THESE are words of John the Baptist that refer to our basic relationship with Christ. (cfr. Jn 1,16) Yes, let’s be clear about this basic truth about ourselves. We have received the fullness of our being from Christ. That’s when we truly become like Christ. As theologians have termed it, we are supposed to be “alter Christus” (another Christ), if not, “ipse Christus” (Christ himself).
As we end another year and start a new one, let’s be reminded that we are still a work in progress insofar as our over-all humanity is concerned. We should not forget that we should be heading toward the fullness of our humanity in Christ who first of all is in charge of making us like him. But we need to cooperate as fully as possible in this ongoing work of Christ in us.
We need to process this truth of our faith about ourselves very slowly, because it will obviously astound us to think that we are supposed to be like Christ, to be another Christ if not Christ himself. Who, me, one with Christ? We most likely would be tempted to say, tell it to the Marines!
We are supposed to be ‘alter Christus’ simply because, if we have been created in the image and likeness of God, and Christ is the Son of God who is the perfect image and likeness that God has of himself, then we can only conclude that we have to be like Christ.
In other words, Christ as the Son of God is the pattern of our humanity. If we want to know who we really are, how we ought to be, all we have to do is to look at Christ and try our best, with God’s grace, to identify ourselves with him.
More than that, because of our sin that defaced the original state in which we, in Adam and Eve, were created, Christ is the Son of God who became man to save us. The immediate conclusion we can derive from this truth of our faith is that for us to know how to handle our sinfulness and wounded condition, again all we have to do is to look at Christ and try our best, with God’s grace, to identify ourselves with him.
That identification with Christ as our Redeemer cannot but involve the acceptance of the cross through which our salvation is achieved. We have to know therefore the full meaning of the cross in our life, and embrace and die on it the way Christ embraced and died on it.
This is what is meant to be ‘alter Christus,’ an ideal that can be reached because insofar as God is concerned, everything is already given for us to be able to be so. Things now just depend on us on whether we would like to be ‘alter Christus’ or not.
All the means are made available. We have the sources of divine revelation that show us the truth about ourselves. We have the word of God. We have the Church and the sacraments, especially the Holy Eucharist.
We just have to make the necessary adjustments in the way we think, in the way we identify ourselves. It would not be presumptuous, even given our limitations and woundedness, to start and keep thinking that “I am another Christ, ‘alter Christus.’” We just have to try our best, with God’s grace to think and act like Christ.
We have to have the very sentiments of Christ who has everything that is good and proper to us. When he said, “Whoever is not with me is against me, whoever does not gather with me scatters,” it is quite clear that for us to be ‘alter Christus’ is a necessity. It’s not something optional, though it has to be chosen freely.
Safety year
Safeness is certainly the best policy amid the tumultuous revelry in welcoming the New Year. This is the concern that pushes various government agencies into a no-nonsense campaign against all forms of harmful merrymaking that put to risk and peril valuable properties and invaluable human life. We had been prone to the dangerous practice of igniting firecrackers in welcoming the New Year and sending off to the dustbin the bad things of the year that passed. People are caught in varied forms of mixed beliefs regarding the ways to meet the New Year, igniting firecrackers being one popular practice across creeds, races and social status. To many, listening to the thunderous bangs of firecrackers is a delight but there are those who are not contended and would still want to do personally the lighting and ignition of such firecrackers.
If there is any good luck that firecrackers bring during the onset of the New Year, it is chiefly upon the makers and sellers of such items that rake in the profits from customers. We know too well how huge an industry is the manufacture of firecrackers is and those in the business are having a heyday during the yuletide season and the coming of every New Year. But despite the growth of the industry, firecrackers remain unregulated. Law enforcement authorities are unduly tasked to confiscate illegal firecrackers in the market instead of setting regulatory controls at the manufacturing level. It is truly awful how government would opt to run after vendors of unregulated firecrackers while it remains remiss in imposing regulations at source.
Alternative means of merrymaking had been proposed by various sectors if only to effectively rid the people from the harmful effects of firecrackers. Indeed, there are a lot of safe ways to celebrate the coming of the New Year than igniting unsafe firecrackers. People must heed the admonitions and constant reminders to refrain from igniting firecrackers. It is personal safety that it more important than the mere making noise and revelry. There can never be prosperity to look forward to if one suffers injury in the revelry. Tales of remorseful victims must serve as apt warning for all and sundry to refrain from igniting harmful firecrackers.
We have been apprised of the irreparable perdition that firecrackers cause upon life and limb. Many people are too stubborn to learn from those who had fallen victims to firecrackers that they continue to meet the coming of the New Year with a bang. Others are even deadlier in that they use firearms in creating that big bang, the slug of live ammunition becoming a stray bullet that pose dangers to lives of innocent people.
Strategies to ban the use of firearms had already been institutionalized that men and women in uniform are mandated to seal their firearms to ensure that such firearms will not be used in the revelry.
Amid the merrymaking and revelry, we must heed the conscientious call to refrain from using firecrackers, most of which are deadly in that they contain poisonous substances and burst too powerfully that it can blast off once body and limb or even cause death. There is always good reason to celebrate the coming of the New Year to ensure a prosperous safety year 2025.
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