TMA 4 Module 6 - THE HOLY TRINITY AND SOCIETY, POLITICS AND

HUMAN LIBERATION

In the prayer “The Our Father” we pray to God who is “in heaven.” But what is heaven? And why do we want to go to God’s “heaven?”

Heaven is God’s “society.” Heaven is God’s “kingdom” where God is King and where God rules. Heaven is a perfect society. It is our ideal of an earthly society where God’s laws prevail. In the “Our Father” we pray that this ideal society be also made present in our earthly society – “Your Kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

But why do we want our “earthly society” to be like a “heavenly society?” What is wrong with our earthly society? Plenty! Our earthly society is a very imperfect society. It is a society marked by disunity, conflicts and alienation. It is a society whose structures promote patterns of domination and subservience of one class of people over another: that of the landed few over the landless majority, that of capitalists over the workers, that of the rich over the poor. Even the Church at certain periods in history has aligned itself to some of these groups in promoting her own interests.

Fortunately, Vat. II came and reminded us that “our business is the world” and part of the Gospel message is human liberation and transformation of society. In this “new evangelization” we cannot allow ourselves to be pawns of certain groups and individuals for their own self-interests in mind. We must always be vigilant and consistently be critical of certain anti-poor ways that business establishments might represent. Our motive is not based on ideology that represents the economic and political interests of one class over another, or on behalf of any social class or political party. Our appeal is posed in the name of human decency, on behalf of human compassion and our faith in the Trinity.

We believe that God is Father. We believe that we cannot claim to be children of this Father for as long as we behave like we can dispense with any of his other children, right or wrong. For a Trinitarian bias cannot but push for an absolutely inclusive orientation, as against all forms of exclusiveness in societies, founded on gender, class, racial, ethnic, or even credal interests. It is this Trinitarian bias which makes us stubbornly go against genocide, global trade controlled by a market without a conscience, dictatorial or totalitarian governments, societies that can easily get rid of the unborn, the criminals, the handicapped, the homeless, and the aged. Because every human life has to be treated with the same reverence, that the Father has for his children, now we are always on the look-out for those left at the margins of society for any reason whatsoever, the last, the least, and the lost.

The risk is that in the process we can be accused of harboring some hidden political agenda, or violating separation of Church and State. This is the risk that that the bearers of the Gospel will always encounter.

Politics is, perhaps, the most troublesome aspect of our Philippine society. As the CBCP has noted in 1997 (Pastoral Letter on Philippine Politics), “Philippine politics the way it is practiced – has been most hurtful of us as a people. It is possibly the biggest bane in our life as a nation and the most pernicious obstacle to our achieving full development.”

Some of its characteristics are: public office is being seen not as a public trust for the common good, but a means of enrichment, a source of influence and power for self and family interests. It is treated as some sort of private property to be passed on from one generation to another in the manner of a feudal title – the perpetuation of power, a family dynasty.

Furthermore, our campaign period resembles that of a mad circus where candidates dance, clown, sing instead of engaging our people in a thoughtful dialogue on vital issues. Promises are made to donate funds for projects in exchange for votes. On election through vote buying, flying voters, intimidation and threats of violence, bribery of election officials, tampering with ballots and election results.

Thus, the bishops sadly conclude that “the prime values of our faith – charity, justice, honesty, truth” are systematically excluded from our political culture. Yet, in 1986 at EDSA we were able to show the world that our trust in God and his Mother Mary gave us the courage to use a non-violent approach to conquer tanks and armed might.

But we fail to sustain that political transformation. We fail to sustain and promote the EDSA dream for a New Philippines. Vested interests came back. Cronyism and other ills of Pre-EDSA regime are back in place with a vengeance.

Is this the kind of politics that we Filipinos can offer as we enter a new millennium? Is this our enduring historical fate – to lead our lives harassed by a political system whose moral standards are flawed?

But some rays of hope. God inspiring some young Filipinos to enter politics and instill their idealism to build up a more democratic society. The Spirit inspiring grassroots sectors of civil society in their advocacy work on behalf of the landless and the jobless. Filipino men and women, non-governmental organizations promoting cooperatives that will market the produce of small farmers and give them access to needed credit.

The Old Testament is a story of liberation (Ex 1-15). God has compassion over his people. He sends his servant Moses to lead them out of Egypt. He is a God of the lowly, One who liberates them from slavery.  In the New Testament, God is described as a Father who sends his Son to liberate all humankind from the bondage of sin. The Son’s work of liberation-salvation is sustained by the Holy Spirit through the Church.

Human liberation is undoubtedly a Christian agenda. But we need a Trinitarian perspective to have a more holistic understanding of liberation. Unlike secular models of liberation (characterized by individualism and collectivism), our Trinitarian model of human liberation go more deeply into the roots of alienation, SIN, which causes human unfreedom. What ails us internally has something to do with what ails us externally. What makes us unfree materially always has something to do with what makes us unfree spiritually.

Our topic on the Blessed Trinity can also be seen from the perspective of our spirituality as a people. If we posses a spirituality rooted in the love of the Blessed Trinity, we shall posses the means to renew our society, our politics and our human condition of enslavement.

But is our spirituality, our devotions and rituals, our practice of popular religious traditions of such a quality that it transforms our society, our politics, our enslaving customs? As we look around us and see the corruption, the disorder, the thoughtlessness of our daily behavior towards one-another – we begin to wonder and to doubt if indeed our spirituality is rooted in the love, the humility and generosity of Christ.

Christ reminds us that true spirituality is one which is concerned with moral issues such as justice for the poor, forgiveness for those who sinned against us, liberation for those enslaved by political and economic forces. In place of a culture of pride and power, he gave an example of how we are to relate to others, by humbly washing the feet of his disciples.

As we enter a new millennium, we are like pilgrims whose journey is marked by anxiety and uncertainty as to our direction. So, also in the transformation of our society, politics, and human liberation. The Jubilee Year, however, reminds us that in this journey to the Trinitarian “homeland” the Trinity is always with us.  Let us face the challenge of this new millennium by making it God’s chosen time, our kairos, our opportunity to build a new Jerusalem, a new Philippines founded on justice, peace, forgiveness and fidelity to the Blessed Trinity. “And always by our side, is our beloved Mother Mary, the Morning Star, who lights up our lives to end the darkness of our enslavement to sin and to usher us into a new dawn.” (END)

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Last Updated: Tuesday, November 20, 2001 08:39:39 PM