National cross

If you have more, give to those who have less.             

If you have everything, give to those who have nothing.

If you give, you will receive.

If you die giving of yourself, you will live forever.

All the above and more is the message of today’s Gospel reading (Mk. 10: 17-30). Possessed by God, not possessed by possessions. This is what so many of our people are experiencing after the giant floods from the typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng. From all sectors of society, from all walks of life — the spontaneous and generous response to the victims of the floods is just incredible. From the rich, middle-class, and the poor. From the old, to the middle-aged, to the youth. And this has been happening after every major disaster in the past, all the way to the present.

Let me focus on our Filipino youth, who really give me great hope in my old age. In every disaster in the past, all the way to the recent Ondoy, so many of our young adults and teenagers have been reaching out to the victims, and a number of them have really been heroes in literally giving their lives to save others.

Remember the student Robin Garcia? Quite a number of years ago, after that killer earthquake in Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija, Robin saved the lives of his five schoolmates. After that, he went back into the darkness of their collapsed building to save more, but was caught by an aftershock. A concrete slab hit him, and he later died in the hospital, with a smile on his face.

What about that 13-year-old excellent swimmer Sajid Bulig who saved no less than six people from drowning during that pagoda tragedy in Bulacan? In his last attempt to save a seventh person, Sajid was hit by a big wooden slab that led to his own death.

And now we have Muelmar Magallanes, our 18-year-old construction worker, who evacuated his family at the height of the Ondoy flood in Bagong Silangan, QC. After that, Muelmar kept going back to save their trapped neighbors from their rooftops, until he was able to save some 30 people. But then, after all that, he still heard a woman screaming for help with her baby. Exhausted and shivering, the heroic Muelmar succeeded in saving the mother and child, but he himself was swept away by strong currents — and perished. My faith tells me that he is now with God for all eternity.

There were countless others from all ages and sectors who responded to the flood victims at the risk of their own lives. Most of them did not die, but their spontaneous generosity and compassionate efforts in reaching out to others are beyond description. The relief centers and rehabilitation efforts continue to operate, and will do so for many more months to come.

All this is a most visible sign of God’s loving presence among us. Without the Lord’s sustaining and merciful presence, our people would not be able to do what they have been doing. And this does not apply to just those who respond to the victims, but to the victims themselves.

The religious faith and resiliency of our flood victims have been so evident and strong. God is our closest companion in everything we do, and in everything that happens to us. God’s laws of nature are imperfect, moving slowly toward perfection, one step at a time. This is God’s design and will for mankind. The imperfections of nature, including natural disasters and human sinfulness, are crosses that are opportunities for us to carry with faith and love — so that such crosses are God-given opportunities for us to love even more, and thus be closer to him. As we keep saying over and over again: The cross is not a curse nor a punishment from God. It is rather an opportunity for our growth, greatness, and Godliness as persons and as a nation.

Part of this current national cross that we are carrying is to once and for all make the difficult efforts in preventing the man-made consequences of natural disasters in the future, for the sake of our people, especially the poor. Our environmental experts and trained urban planners have repeatedly reminded us of what needs to be done. Among others:

• Need to construct a spillway in Parañaque to drain water from Laguna Lake to Manila Bay.

• To desilt the Pasig and Marikina rivers to accommodate more water.

• To improve drainage systems and garbage disposal problems.

• To once and for all prevent logging, especially in the Sierra Madre mountain ranges.

God helps those who help themselves. May the Ondoy-Pepeng disasters serve as our national wake-up call to our government and to all of us.