DEFINITELY, this is a big challenge for all of us who try to follow by what Christ teaches us. In that gospel episode where he faulted the scribes for being showy of what they were doing and praised a poor widow who put in two small coins into the treasury of the synagogue, Christ is clearly telling us that we should do our good acts in a humble way and that we should try our best to give our all to God and others. (cfr. Mk 12,38-44)
“Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury,” he told his disciples. “For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood.”
This episode somehow reminds us of another of Christ’s sayings: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” (Mt 19,24)
It’s definitely a tall order, but that is just how it is when we want to be truly Christian. All we can do is to say, “Amen” and then just try our best to pursue that ideal. What is clear about this matter is that it is actually a call to enter into the will and ways of God which are supernatural. We are being asked to go beyond, but not against, our natural self. This is a call for us to approximate our identification with Christ.
If that pursuit for identification with Christ is strong in us, for sure we will also feel assured that everything would just be ok since Christ himself said: “Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.” (Mt 19,29)
We need to beg God’s grace to be able to meet this Christian standard. We just cannot rely on our human powers to abide by it. It actually is an invitation for us to take a leap to the supernatural world of God where God wants us to be, since we are his image and likeness, meant to share in his very life and nature.
We need to develop a keen sense of generosity and self-giving that is also a result of detachment. Let’s never forget that whatever we have comes from God who wants us to work for the common good. Thus, we hear St. Paul saying, “What do you have that you did not receive?” (1 Cor 4,7)
We have been reminded of this need to cultivate generosity in the gospel. “Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions,” Christ said. (Lk 12,15)
We are told not to lay up treasures for oneself but rather to be rich toward God, that is, to be generous with God and with everybody else. Avarice, hoarding, simply pursuing our self-interest and personal welfare are actually inhuman, let alone, unchristian.
It’s also good for us to remember that there is such a thing as “universal destination of earthly goods.” That’s an official part of our Christian doctrine. “In the beginning God entrusted the earth and its resources to the common stewardship of mankind to take care of them, master them by labor, and enjoy their fruits. The goods of creation are destined for the whole human race.” (CCC 2402)
Even if there is also such a thing as right to private ownership, that right is always subordinated and is supposed to work for this more fundamental truth about the universal destination of goods.
Water reminder
One year over a decade after the inundation that submerged and washed away homes, properties, livelihood and people. The memory of that storm surge brought by super typhoon yolanda remains fresh in the minds of the people. How could such a devastation that ruined places to ground zero be forgotten by the people, chiefly those who suffered losses that appeared beyond repair.
Localities along the shoreline that were hit by huge waves had lost count of their dead as they grappled to survive from the relief goods given by local and international donors, including religious organizations and the diocesan social action centers of the Roman Catholic Church. There were Catholic International organizations that coordinated with the dioceses for the relief and rehabilitation of the devastated communities.
In the aftermath of that disaster, local governments that were spared from the path of the super typhoon as well as the national government, pooled their calamity funds in order to help the affected people and communities. The need for food and clean potable drinking water was the immediate concern of response teams that was confronted with the challenge of inaccessible roads as felled trees blocked many parts of the highway. Food supplies coming from Luzon were stranded in the ferry terminals going into the eastern visayas region. The long queues of trucks loaded with food and medicine was disheartening as the affected people waited for help.
Relocation sites were the next priority among donors while temporary shelters, mostly tents and shanties of light materials are being built. The need for construction materials and tools was another problem as local hardware stores were also devastated. Another problem that beset the people was the lack of transportation and the difficulty of procuring fuel for vehicles. In many places, the prices of gasoline skyrocketed as the commodity had to be rationed in order to serve more consumers.
Food became scarce as the nearest markets were also ruined. In some places, people were forced to loot commercial establishments that have stocks for basic needs. The looting went uncontrolled as authorities were busy responding to the urgent needs of the affected population. Aside from food and other basic needs, the need to clear roads from debris and dead bodies were likewise a need that must be addressed. Responders from other places and regions had to bring not just food but heavy equipment as well that could be used in transporting not just food for the living but dead corpse to be buried in mass graves.
Eleven years after the devastation, government had failed to deliver the promised housing units to the needy families that whose houses were washed and ruined beyond repair. The housing units were attended by irregularities, mostly with substandard materials and workmanship. But the housing units were forced to be distributed anyway in order to cover the anomalies that were too obvious to disregard. Many concerned citizens had filed formal complaints against the contractors and government officials involved but nothing has resulted. All irregularities are now submerged in deep murky waters worse than the storm surge brought by yolanda’s that is now a lifetime water reminder.
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