Faith and Bayan Webinar

September 24, 2020

Is faith always intimately tied to the nation? The historical fact is that the relationship of faith to the modern concept of “nation” was not always thought to be a legitimate question by the majority of evangelical Christians after the Second World War. In the Philippines, for example, most evangelicals did not raise such a question at all, even though by the late 1990s the term “bayan” was popularized in a charismatic evangelical TV program. Prior to this, it is interesting that some nationalist-oriented groups have already claimed, at least since the 1970s, that the concept of “bayan” strikes a deeper chord in the psyche of the Filipino, than the foreign concept of “nation”.Nevertheless, given the above claim concerning the deeper cultural register of “bayan”, it is striking that very little theological reflection has been done by evangelicals on the relation of their faith to their “bayan”. This is generally true in both the evangelical seminaries and churches in the Philippines. As one observer puts it: “Do Christians sincerely believe that in prioritizing the concerns of church multiplication, such an approach will automatically solve the problems of their bayan?” And this, to say the least, may initially frame the problematic evangelical view on “faith and bayan”.In response to this, we are happy to announce that a group of evangelical scholars and practitioners have come together precisely to tackle the multidimensional theme of “faith and bayan”. We therefore invite the public to join us in this series of webinars, as our presenters respond to some of the key theological questions and social issues raised in relation to our central theme. We hope that this will spark a sustained conversation, not only among evangelicals, but also among our kababayans.Join us, every Monday of October and November, at 7:30 PM as we come together in conversation to talk about this important issue. We will stream live on the following pages:
Faith and Bayan
KapeTheo
TruthorDare
LAPIS
CrossCurrents Philippines
Bawat Isa Mahalaga
Coalition for Justice

One Voice Youth Forum: “Choose life and dignity for every Filipino”

One Faith, One Nation, One Voice
September 30, 2020

October 3, 2020, Saturday | 10:00AM – 12:00NN via Zoom and FB Live

In his 5th State of the Nation Address (SONA) President Rodrigo Duterte asked Congress to reinstate the Death Penalty for violators of the Anti-drug law. Following the events in the President’s Anti-Drug war, his promotion of the death penalty is still anti-poor which will only add to the pile of extrajudicial deaths in the Philippines and continued total disregard for civil rights and human lives.

In this youth-led forum, we will take a closer look of legality and ethical aspect of death penalty. As believers in the redeeming love of Christ, we must continue to bear witness to Christ’s promise of abundant life manifested in justice and peace. Now is a time for the Christian faithful to deepen our resolve to choose life, to uphold life.  In the face of a looming effort to reinstitute capital punishment in the Philippines, it is urgent for us to make known our call for the strengthening of justice system toward rehabilitation and restoration of persons.  We seek redemption and restorative processes, rather than an intensification of a culture of retribution, violence and death in our society.

Closing of the Year of the Word of God

Pastoral Message
Closing of the Year of the Word of God
September 30, 2020

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.”
(John 14:1). These were the words of Jesus Christ to assure His disciples that God would be on their side, even in the darkest days of their lives. Now that we are currently facing the pandemic caused by CoVid-19, God assures us that He will never abandon us. We should not be in despair because we firmly believe that God will restore all things in Christ in due time.

As we face the CoVid-19 pandemic, it is timely that our Church dedicates this year 2020 to be the “Year of the Word of God” from the First Sunday of Advent (December 1, 2019) until the feast of St. Jerome (September 30, 2020). This year commemorates the 1600th Death Anniversary of St. Jerome who translated the Scriptures into Latin which made the Word of God understandable to ordinary people. In this spirit, we are challenged to renew our efforts to actively listen to the Word of God and be inspired by it in carrying out our mission as members of the Church. With this, I invite all the dioceses, parishes, religious congregations, parochial and catholic schools, lay associations and religious movements to engage the faithful in appreciating the Word of God. Now is the best time to let the people experience and witness the love of Jesus Christ by spreading His words and deeds to all.

We are not only experiencing the horror of CoVid-19 pandemic but also the danger of the pandemic of deception and falsehood in our society. There is now a big challenge for all of us to be vigilant in discerning the genuine truth in our words and deeds. The written Word of God can definitely aid every person in refuting all the errors which the society falsely believes. And this falsehood, unfortunately, we have noticed with great dismay how it has, very subtly, distorted our way of looking at the world and corrupted our way of responding to the challenges that confront us today. St. Paul says, “All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)” Instead of spreading negative thoughts and depraved reactions, we are challenged to share the Word of God especially to the hopeless and the needy in this time of the pandemic. Instead of deceiving others, we should persistently proclaim the truth of God’s love for all of us.

We are also in the middle of the pandemic of indifference and selfishness. Because of the need for social distancing, we might distance ourselves from the people who desperately need our love and help. This pandemic should not make us indifferent and selfish. Rather, we should be inspired all the more to live out the gospel of love proclaimed by our Lord Jesus Christ through our words and actions. St. Paul says, “so we, though many, are one body in Christ and individually parts of one another.” (Romans 12:5) We are part of one another, even if we are apart from each other. With this, let us invite one another to listen together to the Word of God to have a shared experience of God’s love. When we see things together through the Word of God, we will know how to express our love for one another through our actions. When we live together in the Word of God, we shall become a beacon of unity for all men and women especially during this pandemic.

With joy and gratitude in our hearts we pray that through the intercession of St. Jerome, whose feast we celebrate today, we too may be filled with fervor to translate the Word of God into deeds of compassion that will engage us all in the work for true justice and peace in our world.

Finally, Pope Francis, in his homily during the Sunday of the Word of God last January 26, 2020, he reminded us with these words, “God came to visit us in person, by becoming man. He did not embrace our human condition out of duty, no, but out of love.” As parts of the Body of Christ, similarly, we need to embrace one another with the love of Jesus Christ. The Word of God working in us is our constant assurance that our God will never abandon us.

Pope’s address to the United Nations

75th Session of the United Nations General Assembly

By Pope Francis
September 25, 2020

Mr. President,

Peace be with all of you!

I offer cordial greetings to you, Mr President, and to all the Delegations taking part in this significant Seventy-fifth Session of the United Nations’ General Assembly. In particular, I greet the Secretary General, Mr António Guterres, the participating Heads of State and Government, and all those who are following the General Debate.

The seventy-fifth anniversary of the United Nations offers me a fitting occasion to express once again the Holy See’s desire that this Organization increasingly serve as a sign of unity between States and an instrument of service to the entire human family.[1]

In these days, our world continues to be impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, which has led to the loss of so many lives. This crisis is changing our way of life, calling into question our economic, health and social systems, and exposing our human fragility.

The pandemic, indeed, calls us “to seize this time of trial as a time of choosing, a time to choose what matters and what passes away, a time to separate what is necessary from what is not”.[2] It can represent a concrete opportunity for conversion, for transformation, for rethinking our way of life and our economic and social systems, which are widening the gap between rich and poor based on an unjust distribution of resources. On the other hand, the pandemic can be the occasion for a “defensive retreat” into greater individualism and elitism.

We are faced, then, with a choice between two possible paths. One path leads to the consolidation of multilateralism as the expression of a renewed sense of global co-responsibility, a solidarity grounded in justice and the attainment of peace and unity within the human family, which is God’s plan for our world. The other path emphasizes self-sufficiency, nationalism, protectionism, individualism and isolation; it excludes the poor, the vulnerable and those dwelling on the peripheries of life. That path would certainly be detrimental to the whole community, causing self-inflicted wounds on everyone. It must not prevail.

The pandemic has highlighted the urgent need to promote public health and to make every person’s right to basic medical care a reality.[3] For this reason, I renew my appeal to political leaders and the private sector to spare no effort to ensure access to Covid-19 vaccines and to the essential technologies needed to care for the sick. If anyone should be given preference, let it be the poorest, the most vulnerable, those who so often experience discrimination because they have neither power nor economic resources.

The current crisis has also demonstrated that solidarity must not be an empty word or promise. It has also shown us the importance of avoiding every temptation to exceed our natural limits. “We have the freedom needed to limit and direct technology; we canput it at the service of another type of progress, one which is healthier, more human, more social, more integral”.[4] This also needs to be taken into careful consideration in discussions on the complex issue of artificial intelligence (AI).

Along these same lines, I think of the effects of the pandemic on employment, a sector already destabilized by a labour market driven by increasing uncertainty and widespread robotization. There is an urgent need to find new forms of work truly capable of fulfilling our human potential and affirming our dignity. In order to ensure dignified employment, there must be a change in the prevailing economic paradigm, which seeks only to expand companies’ profits. Offering jobs to more people should be one of the main objectives of every business, one of the criteria for the success of productive activity. Technological progress is valuable and necessary, provided that it serves to make people’s work more dignified and safe, less burdensome and stressful.

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Corruption and Spread of Covid-19

Fr. Shay Cullen
24 September 2020

There are many global threats facing the world today. The most serious in everybody’s mind is the coronavirus pandemic with 200,000 dead in the USA alone and spreading. It is a cause of shock and realization that we humans for all our economic, military and medical power is very weak and vulnerable to the invisible virus that has invaded our world, our communities, families and our bodies. Some nations have had success in controlling it; others have failed through incompetence and corruption.

Martha has a cheerful, happy-go-lucky personality, a healthy mother of four. On a recent Saturday evening, she forgot herself and went to a house party with friends to celebrate a birthday. She ignored precautions as did others and wrongly believed it wouldn’t touch her. But it did. By Friday, she was having strong coughing and fever symptoms and reactions and was rushed to the overcrowded hospital. There in painful convulsions, Martha struggled and gasped for breath, isolated from family, only the nurse, dressed in blue plastic, went to help her. It was no use, Martha quickly fell silent and died. It was her weak lungs, they said. Some underlying health condition, said another. No one really knows why she died so quickly. There was no time for an autopsy, not even a proper funeral. She was brought straight to the crematorium, leaving behind a weeping crying, traumatized family.

There are hundreds of thousands of people like Martha and more of them every day. A mistake took away her precious, beautiful, happy life and that of her family. But it is also the many mistakes of the politicians that have failed to act decisively in time to lead and instruct the people that Covid-19 is a dangerous deadly virus with the power to kill and maim. They fail to insist that everyone must wear masks, avoid contact with others, disinfect, wash their hands frequently since anyone may have the deadly killer virus.

It is spreading because many people ignore these precautions and corrupt, inadept and stupid failed leaders do not order and impose protective measures to save the vulnerable people and issue strong, consistent health warnings. They have failed to implement and insist on a national response to test and trace the infected people and isolate them. How else can this vicious virus that spreads like venom be contained? Those strong, respected leaders who did response to the attack of Covid-19 in a wiser, more scientific and disciplined and educated manner saved hundreds of thousands of their citizens, which is their sworn duty.   

In the nations with the highest death rates, it seems they have restricted the showing of videos of mass burials, lines of waiting coffins, full crematoriums, overcrowded hospitals, dying people and sick doctors and nurses. It is too shocking. Is it for some an effort to deny and cover up the real extent of their incompetence, criminal behaviour and lack of moral conscience all for the sake of retaining political power? Covid-19 is spreading and causing more sickness and death because of some selfish, pleasure-seeking and irresponsible people who flout precautions and care for no one other than themselves. In their ignorance, they demonstrate against the safety precautions no less.

It is our fervent hope and belief that the majority of humans are good, law-abiding people that care for others, protect them from Covid-19 and care for the public health and environment. They choose the good over evil. They act in a responsible way saving their own lives, their families and neighbours. The people who do believe and choose to do the good and practice the values of love of the stranger, of neighbour and work for justice, have a responsibility to share those values so that equality, peace and harmony can be a reality in society. We should actively persuade and convince the others to do likewise. Inactivity in the face of wrong is to allow it to grow and prosper.

It may seem like mission impossible to persuade the virus deniers and the climate sceptics of the truth of a pandemic and global warming. We have to challenge and call out the oppressors, corrupt leaders and politicians to do justice, respect the rights of all, to care and protect the public health and to serve humbly. To convince these people who live in darkness that it is a better life to be in the light and to bring happiness to people, not terror, oppression, pain, suffering, rights violations and death. It is a mission to persuade the ordinary people to always choose the good over evil.  It is a challenge for all to teach by good example, taking action for justice and accepting and living the truth that justice and goodness is the path to happiness for all. It is a great shining ideal, but will it ever come to be?

This is the goal we must work for. There is so much evil in the world that allows the virus to spread uncontrolled in many countries, mostly among the poor. We see much irresponsible selfish behaviour by some national leaders, bankers, industrialists, military, police and criminals. We know that abuse and evil persist because they with the power choose the evil and reject the good as they exercise their free will corruptly. The evil comes from making the wrong choice to crush and hurt others to retain political and economic power and to plunder the nation.  For them, the health and well-being of others is just a matter of lip-service, words without meaning, action without purpose, hypocrisy and skulduggery for selfish personal gain.  The great hope is that a society, a nation, will evolve with the beautiful values, principles, and compassion that motivate overwhelming good that is  the paramount driving force that brings happiness to all.

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