The foolishness of God

If the communicator looks upon his work in media as a vocation, as a calling from God, as an apostolate, it seems to me that his task is:

• To try his best to bring God to man. And man to God, through media.

• To make virtue as attractive as — or, if possible, more attractive than — vice;

• To make the audience feel that what is good is more beautiful than what is evil;

• To make the audience realize that the values of the Gospel are more fulfilling than the values of the world;

• To make the audience see that the foolishness of God is wiser than the wisdom of men.

The task is difficult because many of the owners of media facilities are engaged in media for only one purpose; to make money. 

They justify themselves by saying: “We are only giving the people what they want!” And they believe that sex and violence still sell. 

But the fact is that, in real life:

• Virtue is more attractive than vice

• What is good is more beautiful than what is bad.

• The values of the Gospel are really, truly, more fulfilling than the values of the World.

• The foolishness of God is really wiser than the wisdom of men.

What are the values of the Gospel? What is the foolishness of God?

A value makes you what you are. It strikes the mind as true. It strikes the heart as beautiful. It strikes the will as good. You think: “This is for me! This is what I will do!” And you do it . . . . And it makes you what you are.

You find the values of God in the Gospel. 

“God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. And the Son so loved us that He gave Himself for our salvation.”. . . . .

“Give! And it will be given unto you — full measure, pressed down, shaken together, overflowing - will be poured into your lap!”

The values of the World are those values which end with death, which end with time. The world treasures things: what you can measure; what you can count; what you can weigh; what you can see, taste, feel with your fingers.

And the World has only one value: it is take! Take, get, have, keep, possess. It comes at you so strong that you think it must be true. It is what everyone is doing. It is the way you judge a person who you have not met for a long time. Is he successful? How much money does he have in the bank? How many cars does he have? How big is his house? What is his rank in his company? What is her dress worth? How much is her bag worth? Her shoes? How much have they been able to take, get, have, keep, possess?

And all the other values of the Gospel, and all the other values of the world, are those same two values, expressed in other words.

You have only one thing that you can give. And that is you. When you give yourself, that is love. . .

The value of the world, take, can best be described by; LUST. Lust is the word we use for the intense desire to take, get, have keep, possess. Lust for power — ambition. Lust for money — greed. Lust for women. But lust is taking. Love is giving. Love is the gift of you.

Poverty is the first Gospel value that Christ taught on the mountainside. “Blessed are the poor in spirit - for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” But it means detachment from things. Blessed is the man who has possessions but is not possessed by them. Blessed is the man who used the wealth of this world for the service of God. Blessed is the man who would rather give than take. . . . The value of the world is money, because with money you can take, get, have keep, possess.

The value of the Gospel is not money. It is the person. Not what he has, but what he is. The value of the World is achievement!

The value of God is pain. . . . The value of the World is comfort. All the beautiful gifts of God come wrapped in pain. When you have done everything right, and God loves you to death, he gives you pain like a gift. He gives you tears like jewels.

And from the values of God in the Gospel, comes joy. “I have come that you may have life, and have it more abundantly. I have come that my joy might be in you, and that your joy might be complete!” . . . .

When you try to live by the values of the World, what follows is. . . . despair.

And I think that the people of the Philippines are growing weary of sex and violence. I think that they are turning away from the wisdom of the world. They are turning back, slowly, to the foolishness of God, which is wiser than the wisdom of man.

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The UST Central Seminary hosted in 2001 the first KAPATIRAN, a gathering of diocesan seminarians in their theological formation. Through the years, the KAPATIRAN has grown into an annual gathering of about 500 to 700 seminarians from 26 seminaries and has gone around the various seminaries in Luzon. This formation year 2008-2009, the gathering comes home to where it had its small beginning.

Today, they will celebrate KAPATIRAN 2009 with the Pauline theme: Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ (1 Cor. 11:1).

 The gathering will be capped with solemn vespers to be presided by Fr. Rolando dela Rosa, OP, Rector of the University of Santo Tomas.