1. ESSAY COLLECTION
VIEWPOINTS FROM A YOUNG MAN
BORGJIE DISTURA
2013

2. THE YOUTH AND THE WORD OF GOD
Borgie Distura
―Planted and built up in Jesus Christ, firm in the faith‖ (Col. 2:7) St. Paul admonishes the
Colossians to adhere to the Word of God so that they may not be deceived by false
teachers with false ideologies.
The apostle to the gentiles warns the people that, yes, there are deceivers, there are
serpents. And in order that they may be preserved from fall, from giving in to the
deception St. Paul insists that the Word of God, Jesus Christ, is the ground and the
foundation. The apostle uses two metaphors- the plant and the building- being the people.
And in order for the plants to grow and the building to stand firm, both must have Jesus
Christ, the Word of God, as the grounds and foundation. Only in this way can they
maintain their identity from the ensnaring insinuation of the enemies, the deceivers, false
teachers who hold enticingly false ideologies and teachings.
The Word made flesh, the only begotten Son of the Father, came and vested Himself with
His creature‘s image. More than 2000 years have passed but the echo of the Word of God
is still very relevant today especially for the youth whose vulnerability to the complexity
of modern and secular world has fatigued and anesthetized their moral values.
THE WORD OF GOD AS SOURCE OF COMFORT FOR THE STRESSSED YOUTH
In this period of anxiety and too much preoccupation, the youth‘s faculty and faith have
been jeopardized. His life has been almost always synonymous to stress, all because of
his bondage to the secular world thus subjecting his freedom to perversion. His being- the
youth‘s existence is suffering from alienation. With all these atmospheres that engulf the
contemporary youth, the Word of God offers comfort to the anxious, alienated and
stressed young ones. Who could fail to fell the comfort brought about by the idea of a
God identifying himself with his lowly creature? Who could not be moved by the
comforting sound that the Word resonates: ―Come to me, all you who are weary and
burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am
gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and
my burden is light.‖ (Mt. 11:28-30)
THE WORD OF GOD AS SYMBOL OF UNITY
Life has advanced so vastly in the field of scientific research and technology in the last
hundred years. Man has been in the space to and fro. He has made remarkable
breakthroughs in the field of medicine, genetics, transportation, agriculture,
communication and many others. Yes we conquered many and different horizons.
Modern technologies have brought dramatic changes in the way people lived. Thanks to
modern technology life is made more convenient and fun.

3. The young ones today spend more and more time to computer, T.V., or cell phone
screens. Today it only takes seconds to connect with long-lost friends and relatives, to
search for an assignment, to find a date or romance- thanks to modern technology.
Despite all these achieved technological heights there are paradoxical and ironic effects
especially to the young ones. The young looks disoriented with himself with his neighbor
and with his God. He has become short tempered. He has narrowed viewpoints. Social
networking and communication reached another level, but the young ones have less and
less communication to his real neighbors. He has virtual friends and cyberkadas instead
of real ones. He has a new god- internet and online-game-addictions. Surfing the net,
checking an email, update profiles, send message, poke, and upload a photo become part
of the daily activities that without going to the café or wi-fi zone even just for a day is
very scary for the young ones. Yes, the young ones have less and less time to pray, to go
to mass or confession. God has been unimaginable or just virtual one.
The Word of God, Christ Jesus, is the perfect symbol and model of unity for the disunited
youth. When Christ took on the flesh of man, He united Himself with him. This shows
that God is a God of unity. This is a reminder that life ought to be always a union towards
oneself, towards others and most especially towards God.
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the
vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he
who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do
nothing. (John 15:4-5)
THE WORD OF GOD IS PARTICIPATIVE
Sociologically, the Word of God is also relevant to the youth in the society. To arrive at
this affirmation, the consideration of the Word‘s incarnation must be taken into
consideration. This incarnation is a revelatory of the participation which is evocative in
the life, passion, death and resurrection of Jesus, the Word Incarnate. By the very fact
that the Incarnate Word is a participation in the divine plan of salvation, it has also a great
implication for the youth of today. The Word presented a model of participation to the
other, to the society and to the Church. The youth of today ought to participate also, just
as Jesus. This is because, according to Pope Benedict XVI, the Church depends on them.
She needs their lively faith, their creative charity and the energy of their hope.
The Church and the society need the youth because their presence renews, it rejuvenates
and provides energy. There is a necessity for the youth to live a life of participation- a life
of give and take relationship. This life of ―participation‖ requires immediate being- there
(incarnation), it requires direct involvement. It is exactly the same immediate being-there,
direct involvement and ―participatio‖ when God participated in man‘s being. The Word
of God was sent to participate directly-immediately.
―For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes
in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world
to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. (John 3:16-17)

4. FINAL THOUGHTS
The Church and the United Nation both consider this year as the Year of the Youth. Pope
Benedict XVI in his message for the 26th World Youth Day which will be held in Madrid,
Spain barrowed the same words St. Paul used in his admonition to the Colossians.
―Planted and built up in Jesus, firm in the faith.‖ (Col. 2:7) Pope Benedict XVI like St.
Paul admonishes the strongest foundation of their faith against the many voices that point
towards easier paths. The youth is vulnerable, easily swayed by the secular insinuations
but there is the Word of God, Jesus Christ as the perfect foundation and ground for
growth and maturity in the faith.
The Word of God gives tender loving care. He gives comfort despite the many stressful
atmospheres in this age of complexity, anxiety and to much preoccupation which
disintegrate and break the stillness of the youth‘s being.
The distantiation of the youth from himself, from others and from God due to our age of
technological advancement creates a gap, a disunity from oneself, from others and sad to
say from God who gives meaning to life. Despite all these, the Word resounds relevantly
that life is a unity- never an isolation. The Word of God reminds the youth furthermore
that life is an ―immediate being-there which requires direct involvement.‖

5. COMMUNION ET MISSIO
BORGJIE DISTURA
It is not to be mistaken that it is not only the men of cloth and the religious men and
women who are called to missionary activities in the church. This call to mission is
universal. In this article, I will dwell more on the mission of the laity in this universal
call.
In treating the call of God to all people I wish to discuss two things – communion and
mission respectively. This treatment is based in post-synodal apostolic exhortation
Christifideles Laici of His Holiness John Paul II on the vocation and the mission of the
lay faithful in the church and in the world.
The analogy of the Blessed Pope John Paul II gives us the idea about laity as the laborers
in the vast vineyard of the Lord – this vast vineyard of the Lord is taken to signify the
world where there is so much work to be done and so much tasks to be accomplished.
The pope said in the opening words of his apostolic exhortation:
The lay members of Christ's Faithful
People…are those who form that part of the
People of God which might be likened to the
laborers in the vineyard mentioned in Matthew's
Gospel: "For the Kingdom of heaven is like a
householder who went out early in the morning
to hire labourers for his vineyard. After agreeing
with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent
them into his vineyard" (Mt 20:1-2).1
From here we can say already that all are called to be laborers of God in his vineyard
including the lay faithful. From here we can say further the call to communio and the
missio of the laity. First, the laity is in communio with all the laborers in the vineyard and
secondly, his missio is to labor.
THE CALL
From that distant day the call of the Lord Jesus "You go into my vineyard too" never fails
to resound in the course of history: it is addressed to every person who comes into this
world.2
The call is a concern not only of clergy and men and women religious. The call is
addressed to everyone: lay people as well are personally called by the Lord, from whom
they receive a mission on behalf of the Church and the world.
The laity, finding themselves in the very place where the interaction between the Church
and the world is most visible and concrete, are simultaneously being called upon in a
special way to accept their part in the Church‘s mission.3
1
Christifideles Laici on the Vocation and Mission of the Lay Faithful in the Church and in the
World (John Paul II) no. 1. Henceforward CL.
2
CL 2.

6. The Church becomes aware of the value of the laity by looking at the great contribution
that the laity has been giving to the Church. The Synod of Bishops reflecting upon the
mission and vocation of the laity in the church and in the world publicly expressed its
gratitude to the lay faithful. The Synod said: "We give thanks that during the course of
the Synod we have not only rejoiced in the participation of the lay faithful (both men and
women auditors), but even more so in that the progress of the Synodal discussions has
enabled us to listen to those whom we invited, representatives of the lay faithful from all
parts of the world, from different countries, and to profit from their experience, their
advice and the suggestions they have offered out of love for the common cause."
THEIR MISSIO IS TO BE IN COMMUNIO
The lay faithful today must be in communio with the life and mission of the Church.
Many lay faithful have to become aware of the Church‘s responsibility to the world. The
faithful should also be formed about this responsibility. That is why in chapter five of the
apostolic exhortation the Holy Father teaches that the faithful must also be formed that
you bear much fruit. The Pontiff said that the gospel image of the vine and the branches
reveals to us another fundamental aspect of the lay faithful's life and mission: the call to
growth and a continual process of maturation, of always bearing much fruit.
The lay must be in communio with the Church‘s responsibility in the world because
through them the Church has the opportunity of making her present in the real life
situations of human existence. Their utmost response to this communio would mean a
maturation of the Church‘s effectiveness in her mission.
What can their communio in the Church imply? Well, we can reflect from here that by
their communio they can bear witness to the timeliness of the Redemption of Jesus Christ
in building a more just world to live in. Their participation in the communio can combat
the mentality of secularism that is very much present in the world today depriving human
existence of its authentic meaning. Not only that, the laity in communio can also lessen
the serious phenomenon of disintegration brought by secularism in the world. Further,
their communio can lead the laity into a social awareness regarding the problem in the
world like hunger, poverty, moral corruption and a bunch of many other serious
problems. In being a communio, they cannot but be disturb with a creative disturbance by
giving and offering solutions to these problems and not just by being indifferent towards
those pressing problems.
To conclude, Christians are called by God to a personal relationship with Him in love.
And from this call also comes the personal dignity of the laity – the thought and the fact
that each one of them has been called by God himself and invited to a personal
relationship with Him. This communio of love must be manifested in concrete aspect on
the part of the one called. Hence, their mission is to participate in the communio as
concrete as it can be in the love and charity patterned before God and patterned according
to the mind of the Church.
3
Instrumentum Laboris on the Vocation and mission of the Laity in the Church and the World
Twenty Years after the Second Vatican Council (Synod of Bishops) 1.

7. DESENSITIZATION OF FAITH
BORGJIE B. DISTURA
The Church affirms the profound crisis of faith caused by much concern of Christians for
the social, cultural and political consequences of their commitment while denying the
presupposition of faith.
A crisis is both a danger and at the same time, an opportunity. The Holy Father wants that
this crisis be an opportunity for rediscovery and a renewal of a desensitized faith. We
must not accept that the salt should become tasteless or the light be kept hidden (cf. Mt.
5:13-16).4
The people today can still experience the need to go to the well, like the Samaritan
woman, in order to hear Jesus, who invites us to believe in him and to draw upon the
source of living water welling up within him (cf. Jn 4:14).5
Can we turn this crisis into an opportunity of rediscovery and renewal of our faith? To
answer this we must first know some of the reasons of this crisis, in this case in
philosophical terrain because faith involves reason. And at the end offer some proposals
for the spring time of faith.
In his book Christian Philosophy, Fr. Joseph M. de Torre states that, ―there is a trend for
practical atheism which sometimes not only practical; i.e. living as if God did not exist,
ignoring altogether but full conscious and theoretical people who are openly godless, and
they say so.‖6
This trend of religious indifference in the twentieth century is an undeniable fact today. It
is true that vast and increasing numbers of men looked upon God as dead and gone.
This trend or spiritual climate was at first largely dominated by Nietzsche and followed
by Marx, whose philosophies did much to disturb settled beliefs and to create totally new
ideas and attitudes.
Atheism has from the dawn of creation, been the great temptation for intelligent
creatures. Many philosophers succumbed to this temptation. Consider Feuerbach who
asserted that humanity becomes God; for Nietzsche, God becomes superman and for
Marx, God is the cosmic classless society. Others consider God as mere passion of the
heart; while others consider God as myth of the modern ideology; still others say that
God has become a victim of man or the reverse.
The General Catechetical Directory, a post conciliar document of the II Vatican Council
affirms this problem of atheism. It says that, ―very many people gradually fall into
4
Ibid, 3.
Ibid, 5.
6
J. de Torre. Christian Philosophy, Vera-Reyes, Inc., Philippines, 1989, p. 6.
5

8. religious indifference or run the risk of preserving a faith which lacks the necessary
dynamism and real influence in their lives.‖7
The problem is not only with the ordinary people. The document also stresses that the
problem also affected many baptized people. In section seven of the same document, it
affirms: ―many baptized people have become so distanced from religion that they profess
religious indifference or, almost atheism.‖8
The Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World (Gaudium et Spes) states
that: ―atheism must therefore be regarded as one of the most serious problems of our
time, and one that deserves more thorough treatment.‖9
Atheism is of two kinds. Archbishop Gordoncillo wrote:
Atheists can be practical or theoretical. Practical atheists
are those who, although in doctrine admit the existence of
God, in real life are living or acting as though for them God
does not exist; while theoretical atheists are those who in
doctrine do not admit of the existence of God.10
At this point we might as well ask what caused people to expressly deny the existence of
God. What caused others to maintain that man cannot make any assertion what so ever
about Him? Or what caused others to languish in their faith? Or what caused others to
affirm man while denying God?
We can ask many questions about the cause of atheism, but from the above questions we
single out the main question i.e. What caused the decline of man’s belief in a Supreme
Being? Fr. de Torre in his book Christian Philosophy asked a quite similar question:
“How did we come to this situation (religious indifference)?”11
According to him there are reasons why so. First, he said: ―very often the so-called
atheists are people who have not studied their faith seriously. Religious ignorance is
rampant, and particularly damaging among educated people who are becoming the
majority.‖12
But research would tell us that the great apostles of atheism who ushered its growth were
not ignorant in a sense but are considered giants having great minds i.e. wise, e.g. Comte,
Sartre, Heidegger, Tillich and Robinson among others. We will be putting ourselves into
7
A. Flannery, ed. Vatican Council II: More Postconciliar Documents, Vol II, Paulines Publishing
House, Pasay, Philippines, 2000, p.534.
8
Ibid. p. 534
9
A. Flannery, ed. Vatican Council II: The Conciliar Documents and Post Conciliar Documents,
Vol I, Paulines Publishing House, Pasay, Philippines, 2000, p.918.
10
O. Gordoncillo. Theodicy Notes.____________, Roxas City, 2006, p. 29.
11
Cf. Christian Philosophy p. 6
12
Ibid. p. 6.

9. jeopardy if we hold that they are religiously ignorant so much so if we hold that they
have seriously studied and totally grasped their faith.
―The age of Kant, Hegel, Comte, Renan, Taine and Marx had gone much further. The
various…efforts of those minds led to the rejection of any faith whatsoever in a
Transcendent Being… The God of Christian revelation now found himself disputed.‖13
The Second Vatican Council also states that: ―atheism is born…from the fact that certain
human ideals are wrongfully invested with such an absolute character as to be taken for
God.‖14
Those giants but religiously ignorant men clothed wrongfully those ideals. Take for
example the ubermensch of Nietzsche or Marx‘s cosmic classless society as having
absolute character.
Secondly, the rapid growth of materialism in the way people live and think is another
reason.15 According to him there are people who are also materialist in life and practice:
they take material values as the supreme values in life, such as wealth, strength, comfort
and health.
There is nothing wrong with all the material comfort but what is wrong is to consider
them as the highest standards and eventually be blinded by it.
Vatican II council affirms this: ―… because it (modern civilization) is so engrossed in the
concerns of this world, (obsession into the world) can make it harder to approach God.‖16
With too much concern and identification of man with the world often develop into
prolonged, permanent, spiritual separation of man from his Transcendent Creator.
Lost in the love of the ever-present and splendid universe, the creature comes to possess
himself, his society and his world as if they were exclusively his own.17
Thus atheism arises from a mentality and attitude which involves a flight from the
invisible to the visible, from the transcendent toward the immanent, from spiritual toward
the material in such a way that not only are the invisible, transcendent, spiritual rejected
as dimensions of reality but they are denied existence itself.18
13
H. Daniel-Rops, A Fight for God, J. Warrington (trans.), London, J.M. Dent and Sons Ltd.,
1966, p. 12.
14
Cf. Gaudium et Spes (GS) 19
15
Cf. Christian Philosophy p. 6.
16
Cf. GS 19
17
V. Miceli, S.J., The Gods of Atheism, Arlington House, New York, 1971, pp. 1-2.
18
Ibid. p. 2.

10. Positivism, which is quite similar to materialism is hard to distinguish from the latter and
seemed willing to share the field of thought with it, holds that ―the sole reality that truly
counts is that which affects the senses and is perceived by the human intellect.‖19
Materialism therefore pushes the individual to prefer himself and the world (that which is
material) over and above God, the Invisible, Transcendent and Spiritual Being.
Lastly, the believers themselves caused others to languish in their belief. The way
supposed-to-be-believers live lives and witness their faith sometimes can be considered
as the culprit of the decline in religious aspects.
―Believers can have more than a little to do with the
rise of atheism. To the extent that they are careless about
their instruction in the faith, or present its teaching falsely,
or even fail in their religious, moral, or social life, they
must be said to conceal rather than to reveal the true nature
of God and religion.‖20
We might as well ask what‘s the difference between a consistent hardened sinner who
still believes from a practical atheism?
Both i.e. the believer and the atheist, break the bond of communion with God. But the
sinner‘s practical atheism is not so much a denial of God‘s existence. The believer still
clings to the cadaver of faith as a last link with God.
The believer-sinner or the practical atheist is a scandal to his fellowmen, encouraging
religious indifference and even, at times, complete unbelief in those they scandalize.
In the scriptures, the Pharisees are like pseudo-follower of God and they try to reduce
Him to their image and likeness, one that suits to their worldly plans
To top it all, it is very obvious from the above reasons and observations that the first
shoots of indifference arise from the infidelity of man to his God. The causes of atheism
always remain within the creature himself not to any other. Fr. Vincent Miceli writes:
―What the atheist does not see is that in rejecting
God he rejects himself. In refusing to give himself in spirit
to God, he refuses to transcend himself… In effect he
banishes from the infinite visibility of God… God no
longer influences his life or his world because God…no
longer lives or exists everywhere.‖21
19
20
21
Cf. A Fight for God, p. 12.
GS 19 § 3.
V. Miceli S.J., The Gods of Atheism, Arlington House, New York, 1971, pp. 11-12.

11. After considering some of the reasons and causes, what can we offer for the rediscovery
and renewal of our faith in crisis?
First, the renewal of the Church can be achieved through the witness of the believer in the
face of the upsurge of materialism and secularism. The believer‘s existence in the world
is one that is expected to illumine and radiate the word of truth of the Gospel.
Second, the call to be committed to commitment is an avenue for rediscovering the joy of
believing and the enthusiasm for communicating the faith. Through this commitment to
love the faith makes this very same faith to grow in as much as it is lived as an
experience of love.
And lastly, it is through believing that others are strengthened and oneself too. So it is in
believing that faith grows and become stronger.

12. RATZINGER UNDERSTANDING OF INTERMEDIATE STATE OF THE SOUL
BORGJIE B. DISTURA
Pierre Benoit question about the state of the soul after death in his article ‗Resurrection:
At the End of Time or immediately after Death?‘ is what propelled me to inquire about
the intermediate state.
Let me begin with two of the things that are certain and that we earnestly profess. The
first and most immediate and empirically certain of last things is physical death. As the
Wisdom literature of the Old Testament emphasizes, death comes alike to all, rich and
poor, wise and foolish. ―Who can live and never see death?‖ 22 For us Catholics,
however, death is never simply a natural event. Death is a consequence of sin. 23 As Paul
says: ―The wages of sin is death‖ (Rom. 6:23). Central to this message of hope is the
conviction that death is not final: ―O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy
sting?‖24 In God‘s Kingdom, ―death shall be no more‖ 25 And this leads us to second
point which is certain of the last things i.e. the resurrection of the body which we
Christians profess.
There is a difficulty, however, for the believer who believes in the resurrection of the
body which, like the soul, will be delivered from the yoke of sin by returning to life
which is won for us by Jesus Christ himself.26 This difficulty is found in the delay of the
promised resurrection of the body. The basis for this resurrection of the body is Christ‘s
resurrection, and this resurrection of Christ ought to set free the men it hold captive and
not take any others prisoner. But that does not happen. The dead of the past ages still lie
in their graves, the living still die, the resurrection promised to both is still postponed
from one age to another, and this has been going on for ages. He further posed another
problem wherein he said: ―But there still remains a difficulty whose solution is rather less
easy to find in revealed truth. What are we to understand by this intermediate state in
which the Christian is placed between his death and his resurrection? How are we to
regard man‘s state during this long period of waiting?27
Herein lies the question of ―intermediate state‖: What is the status of the self between
death and resurrection? Although the question is not a new one, for there are clear
indication of it right at the beginning of Christianity. 28 Recently, the question of
intermediate states has been debated and that makes this problem worthy of examination.
Joseph Ratzinger has written about it and it is my goal in writing this article to present the
idea of one of the foremost theologians of our time, the idea of a theologian who became
Benedict XVI.
22
Ps. 89:48
De Fide
24
1 Cor. 15:55
25
Rev. 21:4
26
Pierre Benoit, Resurrection: At the End of Time or immediately after Death?, Concilium 10
(1970): 103. Hereafter Benoit, Resurrection.
27
Benoit, Resurrection, 103-104.
28
Benoit, Resurrection, 104
23

13. I.
TRADITIONAL BELIEF
The debates about the resurrection of Jesus found their counterparts in theological
discussions about the nature of our own resurrections. Traditional doctrine long had it that at
death the immortal soul, now separated from the body, enjoyed the vision of God, or suffered
the loss of it, and the resurrection of the body had to wait until the final judgment at the end
of time. Therefore, there was an intermediate state in which the soul lived on without the
body until the time of judgment.
II.
AFTER VATICAN II
But in the aftermath of the Council this separation of body and soul seemed too dualistic both
in regard to the unity of human beings expressed in the Scriptures, as well as found in
modern thought. Why not say that our human unity is preserved in death, and therefore our
resurrection takes place at the time of our death? Hints of such an approach appeared right
after the Council in the Dutch Catechism29 and were expressed in a theory in which the
whole person is raised at the moment of death, that is, there is a ―resurrection in death,‖30 by
Gisbert Greshake in 1969. But since our bodies continue to lie in their graves, Greshake must
advance another view of the body beyond the common-sense one. ―Matter will be perfected,
not in itself or by itself, but rather in ‗the other,‘ namely, in the spirit, or the
person.‖31 ―Matter as such (as atom, molecule, organ...) cannot be perfected... This being so,
then if human freedom is finalised in death, the body, the world and the history of this
freedom are permanently preserved in the definitive concrete form which that freedom has
taken.‖32
Greshake tells us that many Christians believe more in the immortality of the soul than in the
resurrection of the body, but the ―real perfection and completion lie in resurrection of the
body. Does this mean the actual resuscitation of dead bodies and the opening of graves?
Surely not.‖33 But his alternative to a resuscitation remains rather not clear. Our personalities
and the world are not totally separable. We hope not in the immortality of the soul ―but for
the renewed life of the person indelibly stamped by his interaction with the world.‖34 What
this could mean when it is a question of resurrection in death, besides the immortal soul
without the body, is unclear.
29
Joseph Ratzinger, Eschatology: Death and Eternal Life. Washington, DC: The Catholic University of
America Press. 1988. p. 108. Hereafter, Ratzinger, Eschatology.
30
Cf. Gisbert Greshake, Death and Resurrection. Theology Digest 26 (1978): 16-18. Hereafter Greshake,
Death and Resurrection.
31
Greshake, Death and Resurrection, 17.
32
Ratzinger, Eschatology, 108-109.
33
Greshake, Death and Resurrection, 17.
34
Greshake, Death and Resurrection, 18.

14. III.
JOSEPH RATZINGER
The main opponent of the idea of Greshake about resurrection in death is the prominent
German theologian who later became Pope Benedict XVI. In 1977, Benedict XVI, then
Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger in his Eschatology, subjected both the idea of a resurrection at the
time of death and the context from which it had emerged to a series of well-targeted
criticisms. It had become popular, he felt, to imagine that speaking of the soul was unbiblical.
Instead, the idea of the ―absolute indivisibility‖35 of the human being was the message found
in the scriptures and happily confirmed by modern anthropology. His own position was
sharply opposed to what he saw as a post-conciliar consensus in which ―a
resurrection in death and a consequent rejection of the concept of the soul had made
considerable inroads.‖36 Was a theory like Greshake‘s, he asked, really about some corporeal
resurrection, or was it simply a camouflaged way to talk about the immortality of the soul
because wasn‘t what actually perdured after death in such a theory what had traditionally
been called the soul? Did this view of the resurrection actually do justice to the church‘s
teaching of the resurrection on the last day, and ―in the self-same flesh in which we live,
exist, and move,‖ as the Council of Toledo in 675 had put it?37
But what is most striking in Ratzinger‘s analysis, and important for our goal to present his
understanding of the intermediate state, is his assertion that while the church took ideas about
body and soul from the Greeks, it had transformed them in a long process that found ―its final
and definitive form only in the work of St. Thomas Aquinas.‖38 He is saying this not because
he is a Thomist39 but because he realized that the view of the soul that is found in St. Thomas
is a product of Christian faith. St. Thomas, working within the nurturing atmosphere of faith,
had fused Aristotle and Plato together to create a philosophical doctrine of the relationship
between body and soul that would be in harmony with Christian doctrine. This Thomistic
view, Ratzinger thought, meant that the soul as the form of the body could never leave behind
its relationship with matter, as Greshake‘s theory appears to make it do.40 And Thomas‘ view
allows us to make a distinction between matter as a ―physiological unit‖ and ―bodiliness‖
because ―the material elements from out of which human physiology is constructed receive
their character of being ‗body‘ only in virtue of being organized and formed by the
expressive power of the soul.‖41 This was a view of the relationship between body and soul
found its full expression in St. Thomas:
―The individual atoms and molecules do not as such
add up to the human being. The identity of the living body
does not depend upon them, but upon the fact that matter is
drawn into the soul‘s power of expression. Just as the soul is
defined in terms of matter, so the living body is wholly
defined by reference to the soul. The soul builds itself a living
body, a self-identical living body, as its corporeal expression.
35
Ratzinger, Eschatology, 106.
Ratzinger, Eschatology, 261.
37
Ratzinger, Eschatology, 135.
38
Ratzinger, Eschatology, 148.
39
He is not because his own training and theological inclinations were more on Augustine.
40
Ratzinger, Eschatology, 179.
41
Ratzinger, Eschatology, 179.
36

15. And since the living body belongs so inseparably to the being
of man, the identity of that body is defined not in terms of
matter but in terms of soul.‖42
In May, 1979 a statement by the Congregation for the Defense of the Faith, on certain
questions on eschatology expressed the traditional doctrine in response to new theories and
the unrest they could cause among the faithful. The resurrection of the dead, it emphasized,
deals with the whole human being, and between death and resurrection the church affirms
―the continuity and independent existence of the spiritual element in man after
death,‖43 which can be called the soul. In commenting on this document, Ratzinger mentions
the kind of dynamics we have been seeing.
When Ratzinger wrote an Afterword to the English edition of Eschatology in 1987 he noticed
some movement in the controversy with Greshake, for example, modifying his position about
the value of the notion of the soul.44 Ratzinger commented: ―As this debate proceeds, it
becomes ever clearer that the true function of the idea of the soul‘s immortality is to preserve
a real hold on that of the resurrection of the flesh. The thesis of resurrection in death
dematerializes the resurrection.‖45
CONCLUSION
Arthur Schopenhauer once quipped that ―every parting gives a foretaste of death, every
reunion a hint of resurrection‖. My goal here is to present that comma, that ―in between‖
in Schopenhauer‘s statement above through the eschatological view of Joseph Ratzinger
which I mainly relied from a nine volume series of dogmatic theology which was
published in 1977 in German and is intended for German readership but which was
translated into English in 1988. I am very much sure that it‘s difficult to grapple with a
German writer. And English translation from a German original makes it more difficult. I
have limited my quest to Ratzinger‘s idea of intermediate state to his Eschatology: Death
and Eternal Life. Another difficulty on my part is the shift of Ratzinger‘s thought. I read
somewhere that during the council, he was tagged as among the liberals. But after the
council, Ratzinger is seen as conservative. Another difficulty that I have encountered in
treating this question about the intermediate state is the Augustinian background and
leanings of Ratzinger and hence more on Platonic mindset but as my research progressed,
I have seen that he employed the ideas of St Thomas Aquinas (Aristotelian influenced). I
myself am not convinced of this work of mine. I really wanted to go inside. I really
wanted to dive into the thoughts of this great theologian but I really found it difficult
especially with the subject that still in progress – in debates. To conclude this work of
mine, Ratzinger said that the Last Day, if taken as a shared ending of all history, would
raise the question as to what happens ―in between.‖ This ―in between‖ is Ratzinger‘s
primary concern in the book Eschatology and that is the idea of the intermediate state,
whether the dead can be said to exist between death and general resurrection. For Joseph
Ratzinger, the soul is taken and understood as the fundamental reality of matter, a
42
Ratzinger, Eschatology, 179
Ratzinger, Eschatology, 245.
44
Ratzinger, Eschatology, 266.
45
Ratzinger, Eschatology, 267.
43

16. Thomistic idea. Ratzinger has an illuminating discussion of the development of ideas
about the postmortem condition of the dead, from the shadowy existence in Sheol which
involved neither reward nor punishment (a nearly universal concept which the Hebrews
once shared), through the realization that the nature of God excluded the possibility that
he might allow his beloved to fall into non-existence, even temporarily, and so to
theodicy and the expectation of a final resurrection. Ratzinger is very careful of
Protestant sensibilities, but he does argue that Luther‘s idea of ―soul sleep‖ is neither
coherent nor consistent with Scripture. He states the Catholic doctrine of Purgatory and
contrasts it with the corresponding Orthodox ideas by suggesting that the latter are simply
less developed. (The Orthodox pray for the dead, but Orthodox eschatology does not
include the idea that the intermediate state is a condition of cleansing.)
Regarding the soul, Ratzinger demonstrates that the Christian understanding of it is
simply not Platonic. Neither is the specifically Thomist view of the soul really
Aristotelian. Aquinas, like Aristotle, said that the soul is the form of the body. However,
Aristotle thought of ―form‖ as a perishable material quality. For Aquinas, the form, the
soul, is spiritual, but immortality is not intrinsic to it. The immortality of the soul arises
from the soul‘s essential connection to God; indeed, to judge from the book‘s argument,
this relationship is what generates the soul, almost like a kind of induction. When a man
is understood in terms of the formula anima forma corporis, that relationship to God can
be seen to express the core of his very essence. As a created being he is made for a
relationship which entails indestructibility. If we take up this thought, we can describe
man accordingly as that stage in the creation, that creature, then, for whom the vision of
God is part and parcel of his very being. Because this is so, because man is capable of
grasping truth in its most comprehensive meaning, it also belongs intrinsically to his
being to participate in life. This is not to say, however, that the postmortem state is
immediately the final state. Salvation is ultimately for the Communion of the Saints, for
all the blessed of the human race, and it cannot be perfected until history is over.
To put it in a nutshell the intermediate state is no longer seen as the immortal soul
returning to spiritual fellowship with God. Rather, it is God knowing each of us and
remembering everything about us in preparation for returning each human being to full
bodily life at the general resurrection. It is God‘s individual love for us that grants each of
us temporary life with Him apart from our bodies. In that memory, those who have loved
God and joined to Him through Christ are contemplated in the light of the Savior, and
God reshapes us in preparation for eternal bliss with Him after the resurrection. During
that time we are granted a preparatory glance of the beatific vision in eschatological
anticipation of our final end in a renewed body. In like manner, the damned are
remembered in their rejection of God, and their memory invokes the wrath and sorrow of
God for their wasted lives. Just as God sends the rain on the just and the unjust alike, He
will also reunite His image reflected in men on both the just and the unjust alike.
Embodied man was made for immortality from the very beginning and — for good or ill
— all men will participate in that immortality, whether in paradise or perdition.

17. Bibliography
Benoit, Pierre. Resurrection: At the End of Time or immediately after Death?, Concilium
10 (1970).
Greshake, Gisbert. Death and Resurrection. Theology Digest 26 (1978).
Ratzinger, Joseph. Eschatology: Death and Eternal Life. Washington, DC: The Catholic
University of America Press, 1988.

18. CONSIDERATIONS IN TEACHING IN A DIGITAL LANDSCAPE
BORGJIE B. DISTURA
At the outset, let us look at the landscape of the world as regards communications which I
limited only to the three factors namely the internet, television and cell phone.
INTERNET
ITU World Telecommunication estimated that ―The world is home to 7 billion people,
one third of which are using the Internet. Forty five percent (45%) of the world‘s Internet
users are below the age of 25. Over the last five years, developing countries have
increased their share of the world‘s total number of Internet users from 44% in 2006, to
62% in 2011.46‖ The survey also added that younger people tend to be more online than
older people in both developed and developing countries. In developing countries, 30%
of those under the age of 25 use the Internet, compared to 23% of those 25 years and
older.
In another internet use survey by world region distribution, Asia has the biggest
percentage of internet users averaging in 44% while Europe ranks second only with the
average of 22.7% internet users.47
There are about 1.8 billion households worldwide and one-third of these households have
internet access compared to only one-fifth five years ago. And 25% of homes in
developing countries possess a computer and of the 25%, 20% have internet access.48
TELEVISION
In another survey held by A.C. Nielsen Co. as regards TV statistics in the U.S., observes
that the average American watches more than 4 hours of TV each day or 28 hours/week,
or 2 months of non-stop TV-watching per year. Almost all households possess at least
one TV set and Americans spend an average of 250 billion hours annually in watching
TV.49
CELL PHONES
Another form of digital communication is the mobile phone or cell phone. ITU World
Telecommunication50 reports that there are almost 6 billion mobile-cellular subscriptions.
With 5.9 billion mobile-cellular subscriptions, global penetration reached 87% and 79%
in the developing world. And according to the same survey, active broadband
subscriptions reached almost 1.2 billion and a total of 159 economies worldwide have
46
http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/facts/2011/index.html
http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm
48
http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/facts/2011/index.html
49
http://www.csun.edu/science/health/docs/tv&health.html
50
http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/facts/2011/index.html
47

19. launched 3G services commercially and the number of active mobile-broadband
subscriptions has increased. Mobile-broadband is often the only access method available
to people in developing countries, the report adds.
THE DIGITAL AGE: What‘s not to like?
Since the appearance of advanced electrical/electronic signals in the late 1920‘s the world
underwent a rapid change in the way people behave, think and the way people
communicate. From a simple visual signal of fire and smoke, from simple audio signals
like trumpets and drums, we now have very advanced and complex forms of visual and
audio signals. We are now in the digital world of communication. What is not to like in
this digital age of communication? It takes only seconds to connect with friends. It is now
very easy to research for an assignment. With a click or two, you can enter into a vast
source of available materials in the web. Having trouble locating your long lost relative?
Or classmates?Or colleagues?Not a problem anymore, thanks to social networks. Here
you can even see information about their status, their occupation, address and what they
are up to.
Did you miss your favorite noontime show or your favorite drama series? It‘s not a
problem anymore as long as you are connected to the web, because you can always
download them. Gone were the days of beeper, pay phones and radio handsets. We now
have cell phones in all sizes, shapes and colors with all those installed applications of
your choice. They come even with camera and radio and even TV and a whole lot more.
No previous generation has been blessed with the means of communication like ours.
And still new vistas in communications are constantly opening up today and in the future.
TEACHING: Employing the New Media of Social Communications
These advanced forms of communications also affect the way we communicate and
teach. The modern media of social communication are cultural factors that play a role. As
the Second Vatican Council remarks, ―although we must be careful to distinguish earthly
progress clearly from the increase of the kingdom of Christ‖, nevertheless ―such progress
is of vital concern to the kingdom of God, insofar as it can contribute to the better
ordering of human society‖. 51 Considering the media of social communication in this
light, we see that they ―contribute greatly to the enlargement and enrichment of men's
minds and to the propagation and consolidation of the kingdom of God‖.52
Pope Benedict XVI in his message 53 for the Catholic Church's 2010 World Day for
Social Communications, called on the ministry to use the latest technologies, such as
Web sites and blogs, to preach the gospel and encourage a dialogue with their
practitioners. In his message, Pope Benedict told the people that church communities
51
Vatican Council II, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium etSpes,
39.
52
Vatican Council II, Decree on the Media of Social Communications Inter Mirifica, 2.
Message of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI for the 44th World Communications Day "The
Priest and Pastoral Ministry in a Digital World: New Media at the Service of the Word"
53

20. have traditionally relied on modern media to open the lines of communication. And as the
culture changes, the church needs to use the latest technologies, especially if it wants to
reach younger people.
HINDRANCES: Disadvantages of the New Media of Social Communications
There are hindrances also. There are disadvantages as regards these new media of social
communication. Although referring to communication of and in the family, these
hindrances can also affect the bigger picture of the society and hence the teaching too.
According to Anthony G. Roman in his article Building Digital Bridges, some factors
hindering authentic communication of and in the family are television, Internet, cellular
phones.54 Roman adds, ―Many other facts can be added to this; facts about how families
and communities are robbed of opportunities for authentic communication, dialogue and
sharing.‖ 55 This advantages and disadvantages as regards the new media of social
communications bring us into a dilemma, a crisis. But since the Chinese term for crisis
consist of two characters namely danger and opportunity, we can therefore still have the
possibility of turning this crisis into an opportunity.
OPPORTUNITY: The Positive side of the Possibilities of Crisis
The media is not an all-evil phenomenon, nor a hot bed of vice as some people might
think. 56 The Pastoral Instruction Communio et Progressio, magna carta of
communications, says modern media have the capacity to carry the message of salvation.
―Modern media offer new ways of confronting people with the message of the Gospel…
are invaluable helps for Christian education… offer marvelous opportunities to all for
considering the implications of their religious convictions through the discussion of
events and problems of the day…‖ and make more interesting the ―teaching of
Christianity.‖57
These new forms of social communications offer a place for those who seek religious and
faith materials. Many faithful are turning to the Web. 58 In Apr 11, 2004, a newspaper
reported that millions of online faithful use Internet for religious info and e-mail.59
SILENCE AND THE WORD: Some Considerations
With all these opportunities that open new avenues for teaching in this new
communication landscape and all the many dangers that lurk around these means of
54
Building Digital Bridges: Considerations for the ministry in the Emerging Communication
Landscape, Anthony G. Roman. Available at http://www.fabc.org/offices/osc/docs/pdf/
55
Building Digital Bridge, p 3.
56
Building Digital Bridge, p 5.
57
Pastoral Instruction CommunioetProgressio 126-131.
58
San Jose Mercury NewsApril 8, 2004.
59
Chicago Sun-TimesApril 11, 2004.

21. social communications two things are to be taken into consideration according to the
Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, namely, silence and the word.
In his message for the 46th World Communications Day issued on January 24, 2012, the
Holy Father points out that the relationship of silence and word, which is an important
aspect of the human process of communication, is often overlooked.60
[Silence and the word must] be kept in balance, to
alternate and to be integrated with one anotherif
authentic dialogue and deep closeness between people
are to be achieved. When word and silence become
mutually exclusive, communication breaks down, either
because it gives rise to confusion or because, on the
contrary, it creates an atmosphere of coldness; when they
complement one another, however, communication
acquires value and meaning.61
Silence is very important as we communicate as we communicate God‘s word and as we
communicate to the Word. Silence allows us to listen and understand clearly ourselves
and the words we want to say. Silence allows us to understand not only ourselves but
others as well and thus creating a deeper mutual understanding.
Not only that, the Holy Father also adds that silence gives way for deeper reflection
which is important in determining what is essentially relevant from what is insignificant.
Contemporary man continues to ask ultimate questions of human existence but he is
bombarded with enormous amount of ideas, unfamiliar questions and answers he has
never asked. Search engines and social networks offer these unfamiliar ideas, questions
and answers. In the face of these overwhelming upsurges of data, silence offers a path for
him to discern properly.
Silence is an important state that can help man to rediscover himself and that Truth which
gives meaning to all things. God is a God of silence and speaks by the mystery of his
silence as seen in the cross of Jesus Christ which echoes the eloquence of God‘s love.
In one interview with Cardinal Tagle, he said that ―the church must discover the power of
silence. Confronted with the sorrows, doubts and uncertainties of people she cannot
pretend to give easy solutions,‖ he said. ―In Jesus, silence becomes the way of attentive
listening, compassion and prayer. It is the way to truth.‖ (attenditus, from Latin. attentus
"heedful, observant." It is a sense of "actively ministering to the needs and wants" of
another person).
Tagle suggested that silence would be one signal of a new spirit of humility. ―The
church‘s humility, respectfulness and silence might reveal more clearly the face of God in
60
Message of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI for the 46th World Communications Day.
Available at: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/messages/communications/documents.
61
Ibid.

22. Jesus,‖ he told the synod. Bishop Tagle also said that ―we see in our time so much
exchange of words happening at high speed and across national boundaries. But
unfortunately the world is as divided as ever. Why is communion not achieved in spite of
the exchange of words?‖
There are two ironies here. First, how can it be to evangelize through silence since
proclaiming the message entails one to speak? Second, with such position of Bishop
Tagle he was made VP of the Synod for the Message. Let us consider silence (as attentive
listening according to Bp Tagle) and the word and take a look into it.
SILENCE: Effective Way to Teach and Preach
If God speaks to us even in silence, we in turn discover
in silence the possibility of speaking with God and
teaching about God. In speaking of God‘s grandeur, our
language will always prove inadequate and must make
space for silent contemplation. Out of such
contemplation springs forth, with all its inner power, the
urgent sense of mission, the compelling obligation “to
communicate that which we have seen and heard‖ so that
all may be in communion with God (1 Jn 1:3). Silent
contemplation immerses us in the source of that Love
who directs us towards our neighbors so that we may
feel their suffering and offer them the light of Christ, his
message of life and his saving gift of the fullness of
love.62
Through silent contemplation, the Word of God, Jesus Christ is being incarnated, being
born, being made present anew. The Word that which is not outdated but ever present and
up-to-date, is Jesus our very own contemporary who continues to make us aware share in
the plan of salvation that God is accomplishing by word and deed. And as sharers of this
work of God we too preach salvation in our humble way ―asheralds of hope and
salvation, witnesses of that love which promotes human dignity and builds justice and
peace.‖63
The Holy Father concludes his message affirming the importance of silence and word in
proclaiming Christ in this contemporary period, he favorably said: both silence and word
are essential elements, integral to the Church‘s work of communication for the sake of a
renewed proclamation of Christ in today‘s world.
62
Ibid.
Ibid.
63

23. ON BEING SENSITIVE LIKE THE BLIND MAN BARTIMAEUS
(MARK 10:46-52)
BORGJIE DISTURA
INVITATION TO BE SENSITIVE TO THE MANY OPPORTUNITIES FROM GOD
Sometimes we are blinder than Bartimaeus. We are spiritually blind to see many
opportunities that God sends along our way to express our faith to Him.Often times we
let those opportunities go by, not recognizing that an opportunity is a gift from God. He
gives us opportunity to work with people around us yet many of us never take advantage
of it.
Sometimes we just take life as it is and live life from one day to the next and think that
everything‘s going to be okay that we no longer stop to think that every day in our life as
a believer is a day in which God is personally involved with one opportunity after the
other.
Have you ever walked away, from a situation in your work and thought all of a sudden,
―Ah, I missed it! I just missed it!‖? What did you miss? Did you miss those wonderful
opportunities? What are those wonderful opportunities? Did you miss to give your best
shot? Did you miss to give a word of encouragement to your co-employee whom you
know are going a difficult time? Did you miss to be of specific help to your colleague
who needed your help? What other wonderful and Godly opportunities did you miss
because you fail to be sensitive to the many passing opportunities that God sent along
your way?
SENSE OF HEARING: SILENCE AS THE WAY OF ATTENTIVE LISTENING
In New Evangelization synod Bishop Chito Tagle said that ―the church must discover the
power of silence.‖ ‖Confronted with the sorrows, doubts and uncertainties of people she
cannot pretend to give easy solutions,‖ he said. ―In Jesus, silence becomes the way of
attentive listening, compassion and prayer. It is the way to truth.‖ (attenditus, from L.
attentus "heedful, observant". It is a sense of "actively ministering to the needs and
wants" of another person).
Tagle suggested that silence would be one signal of a new spirit of humility. ―The
church‘s humility, respectfulness and silence might reveal more clearly the face of God in
Jesus,‖ he told the synod. Bishop Tagle also said that ―we see in our time so much
exchange of words happening at high speed and across national boundaries. But
unfortunately the world is as divided as ever. Why is communion not achieved in spite of
the exchange of words?‖
There are two ironies here. First, how can it be to evangelize through silence since
proclaiming the message entails one to speak? Second, with such position of Bishop
Tagle he was made VP of the Synod for the Message. Let us consider silence (as attentive
listening according to Bp Tagle) and the word and take a look into it.

24. In his message for the 46th World Communications Day issued last January 24, 2012, the
Holy Father points out that the relationship of silence and word, which is an important
aspect of the human process of communication, is often overlooked.
[Silence and the word must] be kept in balance, to alternate and to be integrated with one
another if authentic dialogue and deep closeness between people are to be achieved.
When word and silence become mutually exclusive, communication breaks down, either
because it gives rise to confusion or because, on the contrary, it creates an atmosphere of
coldness; when they complement one another, however, communication acquires value
and meaning.
Silence is very important as we communicate God‘s word and as we communicate to the
Word. Silence allows us to listen and understand clearly ourselves and the words we want
to say. Silence allows us to understand not only ourselves but others as well and thus
creating a deeper mutual understanding.
Not only that, the Holy Father also adds that silence gives way for deeper reflection
which is important in determining what is essentially relevant from what is insignificant.
Contemporary man continues to ask ultimate questions of human existence but he is
bombarded with enormous amount of ideas, unfamiliar questions and answers he has
never asked. Search engines and social networks offer these unfamiliar ideas, questions
and answers. In the face of these overwhelming upsurges of data, silence offers a path for
him to discern properly.
Silence is an important state that can help man to rediscover himself and that Truth which
gives meaning to all things. God is a God of silence and speaks by the mystery of his
silence as seen in the cross of Jesus Christ which echoes the eloquence of God‘s love.
This is where Bishop Chito‘s thought is coming from; it is from the Holy Father himself.
Benedict XVI‘s theology of silence is the foundation of Bp Tagle‘s statement regarding
the importance of silence in the new evangelization. Silence then becomes an effective
way to preach and ―re-propose‖ the gospel to new and old territories (where Christianity
has a strong history).
If God speaks to us even in silence, we in turn discover in silence the possibility of
speaking with God and about God. In speaking of God’s grandeur, our language will
always prove inadequate and must make space for silent contemplation. Out of such
contemplation springs forth, with all its inner power, the urgent sense of mission, the
compelling obligation “to communicate that which we have seen and heard” so that all
may be in communion with God (1 Jn 1:3). Silent contemplation immerses us in the
source of that Love who directs us towards our neighbors so that we may feel their
suffering and offer them the light of Christ, his message of life and his saving gift of the
fullness of love.

25. Through silent contemplation, the Word of God, Jesus Christ is being incarnated, being
born, being made present anew. The Word that which is not outdated but ever present and
up-to-date, is Jesus our very own contemporary who continues to make us aware and
share in the plan of salvation that God is accomplishing by word and deed. And as
sharers of this work of God we too preach salvation in our humble way ―as heralds of
hope and salvation, witnesses of that love which promotes human dignity and builds
justice and peace.‖
The Holy Father concludes his message affirming the importance of silence and word in
proclaiming Christ in this contemporary period, he favorably said: both silence and word
are essential elements, integral to the Church‘s work of communication for the sake of a
renewed proclamation of Christ in today‘s world.
SENSE OF TOUCH: BEING TOUCHED BY THE LORD
In Mark 10 we have read about a blind man whom Jesus touched, and healed of His
blindness. But that is only one place we can read about the touch of God upon our lives.
We see touching throughout the Scriptures. It conveys love, understanding, healing, and
life. It speaks when words cannot. But what happens when our lives are touched by God?
When we are touched by God, we are given new sight. After we are given new life in
Christ, our spiritual eyes are able to see, to understand, to discern the things of the Spirit
of God. We can understand how the Holy Spirit works in our lives. We once were blind,
but now we see!
Over and over and over God calls for us to come to Him, to allow Him to heal us that we
may have new sight so that we may have the privilege to follow Him. Yes, He wants us
to call and pray to him. Even now, and every second of our life, He will stop and turn to
us and attend to our needs. Will we reach out and pray to Him? If by faith we reach out to
Him and pray, He will meet our every need. He will respond to the cry of our heart. He
will touch us and heal us so that we may go – go in his footsteps.