Human and Christian consistency in politics

POLITICS, of course, is an unavoidable concern for us. As
social beings, we cannot help but get into politics. That’s simply
because we have to organize ourselves as a people. And it’s a need
that will always be an on-going affair.

            We need laws to govern the way we live, we need peace and
order, we need a working economy. We need leaders on whom we invest
some authority. These and a lot more is what politics is all about.

            In all of these, we have to find ways of how to meet them.
That’s why we have elections, among many other others. Of course, the
conduct of our elections is also subject to some agreed rules.

            Now, with the elections coming up, the political fever is
upon us, and the big challenge now is how to maintain our human and
Christian consistency—some say, sanity—in politics.

            What we are seeing now, even while quite early yet in the
game, is a gathering storm of political attacks. There’s a lot of
mudslinging, faultfinding and muckraking, reckless branding and
stereotyping.

            If not these, then they go to the other extreme of
unmitigated praises and alleluias of personalities whom they
practically portray as completely sinless, the savior of the world,
while the opponents are pictured as the devil incarnate, the ultimate
villain deserving instant death and hell.

            Some say this is normal. I say it’s not. It’s inhuman, let
alone, unchristian.            There seems to be an unspoken
understanding that when it comes to politics, we can behave like
animals, fighting each other over ideas and opinions.

            Some say we need not distinguish between the persons of
the candidates, officials and supporters, and the different positions
they hold. Everyone and everything is fair game. Killing can even be
resorted.

            We have to say that this cannot be. We are supposed to be
ruled always by something indispensable even in our most contentious
affairs.

            Everyone seems to forget that charity is what keeps us
human and Christian in politics as it is in every aspect of our life.
But especially in politics where, by its nature, things can be messy
and tricky. Precisely the complexity of politics makes charity most
indispensable.

            Charity is what enables us to respect and love one another
in spite of our sharp differences and conflicts, thereby following
Christ’s new commandment of loving one another “as I have loved you.”
He even went to say that we have to love our enemies. For this love,
Christ ultimately had to die on the cross.

            All these for the simple reason that first and last, we
are brothers and sisters, creatures of the same God even if we call
him by different names and describe him in a variety of ways.

            Truth is we are all members of the same family. Whether we
like it or not, we are obliged to love one another no matter what.
This is a basic truth that we should never forget, especially when we
do politics.

            Some say that charity dilutes if not dissolves many
important values like truth, justice, fairness, etc. That’s why many
politicians do not give much attention to charity. At best, they
render only some lip service to it.

            But hardly anything can be farther than the truth, since
charity, in fact, holds the highest standards insofar as these values
are concerned. What is often conveniently forgotten is what while
charity requires the most stringent criteria of truth, justice,
fairness, etc., it goes much further to include mercy and compassion.

            It’s charity that would enable us to have a certain
openness to all views and positions, including those we do not agree
or even consider as objectively wrong. It’s not so much because of the
views that we are open as to the persons who hold them.

            If, in the worst scenario, we believe that they are in
error, we can try to correct them with utmost delicacy, strictly
following due process that governs the proper resolution of issues.

            We should avoid ad hominem attacks, rash judgments that
often are a product of an orchestrated mob rule, assertions and
accusations that hardly have any strong basis or are simply based on
hearsay.

            We should try to tame our passions that often blind us and
push us to do uncharitable things. While we inevitably have our biases
and preferences, let’s also be open and fair to those who differ from
us.

            In the end, we should be guided by a well-formed
conscience, always attentive to God’s will and ways in doing politics,
and especially when choosing our public officials.

Corpus Christi

WE have just celebrated that tremendous Solemnity of the
Body and Blood of Christ. Tremendous, because we can never have enough
of the overwhelming truth and mystery that in spite of our natural
limitations, not to mention, our infranatural defects due to our sins,
Christ continues to be with us and to love us, offering himself as
food to nourish us, heal us, save us.

            We need to take time to savor and fathom a little this
truth of our faith that should fill us with joy and hope regardless of
circumstances. This is not an exercise at escapism and fantasizing,
but rather a realistic gesture—indeed, a necessity—given our true
dignity as persons and children of God.

            May we never get accustomed to this great sacrament of the
Holy Eucharist that contains the very body and blood of Christ! With
it, we actually have God himself with us, offering everything that we
need to be what we ought to be. With it, time and eternity  are
united, the natural and supernatural, the material and spiritual, our
sinfulness and our salvation become one.

            Yes, there are certain things, very fundamental and
indispensable to know about ourselves, that we need to be more aware
of and to be more consistent in. We are children of God, created in
his image and likeness, whose lives just cannot be by ourselves but,
by definition, lives lived in God and with God.

            In other words, we are not meant to merely have natural
human lives. Ours are also meant to be supernatural, a completely
gratuitous privilege to which, with God’s grace, we are expected to
correspond. Our life with God is something that we have to work out.

            It is worthwhile to pause and meditate on this mystery. We
should try to distance ourselves from our usual concerns, at least for
a while, if only to enter into another level of reality—the spiritual
and the supernatural—that we often take for granted.

            Such effort, for sure, will do us a lot of good. It would
help us to see things holistically and to put us on a track that is
most proper to us. Truth is we very often miss what is truly essential
in our life.

            We just get entangled with the peripherals in life which,
while unavoidable and in a sense also necessary, are not the most
important. We get confused as to which is our true end and which
merely are means toward that end.

            The liturgical celebration of Corpus Christi that in some
places is extended with an octave or weeklong solemn exposition of the
Blessed Sacrament should lead us to ask questions like how am I
nurturing my Eucharistic devotion, am I developing the urge to attend
and actively participate at Mass, especially Sunday Mass, do I know
what the Holy Mass really is, etc.?

            Do I feel something special whenever I am in front of the
Blessed Sacrament or even when I just happen to pass by a church where
I know the Blessed Sacrament is reserved? Do I get to engage Christ in
some intimate conversation when I receive him in communion or simply
when I am in front of the Blessed Sacrament?

            Do I make a pious genuflection whenever I am before the
Blessed Sacrament? Do I feel good when I am there? There are many
heart-warming anecdotes about how one’s piety before the Blessed
Sacrament converted the most cynical and sceptical persons.

            The Blessed Sacrament should be a magnet in our life. It
will help us to have a supernatural tone in our outlook. It will
remind us of the real purpose of our life. It will serve to
organically shape our day.

            It’s been said that the Holy Eucharist is the source and
summit of Christian life, the center and root of our spiritual life.
We cannot overemphasize these overwhelming truths. That’s why, we need
to take time to meditate on them and draw concrete resolutions.

            In fact, the resolutions we can get from our devotion to
the Holy Eucharist can be endless. Especially at these times when we
tend to be most harassed by temporal concerns, leading us to forget
about the eternal goals of our life, we need to make this devotion
truly vibrant.

            Let’s take advantage of our preparation for the
International Eucharistic Congress to spread this devotion, teaching
everyone, especially the young ones, how to live it. Again, the family
plays a fundamental role, with the parishes and schools giving
valuable support.

            Let’s never forget that with the celebration of Corpus
Christi, we are presented with the truth that Christ continues to
really with us! He has not left us.

Smile, laugh, have fun

AS long as all these are properly grounded and oriented,
there’s nothing at all to worry. Smiling, laughing and having fun
would do us no harm, and in fact would be and would do good to all.
The world would be a much better place to live, work and face our
usual as well as our unusual concerns.

            If we manage to smile, to laugh and maintain a good sense
of humor, in spite of whatever and all because of love of God and of
others, then it can only mean we are healthy not only bodily but also
spiritually.

            We need to cultivate this art of smiling and laughing
especially these days when we see a lot of harassed faces. It’s indeed
ironic that even as we seem to progress because we now enjoy a lot of
technological facilities and many advancements and developments in
other areas, the number of distorted and contorted face has also
increased.

            The Holy Father has talked about this phenomenon sometime
ago. He made reference to people with funeral faces. This should not
be the case, since if we truly go by our faith, there’s indeed no
reason to feel sad, let alone, show it physically.

            Everything has already been taken care of by Christ.
“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace,”
he reassured us. “In the world you have tribulation, but take courage;
I have overcome the world.” (Jn 16,33)

            It’s important that we know the ultimate source of our
peace and serenity, our sense of confidence and hope that would enable
us to be cheerful at all times no matter what. It’s in Christ.

            In other words, the art of smiling and laughing would
depend on how truly and vitally united we are with Christ. It’s not
merely a matter of luck, of some advantages we happen to have in life
in terms of health, wealth, social position, talents and other
endowments.

            It’s when we truly encounter Christ who actually comes to
us and who never abandons us, and overcome our initial fear in meeting
him, and follow him as closely as possible, when we would be filled
with indescribable joy that would simply overflow.

            Let’s remember that the apostles themselves were driven to
great fear when they met Christ in some unusual occasions, as when
Christ walked on the water. But when they were reassured it was
Christ, they immediately became very happy.

            Obviously, this joy will come when we know how to live in
the presence of God, how to pray and refer things always to him, never
feeling alone to face the vagaries of life. It comes and develops when
we have an intimate relation with him, with his teachings, with his
will at every moment.

            It comes and develops when we, like Christ, would overcome
the fear of the cross, of any problem we can have in life, when we
know how to react to anything in a supernatural way, with faith, hope
and charity, much like how Christ behaved when his time to suffer and
die came.

            It should be a constant intention in our prayer that we
grow in identification with Christ, and then start to make adjustments
in our attitudes and ways of seeing and doing things, to let the
forces of faith, hope and charity to irrigate our thoughts, desires,
plans, words, and general behaviour.

            Yes, we can avail of some finishing-school type of
developing cheerfulness and sense of humor, like learning how to crack
jokes, to make fun of oneself, to act like a comedian or jester for
the others, but only as a consequence of an authentic relationship
with Christ or at the instance of faith, hope and charity.

            I believe that this concern for learning how to smile,
laugh and have fun is a real and urgent one that needs general
attention. It might be a good idea if we can devise a way of
monitoring the level of authentic joy and cheerfulness in the
different levels of society.

            Things should start with oneself, then with the family and
the neighbourhood. Schools and other forms of community life should be
marked by a healthy brand of cheerfulness.

            Yes, we have to practice to smile and laugh and have clean
fun. Parents should plan things so that everyone at home smiles and
has a good time, in spite of whatever problems there may be. Let’s
remember education starts at home, before it is sustained in the
schools.  Might be good to collect jokes and nice, edifying anecdotes
for this purpose.