The Return of the King

Philippine Election and the Search for the Filipino Soul
Fr. Edwin A. Gariguez

With the coming election in May 2010, the Filipino people are again hoping to elect leaders expected to deliver the country from seeming hopelessness and perennial suffering of the great majority. Politician-candidates are aware of this expectation and so they portray themselves as the expected Messiahs destined to realize the people’s dream for a promising future. Their campaign ads treat the people to a foretaste of wonderland where the hearts’ deepest desires are expected to be fulfilled. All the hullabaloos about platforms of governance are nothing but further formulations of empty promises well-crafted to allure the people into the trap.

The motif for deliverance is intentionally being played up to suit the campaign script. Admittedly, people are enthusiastically craving for the “Return of the King,” a messianic Aragorn in the movie series, The Lord of the Ring. The legendary king is someone who can lead the country to victory against all the evil forces threatening us. And all the politicians have no qualms posturing themselves as the predestined saviors whose reign will bring about the most awaited period of peace and prosperity.

Properly understood in Jungian psychology, the symbolism for the return of the archetypal King stands for the search for the noble soul in our collective consciousness as a people. The image of the King points out not only to a literal head or leader but it is a personification of the Filipino soul. Thus, the expected deliverance is associated with the dream for the regeneration of all that is good and noble, the inherently transcendent values in Filipino soul.

Ironically, the electoral contest is, more often than not, characterized by wheeling and dealing, pre-occupation with selfish interest, deception and maneuverings, unprincipled accommodations, and all the dirty tactics symptomatic of worsening moral malaise. Generally, power struggles among the politicians are reflective of the fight for conquest and dominance, with the victorious faction of the elite grabbing the privileges and rewards that come with the leadership position. Political leadership does not only spell social prestige but a great opportunity to get much richer as well. And we know some politicians who “invest” in electoral process, for they know that being in public office is more profitable than engaging in legitimate business.

Thus, when we dream of the “Return of the King” in the Philippine context, we dream for a moral transformation that will effectively reverse the prevailing direction of political exercise. Guided by the inner power of the soul, the present political structure can still be redeemed from its despicable status to a more dignified vocation provided that motivation for holding positions of leadership will be truly purified. We need to recover the sense of patriotism and self-sacrifice necessary to convince and move our leaders to genuinely serve the common good instead of pursuing their selfish agenda. We need moral regeneration in the present leadership who will re-enact the selfless heroism, in the tradition of Aragorn, Legolas and the Hobbits. Until we find this heroic character in our leaders, we will keep our endless watch for the “Return of the King.”

We await for the transformation of society. And that is only possible with the genuine transformation that should happen from within. The Return of the King is the triumph of the Filipino soul!

To dream for the Return of the King is to dream for the transformation of the whole socio-economic order by affirming the positive cultural energies and distinctive Filipino spirituality. The Return of the King means to regain our connectedness to our soul. We reconstruct society by harnessing the inner power of the “loob,” by finding the primordial bond of solidarity embedded in our “pakikipagkapwa-tao,” and by affirming the deepest compassion in our “pagmamalasakit.” This challenge for cultural transformation is to move towards a cultural orientation that promotes the common good rather than personal interests, that transforms organized greed into organized care!

And our people continue to crave for the Return of the King!

REMAIN CENTERED ON OUR CORE VALUES - David Korten

We must approach this difficult period with a mutual caring and tolerance for diversity that are the essential foundations of the healthy societies we hope to create.

Even as we seek to remain centered in our core values and to build alliances with those who share such values, we must be constantly aware that we are engaged in an act of creation, for which there is no blueprint.

We are all learners in an unfolding process, requiring that we look with a critical eye and an open mind for the kernel of truth in each idea and the spark of goodness in each person.

We are embarking on what may be the most profound change of course in human history, and it requires that we bring to bear the full creative potenial of our species.


David Korten, When Corporations Rule the World

DAWN - A POEM BY THOMAS BERRY

Look up at the sky--

The heavens so blue, the sun so radiant,

The clouds so playful, the soaring raptors,

The meadows in bloom, the woodland creatures,

The rivers singing their way to the sea,

Wolf song on the land, whale song in the sea,

Celebration everywhere, wild, riotous,

Immense as a monsoon lifting an ocean of joy

And spilling it down over the Appalachian landscape,

Drenching us all with a deluge of delight

As we open our arms and rush toward each other,

You and I and all of us,

Moved by that vast compassionate Presence

that brings all things together in intimate celebration,

celebration that's the universe itself.

St. John Mary Vianney: Model Priest

NEW YORK, JUNE 19, 2009 (Zenit.org).- After more than 2,000 years of existence, there isn't much the Church hasn't addressed, faced or witnessed.

Granted, times change. New challenges continually present themselves. Progress is made. And while the Church continually works to keep step with the twists and turns of history, it sometimes breaks step and simply returns to the basics.

This is what Benedict XVI did recently when he declared a yearlong celebration of one of the most basic and fundamental elements of the Catholic Church: the priesthood.

Beginning today, the Church will dedicate one full year to remembering what it is to be a priest. This will not only be an opportunity for priests to rediscover their vocation, mission and passion for Christ, but it's also a chance for the rest of us to rediscover what a gift the priesthood is for our own lives.

The Pontiff chose as the occasion for this jubilee year the 150th anniversary of the death of St. John Mary Vianney, known as the Curé d'Ars.

By linking the Year for Priests with St. Vianney, who is also the patron of parish priests, the jubilee not only celebrates the basics of the Church, but also the basics of the priesthood itself.

As a priest, Father Vianney took upon himself many of the projects parish priests take on. He set about to restore the parish church, he founded an orphanage and did acts of charity for the poor. He also did some pretty extraordinary things. He had supernatural knowledge of the future and the past, and he performed healing miracles, particularly on children.

But it was in the basic duties of parish life that he excelled, namely preaching, offering spiritual direction, and, most notably, hearing confessions.

Rocky road

John Mary Vianney was born in Dardilly, near Leon, in 1786. His early faith formation took place within the context of the French Revolution, which pushed the practice of the Catholic faith underground. Later in his ministry, he would deal with the consequences of the revolution, which led many of the faithful to leave the Church.

The road to the priesthood wasn't an easy path for Vianney. After finally getting his father's permission to pursue his calling, he still needed to get caught up on his studies, as the revolution had interrupted his education. If he wanted to be a priest, he'd have to go back to school with children half his age to learn the basics of reading, writing, and Latin.

Almost nine years later, in 1815, Vianney was ordained. He was 29. Less than three years later, in 1818, the young priest was assigned as the assistant pastor of the church in Ars, a small country village located about 25 miles from Lyon in eastern France. This is where he would spend the rest of his priestly life.

Arriving in Ars, the young priest noticed the loss of Christian faith and morals around him, a lingering by-product of the French Revolution. Father Vianney soon began to awaken the faith of his parishioners through his preaching, but most of all by his prayer and his way of life. His notoriety as a holy priest grew slowly, and Father Vianney soon became known as, simply, the Curé d'Ars (priest of Ars).

Not paparazzi, penitents

By the 1830s, his popularity swelled to the extent that the holy priest became somewhat of a prisoner in the confessional, held there by the hundreds of faithful arriving daily to the village to see the holy curé. Between 1830 and 1845, sometimes as many as 300 people a day would pass through Ars for a chance to confess with Father Vianney.

Overwhelmed with his own sense of unworthiness and weakness in the face of such a great mission, the holy priest tried three times to escape, but all attempts failed. On the third attempt his parishioners actually sent out a search crew in the middle of the night to find him and put him back in the confessional. He stayed there until the wee hours of the morning -- hearing confessions.

In 1853, a group of diocesan missionaries came to the aid of the overworked parish priest, who couldn't seem to get out of his confessional, let alone out of his own parish to take a holiday. His own bishop even told him not to attend diocesan retreats, as Father Vianney had too many souls to attend to in Ars.

By 1855, the number of pilgrims had reached 20,000 a year, and some 100,000 in 1858. There are reports that during the last 10 years of his life, he spent as many as 18 hours a day in the confessional, and that toward the end of his life, he confessed up to 80,000 penitents a year.

Father Vianney spent the last five days of his life hearing his confessions from his deathbed. Exhausted, the Curé d'Ars died Aug. 4, 1859. He was 73.

The parish priest was beatified in 1905, and declared the patron of the priests of France that same year. He was canonized 20 years later in 1925, and declared the patron saint of all parish priests in 1929.

A hero

In 1959, Pope John XXIII wrote a 13,000-word encyclical on St. John Mary Vianney on the centenary of the saint's death. He hailed the holy priest an "outstanding model of priestly asceticism, of piety, especially in the form of devotion to the Eucharist, and, finally, of pastoral zeal."

He was a "tireless worker for God," the Holy Father continued, and "a hero."

"His only motives were the love of God and the desire for the salvation of the souls of his neighbors," the Pontiff affirmed.

John XIII offered St. Vianney as a model for other priests because the saint was a man of God. This, he said, was the secret to the priesthood: "A man who is filled with Christ will not find it hard to discover ways and means of bringing others to Christ."

The Curé d'Ars is also a model for priests because he, like few others, knew what being a priest was all about.

"Holy Orders," he wrote in his Catechism on the Priesthood, "is a sacrament which seems to relate to no one among you, and which yet relates to everyone."

A priest, he continued, is "a man who holds the place of God -- a man who is invested with all the powers of God."

"Everything has come to us through the priest; yes, all happiness, all graces, all heavenly gifts," St. Vianney affirmed. "If we had not the sacrament of orders, we should not have Our Lord.

"Who placed him there, in that tabernacle? It was the priest. Who was it that received your soul, on its entrance into life? The priest. Who nourishes it, to give it strength to make its pilgrimage? The priest. Who will prepare it to appear before God, by washing that soul, for the last time, in the blood of Jesus Christ? The priest -- always the priest."

St. Vianney spoke of the priest as the doorway to the treasures of heaven, "He is the steward of the good God, the distributor of his wealth."

"Oh, how great is a priest," he exclaimed. So great, he noted, that it would be impossible for a priest to "understand the greatness of his office till he is in heaven. If he understood it on earth, he would die, not of fear, but of love."

And a priest, he continued, "is not a priest for himself."

It's often overlooked that a priest does not confess himself or administer the sacraments for himself. All of his priestly duties and functions are done for others. "He is not for himself," the holy Curé reminds us. "He is for you."

When you see a priest, you should say, "There is he who made me a child of God, and opened heaven to me by holy baptism; he who purified me after I had sinned; who gives nourishment to my soul."

"The priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus," he added. "When you see the priest, think of Our Lord Jesus Christ."

This year, we have the opportunity to just do that.

* * *

Karna Swanson is the editor of ZENIT's English edition.

The Archbishop that Helped to Change a Nation

The social and religious activists that hungered and thirsted for justice for so long and courageously endured torture and survived assassination now rejoice in the democratic victory with the swearing in of their honestly elected president. The former television newscaster and journalist was chosen by the leftist party to be its forerunner for the top post after years of armed insurgency and political struggle. The nation dominated by a traditional elite of corrupt politicians found the ideal candidate in this charismatic champion of the poor and the oppressed.

They had opposed the injustice and oppression of the US-backed dictatorship and the oligarchy of the rich that had succeeded it. They mobilized the people and democratically brought about a historical political change to this nation of impoverished people.

This scenario could be the wishful dream of every freedom-loving Filipino considering that the Philippine vice-president is a former television broadcaster and journalist and is now a presidential candidate that is compassionate but moderate centrist figure.

But in reality, I am describing the stunning election of Carlos Mauricio Funes Cartagena of El Salvador who was inaugurated last 1st June before dozens of presidents, prime ministers and the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. As the candidate of the leftist party FLMN, former guerrilla fighters, he replaces 20 years of conservative government and dedicated his administration and himself to work for the “poor and the oppressed” and for closer ties with the United States being an admirer of Barack Obama.

The inauguration came also close to the anniversary of the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero of San Salvador by right-wing death squads almost 20 years ago. The new president saw his election as a fulfillment of the hopes of the courageous Archbishop. He was a conservative priest caring for the spiritual needs of his flock in the capital San Salvador, without any interest in the social and political oppression that cause so much human poverty and suffering. He was looking but did not see. He was made archbishop and had a radical change when his close friend, a Jesuit priest, was brutally assassinated for opposing injustice. The archbishop said his eyes were opened and justice became his mission.

He appealed to the Government and the United States to stop the vicious oppression and military attacks on villages and innocents. In his famous challenge to the military he said: “We are your people. The peasants you kill are your own brothers and sisters. In the name of God, in the name of our tormented people whose cries rise up to heaven, I beseech you, I beg you, I command you, stop the repression.” He died in a hail of assassin’s bullets as he elevated the consecrated chalice during the celebration of the Eucharist a few days later.

It all began when a group of rich landowners staged a coup with military and US backing in 1980 and the killing began, as many as 10,000 dissidents in the first year, among them priests, religious and social activists working for justice. When I was there that year as a journalist, I was advised to leave as journalists were prime assassination targets. What followed was 70,000 deaths and 2 million in exile and it’s all for nothing. The US had a change of heart after spending $6 billion to keep the elite in power and to “draw the line” on the spread of Communism in Latin America as Reagan said. “The US realized that an all-out-war would never win and that reconciliation and peace was the only future.

The elite and the army were as corrupt as ever and the rebels were open to accept a just UN-brokered deal that reduced the army, reformed the judiciary, and implemented genuine land reform, guaranteed civil rights and amnesty for the rebels. Elections would be UN-supervised but despite that, the ruling elite cheated and held onto power. Few of the promised reforms were implemented. But the former rebels still worked democratically. It took 17 years from 1992 until June 2009 and the final democratic ascendancy of the former guerrilla freedom fighters.

Perhaps a similar process will work for the Philippines but it would have to stop corruption and cheating and powerful international pressure would be needed to make it work.


(Fr. Shay's columns are published in The Manila Times,
in publications in Ireland, the UK, Hong Kong, and on-line)

http://www.preda.org/archives/2009/r09070101.html

FIGHTING GRAFT AND CORRUPTION

To steal is wrong. It is a crime. It is a sin. When stealing is done by those high up in power and authority, it carries a greater culpability. The corruption of the best is the worst. The social problem of graft and corruption in public life in our country has reached abominable and embarrassing proportions. How shall we describe graft and corruption in our country? It is systemic. It is rewarding. It hurts the poor the most.

Graft and corruption is systemic and structural. It is not only individual or isolated persons who corrupt and get corrupted. The present system—the elected and the electors, the employers and the employees, the appointed and the appointing powers—has become so corrupt that what we do need is a radical, systemic, interior change. Changing personages through the electoral process or even through legal processes like impeachment and court suits will not necessarily result in reform unless there is a willingness to change from the heart and soul. Pinning our hopes on legal processes unaccompanied by conversion from within will lead us to nowhere but deeper frustrations. We can hear the protest "Tama na. Sobra na. Alis na. Kami naman!". It is important that those who investigate or prosecute corrupt officials will not gain political or financial benefits from convicting or absolving the accused.

Graft and corruption is rewarding and rewarded. It is hardly punished. The politicization of the judiciary and the perennial rumors about rogues in robes are problems we need to address urgently. Vigilance is lacking. Political will is weak. Prosecution plays favorites. The penal system is flawed. Pardon and clemency is cheap. Among our people, there is an increasing level of tolerance for corrupt officials. Corruption does not seem to anger many of us anymore. We are not outraged enough by graft and corruption. Widespread graft has sadly numbed our morals.

The public money that goes to graft is money stolen from the poor. Because of graft and corruption, schools buildings cannot be constructed and teachers are not paid; public hospitals cannot protect us from untimely death; soldiers are deprived of their just wages.

Our biggest problem in our country is graft and corruption. This problem must be faced courageously now. We are risking the life of our nation if we continue to ignore it. I appeal to the consciences of our countrymen. Do not leave the solution of graft and corruption to corrupt officials. Our problem cannot be our solution. Let us come together as Catholic faithful to fight the sin of graft and corruption. We cannot profess faith in God and not get angry at widespread graft and corruption. Faith in God and outrage at sin go together. Outrage is not enough; it must lead to action. If we are not outraged by the sin of stealing happening all over our once beautiful land, could it be that our faith has turned cold and uncaring? If your faith has turned cold and uncaring, how can you be saved? Fight corruption or lose your soul!

I place this appeal at the feet of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal.

From the Cathedral of Saint Joseph , Balanga City , November 27, 2008

+SOCRATES B. VILLEGAS
Bishop of Balanga

Global Warming

This is to present the issue of global warming in a funny and entertaining way! Happy viewing!