Last wake-up call?

At this point in our history, what may the Lord be telling us as a people?

"I was with you at Edsa I, but you went back to your old ways soon after. Then again, I carried you through Edsa II. What did you do afterwards? Balik sa dating ugali. Now here you are again – at the brink of national disaster. With deepest care and concern, I am here again with you – but are you really listening to Me? And will you continue to listen to Me after the initial storm has abated? This may be your last wake-up call!

Can you not grow up as a people once and for all? Can you not reach out to one another for the sake of the common good? Can you not break through the barriers, biases, and self-serving interests of your political parties, put your heads and hearts together, and move forward for my sake and for your own sake? When will you stop being "kanya-kanya" and start becoming "sama-sama" as my people? Can you not once and for all embrace love and justice that will move you to unity and peace?"

This primal law of God is what we find in today’s Gospel reading (Mt. 13: 44-52). To sell all that we have and buy that treasure in His field, that pearl of great price. Otherwise, we will find ourselves in the fiery furnace.

But we keep losing that treasure, that pearl of great price. Instead, we keep hanging on to our "reputation" of being the second most corrupt nation in Asia!

All our churches of different deno-minations must double, nay, triple their efforts in leading our people to an authentic moral-spiritual conversion. For the longest time, so many of our people and leaders from all sectors of society are stuck in what is called extrinsic religion rather than intrinsic religion. Religion is extrinsic and mostly ritualistic when it is not yet integrated into one’s way of life. Church membership is more a support-system and serves other non-religious ends, e.g., sociological belonging-ness, inner security, etc. In Christian language, such a person is what we call a marginal Christian.

On the other hand, religion is intrinsic when one’s faith is really integrated into his/her way of life. One’s faith is an end in itself, a final, not an instrumental good. The nuclear Christian who is in the process of continuing conversion till the end of one’s life.

In many instances, our marginal Christians think and act, not as moral or immoral, but amoral. There is no sense of real guilt in what they do. "Okey lang." What a tragedy. I am convinced that this is partly endemic in our culture, as well as partly due to the American West that introduced us to their so-called strict separation of church and state. In their own attempt to unify their own people who came from various ethnic-religious groups, they relegated God to a Sunday service, since denominational religions tended to divide rather than unify people. But in doing this, they threw the baby with the bath water. They secularized politics, economics, media, and the other sciences. This was the legacy they gave us, and we are still suffering from it. May we all re-commit ourselves to the reality that there is only one and the same God or Higher Power of all creation, of all cultures, and of all religions, and find God in all living creatures, and in all that we do.

Coming back to our current socio-political crisis, let us fully support the moral position of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) which emphasizes accountability, constitutionality, and non-violence. Our people are divided on this volatile situation, so let us heed the discerned message of our church leaders:

"Hence, we also appeal to the people, especially their representatives and leaders, to discern their decisions not in terms of political loyalties but in the light of the Gospel values of truth, justice and the common good…. To respond to the pastoral situation we commit ourselves to a more effective evangelization in word and deed so that moral values might become dynamic forces of human life in economics, politics and culture."

Political spirituality!