CHANGE
MANILA, JANUARY 1, 2012
(MALAYA) THE SHEPHERDS went in haste to Bethlehem and
found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. When they saw this,
they made known the message that had been told them about this child. All who
heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds.
And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. Then the
shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen,
just as it had been told them.
When eight days were completed for his circumcision, he was named Jesus, the
name given him by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
***
We have two important celebrations today. For the civil year, it is New
Year's Day. For the Church year, we have the Solemnity of Mary the Mother of
God. Let us try to connect these two celebrations.
The title "Mother of God" is the primary title of Mary. It spells out her
uniqueness. Mary is special because of her son. He is God! The affirmation of
Mary as Mother of God is first and foremost an affirmation of our faith that
Jesus is God. Jesus is a true human being, too! He is born of a woman, as St.
Paul wrote to the Galatians.
It is fitting that we start the new year thinking of a mother. Mothers are
always there at the beginning. It is because of the presence and care of mothers
that we began our lives.
So every year we, Catholics, look up to our Blessed Mother to ask for God's
blessings. We do not know what the year 2012 will bring us. Whoever thought last
January 1st of 2011 that that year would bring such great upheavals in the world
as to topple long-standing Muslim regimes in North Africa and threaten the
seeming stability of many Arab countries?
Will the year 2012 bring upheavals to the world? Will it bring great changes
in our personal lives? We do not know. We pray, though, that God be with us, or
rather that we be with God. We have heard in the First Reading the priestly
blessing that Moses told Aaron and sons should use in blessing the Israelites.
We pray that this same blessing be with us this year. So we invoke our Mother
Mary to intercede for us to our Father to bestow on us his blessing, his
graciousness, and his peace.
Mothers are there at the beginning of life not only to nurture us but also to
form us. Hence, habits taken from our mothers are hard to part with, such as the
foods we like or dislike, our toilet habits, our manner of speaking, etc. We are
told by the Church, therefore, at the start of the year, to look up to Mary in
order to learn from her.
There is nothing to fear in learning from Mary, for she is the sure way to
Jesus. We ask her to form and discipline us as she formed and disciplined Jesus.
We also take her as the best example in relating to Jesus, to others, and to
God.
From our short reading of the Nativity, what can we learn from Mary? In
relation to Jesus, Mary was present. She was there with Joseph beside the manger
when the shepherds found them. Mary was present to Jesus not only by the manger.
She was present to Jesus as he grew up. She was present in his ministry. She was
present by his cross at his death. She was present with his disciples when Jesus
sent on them the Holy Spirit.
Are we, too, present with Jesus in our life? Are we there where Jesus is?
Jesus said that a true disciple is present wherever the Master is found. Jesus
is in the community of believers. Are we there, in the gatherings of the Church?
Jesus is present when the Word of God is proclaimed. Are we there listening to
him? Jesus is present in the sacraments. Are we there, ready to receive him,
especially the sacraments of the Eucharist and of Reconciliation? Jesus is
present in the poor and the marginalized. Are we there, ministering to him?
Mary listened to the narrations of the shepherds and pondered these events in
her life. Mary's presence is not passive. It is an active presence, that is, a
silence that listens and discerns. Many things will happen during this year. Are
we ready, together with Mary, to listen to these happenings and to ponder in our
hearts what God will be telling us through various people? Shepherds did not
have any good social standing among the people at the time of Jesus.
They were marginalized because of their way of living, and they were poor.
Yet Mary listened to their stories and pondered over them. This year, God can be
using unexpected people and events to tell us something. At the beginning of the
new year, let us take Mary's readiness to listen to them.
At the time when the boy was circumcised according to Jewish customs, Mary
and Joseph named him Jesus, the name given by the angel. Mary was obedient to
God. She goes along God's plans. God, too, is active in our time and in our
personal lives. Are we obedient to his plans for us?
From Mary, then, we learn presence to Jesus , a listening attitude to people,
and obedience to God. We need these to guide us during this year of 2012.
***
– Bishop Broderick S. Pabillo, DD – (Jan. 1, 2012)
COLUMN
On climate change DUCKY PAREDES
'If the Lina Law had been faithfully implemented, would we have had over a
thousand dead from the floods of Sendong?'
JESUS said unto them, "A prophet is not without honor, save in his own
country, and in his own house." (Matthew 13:57)
Let those who claim to have foretold what Sendong hath wrought take solace in
those words. But, honestly, there was just no way that any one could have
prepared for what Sendong did.
Sure, for the last decade there has been talk of climate change but can
anyone blame us humans for not being prepared for it?
In the last 780,000 years, there have been nine long glacial episodes (Ice
Ages). During this time, the world turned from cold to warm to cold. Our present
global warming has been with us for 150,000 years now. The last 150 years,
according to the book "The Long Summer" by Brian Fagan, is "longer than any such
period over the past thousand years." This has been partly caused by us humans.
Writes Fagan: "Promiscuous land clearance, industrial-scale agriculture, and
use of coal, oil, and other fossil fuels have raised greenhouse gas levels in
the atmosphere and contributed to the warming. In an era so warm that the sea
level has risen in Fiji an average of fifteen centimeters a year over the past
nine decades, and brush fires consumed over 500,000 hectares of drought-plagued
Mexican forest in 1998 and more in Australia in 2002, the climatic gyrations of
the past 15,000 years seem remote indeed."
Thus, if the Climate Change Congress of the Philippines (CCCP) feels that no
one is listening to their warnings, this is only natural for us silly humans We
have had this climate for the last 150 years, why should it change?
Perhaps, now that Sendong has shown us what Climate Change is about, we will
be more attentive to the CCCP and other doomsday prophets.
***
One of those we should have listened to, as far back as 1992 was then Senator
Jose "Joey" D. Lina, Jr. who was the youngest member of the Philippines Senate
from 1987 to 1992.
Joey conceived what was called the Lina Law (Republic Act No. 7279 or the
Urban Development Housing Act of 1992 --UDHA). This provides that certain lands
owned by the government may be disposed of or utilized for socialized housing
purposes.
The Act lays down the groundwork for a comprehensive and continuing urban
development and housing program. It addresses the right to housing of the
homeless and underprivileged Filipino people. The Lina Law also instructed the
local government Units (LGU) to survey available lands (government and private)
for socialized housing, as well as all of the informal settlers within the LGU.
From the law, we see what this is all about:
"Sec. 29. Resettlement. – Within two (2) years from the effectivity of this
Act, the local government units, in coordination with the National Housing
Authority, shall implement the relocation and resettlement of persons living in
danger areas such as esteros, railroad tracks, garbage dumps, riverbanks,
shorelines, waterways, and in other public places as sidewalks, roads, parks,
and playgrounds. The local government unit, in coordination with the National
Housing Authority, shall provide relocation or resettlement sites with basic
services and facilities and access to employment and livelihood opportunities
sufficient to meet the basic needs of the affected families.
"Sec. 30. Prohibition Against New Illegal Structures. – It shall be unlawful
for any person to construct any structure in areas mentioned in the preceding
section.
"After the effectivity of this Act, the barangay, municipal or city
government units shall prevent the construction of any kind of illegal dwelling
units of structures within their respective localities. The head of any local
government unit concerned who allows, abets or otherwise tolerates the
construction of any structure in violation of this section shall be liable to
administrative sanctions under existing laws and to penal sanctions provided for
in this Act."
If the Lina Law had been faithfully implemented, would we have had over a
thousand dead from the floods of Sendong in Northern Mindanao?
Of course, one defect of the R.A. might have been that of assigning so much
of the enforcement to the LGUs ("the barangay, municipal or city government
units") considering that for most of our LGUs, the votes that give them their
mandates precisely come from these "informal settler" colonies, who are where
they are with the consent, support and encouragement of the LGU officials, who
welcome them into their LGY in exchange for their votes.
***
The president reports that after his first18 months, the country has "risen
from the grave of corruption" and "we have returned the blindfold of Lady
Justice."
I believe myself that the President still has a long way to go and he has to
do it all in four and a half years – hardly, enough time to turn a country from
its corrupt ways into a working democracy. But, I wish President Noynoy Aquino
and the country success in changing the reality of what the Philippines is.
He has certainly done better in 18 months than others have in nine long
years. Lest others forget, our present president has also been more democratic
and responsive than the one who last served the second longest time after Marcos
as our president.
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE
HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
All rights reserved
PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS
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