If not us then who; if not now, then when?
By Reemberto Rodriguez, Sr. @ 2:35 PM :: 908 Views
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Why we must act NOW

We are so blessed. Every one of us. Each and every Agrupado. Most of us share a life-style and two life-changing events that define us and give us tremendous ground for our friendship. It is this same life-style and life-changing events that call us to action today. I invite you to give some thought to this over the summer.

The Life-Style of the Chosen Few

God has chosen to bless us with a very unique life free of the need to constantly be consumed with the concerns of survival. Remember, the vast majority of human beings that have ever lived since the beginning of time have had to be concerned with the basics of survival: finding food, staying alive. Even in today's world, most human beings are saddled with work-responsibilities that provide only minimal income for anything but food and shelter. Not us; we do not have to worry about that. We have it made. Our families and our family's families have worked to provide us with a sense of security unique to a few select number of persons in the late twentieth century.

Sharing Two Life-Changing Events

Additionally, many of us - or our parents - have lived through recent up-rootings that have redefined our lives. Others of us have chosen to take a path different from our parents, searching for new adventures in the form of professional careers that have similarly up-rooted us from our childhood environments. Had those up-rootings not happened, our lives would be very different indeed. But the up-rooting did happen, and here we are.

We share another unique life-changing event. Somewhere along the line, each of us ran across this Agrupacion thing and it too changed our lives. Its impact on some of us has been different from other. Regardless of that personal impact, each and everyone of us, as consenting adults, made a promise - or someday will be making a promise - in front of God and the Blessed Virgin Mary to uphold certain principles that are to guide our lives. As man of character we are held accountable by God and the Blessed Virgin Mary to that promise. We are responsible to behave a certain way; to believe certain things; and to act yes, act, as in doing - as Jesus Christ would act. What does this meant to me? What does this mean to me NOW?

Why? Why us? Why has God blessed us so uniquely?

...Oh, man of little faith! We are so constantly making excuses for delaying our response to God's call for action... and - God knows - these excuses are oh, soo legitimate! At every age, from the youngest of us to the oldest, we have the perfect excuse; certainly God understands - I'll get around to it; I promise! mmmmm.... Thank God Christ did not have this attitude! We must act; and we must act now. Everyone of us, regardless of personal commitments must search deep in our soul and try to answer the question: Why has God blessed me so? Can I spiritually afford not to act? If I do not act, who do I expect to do what needs to be done? What am I called to do NOW? Can I afford to wait? Certainly, there is SOMETHING I can be doing NOW... What is that something?

Certainly God has blessed us so much for a particular reason. I propose to you that - minimally - God has blessed us so much so we can be the steward of certain reaches [both material and intellectual] in order that we help build the Kingdom of God on earth. Why else would God had blessed us with so much riches... so we could cuddle them and drown in our golden cesspool?... (I don't think so.) God WILL hold us accountable; we are responsible for investing our God-given gifts [again, both material and intellectual] for the greater glory of God.

As we get ready for a great summer, these are some questions that we may want to ponder while we sit by the beach and enjoy the sun; as we plan for and discuss the endless opportunities that lie ahead; as we dream of our future... Planning for the future is wise; not doing so is irresponsible. But, when planning for the future and "setting the stage for tomorrow" begins to replace the God-given charge to act NOW; hmmm...

I ask the question again:

If not us, then who? If not now, then when?

So, how do we answer the question for us? Well, there is a simple, fail safe answer to that. It is beauty in simplicity; it works every time... "Pray, always pray"; and if that does not work at first, pray some more, until it does work - because, it WILL work! Our Blessed Virgin Mary told us so, that is why I know.

Have fun and God Bless, Rembe.