentance, then, even for a simple worker and including those who may categorize themselves as better, can only be felt when one believes in God. Such faith in God should also be centered in His love. God's love then should be the main reason for working and also for repenting.

Acknowledge your nobility

By Teresa R. Tunay, OCDS

If only we who labor everyday knew that the state of our soul shapes our productivity at work, we would care for it as much as we do about what we put in our daily lunchbox. There’s this well-known businessman who is regarded as successful by everyone. He is sharp, methodical, meticulous, and really knows the ropes as far as his business is concerned. But he is a perennial grump, scolding everyone at the littlest mistake, and so repels people. Nothing ever seems to be good enough for him: the room is either too cold or not cold enough, his driver is too stupid to get instructions right, his assistant is scatterbrained, his chair squeaks, his dentist did a lousy job on his dentures, a recognized colleague doesn’t deserve his fame, etc.

For his workers, those things have become like background noise they have grown accustomed to—in one ear, out the other. However, he has one flaw they regret because he does not know that it is hurting him more than anybody else: he never admits he is wrong in spite of his glaring error. Such arrogance at work is but a reflection of his inner state, preventing him from becoming more fruitful at work and elsewhere—because he can never be wrong in his eyes, he never apologizes, not even for his marital infidelity.

Our little quirks are often clues to our more serious internal conflicts. When we acknowledge our mistakes and sincerely express regret for them, we are giving way for our better selves to emerge. Repentance is a mark of the soul that acknowledges its own nobility—when we repent, we enter the path to an abundant, rewarding, and joyful life. After the home, the first to benefit is the workplace.

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What they say about 'Reflections for the Working Soul', the book

Day in and out, the Inquirer brims with news. That's the Inquirer's strength: A frenzy of in-your-face news daily. Almost always the bad news. Then Reflections for the Working Soul happened every Sunday. Suddenly, we had (and have) an oasis of Good News. For reflection. For serenity. Not up there in the clouds. But right here in the dailiness of living and working with real people some of whom can really get on one’s nerves.

Thanks to Bishop Precioso D. Cantillas and Teresa R. Tunay. In three paragraphs or less, they offer a way and an attitude in the workplace not just for Sundays but for my day-to-day lifestyle to keep in touch with what works in relationships, including people one can barely stand working with. They sort out for me what’s important and really counts in life and living in the workplace as a microcosm of the real world.

So, I look forward eagerly to reading the Good News bylined by the bishop and Tunay. Because they speak to me personally about how to be most effective and productive at work while at the same time staying connected to the Good News, and thus staying in a state of serenity and grace. Providentially, their names—Precioso and Tunay (precious and true)—sum up their contributions to the development of the Inquirer as an instrument and institution of the Good News of the Lord.

—Letty Jimenez-Magsanoc
Editor-in-Chief, Philippine Daily Inquirer

From Bishop Rolly Tria Tirona:

Giving flesh and bones to our Christian faith has always been the challenge for every Christian. Translating belief in Christ into Christ-like action is extremely demanded in market and work places. Christian work ethics is the fruit of inspiration and not of pure legislation.

Reflections for the Working Soul, a weekly column of Ms Teresa Tunay and Bishop Precioso Cantillas in a newspaper section catering primarily to people at work, provides that inspiration for the many working people desirous to integrate their belief with their work.

These joint reflections make the Gospel teachings so reachable to busy people. Their insights help working people understand that they do matter in the transformation of our society and of our country. In their reflections, they show that work can lead to contemplation, while contemplation sanctifies and elevates their work to the heart of God.

I salute and congratulate Ms. Teresa Tunay and Bishop Precioso Cantillas for being the instruments of the Holy Spirit to warm and lift up the spirit of our working people.

Most Rev. Rolando J. Tria Tirona, OCD
Bishop Prelate of Infanta
15 April 2007, Divine Mercy Sunday

Carmelite priest Junjun Agruda says:

In the mountains, geologists and miners use the elegant term "angle of repose" to describe the precise angle at which a boulder will rest on the side of a hill, rather than tumble downward. I think of that image as the point at which prayer and action meet. Every so often one of those boulders breaks loose, releasing potential energy in a crashing rockslide that permanently alters the landscape.

The creative ways in which Prayer and earthiness are wedded in these Relfections for the Working Soul forge a spirituality that makes room for piety as well as for activism. Bishop Precioso Cantillas and Ms. Teresa Tunay have grasped the nature of Prayer as partnership with God’s activity on earth. These reflections bring us to that "angle of repose", the place where contemplation and prayerful action meet. Thus in the process, the act of Prayer emboldens us to join the work of transforming the world into a place where the Father’s will is done on earth as it is in heaven.

—Fr. Mariano Agruda III, OCD
Provincial Superior,
Order of Discalced Carmelites, Philippines

Bishop Stude comments:

Two beautiful minds, talented persons very much respected, committed and sefless in their respective works, have gifted us with an inspiring and interesting book, Reflections for the Working Soul. The skillful authors—Bishop Precioso Cantillas and Ms. Teresa Tunay—make the Sunday Gospels more applicable, much alive in the work world. The inspiring book enhances spirituality in the workplace and imparts refreshing reflections which encourage and challenge one to make the workplace a ‘good soil’ (Mark 4,8) and to ‘bear fruit: some thirty, some sixty,and some one hundred’ (Mark 4,20).

Reading Reflections for the Working Soul is to know that the words of its gifted authors are their works, and their works are their witnessing for Jesus and His Gospels. With our works and in our places, Bishop Precioso Cantillas and Ms. Teresa Tunay take and turn us to ‘see the good things you do and praise your Father in heaven’ (Matthew 5,16).

—Monsignor Ruperto Cruz Santos
Bishop of Balanga

From Monsignor Hernando Coronel:

The teamwork between Bishop Cantillas and Teresa Tunay is the application of the Second Vatican Council teaching regarding the transformation of society. A cleric and a layperson combined their personal insights to give light on the values needed in the workplace. Indeed, they have witnessed against a rat race world, a dog-eat-dog milieau, a corporate atmosphere of power and control. Their spirituality of the workplace heralds the values of the Gospel in the business setting, that it is important to pray before deciding, to seek God’s will before acting in the commercial sphere. Theirs is an advocating of building a faith community in the workplace where Christian principles reign and are lived out.

—Monsignor Hernando Coronel
Archdiocese of Manila

Fr. Mario Baclig, SDB, says:

If once we had worker-priests, now we have a genuine worker-bishop. And this book is proof of this. Bishop Cantillas is himself a worker; he grew up in Don Bosco Cebu getting his hands soiled and greasy in the machine shop. When he was nominated bishop, he had all set and ready a pastor’s staff that he had been fabricating for someone else. And now, a published compilation of his thoughts for workers. This is a precious gift for today’s workers, from a worker-bishop!

Teresa Tunay is his partner in this endeavor. She comes with her unique journalistic talent and creativity. But more than that, she brings in a rare sensitivity to the simple and often unnoticed lives of ordinary workers. Her love and concern for young workers has kept the Blue Collar magazine going despite all odds. I cannot wait to get hold of this book. How I wish that workers worldwide would have a similar privilege!

—Fr. Mario Baclig, SDB
Salesiana Publishers

From the late Fr. James Reuter, SJ:

The secret of doing anything well is to love what you are doing —to enjoy your job. If, when you wake each morning, you are eager to meet the challenge of this day; if your mind is filled with it, joyfully, when you are brushing your teeth, when you are in the shower, when you are drinking your coffee. . . . . .your work will be a smash! What these 'Reflections' do is to remind you that your work is an apostolate. . . you are serving the children of God. You might not have silver and gold, but what you have you give—yourself! And that is the most beautiful gift of all. This little book makes you realize that you are serving God. . . every day, every hour, every moment. . . . in the market place. It is worth reading—one set of reflections every day. It will fill your life with love. You will go to work smiling.

—Fr. James Reuter, SJ
Director, National Office on Mass Media for the Catholic Church in the Philippines