“Blessed are the peacemakers, they shall be called sons and daughters of God.” (Mt 5:9)
Dear
brothers and sisters in Christ, do we not all aspire for the grace to
be called “sons and daughters of God?” If we do so, then we must
constantly strive to be peacemakers in these troubled times in our
country. And that means to always strive to bring love where there is
hatred, pardon where there is injury, faith where there is doubt, hope
where there’s despair, light where there is darkness, and joy where
there is sadness (from the prayer for peace attributed to St. Francis of
Assisi).
PEACE: OUR COMMON VOCATION AND MISSION
Our
enemies in this world are not fellow human beings, not “flesh and
blood” (Eph 6:12). We do not fight our battles with guns and bullets.
We do not seek protection from those who might wish to harm us by
wearing bullet-proof vests, because the battles that we fight are
spiritual. In these times of darkness, when there’s so much hatred and
violence, when murder has become an almost daily occurrence, when people
have gotten so used to exchanging insults and hurting words in the
social media, we admonish the faithful to remain steadfast in our common
vocation and mission to actively work for peace.
But make no
mistake about it; even the master said, “Not as the world gives peace do
I give you peace.” (Jn 14:27). His peace is never the peace of
compromise or capitulation to evil; it is also not about the absence of
conflict and turmoil. Was he not rejected by his own townsfolk in
Nazareth? (Lk 4:16-30) Was he not called crazy by his own relatives? (Mk
3:20-22). Was he not called a “prince of demons”? (Mk 3:22-30). Was he
not called a drunkard and a lover of tax collectors and sinners? (Mt
11:19)
Did he not show us how to deal with adversities when he
slept in the boat, or walked on water even in the midst of a storm? (Mk
4:35-40; Mk 6:45-52) But like the apostles, we are often so easily
overcome by fear and panic. Even when we’re already making baby steps on
troubled waters like St. Peter, we find ourselves sinking because of
our “little faith” (Mt14:31). There is nothing that can calm us down in
these turbulent times except the quiet recognition of him who assured us
of his abiding presence — “Be not afraid; it is I!” (Mt 14:27)
THE COST OF WITNESSING TO CHRIST
What
is new about priests being murdered for witnessing to Christ? What is
new about modern prophets being silenced by the treacherous bullets of
assassins? What is new about servant leaders who are maligned because
they have carried out their duties as shepherds configured to the person
of their Chief Shepherd? Have you forgotten that “the blood of martyrs
is the seed of Christians”? (Tertullian) It is what has kept the
Church alive after two thousand years. Be not afraid! Did not our master
say, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the
soul. Rather be afraid of the one who can destroy both body and soul
into Gehenna” (Mt 10:28)?
We are no strangers to ridicule and
persecution. What we are going through is no different from what the
Psalmist describes in Psalm 64: “They sharpen their tongues like swords;
they aim bitter words like arrows to shoot at the innocent from ambush,
shooting suddenly and recklessly.” But what does the Lord tell his
disciples when they are persecuted or humiliated for his sake? He tells
them to “rejoice and be glad” (Mat 5:12). These are the very words
with which Pope Francis opens his apostolic exhortation “Gaudete et
Exsultate”. They are the Lord’s words to those persecuted and humiliated
for his sake. With the intention of calling us all to strive for a life
of holiness, Pope Francis says the Lord does not want us “to settle for
a bland and mediocre existence” (GE 1). How have we been taught to deal
with persecution? Listen to what the apostle, St Paul, says, “When we
are insulted, we respond with a blessing; when we are persecuted, we
bear it patiently; when slandered, we respond gently. We have become the
world’s refuse, the scum of all; that is the present state of affairs”
(1 Cor 4:12-13).
And how are we to deal with divisions among
ourselves? How are we to deal with fellow “Christians” who see nothing
wrong about the killings, who just laugh when our God is blasphemed, and
who take part in passing on fake news? Did not the Lord himself warn us
that part of the exigencies of working for peace is having to go
through the crucible of conflicts? (Lk 12:51-53) There will always be
those among us who profess the faith in Christ but are so easily seduced
by the empty promises of Satan. Remember him who once sold the master
for 30 pieces of silver because he had allowed himself to be mastered by
Satan? St. Paul is right in saying, “...there have to be divisions
among you in order that those who are genuine among you may become
known.” (ESV 1 Cor 11:19)
THE SUFFERINGS OF THE POOR
Our
sufferings as Church leaders are nothing compared to the sufferings of
the poor in our country. Do we not hear the cry of poor slum-dwellers
being jailed for “loitering”? Have they forgotten that for the homeless
urban poor — the little alleys between their flimsy homes also serve as
kitchens, bathrooms, recreation spaces, and playgrounds for their
children? Have they forgotten that they live in tiny dwellings that are
razed quickly to the ground when fire strikes, because they do not have
proper roads? Do we not feel the sufferings of drug addicts who are
labelled as “non-humans”, and are stigmatized as criminals when their
names end up in the dreaded “drug watch lists”? Yes, we are aware of the
sufferings of those who have been victimized by substance abusers, but
can we not see them also as sick people who are struggling with a
disease? Should we not rather look at them also as victims who are
crying out for help? Are we to remain as bystanders when we hear of
people being killed in cold blood by ruthless murderers who dispose of
human lives like trash? Do we not realize that for every drug suspect
killed, there is a widowed wife and there are orphaned children left
behind — who could hardly even afford a decent burial for their loved
ones? Do we not care when poor people’s homes are searched without
warrants, or when drug suspects are arrested without warrants, or
detained without charges?
Do we not care about the misery of
people charged of drug-related offenses and packed like sardines in
extremely congested jails? Can we even bear the thought of seeing most
of them languishing in jail, knowing that rehabilitation is what many of
them need? Do we not hear of the sufferings of indigenous peoples who
are displaced from their ancestral lands in order to give way to mining
companies and dams? And how do we feel about communities that are
forced to leave their homes for fear of being caught in the crossfire of
conflicts between government troops and insurgents? How are we affected
when our own troops die because of unceasing hostilities that have not
been adequately addressed through peaceful dialogue? We have a saying
in Tagalog, “Ang sakit ng kalingkingan ay ramdam ng buong katawan.” (The
pain of one part of the body is felt by the whole body.) Alas, this is
not always true! There is no way we can feel each other’s pains when
some parts of the body are numbed by sheer indifference.
To
those in this world who boast of their own wisdom, those who arrogantly
regard themselves as wise in their own estimation and the Christian
faith as nonsense, those who blaspheme our God as stupid, St. Paul’s
words are to the point: “For the stupidity of God is wiser than human
wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.” (1 Cor
1:25) And to those who ridicule our faith, we say with St. Paul, “God
chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the
weak of the world to shame the strong, and God chose the lowly and
despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing
those who are something, so that no human being might boast before
God.”(1 Cor 1:27-29).
THE WAY OF JESUS
We
wish to remind those who have been angered by the insulting statements
of people in authority; remember what the Lord had taught his disciples.
He said, “But to you who hear I say... bless those who curse you, pray
for those who mistreat you. To the person who strikes you on one cheek,
offer the other one as well...” (Lk 6:27-29). Vengeance is never the way
of Christ. It is not the way of Jesus to return evil for evil; no, we
can conquer evil only with good (Rom 12:21). Up to the last moment of
his breath, he had nothing but words of mercy towards his tormentors,
“Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do” (Lk 23:34).
There
are those who accuse us of getting involved in political moves to
destabilize the government. Nothing can be farthest from the truth.
Our concern is never the establishment of any earthly kingdoms.
Worldly kingdoms come and go. We work only for God’s kingdom which is
beyond this world — so that we can start learning to live life “on earth
as it is in heaven” (Mt 6:10). For the times in our history when we
fell into the temptation of working for political power, we can only bow
in shame and say, never again! We do not proclaim a false image of
God, such as one who is just watching from heaven like a ruthless deity
who threatens us of damnation in hell all the time. Ours is the God
revealed to us in Jesus Christ — the God who saves, a God “rich in mercy
and compassion”, a God involved in our history, a God who — for love of
us — emptied himself totally, and “became poor, so that by his poverty
we might become rich” (2 Cor 8:9).
CHURCH AND GOVERNMENT
The
Church respects the political authority, especially of
democratically-elected government officials, as long as they do not
contradict the basic spiritual and moral principles we hold dear, such
as respect for the sacredness of life, the integrity of creation, and
the inherent dignity of the human person. We are not political leaders,
and certainly not political opponents of government. The Church has,
throughout history, coexisted with countless forms of government. The
Church has always been and will always be a partner of government
(especially in the LGUs and barangays) in countless endeavours for the
common good, especially in addressing the needs of the most
disadvantaged sectors of society. Sometimes we qualify the collaboration
as “critical”, mainly to distinguish our differences in terms of
ultimate goals, even as we partner in some shared endeavours. Needless
to say, on some specific issues, collaboration might not be possible
because of our spiritual and moral beliefs, which we persistently
propose, but never impose on the unwilling. In such instances, we can
only invoke our right to conscientious objection. We do recognise the
constitutional provision of the separation of church and state, mainly
in the sense of distinction of roles in society. When we speak out on
certain issues, it is always from the perspective of faith and morals,
especially the principles of social justice, never with any political or
ideological agenda in mind.
CHURCH OF SINNERS, CALLED TO HOLINESS
We admit humbly that we are a Church made of members who are
“wretched but chosen” (Miserando atque Eligendo, Pope Francis’ episcopal
motto). We are a Church of sinners called to conversion and holiness at
the same time. We bow in shame when we hear of abuses being committed
by some of our fellow Church leaders — especially those ordained to “act
in the person of Christ”. We hold ourselves accountable for their
actions, and accept our duty to correct them — as duly mandated by our
own higher authorities in the universal Church. We humbly admit that we
have many weaknesses and shortcomings, human as we are. We have no
reason to justify our weaknesses on the basis of our participation in
the human condition, because we profess faith in the God who embraced
the human condition, precisely to set a new template of humanity in his
son Jesus Christ. We draw a lot of strength from St. Paul, who
desperately begged the Lord to remove his weakness but only got these
words as assurance, “My grace is enough for you; for in weakness power
reaches perfection. It is when I am weak that I am strong” (2 Cor
12:9).
CALL TO PRAYER AND FASTING
On July
16, 2018 on the feast of the Blessed Mother of Mt. Carmel, the mountain
associated with the bold challenge of the prophet Elijah in defense of
God (2 Kings 18), let us spend a day of prayer and penance, invoking
God’s mercy and justice on those who have blasphemed God’s Holy Name,
those who slander and bear false witness, and those who commit murder or
justify murder as a means for fighting criminality in our country. We
invite you to join us, your bishops, in three days of fasting, prayer
and almsgiving from July 17 to 19, 2018.
We commend you, our dear
people of God, to the maternal care of the woman to whom Jesus
entrusted his “Beloved Disciple” and said, “Behold your son!” (Jn
19:26) We, for our part, behold her — our mother in faith — with filial
love. Mary, mother of the Church, be near to us especially when we tend
to despair and run out of the wine of faith, hope and charity (Jn
2:1-11). Teach us to do only what your Son asks of us. And when we lose
heart in the face of persecution, may we stand by you at the foot of the
cross and regain our strength from the blood and water that flowed from
the wounded side of your Beloved Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ. AMEN.
For the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines,
Most Rev. Romulo G. Valles, DD
Archbishop of Davao
President, CBCP
July 9, 2018
http://rcam.org/index.php/component/k2/item/196-rejoice-and-be-glad-cbcp-pastoral-exhortation
