Philippine Independence Day. How paradoxically appropriate is today’s Gospel incident: "At the sight of the crowds, Jesus’ heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.’" (Mt. 9: 36-38).
In the midst of our independence as a nation, after many decades of freedom and democracy, we are still where we are. If Christ were physically present with us today, what would he be feeling, saying, and doing – the human, ever-compassionate Christ?
He would know in his heart how we have become this way as a nation – presently suffering through an unstable democracy, deep financial crisis, nationwide corruption side by side with poverty of the masses, and what-have-you. Christ knows only too well our tragic history as a people.
For more than 300 years, we were under the Spanish colonial powers, suffering as we did from poverty to bigotry to all kinds of humiliations and injustices. They "Christianized" us but in such a way that they prevented us from loving and responsibly governing our own, God-given country by ourselves. Finally, a God-inspired revolution took place, triggered off by no less than 3 Filipino priests – Fathers Gomez, Burgos, and Zamora – and carried through by Rizal, Mabini, Bonifacio, and the rest of our national heroes.
But after all that, we became an American colony for almost 50 years. From one set of colonizers to another set of colonizers, not to mention the Japanese invaders who made us suffer through the infamous death-march from Bataan to Corregidor, the terrible concentration camps in Capas, and other unspeakable injustices against our people.
We were really a damaged culture, to say the least. We never developed a national character of our own, nor a deep concern for the common good. These are what we urgently need. Instead, fragmentation and factionalism invaded our cultural psyche. Kanya-kanya. We have tried since then to become a real democratic nation, led by Almighty God through Edsa 1 and Edsa 2. But alas! Our damaged culture is far from being healed.
But the Lord is not giving up on us. Neither should we! Christ is still very much with us – no longer limited by His incarnated physical body – but very much present with us. His Spiritual Self is our closest companion, everywhere and anywhere. This is how much he cares for us. We just have to be aware of it and respond to it.
In his compassion, He identifies with us. He is one among us. He is our kapwa-Pinoy, teaching and doing what is moral; fearless and courageous in his advocacy for social justice; reaching out to the poor and powerless; showing us the HOW to be God’s human presence in the world, in our country, among our people.
Let us follow him all the way. One such way is to be actively involved with a morally-and-spiritually grounded political movement or party that is working for national reform, like the Kapatiran Sa Pangkalahatang Kabutihan (KPK).
When everything is said and done, Christ has the heart of a Pinoy. He is the original Pinoy to the fullest degree.
Remember the "Panatang Makabayan" we were taught in school? This time, let us pray it in God’s presence – that we may live by it till our dying day:
Iniibig ko ang Pilipinas. Ito ang aking lupang sinilangan.
Ito ang tahanan ng aking lahi.
Ako’y kanyang kinukupkop at tinutulungan upang maging malakas, maligaya, at kapaki-pakinabang.
Bilang ganti, diringgin ko ang payo ng aking mga magulang.
Susundin ko ang mga tuntunin ng aking paaralan;
Tutuparin ko ang mga tungkulin ng isang mamamayang makabayan at masunurin sa batas;
Paglilingkuran ko ang aking bayan nang walang pag-iimbot at buong katapatan.
Sisikapin kong maging isang tunay na Pilipino sa isip, sa salita, at sa gawa.
https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2005/06/12/281291/pinoy-ba-si-hesus
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