In this Sunday's Liturgy, three voices speak to us: the Prophet Amos (Amos 8:4-7), St. Paul (1 Timothy 2:1-8), and our Lord Jesus Christ (Luke 16: 1-13).
Amos lived in the 8th century BC. He saw the prosperity of Israel, but side by side with it was the exploitation of the poor, and the corruption and injustices being perpetuated. The needy were trampled upon. The capitalists overpriced their merchandise. They cheated on the scales, and the quality of their products. The powerful buy up the poor for money, and the needy, even just for a pair of sandals!
This condemnation was made centuries ago, but the situation still persists. And as in the days of old, Yahweh, our God promises: "I shall never forget their deeds."
The situations of injustice, corruption, poverty and exploitation of the poor continue to exist in our present time, and have even taken on new forms. Talk about bribery and influence peddling in the government, red tape, bribery, "SOP" for projects, commissioning (ABZTEFG!). Talk about vote buying and results manipulation. Talk about the trampling of human rights. Talk about unjust trade practices, imbalance in trade liberalization. Talk about unequal opportunities in business, agriculture, education and employment. Talk about garapal employers and agencies. Talk about plunder and misuse of public funds. Talk about syndicates for drugs, gambling (jueteng!), prostituion, illegal recruitment.
Faced with these, we cannot be complacent. We may not accept these as normal - no matter how common they have become, no matter how embedded they have become in our social system, government, consciousness and culture. We may not accept injustice, corruption, poverty and exploitation of the poor as the norm.
Our first response may be to heed the call of St. Paul - to pray for each other, and in a special for our leaders - "for rulers of states, and all in authority, that we may enjoy a quiet and peaceful life in godliness and respect." We pray for those in positions of power – so that they will use the power they have been entrusted with for the good of all, and not for their personal gain. We pray that they may rise above the system of corruption, and stand up for the values of truth, justice and the common good.
We should not underestimate the power of prayer - for in the end, everything is in the hands of God. But we should not renege on our task. And so we are called to heed the call of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1. In today's Gospel parable (Luke 16, 1-8), Jesus deliberately uses the word "steward". Truly, we are STEWARDS. We do not own what we have; we have only been entrusted with it. This is to be a fundamental attitude. We have no right to amass more than what we need, because nothing is ours (except our sin). We are to share of the goods of this world, which is intended for all, not for a few. We are to make use of whatever we have been gifted with to earn for us an earthly life worthy of our dignity as children of God, but also to "store up for ourselves treasures in heaven" - to allow others, and to help also live an earthly life worthy of their dignity as children of God.
Jesus reminds us: "Whoever can be trusted in little things can also be trusted in great ones; whoever is dishonest in little things, will also be dishonest in greater ones."
A biblical scholar rightly puts it:
If God is on our side, who can triumph against us?
These oft-quoted lines are fitting reminders: "It is better to light just one little candle than to curse the darkness." "For evil to triumph, it takes good men to do nothing."
Amos lived in the 8th century BC. He saw the prosperity of Israel, but side by side with it was the exploitation of the poor, and the corruption and injustices being perpetuated. The needy were trampled upon. The capitalists overpriced their merchandise. They cheated on the scales, and the quality of their products. The powerful buy up the poor for money, and the needy, even just for a pair of sandals!
This condemnation was made centuries ago, but the situation still persists. And as in the days of old, Yahweh, our God promises: "I shall never forget their deeds."
The situations of injustice, corruption, poverty and exploitation of the poor continue to exist in our present time, and have even taken on new forms. Talk about bribery and influence peddling in the government, red tape, bribery, "SOP" for projects, commissioning (ABZTEFG!). Talk about vote buying and results manipulation. Talk about the trampling of human rights. Talk about unjust trade practices, imbalance in trade liberalization. Talk about unequal opportunities in business, agriculture, education and employment. Talk about garapal employers and agencies. Talk about plunder and misuse of public funds. Talk about syndicates for drugs, gambling (jueteng!), prostituion, illegal recruitment.
Faced with these, we cannot be complacent. We may not accept these as normal - no matter how common they have become, no matter how embedded they have become in our social system, government, consciousness and culture. We may not accept injustice, corruption, poverty and exploitation of the poor as the norm.
Our first response may be to heed the call of St. Paul - to pray for each other, and in a special for our leaders - "for rulers of states, and all in authority, that we may enjoy a quiet and peaceful life in godliness and respect." We pray for those in positions of power – so that they will use the power they have been entrusted with for the good of all, and not for their personal gain. We pray that they may rise above the system of corruption, and stand up for the values of truth, justice and the common good.
We should not underestimate the power of prayer - for in the end, everything is in the hands of God. But we should not renege on our task. And so we are called to heed the call of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1. In today's Gospel parable (Luke 16, 1-8), Jesus deliberately uses the word "steward". Truly, we are STEWARDS. We do not own what we have; we have only been entrusted with it. This is to be a fundamental attitude. We have no right to amass more than what we need, because nothing is ours (except our sin). We are to share of the goods of this world, which is intended for all, not for a few. We are to make use of whatever we have been gifted with to earn for us an earthly life worthy of our dignity as children of God, but also to "store up for ourselves treasures in heaven" - to allow others, and to help also live an earthly life worthy of their dignity as children of God.
Jesus reminds us: "Whoever can be trusted in little things can also be trusted in great ones; whoever is dishonest in little things, will also be dishonest in greater ones."
A biblical scholar rightly puts it:
2. In the parable, the master praises the dishonest steward - not because of his dishonesty, but because of his cleverness. The wish of Jesus is that we, his disciples may also be zealous, ingenious and driven - "For the children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light." As Jesus sent his disciples, he admonished them - "Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves." (Matthew 10, 16) Jesus is sending us too, and he challenges us. If the people of this world could use all and any tactic to fulfill their scheme, we are also called to exert all our efforts, to exhaust all our creativity in doing good, and curbing evil, in going against a corrupt system. Yes, even a monstrous corrupt system.
"We have no absolute right to anything we have. "I can do what I like with my money and property because it's mine" is not a statement any committed Christian can make. So the question of a successful life is not "How much did you make?" but "How did you use what you had to creative purposes for the general welfare of all?" That is the way to make the friends Jesus talks about in the Gospel.... Upon earth you are in charge of things which are not really yours. You cannot take them with you when you die. They are only lent to you. You are only a steward over them. They cannot, in the nature of things, be permanently yours. On the other hand, in heaven you will get what is really and eternally yours. And what you get in heaven depends on how you use the things of earth. What you will be given as your very own will depend on how you use the things of which you are only steward."
If God is on our side, who can triumph against us?
These oft-quoted lines are fitting reminders: "It is better to light just one little candle than to curse the darkness." "For evil to triumph, it takes good men to do nothing."
15 comments:
it's so easy to talk about influence peddling in government. they're public so we have the right to lambast them for their misdeeds...right? i don't know... but we should also realize that influence peddling and unequality of opportunities just doesn't happen in government...other people are just as corrupt. These situations also happen even in the private sector and in the ranks of the religious, although some may disagree. You're right though, we should not just accept things as they are now. We should not be lukewarm to "The situations of injustice, corruption, poverty and exploitation of the poor". One said that if we cannot feed an army, then we should feed just one...i dare say if we cannot change the world, then we should change ourselves and make a difference. Lastly, yes, let us pray for all that you mentioned but most of all let us pray for ourselves that we may see our own faults before we throw stones at others.
You're right. Influence peddling and inequality of opportunities do not happen only in the government.
You are right too in saying that we all need to pray for ourselves that we may see our own faults (and reform). Truly, everybody needs conversion. I do. And it is a difficult and constant struggle.
And again, you are right in saying that we may not just sit complacently in the face of injustice etc. Complacency, indifference, apathy have no place in the Christian paradigm - and yes, even in the truly human paradigm.
And you are very right in saying that we are to be the change we want to happen.
Our personal struggles however do not diminish the imperative to do good and to condemn and go against evil. Part of the gift we are called to be stewards of is we ourselves living "life in its fullness", and doing everything we can so that others too, may live "life in its fullness".
May you have a blessed and stirring week.
As I have known, prayer alone won’t do well without any action engaged to it.
Concerning with the issues posted, if you won’t mind father, aside from bombarding those acts in a wordy manner, is there any initiative/movement/management from the Nueva Segovia clergy alone towards alleviating poverty, injustices and corruption?
This reader agrees with karenina.We have to clean up our ranks first before we can try to change others. We should be careful with our words though... isn't one innocent unless proven otherwise?
To anonymous:
There are programs, initiative and movements in the Archdiocese. Fr. Rufo Abaya is director of the Social Action Commission which coordinates the apostolate regarding these issues, among others. The Archdiocesan Pastoral Commissions, with Fr. Albert Rabe coordinating, are currently resdicovering ways of more socially relevant Church life.
By the way, I would appreciate if you would identify yourself fully. Surely, you could help us.
Sometimes we are to blame for what we experience. We let ourselves be trampled upon by others. There are no alternative politicians to the present Trapos.. Pampanga is lucky. How about the Ylocos?
The winds of change may not have blown as strong in Ilocos as it was in Pampanga, Lorraine, but we have to acknowledge that the May 2007 exercise has proven that we have matured as an electorate.
karenina and anonymous, the members of the clergy of the Archidiocese have gone beyond what the strappings that come with their vows would normally limit priests to.
Apo gogo, here's an "amen" to that.
Your post, Father, and the comments that it stirred (pun intended) have awakened me from the weeks-long stupor that administrative work has engulfed me with. I hope it doesn't come with age. I do not want idealism to somehow be tempered by the passing years.
Here's to more "stirring" exchanges.
To Elena: Really! It is not much noticed. What obvious is, they keep on talking about it, criticizing against, least action implemented.
Glad to hear those things from you guys! (Great, numerous people of I. Sur are not in slumber!) So then, have we started in any way or have we involved ourselves in an action of helping diminishing those issues. Those who did, keep going and for those who haven’t yet, let us all act now! Go beyond idealism. Work it out!
to elena, you seem to know everything about the actions of nueva segovia. Im sorry but people of Ilocos Sur did not yet mature during the last elections, there were issues remained unsolved, you see representatives from the nafrel were being questioned in the regional televison ( 2 0r 3 days after the elections) for the results and yet nothing happened (nothing is clear), instead there were talks that the religious leaders of nueva segovia were afraid of the politicians in Ilocos Sur.
to Fr. Willie Jones, You are doing a good job for inspiring your readers through the blog.
let's keep on working to settle all the issues. And be mature enough of our actions.
Anonymous: we'll have to agree to disagree on that. :)
Kim: I don't "seem to know everything about the actions of nueva segovia." In my profession, bona fides (good faith) is one of the more important principles. If only we can adhere to that in our everyday lives (in thought, word, and deed), then perhaps we can truly start to "settle all the issues" and go beyond second-guessing everyone else.
I agree ellenmayjoyce. We are hopeful that we could make something good happen to our province. And the comments here, for one, show that there are people in Ilocos Sur who are aware of the need for transformation, and are not taking the irregularities and injustices sitting down.
Lorraine, the Pampanga phenomenon is unique, and complex. Prof. Randy David had a thought-provoking analysis of this in his talks at ICST, Vigan a few weeks ago. We hope to have a copy of these, and maybe post them.
Elena, you were indeed "awaken" - you posted at 2:39AM! Welcome back.
I agree that although not much changed in Ilocos Sur, the recent elections showed a certain level of maturity. That a lot of young (and old) people and professionals volunteered for the NAMFREL is one indication.
To elena: The comments posted earlier which you quoted “pun intended” and the recent post exhibits something in common w/ mine. And that is because we can see it.
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