July 18 - 31, 2011 Php 20.

00

Vol. 15 No. 15

Pro Bono We can pierce the darkness

Atty. Jo Imbong
IT was St. Thomas who said that there is no race of men so blessed whose god approaches so near, as our God approaches us. So near does God go to each person, He extends his hand lovingly but we do not grasp back. There are those who call themselves Filipino Free Thinkers, Catholics 4 RH, or Catholics For a Free Choice. The latter, of course, is composed of strident advocates and practicing believers of you-know-what. Did God perhaps bypass them in his heart-to-heart visits? Did God cross out their names in his eternal phone book? Does God drop by only upon rosary-bearing, Amen-rejoicing Charismatics? Does God un-friend those whose ranks un-welcomed his Bishops at the gates of the Senate on that darkness-turned glorious July the 13th? Or is it the case that those mitre-clad youths and their fire-breathing comrades have

drawn themselves towards strange grounds set apart by a metaphysical abyss that separates creature from Creator, nothingness from Infinity, and humanity from God? That is not even the ultimate deliberate separation from Gods friendship. There is a second, an ethical abyss that expands the separation from the God that reaches out. For if the first distance is not bridged, a wider remoteness settles. It is loneliness. It is the ultimate psychological abyss because it renders the soul unable to turn and look over the shoulder in a furtive glance at God with eyes betraying a faint cry for help. Of the protesters at the main gate, can we say, They know not what they do? That does not cover all the facts. As we are witnessing it in our day, there is a love of evil as such and it is real. Such defiance of truth has reached an intensity unparalleled in Philippine Church history. But it is a fact that the Church and its Princesour dear Bishops are being systematically persecuted. If you must know, the belligerent lobby refers to them in their reports to CEDAW monitoring bodies as the greatest obstacle to reproductive health in the Philippines. And while there is to be found great holiness in the Church and in the flock, there is also to be found a loosening of hold on Gods fatherly hand. There is a very forceful tsunami that breaks our hold upon the Tree of the Cross, making it seemingly harder and harder for the multitude to believe and love with all its strength. Thus, the abyss. In the days before 13 July, it was as if the Christian world was weighed down by a dense pall of black vapor, as black as the Black Budget in the PCSO funds that Senator Miriam Santiago spoke of that morning. It was so palpable, it was in the air as cameras rolled and shutters flashed upon our beloved Cardinal and Bishops as they humbly trudged the steps to Session Hall. The Fourth Sorrowful Mystery: Jesus Carries

His Cross. Today, as the pall lifts, there is only one way to scuttle it once and for all. To be able to do this, we must use the power of Light. Who shall wield it? It will beus. For in the normal way of Gods providence, it will be through the vision and love and effort of each of us who are His instruments.

We can pierce the darkness

Atty. Jo Imbong

Pro Bono

IT was St. Thomas who said that there is no race of men so blessed whose god approaches so near, as our God approaches us. So near does God go to each person, He extends his hand lovingly but we do not grasp back. There are those who call themselves Filipino Free Thinkers, Catholics 4 RH, or Catholics For a Free Choice. The latter, of course, is composed of strident advocates and practicing believers of you-know-what. Did God perhaps bypass them in his heart-to-heart visits? Did God cross out their names in his eternal phone book? Does God drop by only upon rosary-bearing, Amen-rejoicing Charismatics? Does God un-friend those whose ranks un-welcomed his Bishops at the gates of the Senate on that darkness-turned glorious July the 13th? Or is it the case that those mitre-clad youths and their fire-breathing comrades have drawn themselves towards strange grounds set apart by a metaphysical abyss that separates creature from Creator, nothingness from Infinity, and humanity from God? That is not even the ultimate deliberate separation from Gods friendship. There is a second, an ethical abyss that expands the separation from the God that

reaches out. For if the first distance is not bridged, a wider remoteness settles. It is loneliness. It is the ultimate psychological abyss because it renders the soul unable to turn and look over the shoulder in a furtive glance at God with eyes betraying a faint cry for help. Of the protesters at the main gate, can we say, They know not what they do? That does not cover all the facts. As we are witnessing it in our day, there is a love of evil as such and it is real. Such defiance of truth has reached an intensity unparalleled in Philippine Church history. But it is a fact that the Church and its Princesour dear Bishops are being systematically persecuted. If you must know, the belligerent lobby refers to them in their reports to CEDAW monitoring bodies as the greatest obstacle to reproductive health in the Philippines. And while there is to be found great holiness in the Church and in the flock, there is also to be found a loosening of hold on Gods fatherly hand. There is a very forceful tsunami that breaks our hold upon the Tree of the Cross, making it seemingly harder and harder for the multitude to believe and love with all its strength. Thus, the abyss. In the days before 13 July, it was as if the Christian world was weighed down by a dense pall of black vapor, as black as the Black Budget in the PCSO funds that Senator Miriam Santiago spoke of that morning. It was so palpable, it was in the air as cameras rolled and shutters flashed upon our beloved Cardinal and Bishops as they humbly trudged the steps to Session Hall. The Fourth Sorrowful Mystery: Jesus Carries His Cross. Today, as the pall lifts, there is only one way to scuttle it once and for all. To be able to do this, we must use the power of Light. Who shall wield it? It will beus. For in the normal way of Gods providence, it will be through the vision and love and effort of

each of us who are His instruments.