We are called to love the other whom we did not know so that there would be peace in the world
My ideal gift this Christmas is for a ceasefire in all the wars going on in the world.
I pray for peace in all places in the world where people hate and kill each other.
I think of Ukraine, Myanmar, many places in Africa, and of course of Gaza.
In Gaza, 20,000 have died – more than half children, mostly innocent civilians.
Millions have been displaced, homes destroyed without food and water.
In talks I gave in Saint Louis University and in the University of the Philippines in Baguio City last November, I used the writings of Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, Emmanuel Levinas, and Edward Said to understand the Gaza war and its antecedents the Nakba and the Holocaust.
Marx helps us understand the sociological roots of this war, Freud gives us an insight into how trauma shapes individual and collective behavior, Levinas calls us to recognize the infinity of the other, and Said emphasizes the urgency of the task of decolonization, something we also have to do in the Philippines when we deal with our indigenous peoples and national minorities.
Most of all though, in my Baguio talks, it’s the message of Pope Francis in his encyclical Fratelli Tutti that resonated the most.
Pope Francis calls us to be good Samaritans. We are called to love the other whom we did not know. Political love and social friendship are good for society.
We may not know any Palestinian in Gaza or Israeli who was hostaged last Oct 7.
How many of us have met a Ukrainian or Russian soldier killed in that war that has now been going on for two years, or a Burmese indigenous person or urban activist fighting the brutal military of Myanmar?
Closer to home, we probably do not know the soldier and the rebels killed and wounded in Batangas early this week.
Who of us have met the families whose bodies of loved ones were desecrated after that encounter?
We are called to love the other whom we did not know so that there would be peace in the world. That would be a good Christmas gift.
Pope Francis did give many couples and families the best gift for Christmas.
In changing pastoral practice and allowing priests to bless same sex couples and couples in irregular relationships, I know dozens of families that have rejoiced because of this unexpected gift.
Among the many statements interpreting, rationalizing, or criticizing the Declaration titled “Fiducia Supplicans,” the guidance provided by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines through its President, Caloocan Bishop Ambo David, is the most faithful and compassionate.
According to the CBCP, “The document speaks for itself, and therefore does not require much explanation.”
It also quotes Pope Francis who “urged us not to close pastoral charity, which should permeate all our decisions and attitudes and to avoid being judges who only deny, reject, and exclude . . ,when people ask for a blessing, an exhaustive moral analysis should not be placed as a precondition for conferring it. For, those seeking a blessing should not be required to have prior moral perfection.”
On a personal note, my family and I got the best Christmas gift in news we received this week. Because of a growth in my thyroid, I had to undergo a biopsy last week.
When my doctor, a close friend, asked me if I wanted to know the results right away – before Christmas – or did I want to wait until New Year, I said it would be good to know right away.
Either way, good health or more sickness was going to be a gift.
I will be called to conversion in different ways, and I would welcome that.
My getting diagnosed of prostate cancer in 2022 and my mental health collapse in the first half of this year have been gifts that have not stopped giving even now.
The good news is that the biopsy result is good, and I am negative for thyroid cancer. Thanks be to God!
I am still available for whatever missions the Lord will send me to in the coming year.
Have a joyful Christmas everyone! May you receive your best Christmas gift!
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