Fear to heroism

From fear to heroism through faith. This is Christ’s message to all of us in today’s Gospel reading. “Do not be afraid; just have faith” (Mk. 5:36). Fear is our greatest obstacle in living life to the full. Living life to the full means loving unconditionally, and as we know so well, love hurts. In so many ways, we are afraid of being hurt, and the greatest human hurt is death itself. Fear of death prevents us from taking risks in what we can do for ourselves, for others, and for our country. In last Sunday’s Gospel event, the disciples of Christ were with Him in the same boat when a violent windstorm was fast filling up their boat with water, and they were hopelessly terrified. Again, the words of Christ: “Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?” (Mk. 4: 40).

Each one of us must continually face our fear of dying — often dealt with by a denial syndrome. “Hindi pa naman,” or “Huwag mong sabihin iyan,” or “Matagal ka pang mabubuhay!” And yet, the reality is that our death can come at any time. For as long as our faith in God is constant, and our efforts in loving Him and our neighbor is active then, by all means, death can come at any time, and we can go with nothing less on our lips but: “Here I am, Lord. Mission accomplished.” Keep in your hearts and transform into action those meaningful words of the late Morrie Schwartz: “When you learn how to die, you learn how to live.”

Or, if you are a loving father or mother, and your frequent fear is: “I may be ready to go, but what will happen to my family if I die? Who will take care of them the way I do?” Be one hundred percent sure that in His own way, and in His own time, God will provide. After all, your family, including yourself, belong to Him! Let your faith in the all-loving and compassionate God liberate you from even the worst of human fears. But even more than all that: The death of each one of us as His disciples simply means the fullness of our life with God. Mortal DEATH is eternal LIFE. The holy paradox. So what are we afraid of in this life? Nothing. Absolutely nothing!

Let us now move on to the macro level. At the height of moral decadence and social injustice in our country today, God is calling us to trust Him in total faith, so that we can be liberated from fear and act heroically, according to each one's God-given capabilities. No less than heroic action from each one of us is needed to move us on to God's way of love, justice, and peace. We are not starting from zero. Heroic efforts have been initiated by God-inspired groups like Gawad Kalinga, other similar programs, and that anti-con-ass rally. On the personal, individual level, the moral witnessing of Gov. Ed Panlilio of Pampanga at the risk of his own life is no less than heroic. So it is with Jun Lozada, and others like them. May their living examples inspire the rest of us to do likewise.

With no less than the Lord leading us, we did it at Edsa 1, and again, at Edsa 2. Now, just as Christ never gave up on Simon Peter even after the latter's third denial, and Christ asked him for the third time, “Do you really love me?”, He is likewise asking us for the third time as His people, “Do you really love me?” And the moment we say, as Peter did, “Yes, Lord, we love you,” we will surely hear Him say in our hearts, “Feed my lambs; feed my sheep,” as He did to Peter. And Peter responded heroically in action, till the last moment of his life.

Such an opportunity is being given to us through the launching on August 31 of the Moral Force Movement, which I mentioned briefly in this column two weeks ago. The MFM will begin its advocacy on voters' education on transformational leadership in the 2010 elections. Taken from the MFM official documents, here is a summary of what transformational leaders should be, so that in our personal efforts to help in our respective voters' education programs, we can effectively guide voters, directly or indirectly, to vote for transformational leaders, from the local level, all the way up to the national leadership. For transformational leaders to transcend self-interest for the common good, they must be effective, empowering, and ethical.

An effective leader steers the ship of state/agency/government unit to arrive at the destination of a “just, humane, and prosperous society.” He/she must be competent, has a good track record, and decisive and proactive. An empowering leader inspires others as a servant leader, sets a good example for all to follow and work together. He/she must be participative/engaging, inspiring, and socially just. An ethical leader promotes the rule of law, protects public resources, and fights injustice, graft and corruption. He/she must be God-fearing, with a clean and honest track record, and proven integrity.

(The Jesuit Vocation Promotions Team invites college students and young professionals to a vocation seminar on July 5, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the Loyola School of Theology, Ateneo de Manila University, QC. For more details, please contact tel. no. (02) 4266101 or mobile number 0917-JESUITS (5378487) or e-mail at [email protected]. You can also visit the website of the Philippine Jesuits at www.jesuits.ph)