Come down!

REMEMBER the story about a mentally deranged man who climbed up a tree and refused to go down? A crowd gathered, urging him to go down. No amount of pressure or gentle persuasion could make him go down. Rallies were organized, threats were made, but still he would not go down. Finally, a priest was called in. He just looked at the man straight into his eyes and gave a blessing. Immediately the crazy man went down. There was jubilation in the crowd.
When asked why he went down, the crazy man said: "Even if the priest did not say a word, I understood what he meant. When I saw him do a vertical up-down movement with his hand, he meant to tell me 'you better come down.' And when he did a left-right horizontal movement with his hand, he meant 'I'm cutting down the tree!'"

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In today's Gospel (Mt. 13, 1-23) Jesus warns us about really seeing and understanding; Gross is the heart of this people: "They look but do not see, and hear but do not listen" or understand. During these difficult and uncertain times in our country, let us all pray for real discernment and understanding that we may truly see, hear and understand. In moments like these, the worst kind of people are those who refuse to be open, honest and truthful, and do so even with arrogance and pride. But as it usually happens, pride comes before the fall. If only we knew how to be open and humble toward God and toward one another!

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There is a tendency to look at things from our own selfish point of view and forget God's point of view. Let us make sure that whatever stand we take is not motivated by our own selfish agenda, interest or personal advantage. In the end, we should really try to see what is according to God's will, and what is for the common good. And through it all, let us stand for truth and righteousness. After all these years, we still have not learned as a nation that crime does not pay. Someday, soon, may the culture of lies, corruption and graft disappear from our minds, our hearts, and may it be banished forever from our land.

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Let the parable of the sower be a lesson for the present and the future leaders in our land. The word of God (the seed) is sown in each one of us. Basically, every heart is good. Every person means well, but some hearts are just busy paths where God's word is given little value or importance. Some hearts are rocky grounds with little soil such that the Word of God can't take root there and, thus, lasts only for a time. Such hearts give up as soon as trials, temptations and tribulations come. Then there are hearts that fall on good grounds but there, they get choked by the thorns of worldly anxiety, and lure of riches, and so they bear no fruit. And finally there are the good hearts who hear the word of God, understand it, and bear fruit and yield a hundred, or sixty or thirtyfold. May God give us leaders who really listen to the word of God, understand it, hold on to it, and bear fruit. And this is urgent, because our people are going hungry!

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President Macapagal-Arroyo missed a beautiful opportunity to sacrifice for the good of the country when she announced that she was not resigning from office. Too bad, she keeps on listening to her so-called (but selfish) friends and advisers instead of listening to God and to His people. Actually, she had a previous opportunity for greatness when she announced that she was not running anymore for the presidency in 2004. But she took back her words. "Lapse of judgment"? May we all learn to let go and to let God, to come down and not be forced to come down.

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Going back to our opening story, two things must be underlined: The priest was with the crowd, and the priest gave a blessing. The Church must learn from the recent events in our country. We were not lacking in leading and urging our people to pray, but were we there with the crowd to really listen to them, guide them, speak for them? Granting that we did, did we do it enough? And did we do it soon enough? The Church cannot bear much fruit if we do not sow deep into the hearts of the poorest of the poor. We must come down from our pedestals and holier-than-thou or more enlightened-than-thou attitudes and circle of friends.

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SAD. MAD. GLAD. Sad that we and our country have to come again to such a crossroad. Like it or not, this affects our economy and our people. Mad. I'm mad and even disgusted to see many opportunists and traitors who do not have any principle or idealism and take advantage of the situation for their own good. I'm also mad that many of those who risked life and limb and who really fought for the truth will soon be forgotten, while the fence-sitters and the chameleons will be rewarded. Glad. Yes, I'm glad that there is hope, there is a fresh start and there are new beginnings. Glad that no matter how slow, goodness still triumphs in our land.

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A moment with the Lord:

Lord, teach us to come down from our pedestals and comfort zones so that we can truly serve and love. Amen.