Carry on!

Christ’s ascension into heaven is a master stroke of divine wisdom. Christ’s physical presence, limited as it was in human form, goes back to the Father, so that His spiritual presence, unlimited in form, may dwell in all of us, his followers. He thus gives us the unique privilege of being His witnesses here on earth. Each one is called to be another Christ – to live and love as He did. To carry on!

And when our human mission comes to an end, we too, will ascend into heaven as he did.

"You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (From today’s first reading, Acts 1:1-11).

"Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name, to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of all this." (From today’s Gospel reading, Lk. 24:46-53).

Our post-election scenario is a magnificent arena for this witnessing to Christ. For both the winners and losers alike, and the rest of us as a nation.

Let us even presume that there have been incidents of political cheating on the local level from both sides – administration and opposition alike. And by all means, all this should be brought to full justice. But the overall national elections are basically valid, as NAMFREL would attest. And NAMFREL’s credibility and dedication to the nation are unquestionable. Those who judge otherwise must be biased for some personal or partisan reasons.

We salute Secretary Raul Roco for conceding to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, and committing himself to serve the nation, inspite of losing in the elections. In his own words: "I congratulated President Arroyo for the mandate she has received from the people as indicated by published results. In so doing, I commit to continue working for a new moral regime in our country." A gesture of true statesmanship.

On the other hand, what Fernando Poe Jr. did the other day in proclaiming himself as the duly-elected President, independent of the COMELEC, is simply unheard-of, something you see only in the movies! FPJ’s show-biz personality seems to be catching up with him, not to mention his self-serving advisers who are destabilizing our precarious national situation.

This is clearly not the will of God for our country. All this and more are being orchestrated by the forces of the anti-Christ. The very opposite of being witnesses of Christ, our mission from today’s liturgy.

Let us remember that pre-election Mass of reconciliation, where our five Presidential candidates were holding hands in humble prayer and acceptance of God’s providence and will. Did they all really mean what they were doing? Let us hope and pray that they did.

Thus, all those who have lost in the elections on the national and local levels are called by the Lord to turn their political defeats into moral victories. The good of the country is what must prevail at this point in time. God knows what heavy crosses those political losses are on the shoulders of many. They are a form of dying. But God assures us through Christ that for as long as we follow the way of the Christ, dying turns into new life.

A new life of reconciliation, forgiveness, and healing. This is what our politically-divided country needs now. Led by its president, Archbishop Fernando Capalla, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines has made this God-inspired call to our Presidential candidates and the rest of our people.

Let us pray and work hard for the day when our country can really be called Christian. The day when we can really live and love one another as witnesses of Christ.