Commitment To Community, Commitment To God

In our preparation for our commitment last Wednesday, we asked, do we want intimacy with God? Do you see that such intimacy can be achieved through Yuppeace? Like the stories of my love life and that of my friend, it started with knowing what we want. Actually, the first one is not even a want, it should be a need for each of us. A natural longing to connect with the hand that created us. The second one, that is getting such intimacy through Yuppeace, is an avenue towards the first. 

It is true that intimacy with God can be achieved through a lot of other means. You can go to caves if you want, as St. Benedict did, and still be intimate with God. Since the first one is a natural longing, then we need a categorical answer on the second. The first one binds us naturally, the second answer binds us out of a choice.

When choices set in, our alarm system goes berserk because that means sticking to such choice - COMMITTING. I think it is not the first two questions that really bothers us, but this third one -COMMITMENT. For our fear of breaking our word, the first two questions are put aside. Who would want to say no to God? But we also have work priorities, family concerns, personal issues that might go in the way of our commitment, so let us just say no. Sorry God, not now. But come to think of it, whether we commit or not, such family concerns and personal issues, and our problems of how to pay all our bills and impress our bosses, will always be there. Again, as I said last year, life will continue to happen. It will not stop because suddenly we are faced with the dilemma of leaving our company because our boss is such toot-toot.

These things will always be there. There will always be a nuisance person coming in, unexpected circumstance bothering us, problems that will tickle our bones. But there is a way that had been revealed to us to be able to face these things, and that is what we are celebrating this feast for. It is through the love of a Father, giving his only Son, to save all of us.

If problems and concerns are given, whether we act or not act on it, it exists. If we want to stick with our intimacy with God, shouldn’t our natural response be is to commit? Instead of fearing commitment, we should embrace it freely and openly. Why? Because when we commit, we are also committing to God. 


Our commitment is no longer an individual’s responsibility but also a responsibility of the community and that of God’s. Your non-fulfillment of your word will surely affect me the same thing as my non-fulfillment of my word will affect you. 

If we look at our commitment as a commitment of intimacy with God, as is with love life, it can also go both ways. It can happen that our personal goals will be greatly blessed by God that we get what we aspired for. Or we end up the other way, that is, unfulfilled in spite of our efforts. When this happens, blame God, question him, make him also accountable. But stay with Him. Because when this happens, another blessing is upon us. We discover another face of love and another feature of humanity that is only revealed at times of trials and difficulties. That is seeing another face of God that we are unfamiliar with, a God who knows us, who aspires for our fullness more than what we normally see and think, a God who is beyond us. A GOD, period. 

Then we will marvel at God’s goodness and generosity, and wonder how great his faithfulness to each one of us, as he is to Israel. Such is the fruit of our commitment to each other. A commitment to God doesn’t bring out a sore loser but a triumphant person. Any commitment that is of God is always an avenue for us to see a different Christmas child and a different resurrected Christ.


Gary Enginco