To serve and not to seek for rest
http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2009/july/24/yehey/opinion/20090724opi5.html
NEVER mind viability and lack of machinery—which are usually hurled at non-trapos anyway—but Gov. Among Ed Panlilio, in a class of his own, sui generis, has been criticized by members of the clergy saying that he should abandon his vocation in politics and return to the Church while still others outside the hierarchy are questioning his commitment saying that one should be doubtful of Among Ed since he has failed as a priest and his vow to be a soldier of Christ and now he asks that we gamble away the future of our country-in-crisis in his leadership? But what are service, politics and vocation really? In light of the teachings of the Church, for one who takes his or her faith seriously, is there really such a conflict?
While there are many in a better position to expound on the matter, my personal understanding of priests is that they are called to be witnesses of God’s Kingdom here on earth with the authority to perform and administer religious rites. As a Christian myself, I believe this call to be God’s witness and soldier in the world is not confined solely to men of the cloak and that there is no one better form or more Christian response to the call. I believe, borrowing the words of Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap. of Denver, “God uses each of us to renew the world, if we let him.” Priest or politician, Catholic or not, we are each called to serve or to be of service to others. And it is in this authentic selfless service and love of others first before our needs can we perhaps renew this dark and wounded world. The word service finds roots in the Latin word servire—“to serve,” “be a slave”—related to the word servus. It means the rendering of habitual obedience to, attending to and treating another as he deserves. In whatever profession or vocation we find ourselves, I think that the only way we can change the face of the country is through a real act of service. For Gov. Panlilio, his response to God’s call to continue to participate in His creative work in the world today simply has taken another form—perhaps not one which he has devoted himself to for 28 years but still a life of service to God and His people.
Among Ed Panlilio, together with other members of Kaya Natin! who have responded to the call to serve God and His people as public servants as they struggle to be upright in the positions they hold in government, welcomes on July 16 four more who have given up the life they were used to, to respond to the call of making the Kingdom of God real—here, now.
Even as a student activist, Rep. TG Guingona 3rd (Second District, Bukidnon) was ready to respond to the call to be a catalyst for change. Today, he continues to fight for transparency and social accountability especially in military corruption, human rights and extrajudicial killings. His programs are directed towards building a healthy and educated citizenry with improved access to food, technology, energy and budget reform policies.
KN! is joined by another member of the House of Representatives. Former First District of Bukidnon representative, Neric Acosta, authored several laws, one of which is the Clean Air Act of 1999 which earned him the Oscar Escobar Environmental Award and the Citizen’s Movement Against Pollution Award. Yale University named him a World Fellow in 2004, for his work in rural and sustainable development, environmental protection, peace and development issues in Mindanao, leadership, governance, and democratization.
Our roster of champions who have dedicated their lives to renewing the world we live in is joined by Councilor Bolet Banal (Third District, Quezon City) whose work earned him many distinctions like the Gawad Panday ng Kalikasan granted by the Manila Water Co. Inc. and being named one of the Ten Outstanding Councilors of the Philippines. One of his proposed ordinances aims to strengthen people’s participation in the local government—a landmark legislation that “upholds the tenets of people power, aims to curb corruption and promotes efficient governance” through transparency, accountability, and people’s participation.
While Councilor Mabel Acosta (First District of Davao City) responded to the call to serve first as a broadcast journalist, co-anchoring the public affairs television program Gikan sa Masa, Para sa Masa, she has since responded to this call in another manner—serving as a top-notch councilor in the city. An advocate for good governance, education, environment, welfare of children, sustainable development, and responsible journalism, she is an active member of several committees in the 15th City Council of Davao, of which she is the president pro tempore.
To God through the people. This I think is the calling we all have (whatever faith we belong to). We cannot be divorced from the realities of the world we live in. More so now in a world overwhelmed by crime, poverty and despair—where apathy and hopeless pervade, do we need to all respond to the call to give the best of ourselves in whatever field we find ourselves in. Have you responded to the call?
Comments are welcome at eirenejhoneaguila@gmail.com. To learn more about what other KN Champions are doing, check out www.kayanatin.com.
Common Sense viewed through non-traditional lens
The Apostles of modern times… a layman’s viewpoint
“We do not destroy religion by destroying superstition”. - Marcus Tullius Cicero
The ultimate goal of evangelization, if it were to be believed, has been to spread Godly love to the natives (now Filipinos) and to the islands at large. However, the outcome from the outset to the current life realities to be dealt with hasn’t met that projected goal. Filipinos, with their conversion to Christianity, could have hoped for the spirit of a loving God to be in their midst, but instead witnessed the beginning of unabashed glorification of wealth and power above all else, regardless of how it has been acquired. Individualism and unadulterated greed has become the spiritual driving force for those at the center of power to continuously crave for more, relegating into absurdity the supposed faith in truth and justice. The Filipinos’ embrace and practice of Christianity for close to five hundred years has been irrelevant in their pursuit of equitable life with dignity. God’s love of the world, even after relentless accolades of religiosity, has yet to be acknowledged and shared up to this point in history.
A crisis of spirituality this magnitude in a so called Christian society no less should be well understood as a gross misrepresentation of what His love is all about. This is an opportune time for Filipinos, and all people of goodwill everywhere to join together in solidarity as one human family and commence in earnest an intelligent, honest discussion to address this dilemma squarely, otherwise nobody else would care to extricate the country out of this rot.
Let the national conversation begins.
Then again, the leaders of the Church continue to consider themselves “servants of the city of God” and not of the city of man, appears inconsistent with what is manifested in The Pastoral Constitution On The Church In The Modern World (1) and the Encyclical Letter from Pope Benedict XVI, “Caritas in Veritate” (2), and above all His “love thy neighbor” commandment. This kind of thinking and attitude have been successful in isolating the least of thee from God of truth and justice as against to a god of their own creation, kept business as usual a form of piety that have caused suffering to millions. “Never has there been so much knowledge but so little truth”.
The Pastoral Constitution On The Church In The Modern World was released in the ’60s that should have paved the way for waves of changes for the good of humanity and of the world. After over four decades of its release, have there been effects that could be attributed to the goals envisioned in the document? Read on and be the judge.
Few excerpts from The Pastoral Constitution:
“That the earthly and the heavenly city penetrate each other is a fact accessible to faith alone; it remains a mystery of human history, which sin will keep in great disarray until the splendor of God’s sons, is fully revealed”.
“The joy and hope, the grief and anguish of the men in our time, especially of those who are poor or afflicted in any way, are the joy and hope, the grief and anguish of the followers of Christ as well. Nothing that is genuinely human fails to find an echo in their hearts”.
“It is man himself who must be saved: it is mankind that must be renewed. It
is man, therefore, who is the key to the discussion, man considered whole and entire, with body and soul, heart and conscience, mind and will.”
The Encyclical Letter from Pope Benedict XVI, “Caritas in Veritate” was released recently advocating a new course in governance for the good of all humanity. Would it suffer the same fate as The Pastoral Constitution On The Church In The Modern World, which, looking at the reality Filipinos are faced with has never been actively implemented if at all? Should that be the case, “Caritas in Veritate” would become another worthless document.
Excerpts from The Encyclical:
““Caritas in veritate” is the principle around which the Church’s social doctrine turns, a principle that takes on practical form in the criteria that govern moral action.”
“We recognize, therefore, that the Church had good reason to be concerned about the capacity of a purely technological society to set realistic goals and to make good use of the instruments at its disposal. …Once profit becomes the exclusive goal, if it is produced by improper means and without the common good as its ultimate end, it risks destroying wealth and creating poverty”.
“The current crisis obliges us to re-plan our journey, to set ourselves new rules and to discover new forms of commitment, to build on positive experiences and to reject negative ones. The crisis thus becomes an opportunity for discernment, in which to shape a new vision for the future. In this spirit, with confidence rather than resignation, it is appropriate to address the difficulties of the present time”.
“Today, as we take to heart the lessons of the current economic crisis, which sees the State’s public authorities directly involved in correcting errors and malfunctions, it seems more realistic to re-evaluate their role and their powers, which need to be prudently reviewed and remodelled so as to enable them, perhaps through new forms of engagement, to address the challenges of today’s world. Once the role of public authorities has been more clearly defined, one could foresee an increase in the new forms of political participation, nationally and internationally, that have come about through the activity of organizations operating in civil society; in this way it is to be hoped that the citizens’ interest and participation in the res publica will become more deeply rooted”.
“Hunger is not so much dependent on lack of material things as on shortage of social resources, the most important of which are institutional. What is missing, in other words, is a network of economic institutions capable of guaranteeing regular access to sufficient food and water for nutritional needs, and also capable of addressing the primary needs and necessities ensuing from genuine food crises, whether due to natural causes or political irresponsibility, nationally and internationally. … It is therefore necessary to cultivate a public conscience that considers food and access to water as universal rights of all human beings, without distinction or discrimination”.
Why such a contrast between what is happening on the ground in real time and the goals His greatest commandment and the aforementioned documents set forth? As highly “educated” as the Philippine society has been, it hasn’t tried to set itself free from the psychological barrier that has held the country back from achieving any progress beneficial to every citizen. It remains a nation of sheep being herded by societal wolves.
Is it conceivable that the image of God of truth and justice has effectively been layered over by an image of a god of human mind creation with its own idea of Him, supported by a human doctrine made absolute? The ways people live, especially the marginalized ones, have always been choreographed by both written and unwritten protocols emanating from the continued practice of this narrative. Failure to conform to these rigid regulations and practices is opting to be ridiculed, labeled strange and absolute anti-social. “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried.” – Gilbert K. Chesterton
The thrust of His commandment “love thy neighbor as you love yourself” speaks clearly of His concern for humanity. Simply put, justice in its social form is nothing but God’s love personified. He has laid out this clearest of visions throughout the ages, but ignored and taken for granted in lieu of expediency and convenience. The time has arrived for the “faithful” to ultimately affirm complete faith in Him and act decisively on the vision to transform this jungle into a better place suitable for a more humane habitation.
The worsening economic conditions exacerbated even more the culture of indifference, which has fractionalized the society even further. The hurdles Filipinos and others with scruples, with long-standing dedication in the pursuit of what God demands from society - truth and justice - have been made more difficult to overcome.
Throughout history there have been Filipinos who have worked diligently to effect change in the structure of a soulless society. Unluckily, the efforts have been stifled by what could be considered psychological resistance posed by a public, the intended benefactors, whose understanding of God’s presence is of the other and not of this world. The poor – mostly confused and fearing the unknown, responded with cynicism and skepticism and hunkered down with the same belief that brought about this situation to begin with. Then there were the relentless efforts of the establishment to ostracize and demonize the Apostles of modern times who have worked tirelessly to lower the barriers that hampered the equitable sharing of God’s graces. Archbishop Helder Pessoa Camara of Brazil once said, “When you give food to the poor, they call you a saint. When you ask why the poor have no food, they call you a communist”.
The prevailing conditons in the country present great opportunities for anyone of conscience
to be a part of an apostolate to unmask what appears to be centuries of deception and let God’s law rules, and make the nation the best she could be or continue the wicked ways to eternal damnation.
“God offers to every mind its choice between truth and repose. Take which you please - you can never have both.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Footnotes:
(!) http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat- ii_cons_19651207_gaudium-et-spes_en.html
(2) http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20090629_caritas-in-veritate_en.html#_edn56
Lcmanankil080209
Since August 3rd, 2009 at 8:19 am, the comment I posted on your website has been awaiting moderation. Why?
A reply would be appreciated.