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SILENCED ONCE MORE (Reflection for the 6th Sunday of Easter)


Krus at Lipunan: A Filipino Theology of Liberation

SILENCED ONCE MORE

(6th Sunday of Easter)

Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48 | Ps 98: 1,2-3, 3-4 | 1 Jn 4:7-10 | Jn 15:9-17

Ako’y nagising sa tahimik na mga kampana ng Simbahan sa araw ng linggo. Abot tanaw mula sa aking silid ang isang tahimik na lansangan. Ang isang dating maingay na araw ng linggo ay biglang tumahimik. The declaration of a Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine has created a lot of opinions regarding the government’s capacity to manage the present pandemic. Hearsays proliferate about the real story behind the sudden increase of active cases from the previous month’s 30+ to this month’s almost a thousand cases. As long that there are stories of this kind that creates confusion, anxieties and fear among the people the motive behind the sudden turn of events will always be questionable.

We cannot deny the adverse effect that this pandemic has brought upon us. The stories of suffering and death from abroad are sad and disturbing. No one who is on their right mind would ever wish that something like that will happen to their communities. It disrupts our way of doing things normally, a collapsed healthcare system, exhausted social services and a struggling economy are really something to be feared upon. Ngunit may iilan ang ginagamit ang mga ito para sa pangsarili nilang mga layunin. I know that some has their right intentions for having a MECQ in our city. However, does this intention came from someone who really know how to love others more than their interests?

In our readings this Sunday, we are challenged to love others the way God loves. John even went to the extreme by connecting love with having a knowledge of who God is which the gospel affirms that we are slaves no more because a slave knows nothing about their masters. To love is knowing the other that will lead into knowing ourselves in return. When MECQ was declared; hopefully that our policy makers made this out of love that made them see themselves in those who would be getting affected from a limited economic activity. No doubt that CoVid-19 is a menace in our society but who allowed the sudden increase of cases in order for a MECQ will be declared. Someone should be held accountable for incompetency and mismanagement that led us to this. It is unchristian and anti-poor if this MECQ is made not out of genuine love for others but for one’s self-interest.

The Church bells are silenced once more and empty churches is a common sight all over the city. No one is there to celebrate the Lord’s day, rather we are once again forced to go virtual where even a genuine encounter is doubtful. Sa mga nasa luklukan ng sambayanan, kayong nasa pedestal ng lipunan, ma itanong ko nga po: Anong ginawa niyo kay Kristo nag nagmamahal sa inyo? A question from a Christian to my fellow Christians, a sinner to my fellow sinners, we who are struggling to live out our Christian values. Please answer this question using your Christian conscience. Anong ginawa niyo kay Kristo na no work no pay, kay Kristo na kumakalam ang sikmura dahil hindi nakakalabas upang makapag hanap buhay, kay Kristo na napilitang manahimik na lamang sa isang tabi dahil isa siyang hamak na pangkiranawang tao sa lipunan. In every time the Church bells are silent remember this question. Anong ginawa niyo kay Kristo?


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