2017 December Inspiration Nook The Word

The Greatest Gift of Christmas

The greatest blessing given by God to us is HIMSELF. He gave Himself to us without reservation. This is mind boggling, to say the least. Yet it might just be the greatest challenge He has given us — to give ourselves to Him and to others.

Christmas is a wonderful feast to remind us of this challenge. The flurry of gift giving these days should remind us of that one gift which we have probably hesitated or reluctantly given because of fear, uncertainty or mere timidity or even selfishness — the gift of oneself. For it is not that difficult to give a part of our time, our treasure, our talent. But to give our whole self to God might be considered overwhelmingly unfathomable or impossible.

The greatest fear in this self-giving or self-offering is the fear of losing our self, our identity which of course cannot be true. How else would we understand the words of Jesus, “If you wish to follow me, deny yourself.”  In the words of Matthew 16,14, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves.”  But no other argument can be more convincing and powerful than the very example of Jesus’ offering of self.

The words of our own Bro. Yves Congar, OP, one of the greatest theologians of the II Vatican Council is worth pondering: “There is only one thing real, one thing that is true: to hand oneself over to God.”

Fr. Reynaldo J. Adalid, O.P.
Rev. Fr. Rey Adalid, O.P. has been a Dominican priest for more than 50 years. He was instrumental in molding the lives of several candidates to the Dominican Order as he was the Director of Vocations and Postulancy inclusive from 1972-1982. To date, his influence has borne fruit to a great number of active priests and brothers, either in the Order of Preachers or in different dioceses. For 10 years Fr. Rey was assigned in Navotas City where he was responsible for building the San Lorenzo Ruiz Parish church and community. Armed with the reputation as church builder, Fr. Rey was then assigned to the newly established Holy Redeemer Parish in Masambong, Quezon City where he was tasked by the Archdiocese of Manila to build its Parish church and community as well. After finishing his task within 3 years, he was assigned by the CBCP, with consent of the Father Provincial, to be the Spiritual Director of the Pontifical Colegio Filipino in Rome (residence of Filipino Diocesan Priests studying in Rome) from 1998-2007. He is currently assigned at the University of Santo Tomas in Espana Avenue, Manila, where he has returned to his work of molding the minds of the youth. In his spare time, Fr. Rey continues to work passionately in his preaching apostolate. Lately he fulfilled one item in his bucket list with the visit to the 8th wonder of the world – Niagara Falls, while attending the Filii-North America reunion held in Toronto, Canada. Revered as “ama” (symbolic father figure) by the Filii, Fr. Rey lends his time as “unofficial” advisor and spiritual guide of the Filii as an organization. He calls it more as co-wayfarer of the Filii.

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