Save the family!

At the very center of God’s creation is the Family – the incarnation of God’s love and design for the world. Thus, every person is meant to be born into a family, and that family is called to join with other families in love, until all families on earth are united under the one and only God of all races, cultures, and religions. One Family of Mankind united in love, justice, and peace.

And to authenticate this once and for all, God chooses to be one among us, to be born into a family, to live as we do, and show us the way of human love. The family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Once Jesus broke into human history, the world was never the same again. You either end up following his way of life, or turn your back against him.

The latter is what Herod chose to do, as today’s Gospel reading tells us. (Mt. 2: 13-15, 19-23). And so many other Herods, in so many different ways, from then till this very day. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph suffered through poverty and persecution, but the God of love was with them all throughout the years, all the way to Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection.

And so will it be for us and our families, for as long as we learn to love as Jesus did. It is in this context that I see the deeper meaning to the phenomenal numbers of the poor at the recent wake and funeral of FPJ. I fully agree with the social analyst, Armando Doronila, in saying that they were grieving for their lost alter ego – "a person whose manifold movie roles incarnated the aspirations of the disadvantaged Filipino masses for justice and a better life." Such massive turnout should serve as a warning to the economic-political elite, he pointed out. I believe that if no substantial changes are made in favor of the poor in due time, they will inevitably rise and fight for their human rights through a nationwide revolution.

Time and again, I have expressed my conviction that laissez-faire capitalism as our socio-economic system will not solve our problems of social injustice. The abysmal gap between the minority rich and the majority poor is the very injustice that Jesus condemned the Scribes and Pharisees for (Mt: 23). This is the very same injustice that he condemns today – here, in our country! For instance, our Constitution, Art. XV, states "The right of the family to a family living wage and income." Are we implementing this?

As I have said before, a radical change in our socio-economic system is a must, before it is to late. Toward some effective form of Christian socialism. This was the vision of the late Ninoy Aquino, after his own personal conversion while in prison.

"Capitalism must be corrected by anti-monopoly legislation, supplemented more positively by social welfare and security measures than now exist. Basic economic decisions must be made by the community - the government – and not by the private owners of the means of production. More efficient national economic planning must be adopted to husband our meager resources and bring the greatest good to the greatest number." (From Testament From A Prison Cell, 1988, pp. 41-42).

Side by side with this moral change in our economic system should be our relentless fight against massive corruption of all kinds, in all levels of our society.

The recent, countless tragedies due to illegal logging is just one of the many. Again, it is mostly the families of the poor that suffer as a consequence.

Allow me to single out just one such tragedy, as shared by Bro. Ogie Cabayao, one of our Jesuit scholastics involved in the ongoing relief operations in Gabaldon and Aurora:

"A Dumagat father tried to save his wife and children by placing his family on top of a log. He was pinned down, however, by the rampaging mud and logs and was struck unconscious. When he came to his senses, he realized his family was missing. His wife and children had been washed away along with the log where he thought they would be safe."

How can one measure such grief and pain of loss? Lord, open the hearts of our economic and political leaders, that they may follow your law of love, justice, and peace.