Father, forgive the trapos for they know what they are doing

For Lent, we should reflect on the Seven Last Words of Jesus. In Luke, Chapter 23, Verse 34, while being crucified, asked God; "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do." This writer has been chosen to give the fifth of the seven last words in the centuries-old San Agustin Church this Good Friday.

This column is addressed to all politicians who should ask forgiveness for their travesties. They fool the people, make outlandish promises, and make claims of accomplishments done by career personnel in government. They bloat figures and create fake news to portray themselves as high-performing officials. Many congressmen claim authorship of laws when they merely hurriedly affixed their signatures in laws created by others.

This is dedicated to politicians who use public funds of 4P's, Tupad, Akap, AICS, and other public money to "buy" votes, and election officials who favor moneyed and influential candidates and who decide election cases with partiality.

We can understand why Jesus asked for God's forgiveness. What we cannot comprehend are: who are the "them" he was referring to, and why did he say that these erring people didn’t know what they were doing.

To my mind, the "them" are the following: men like Caiaphas, Annas, Pilate, and other powerful men, who represent the ruling class today, who are governing nations as if they have divine rights, and who exercise authority with limitless abuses and total lack of basic respect for the fundamental rights of their people.

The "them" that Jesus wanted God to forgive are close friends and trusted allies who abandoned the cause at the most crucial time. These refer to Simon Peter, the leader of the apostles who disowned him three times. These refer to James, Matthew, Andrew, and the rest who hid when Jesus was arrested. Above all, these also refer to Judas Iscariot who sold Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.

This group includes the corrupt men and women in power. In today's context, this includes senators and congressmen who betray public trust by manipulating public funds and tinkering with the budget and transforming ayuda into money to buy votes, high officials who pocket confidential funds and make a mockery in the liquidation of cash advances and judges who sell the TROs and injunctions, who demand or accept millions in exchange for acquittals and dismissals.

The "them" also refer to the scribes and Pharisees, self-righteous religious leaders, who tell their religious followers to follow what they preach but not what they actually do. They malverse church funds, divert religious contributions to personal vices and lifestyles. There are pastors and priests who molest boys and girls and traffic young people and force them to beg in the streets to fund their luxuries and caprices.

"Them" also refers to "balimbings", the people of Jerusalem who hailed the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday only to shout "crucify him" on Good Friday. Today, we have administration officials who used to worship the former president. Now that he is down and out, they are singing alleluia to the new king.

The next question is: did these people really not know what they were or are still doing? I don’t think so. My discernment is that Jesus meant that they knew what they did but they didn’t realize the far-reaching consequences of their actions. All of us are guilty of this. We know the sins we are committing every day. We do so with full knowledge, with total freedom, voluntariness, and with full consent of the will. But we don’t reflect on the possible effects and outcomes.

May the Lord forgive the traditional politicians who are the principal reasons why our country has too many poor people, why there is unabated corruption, why millions are homeless, jobless, and hopeless. May the Lord forgive those in power who are coming again to buy votes, use public funds to bribe voters, and continue with their endless deception of voters.

And we, who are silent and uncaring, we who chose to close our eyes, in the midst of all these atrocious abuses, we are equally guilty. Evil is winning because we opt to do nothing.

For these reasons, Jesus is correct. We really need God's forgiveness. Not because we are entitled to pardon. No one is deserving of forgiveness. It isn’t by our own merit that we may be forgiven but because of the grace and mercy of God.