How to be fully human

Thursday of the 3rd week of Lent

Luke 11:14-23 

What exactly is sincerity? In tagalog it means "katapatan".  There's not a tinge of deceit.  It means being genuinely authentic in partaking one's message.

Have we lost our sincerity?  In the first reading, it is the result of hard-headedness.  We become inauthentic human beings.  If we claim that we can still live apart from God, we lose our authenticity.

Notice in Jesus' time; he was branded as one of Beelzebul's minions.  People have lost all sensibilities and good will.  They replaced it with evil judgment.  Apart from God we can do nothing.  All our actions account to nothing.  We lose our authenticity because we lack due regard to others.  Eventually, we lose our identity of being sons and daughters of the Lord or even created according to his own image.

What are we to do then?  First, ask for forgiveness.  We have invented our ways of existence in this world without due regard for God and others.

Second, plead to listen to Jesus.  Learn from his ways and teachings on how to become authentic human beings.

Third, respond to the call of becoming human.  "Fully human, fully alive!"  is the title of the book of a renowned author John Powell, S. J.; or Irenaus' quote: "The glory of God is man fully alive." And what does it mean to be fully human?  Being fully alive in serving the Lord and others.