Easter hope

Every Easter Sunday we commemorate Christ’s triumphant resurrection after He suffered and died on the cross to redeem us from sin and death. Easter’s underlying message therefore has always been one of joy because of God’s infinite love and mercy, and hope for life everlasting. This Easter however there is a resurgent and more intense feeling of hope because of some supervening events affirming anew God’s care and concern for us all.

The most significant events are the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI last February 28, 2013 due to frail health and advancing age and the election of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina by the conclave of cardinals last March 14, 2013 as the Supreme Pontiff to succeed him. Undoubtedly, these two events suddenly happening in a matter of weeks are quite extraordinary as to be imbued with supernatural meaning. There are really enough bases to conclude that they were inspired by the Holy Spirit.

Indeed the choice of Cardinal Bergoglio as Pope has many “firsts”. He is the first Pope from the Americas; he is the first Pope to come from the Jesuit Order; and he is the first Pope to bear the name Francis, after Saint Francis of Assisi. And based on his initial statements and actions as Pope, he will apparently be like St Francis of Assisi, “the radical and unsettling reformer who rejected all that his society considered as important — money, economic stability, possessions, comforts and pleasures”. This is easily gleaned from his “simple and informal lifestyle, wry sense of humor, kind smile and serenity”.

This early in his reign, Pope Francis has really shunned the trappings of power usually associated with the throne of St. Peter. His simplicity is very evident even before he became a Pope. In his Lenten message to the people of Buenos Aires, last February 13, when he was still a Cardinal, he invited them to “a Paschal journey to Truth, a journey that includes the cross and renunciation, which will be uncomfortable but not sterile….to admit that something is not right in ourselves, in society and in the Church, to change, to turn around and be converted”.

His assumption as Pope is really like a fresh wind of change blowing throughout the world which the Church needs especially during these modern times. Thus it is expected that under his rule, bishops, priests, religious and laymen all over the world would follow his example. It is expected that the Church will be converted from a “worldly Church that lives in, of and for herself”, into an   evangelizing Church that “comes out of herself and go to the outskirts of existence, to those who are forgotten, those most in need of understanding, consolation and help”; a Church that shows her love for the poor and commitment to reform”.

It must be pointed out however that Pope Francis has also “put up a staunch defense of marriage and the unborn, fighting a culture that perceives abortion and homosexual marriage as a right. As with St. Francis of Assisi, what many contemporaries take as amenities of the evolved culture, the new Pope rejects”.

So let us not distort Pope Francis’ message like the defenders of the RH law here are now trying to do. Certainly, Pope Francis did not say that if bishops, priests and nuns who actually reach out and work among the poor see their wretched situation, the Holy Spirit will inspire their consciences to be like the group of American nuns on a mission in Africa promoting social justice even “at the expense of other church issues such as abortion”. Definitely, the Holy Spirit will not inspire their consciences to condone the killing of innocent and defenseless babies in the womb in order to solve the problem of poverty. The end can never justify the means. Pope Francis will also denounce them as the former Pope chastised the group of American nuns.

Thus the other good news strengthening our Easter hope is the Supreme Court’s (SC) order last March 18, 2013 temporarily suspending the implementation of the RH law. This is the law promoting contraception already proven in other countries to directly or indirectly cause abortion and to undermine the sanctity of marriage and family life. Apparently the SC already found some constitutional infirmities in its initial scrutiny of the law. So the law’s invalidation for being unconstitutional is not far-fetched.

Other pieces of encouraging news are the active participation of the local Church in the coming elections in response to Pope Francis’ plea to become an Evangelizing Church. Aside from the diocese of Bacolod which initiated a campaign for the “team buhay against the team patay”, the Archdiocese of Nueva Caceres in Bicol headed by Archbishop Rolando J. Tria Tirona has sounded “a call to political action to bring Jesus to society and society, to Jesus”.

In his Pastoral Letter dated March 24, 2013 Archbishop Tirona launched a “Voters’ Education Program to bring about a Catholic vote, a free, informed and evangelized conscience vote”. The good Archbishop said that “a Catholic vote is free when the voter’s choice is influenced solely by a desire to bring God to the world not by the desires of his human patrons; it is informed when he is able to distinguish fact from fiction, just from unjust, good from evil. An informed vote is not swayed by the multimillion worth of strategies to paint a perfect picture over a rotten political leadership; it is evangelized when the voter uses the Gospel as moral standard and God’s love for all his children as the moral compass in making his choice”.

In concluding his Pastoral Letter, Archbishop Tirona stresses that, “by a Catholic Vote, Christ will reside in our lives and our society; and will protect those who cannot protect themselves. Our Catholic Vote is in the service of the poorest, the weakest and the least important. A Catholic Vote is faith actualized in love and service”.

It can truly be said therefore that the winds of change fanned by Pope Francis have reached our shores. So there is more reason now to greet each other a “HAPPY EASTER”.

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