October 25, 2020* 21st Sunday after Pentecost*Responding to God and Neighbor

                        Fr. Delfo Canceran,OP

Psalm 18:2-4, 47, 51

Exodus 22:20-26

1Thessalonians 1:5-10

Matthew 22:34-40

In several times, Jesus was tested by the authorities. Perhaps, these authorities thought that they knew a lot and they wanted to test Jesus if he knew what they knew. They wanted to measure the knowledge of Jesus on the scriptures and they made themselves as the standard of measuring knowledge.

Jesus must have challenged them  and so they chased him. They wanted to follow up and continue the testing. Perhaps they were embarrassed because Jesus answered their question well and in effect silenced them. They could not accept embarrassment and defeat  and so they persisted in testing Jesus. They wanted to discredit Jesus. That evil thought motivates them in those tests. 

A legal scholar asked the question: Which commandment in the law is the greatest? Jesus answered: You shall love God wholly and you shall love your neighbor as yourself. The passage ended here. The scholar did not pursue or follow up his question at least for clarification of the statements of Jesus. Grammatically, the “shall” does not only mean futurity but commandment. One is commanded to love God and neighbor. It commanded undivided love to God and equivalent love to neighbor.

We are told that God is love and that love is manifested in compassion just like the Lukan version of the Good Samaritan. In the Lukan version, it was the scholar who answered the question of Jesus on the scriptural basis of entrance in the eternal life. The Lukan version  shifted from the focus on God to the focus on the neighbor. In the story of Jesus, the neighbor is a relationship between the victim and the responder. The victim calls me or appeals to me for mercy.      

God and neighbor are infinite Others and my love in return to God and my response to the victim are always inadequate and unsatisfactory. I cannot forever equate myself  to God and neighbor. I am always catching up and my return to God and response to the neighbor are always wanting or lacking. I am not the standard in measuring the adequate love and response. It is the Other who will say: It is enough. There is always an unbridgeable gap between God and myself, between my neighbor and myself. 

I desire to love God but I cannot catch up with God. God summons me to move and live the gospels. The victims remind me of the crucified Jesus who calls me to respond to the crucified people of God. But the victims needing responses multiply all the more. With this pandemic, many people have suffered of hunger, joblessness, disease, human rights violation, discrimination and prejudice. Where will I go, Whom will I respond?    

There is the desire to satisfy the infinite God and the neighbor. It is a desire that extends and stretches myself to reach out the Others – my God and my neighbor. But I know and feel that I will never satisfy the Others. But that desire moves me to get out of myself and to follow the path of the Others. There is always the love and compassion that summon me to respond to the Others without filling them fully or arriving finally to the end. It is a perpetual call and a perpetual desire.##

October 18, 2020, 20th Sunday after Pentecost*IMAGES. INSCRIPTIONS. POSSESSIONS

Jimarie Snap Talingdan Mabanta, Iglesia Filipina Independiente

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Render_unto_Caesar

Psalm 96:1, 3-5, 7-10

Isaiah 45:1, 4-6

1Thessalonians 1:1-5

Matthew 22:15-21

¹⁵ Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. ¹⁶ They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are.¹⁷ Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax^[a] to Caesar or not?”

¹⁸ But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? ¹⁹ Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, ²⁰ and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”

²¹ “Caesar’s,” they replied.

Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”

Taxation is the lifeblood of the economy. It is the main source of every state to fund projects and services to improve the lives of their citizens. Taxation, and taxes per se, is not bad. But historically, dating back from the Philippine colonial past, taxation has been used to further subjugate and control people. The tributo imposed during the Spanish time was forcibly collected from the majority poor Filipinos as their sign of subjugation to the Spanish King. This system was continued by the succeeding colonizers thereafter.

It is not right nor appropriate for the Roman rulers to inscribe their faces on the denarius to mark their possession. How is it different from the Spaniards who demanded tributes (a part of the people’s produce) from the people just to express allegiance to the King?

This culture of deep sense of subservient gratitude, indebtedness and servility has deeply been ingrained in our consciousness. Every time government officials implement public projects (pabahay, farm-to-market roads, construction projects, direct services to the poor), we feel so obligated to express gratitude albeit indebtedness (‘utang na loob’). To put things in perspective, isn’t it through our taxes that these projects are mainly implemented? Aside from people’s taxes, the government also get revenues from the earnings taken from  the country’s natural resources. Those natural resources are not private resources but collective assets of  Filipinos. These are public wealth. The people’s funds in the nation’s coffer  are  not the politicians’ but of public. I find it anomalous therefore to see tarpaulins posted by the road side, even bigger than the constructed projects, to pay tribute to the officials who carried out these projects. The long-ruling political dynasties have capitalized on this culture of patronage politics to stay in power for decades.

Friends, we do not need to feel indebted to public officials who gave us food packs at the height of the Enhanced Community Quarantine (my 80-something year-old  lola was asked to queue in our barangay covered court to get food pack, for heaven’s sake! Could they not create a system that is humane and caring ). We do not need to feel indebted to our public officials when  enrolling or enlisting our children for scholarship programs, for giving us livelihood, building gigantic physical infrastructures, or improving transport system. We can be grateful for a rightful implementation of public projects, why not. But let us remember this, when we pay our taxes, we are doing our duty as citizens. It is an obligation of the state to render the services to people – education health, infrastructures , and other social and  economic services. We entrust to the leaders our taxes in the hope that the government will manage this with honesty and accountability. This is not, and will never be a tribute to them, or a sign of our allegiance to them.

The “ano ang ambag mo?” rhetoric being proliferated in social media platforms by the people bashing those who raise legitimate demands to government is also bothering me.  Have we become truly blind or desensitized of what we, the people, should rightfully receive? Opting to argue with this question is rather choosing to glorify the little thing the government can give to the public, while dismissing the legitimate assertion of those who are neglected. It would be insensitive to ask this question to those who go through the experience of long queues at train stations every morning, and will have to be in an inhumane, awkward  situation of  almost-swaping -of-faces-to-another inside the trains. We cannot simply ask ‘ano ang ambag mo’ to the OFWs stuck in quarantine facilities. We cannot ask the question to the hungry residents of North Triangle who needed to stage a flash protest to assert their right to receive food assistance during the ECQ. I can mention more, but my point is, we cannot uncritically throw this question, when their suffering is a result of a poor, corrupted management of the public funds by the government officials. Truth told, the people have faithfully did their “ambag” already, it is time for the government to return back  what  we have entrusted them like our taxes and not to mention our  long- patience.

Now I am reminded of Baby River Emmanuelle, daughter of jailed urban poor organizer Reina Nasino. Reina carried Baby River in her womb while in jail. She was charged with trumped up charges as her name was not in the warrant of arrest when the police raided their office. Some say that she was just in a wrong place at a wrong time. That trivializes the issue. It is a state practice  to harass and arbitrarily detain persons and slap them with trumped up charges; it is simply human rights violation. And so she gave birth to Baby River while in detention. But after barely few weeks, the court ordered their separation. Baby River has to live with her lola while he mother  Reina is  at the detention. One reason given is that the detention does not have a facility for the required exclusive breastfeeding. Note that Reina was never checked up during the duration of her pregnancy. On her third month, Baby River was rushed to the hospital because of pneumonia. Not long after, the baby died without seeing her mama. River’s death opened the issue not only of the unjust and illegal detention of political activists, but also the budget allocated to jail so that people deprived of liberty are still accorded with rightful services while in detention. I invite you to ask deeply then, why did Baby River die?

The denarius shown to Jesus in the text bear the image of Cesar marking his rule, territory and possession. But this is a marking of a ruler who wanted to dominate over, just as how our leaders mark their projects as if it came from their own pockets. Emperor Ceasar believed in the Roman myth that it is his divine right to receive tribute, as a form of worship to him. The Emperor believed himself as god. This myth circulated and propagated in the Roman world. The taxes symbolically function as a gesture of submission to the divine, supposedly for their protection, an ancient belief that gods cause harm to those uncovered by the imperial god. But just as how we own the public money today, the denarius was from people’s money. In that sense, Cesar did not really own anything – just as how our leaders own nothing from the people’s money. When Jesus said ‘give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s,and to God what is God’s”, he was actually saying that God Yahweh, the Israelites’ God who saved from Egypt’s subjugation, owns everything (remember the creation story), and that means that the Roman Empire or Emperor Cesar owns nothing without them. Jesus’ reply ““So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s,and to God what is God’s.” is  a subtle radical announcement of the moral bankruptcy of the Roman empire in opposition to the Kingdom of God. The message alludes to the place and time when the Israelites has no other gods but their own Yahweh. It is inciting a blood rush of distinct peoplehood in a situation they are forced to be assimilated in the Roman empire.  Jesus is reminding them subtly that they are a people who does not have to be bowing in any other god but Yahweh.

Again, paying taxes is not bad. It is every citizen’s duty. However when , taxes are enforced to exploit and abuse the already over-burdened poor , taxes become an immoral tool of exploitation.  The situation becomes abusive when taxes are used as a source of power play of the Cesars” – to command allegiance and support from the people. This bureaucratic depravity is an erosion of moral ascendancy. Cesar had nothing to possess, and so our government today. We entrust to the government the management with honesty and accountability, and when it is not delivered through genuine economic and social services, it is rightful and just for the people to claim the much needed services and demand accountability over the betrayal of public trust.##

The Parable of the Wedding Banquet

October 11, 2020, 19th Sunday after Pentecost        

Psalm 23:1-6, Isaiah 25:6-10, Philippians 4:12-14, 19-20, Matthew 22:1-14

By Pastor Hazel Salatan, UTS

Filipinos are fascinated with huge community gatherings such as fiestas, birthdays, christenings, and weddings. These are rare moments when families and friends reunite to celebrate victories or milestones, reminisce stories of the past, and create new memories. We love to be together. Surely, most of us want to be with our loved ones. However, COVID-19 has robbed us of these opportunities this year. For a culture that gives worth to family and community ties, this saddens us. 

This culture also manifests itself through how President Duterte is being painted as the “Tatay” (father) figure of the nation. The people are compelled to cooperate and be obedient, supposedly for the betterment of every Filipino family. However, this falls in the guise of Quarantine Protocols which have been unmasked as deception. Human rights advocates, farmers, indigenous people, and the poor are killed every day by the State; red-tagging is being normalized among these sectors; freedom of speech and freedom to assemble peacefully are sanctioned. In this time of pandemic, we also witnessed how frontline workers risk their lives for the sake of others;  how farmers continually produce food for every family; how teachers sacrifice their own resources for education; and how workers are struggle to provide for our economy yet they are always critiqued, neglected, discriminated, and oppressed. These are just some of the scenarios how martial law is defined and experienced by people during the Marcos regime. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has further exposed a corrupt system and culture. The pandemic did not break the system, for the system was already broken. The masses have been suffering way before the pandemic. And it has been intensifying each day. Killings became “the new normal” — punishment to the least, the last, and the lost. These realities challenge us to unite in advocacies, to stand for truth, to work for peace based on justice, and to call for good governance. However, when we are identified as part of these movements for genuine transformation, we become suspects ourselves or branded as enemies of the state. 

The King in the Parable of the Wedding Banquet burned down a whole city and killed many people because they turned down his invitation. Only the rich, the propertied, the privileged, and the powerful can throw tantrums and tyrannical fits. Look at what happened to ABS-CBN. Look at the continued harassment and threats against peoples and movements calling for transparency in government. Look at all the Lumad communities and schools that have been bombed and burned to the ground… The King in the parable throws a tantrum-tyrannical attacks, while his loyal minions destroy a city and murder those who have offended him.  

The king acts like a king. He is rich, powerful and can host banquets for the people. But he is shamed despite his richness and power. He is shamed again when a man from the street attends the wedding without a robe. So, he went on a killing and burning spree. Does this sound familiar? 

My friends, the king in the parable is not God. The Kingdom of God is not like this. Wedding feasts in the Kingdom of God are not like this, as well. The Kingdom of God has food available for every table, where every person is welcomed to eat. The Kingdom of God has its doors open for everyone to move freely. 

The King in the parable acted like a Tatay, who is compelling everyone in. But his true colors were revealed when something or someone did not sit well with his interests. And each of us is called and challenged to come together to make sure that his tantrums end, that he is made accountable for all the deaths and destruction he and his minions have brought, and that his reign ends, while making sure that no more tyrannical kings will follow after.

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October 4, 2020*18th Sunday after Pentecost*The Good Farmers

Ms. Hannah Santillan, (UMYF)Kalipunan ng Kristianong Kabataan

Ps 80:9, 12-16, 19-20
Isaiah 5:1-7
Philippians 4:6-9
Matt 21:33-43

A landowner defines its territory by legal papers, by building “territorial walls” and having armed guards or private armies. He makes an offer to the locals to till the land and produce fruits. He waits until the land will be productive and collects excessive profit from the people who do the actual work. This is not about the parable; this is what’s happening in the Philippines.

In Matthew 21:33-43 we tend to read the parable with God as the landowner, the prophets are the servants who killed by the farmers, and Jesus Christ is the son of the landowner. If we read it again, and challenge our long-time allegory, we see that Jesus was using parables as a means to challenge the status quo. In verse 45, the chief priest and the pharisees were affected by it.

During the time of Jesus the Roman Empire dominated the socio-economic affairs of Jews. The chief priest and pharisees see themselves as powerful figures that has capability to own properties. When Jesus was telling the parable, he asks the people around him, “when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” We can observe that it is easy for the pharisees to answer based on their capabilities – pass the judgement of death to the tenants and gain benefit to other tenants. But Jesus said, “the very stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the cornerstone” followed by “the land will be given to those people who will produce its fruit”. We can say, either the rejected stone was Jesus Christ or, it could be the people who were rejected by system will become the cornerstone or foundation of a totally new structure. Jesus was so wise and dauntless, right?

In our times, even we have millions of human resources and natural resources in agriculture- the productivity of agriculture is shrinking. What do these phenomena really mean? Do services really reflect the needs of agriculture? Senator Cynthia Villar recently said that the rice farmers are not competitive relative to rice farmers in Vietnam and Thailand It is very unfair and insensitive for an incumbent chairperson of Senate Committee on Agriculture to simply put the blame to the farmers. There is so much heavy toil to the farmers with the context of landlessness in the country, land grabbing from big corporations and landlords, inept agricultural facilities, expensive seeds and fertilizer and lack of support from the government- and the gaping inequality that has been happening for years. To add to that, we have a gruesome history of the state killing our farmers, the very people that have kept the land fertile, and have been feeding our people. I think, nowadays, it is really crystal clear to us that our economy is not geared towards a caring economy for the farmers, The Philippines is an agricultural country, and that is a gift that is tied with the land and to those who till the land, and yet the most poor and destitute sector are the farmers. Like the tenants in our reading, the farmers were systematically robbed of land and harvest. The non-repentant landowners that possesses property without working for its fruit, doesn’t contribute to the development of the land.

If we look at our parable from the lens of big land lords, it is easy to say that the farmers are wicked and ungrateful, and the landowner who doesn’t work for the land deserves mercy. But the God that I know is not passive. The God I know is here. God is working among us. He cries with us. He comforts us. He never abandons his creation. The God I know works with the farmers who work hard to keep land fertile and productive. God is with them during planting season, during harvest time, and celebrates with them, and blesses them every time the land produces a sprout, a fruit, a produce so that life may be shared, and others may live. We should thank our farmers for that.

Jesus said in verse 43 “Therefore I tell you that the kin(g)dom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.” And the kingdom of God is a place where people work for what they need and exploit no one. May this parable remind us that the excessive wealth of the few spells death to many. The cornerstone of the society of what Jesus’ was saying was from the “rejected”. It is built from the very people who work long and hard hours, and yet was deprived of land. Also those people who are robbed of humane job, social services education, for a life with dignity and peace by big land owners and capitalists.
May this text remind us and remold us see the radical teachings of Jesus, that the people in the margins, those who work hard, till the land and build nations and feed the people– our farmers and workers, are not only the cornerstone of our society but are the very backbone of every nation. And that the kingdom of heaven belongs to those who toil.

May the Holy Spirit disturb us all! Amen.##