Have a holy . . . . holy week!

Today is Holy Wednesday and therefore, we will not have any articles for Good Friday and Holy Saturday. So this will have to be my Lenten column. Meanwhile, allow me to make this announcement that during a meeting with our President and CEO Sir Miguel Belmonte last week, we have decided that I would have to change the title of this column, as we already write articles of general interest, not just about Cebu.

 We’ve been writing columns in The Freeman since 1987 under the title of “Shooting Straight” and when I started writing columns in The Philippine STAR, Sir Max Soliven then wanted a different title for this column to identify me as a columnist from Cebu. Hence the title he gave was “Inside Cebu”. But since The Freeman is now part of the Star Group of Publications, Sir Miguel agreed that this corner in its new location should now be known as “Shooting Straight.” So consider this the last article under Inside Cebu and next week, we will be under the title, “Shooting Straight”.

*      *      *

Whenever someone says anything or something about President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA) or the First Gentleman (FG), you can bet that often the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) would come up with a statement critical about the President or FG. This is why we’ve always maintained that the CBCP has become too political for its own good! But whenever someone or a group lambasts the Pope, the titular head of the Holy Roman Catholic Church, we don’t even hear a peep from the CBCP in defense of the Holy Father and the Holy Catholic Church. Why?

A couple of years ago, when a Scandinavian newspaper came up with a caricature of the prophet Mohammad, the whole Muslim world was so indignant and forced an apology from that newspaper. But when anyone attacks the Pope, the spiritual leader of some 85 million Filipinos who are represented by the CBCP, we only hear a deafening silence!

I’m talking about the recent visit of his Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to Cameroon in Africa where he rightly said: “Condoms are not the answer to the AIDS epidemic in Africa and can make the problem worse.” This statement set off widespread criticism even from Facebook users. But what did they expect the Pope to say… that he agreed with the use of condoms? It is a fact that this issue has divided us Catholics into for or against the use of condoms. But that is only due to the fact that the Catholic Church never forces its doctrines even on its own members.

That Catholics consider the Holy Roman Catholic Church, as “The Body of Christ” is something that we have already forgotten. But if Catholics are divided on the use of artificial means of contraception it is simply because we do not trust the leaders of our own Church. This is where the Devil is having fun dividing the Body of Christ on this issue. So allow me to quote a passage from Luke 11: 17-23 about Jesus and Beelzebul.

“Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house will fall against house. And if Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that it is by Beelzebul that I drive out demons. If I then, drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your own people drive them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if it is by the finger of God that [I] drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you….Whoever is not with me is against me and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”

There is no doubt that whatever decisions we make in life we are answerable to it directly to God. So the choice is really yours to make, whether you are a non-practicing Catholic, a devout Charismatic Lay minister, a Bishop or priest. But you should be reminded that Catholic Church history is replete with attempts to break up or split the Church, which is why today, there are more than 30,000 Christian Churches that have wandered away from the very church that was founded by our Lord Jesus Christ, which you can read in Matt.16: 13-19.

But the most important verse in that passage is when the Lord gave a promise about his church…“Upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.” Today, the Catholic Church is the longest running institution in the world because of this divine promise. Remember that often-said phrase, “In the end, China will win?”. Well, allow me to rephrase this to “In the end, it is God who wins!”

So what does God expect of us mortals? This Holy Week, do read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation and you will learn that God only wants our obedience. Mama Mary’s obedience to God exalted her. Jesus obediently dying on the cross saved us. Obedience to the Pope is also obedience to God!

*      *      *

For e-mail responses to this article, write to [email protected]. Bobit Avila’s columns can also be accessed through www.philstar.com. He also hosts a weekly talkshow entitled, “Straight from the Sky” shown every Monday only in Metro Cebu on Channel 15 on SkyCable at 8 in the evening.