FAITH SHOUTS!
The
Americans removed the icon of the tablets of the Ten Commandments in
their Supreme Court, and they say that is part of being politically
correct. They dispensed with prayers in the classrooms to show respect
for other people’s religion. In the heat of the Philippine debate on the
Reproductive Health Bill, a congresswoman from Iloilo who sponsored the
bill openly declared that she was not a Catholic and then said that
Catholics should just allow the passage of the bill which is agreeable
to others. Elsewhere, we allow Muslims and clerics of other sects to
join in invocations.We say this is part of what Vatican Council II
preached as “Ecumenism.”
I
hate all these! Respect is good, but I believe that the practice of
such virtue must be “mutual” as regards the person’s religion and faith.
For me to respect your expression of faith, you must also respect my
expression of my own faith. Without mutual respect, any effort to mute a
person’s own faith is injustice, coercion and harassment. Moderation in
faith is suicide and a betrayal of one’s heart and mind.
We,
Catholics, are too tame, gentle and soft spoken in the name of “I do
not know what.” We allow civil society, tricky politicians and the
secular media to bully us out of legitimate discussions. We should learn
from the example of the blind man in our Gospel today. He was blessed
because he did not obey the cruel crowd who wanted him to simply shut
up. On the contrary, he shouted out his faith even louder, “Jesus, Son
of David, have mercy on me!”
The
Christian faith is to be lived, shared, proclaimed and defended even at
the cost of the shedding of blood. Some have been dedicated to a clear
formulation of our Credo that needs to be affirmed and re-affirmed by
all in prayer. Also, the Church has always held in the highest level of
liturgical memory the Apostles who taught and built up the Christian
faith, and the martyrs who willingly and boldly witnessed to the Gospel
values even in the face of adversities. Fr. Domie Guzman, SSP
REFLECTION QUESTIONS: Have
you done your part of shouting out the Christian faith in situations
when your public expression of faith is crucial? When and how did you do
this? What about our Christian faith and doctrine are you most emphatic
of? Why?
Lord, give me the courage and wisdom to proclaim my faith in You.
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