To a certain Carlos who came to church

Dear Carlos,

As you read this, I pray for your well-being inside the juvenile jail cell.

Surprised and shocked, I could not hold shaking my head for quite a number of times after I saw your own "civil disobedience." As I saw it, there was no civility in the act. Yeah, it was a show of disobedience.

I understand the anger and disgust in the threat of excommunication from the president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) to President Aquino. To my mind, it is uncalled for and inappropriate for a representative of highly respected and influential CBCP to give such a threat to a newly elected and legitimate President. It is a plain display of moral ascendancy at the time when the Church is confronted by abuses and scandals worldwide.

As a Filipino citizen, you have the right to defend your President and voice your sentiments on issues.

I am a Filipino too. And President Aquino is my President too. And our Philippine society, I believe, is governed by laws, decency, and tolerance. Even Rizal, I imagine, would not claim and see himself in your act of disrespecting the institution and sobriety of a holy Mass. As far as I know and you know this more than I do, Rizal was a sensible man.

If you want the Church to get out of politics, you are not alone. I would also favor to see this. I don't like my church to get involved in the operations of the civilian government.

However, both the Church and the State have quite the same constituency in the Philippines. Besides, the issue at hand directly affects the flocks of the Church and citizens of the Philippine government on their moral decision-making. In this case, I would like my church and government to help me reach an informed decision.

And at this point, they are doing their jobs well, except the threat from a representative of CBCP. [Again, I'd stress that he is not the Church. Like me, your neighbors, your relatives and friends, he is a member of the Church. So when you direct your anger and disgust to the Church, you also vent those to us. In catechism, we know that the Church resides in every believer.]

As Filipinos, we know and understand basketball. I hope you like basketball as most Filipinos do.  In NBA, imagine someone guarding Lebron James or Kobe Bryant. The guard knows that James or Bryant will score more than ten or twenty points in any given game. But does it mean that he should stop guarding James or Bryant because both will score anyway? NO! He still has to do his job - guarding those prolific scorers.

The Church is playing guard here. It does and will do something that James or Bryant and their fans won't like, but the guard must not bow down, whether he is liked or not. It is his job to guard and stop the scoring.

The Church is guarding against actions without responsibility and obligation. Actions can be done in certain conditions (e.g. sex in the context of marriage). After marriage, parenting is such a huge responsibility. It is like sharing the gift of creation. With this gift comes responsibility. Condoms and artificial contraceptives do not remind us of this gift. Rather, they result to a wasted gift.

I feel that there is a misplaced blame towards the Church on overpopulation which is said to be dragging the country to the pits of poverty. Because of its policies and advocacies on abortion and contraceptions, the Church is being made as a scapegoat of something that it has not caused.

Yeah, I agree that we have a problem on overpopulation. But it is too much to relate overpopulation alone with poverty. I hope you have seen a politician that has become poor or has remained similar in economic standing after his/her term ends. I wish you had been to the rural areas where almost no infrastructure project is being implemented while in Metro Manila, a paved road is being dug out to be paved again. The basic problem is on the management and distribution of the country's resources. We are not a poor country, supposedly, but we are. Is it because of the Church?

I hope you have a good sleep inside the jail with your new friends. I know that you are an amazing storyteller. But your last story does not amaze me at all. Anyhow, you have the prayers of millions for your well-being.

Yours,

Juan Filipino Catholico

Peace as restoring broken relationships and building positive ones

Today, September 21 is recognized as the International Day of Peace.

Global peace is not only the concern and work of government and business leaders, it is also our concern and work as global citizens. As such, there are things that we can do to contribute to global peace - from ourselves to our immediate surroundings. These are the things that are under our control and influence.


Peace is not only a global issue. It is interpersonal as much as personal. Today, let us do some concrete things for peace in our hearts and minds by restoring broken relationships and building positive ones.


Have we hurt someone? Or someone has hurt us? Are we in good terms with them? In our family, have we kept that wound that never heals? Have we subdued ourselves because of pride and/or position?


NOW, it is time to confront ourselves, to ease the tension within us, to release the negative energies brought about by hurts, wounded pride, lofty position, and scarred past.


If we have a higher Being, have we made ourselves His/Her image here on earth? Hence, we shall reestablish our relationships with our God to be able to show His/Her goodness, blessings, and light through our actions, words and thoughts.

Pray. Read and be open to the Word.

To ourselves, have we made an utmost effort to be free - that is to do what is necessary and right, or have we come short of our own expectation and capability? Hence, we shall be free of the burdens of worldly competitions and human tendencies that revolve around our selfish world. We shall overcome the temptations of flesh, wealth, and prestige.

Let us Pray. Read and be open to the Word. Join formal and informal community activities and fellowships. Exercise. Be honest. Be strong. Listen to your hearts. Purify your thoughts. Doubt your instincts. Be intimate and in touch with our humanity.

To others, have we respected their humanity? Have we denied them of their rights and dignity? Have we observed and followed the local and national laws?


Let us Pray. Read and be open to the Word. Join formal and informal community activities and fellowships. Exercise. Be honest. Be strong. Listen to your hearts. Purify your thoughts. Doubt your instincts. Be intimate and in touch with humanity. Change ways. Welcome others. Share. Reach out. Respect.

Let us Think good, do good, be good. Then, things will be better.

Let us Believe.

This is for today. Do not forget that tomorrow is another day.

Let us Repeat.

Expel not those among us, the Gypsies

".. fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer.." - Shylock's defense, The Merchant of Venice by Shakespeare

Are Gypsies european? (note that european is in small letter). This is to open up discussion. And not to express concluding and derogatory statements.

In the past weeks, more than a thousand Gypsies, or Roma, were expelled from France by the government that is inspired by an egalitarian goal since the French Revolution. And so the world and Gypsies thought.

French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, ordered the dismantling of over a hundred illegal camps of the Gypsies, one of the poorest ethnic group in Europe. His justification was that these camps were havens of crimes and displayed undignified living conditions in France, a country that has a generous welfare system. To show its condescending generosity, French government voluntarily provided cash payment of more than 300 euros per expelled adult and 100 per child.

Is the French government singling out and targeting an ethnic group on its policy of dismantling illegal camps and expulsions of those staying in the country allegedly without means of supporting their stay?

That is as plain as snow for the critics to see. However, the French government argued and defended that there is no targeting of any ethnic group. It is simply exercising its right to expel people illegally staying within its own jurisdiction for security reasons.

Why are the Gypsies living in such an undignified condition in the first place? Is it the failure of the governments to integrate them in society? Who is looking after them?

The recipient of the expelled Gypsies is Romania, a new member of European Union. The issue is not about new member confronting a founding member, nor a poor member vis-a-vis a rich member of the Union.

It is about an ethnic group that has long been victimized by structural violence such as discrimination, prejudice, and neglect, in the European countries which are incidentally looked up to by developing countries. The issue takes a lot of less ground for these countries to condemn any discriminatory acts by developing countries against ethnic minorities in their territories.