Not Peace but Division
The Gospel today contains one of my favorite quotes from Jesus: “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing! There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.”
He saw it clearly so long ago that revolutionary change was going to hurt and divide and make people squirm. He wasn’t after compromise and he wasn’t about to bend to any special interests. His heart was burning with zeal to change the world that even then had become rotten and corrupt. Is it part of our human fate to relentlessly fight injustice and suffering? Maybe so but our true calling is to stay in the fight.
We have this tendency in our country to play nice and remain civil even to those who flagrantly disrespect the rights of other people. We are quick to forgive and we find it distasteful to mete out punishment. Take for example this Marcos crony who made a lot of money from commissions resulting in the construction of the Nuclear Plant that never produced a single watt of electricity. When Marcos got deposed, he fled to Austria and bought a title and a castle. He is now back and openly perambulates around the country with no shame whatsoever. His well paid lawyers are successfully cleaning his sordid record.
Considering millions of children received substandard education and became malnourished from the $2.8 billion we paid for this worthless nuclear plant, I don’t think it would be considered overreacting if we shaved this Count’s head and paraded him all over. We should collectively turn our backs against these individuals.
The day has come for division. It’s not whether you’re for Erap or for GMA. It’s whether we will allow immoral public officials to continue overstaying, career politicians with nothing but their self-serving motives. Should we continue to support this same cast of characters who proclaim themselves as our tribunes but who have utterly failed to unite our nation into fulfilling its glorious promise?
Tama na. Kung nais nating isulong ang laban ng Sambayanang Pilipinas ay handa dapat tayong lumaban at sumigaw at mag-wala sa lahat ng katarantaduhan at katiwaliang nagaganap sa ating Bayan.
4 comments:
Dear Brothers and Sisters!
There is an expression of Jesus' in this Sunday's Gospel that always draws our attention and which needs to be properly understood. As he is on his way to Jerusalem, where death on the cross awaits him, Christ confides in his disciples: "Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division."
And he adds: "From now on a household of five will be divided, three against two and two against three; a father will be divided against his son and a son against his father, a mother against her daughter and a daughter against her mother, a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law" (Luke 12:51-53).
Whoever knows the least amount about the Gospel of Christ knows that it is the message of peace par excellence; Jesus himself, as St. Paul writes, "is our peace" (Ephesians 2:14); he died and rose from the dead to break down the wall of enmity and inaugurated the Kingdom of God, which is love, joy, and peace.
How, then, are we to explain these words of his? To what is the Lord referring when he says that he has come to bring -- according to St. Luke's redaction -- "division," or -- according to St. Matthew's -- the "sword" (Matthew 10:34)?
Christ's expression means the peace that he came to bring is not synonymous with the simple absence of conflict. On the contrary, the peace of Jesus is the fruit of a constant struggle against evil. The battle that Jesus has decided to fight is not against men or human powers but against the enemy of God and man, Satan.
Those who desire to resist this enemy, remaining faithful to God and the good, must necessarily deal with misunderstandings and sometimes very real persecution. Thus, those who intend to follow Jesus and commit themselves without compromises to the truth must know that they will face opposition and will become, despite themselves, a sign of division among persons, even within their own families.
Love of one's parents is indeed a sacred commandment, but for it to be lived authentically it cannot be set in opposition to the love of God and Christ. In such a way, in the footsteps of the Lord Jesus, Christians must become "instruments of his peace," according to the celebrated expression of St. Francis of Assisi. This is not an inconsistent and superficial peace but a real one, pursued with courage and tenacity in the daily commitment to defeat evil with good (cf. Romans 12:21), paying in person the price that this carries with it.
The Virgin Mary, Queen of Peace, shared the struggle of her son Jesus against the evil one, to the point of spiritual martyrdom, and she continues to share this struggle until the end of time. Let us invoke her maternal intercession, that she may help us always to be faithful witnesses to Christ's peace, never giving in to compromises with evil.
I confess that I have no idea who this count is but if he did what you claim then he does deserve to suffer for his greed. Its admirable that you 've decided to stay in our country knowing all its faults and despite its pitiful state. I too strive to make a difference in my own way. More power to you
His name is Count Herminio Disini.
...Annonymous II......I have read on the PCGG, the commsion created by Pres. Cory Aquino as her Presidential Decree No.1.to let justice upon the crooks who plundered the land. To this day not one crony has ever tasted jail time...to be fair to Count Disini, he was the more honest of the many many cronies of Marcos and Imelda...
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