TO LIGHT A FIRE!

Feast of the Immaculate Conception

December 8, 2009

55-091208

HEAVEN HELP THE PHILIPPINES!

            It is quite ironic that Catholic Christendom throughout the world today, celebrates and honors an immaculately conceived woman who is “full of grace”. And yet here in the Philippines we now seem to be endlessly bogged down with leaders conceived in graft and corruption, and thus forever “full of greed”!

Coincidentally, a Catholic religious priest-friend of mine has recently sought my comments, hopefully to sort his way out of his own quandary and embarrassment over contrasting reactions including near-blasphemous statements in the news media coming from his brother priests and various bishops concerning a most powerful albeit uniquely small lady. She it is who is singlemindedly aiming to become the next Speaker of our House of Representatives, DESPITE being for more than nine years already, not only the de facto speaker but the most reviled President of our nation EVER!

Well, now that an even more factually and legally complicated issue has suddenly surfaced vis-à-vis martial law which has been proclaimed over the province of Maguindanao, I suspect that my Franciscan priest-friend’s quandary and embarrassment might be exacerbated by NAÏVE and/or IMPRUDENT statements on the matter coming from a few of our habitually voluble-in-media Catholic bishops.

Furthermore, I too will disappoint my priest-friend because I for one would not be capable of marshalling the necessary yet DELIBERATELY HIDDEN facts and circumstances underlying that small woman’s REAL MOTIVE in wanting to be the next Speaker. The truth could be much WORSE than what I suspect it to be! And much less would I be able to DISCERN and DISTILL any hitherto undisclosed RELIGIOUS FAITH or PUBLIC MORAL ISSUES (other than the age-old paganistic ADDICTION TO POWER and political self-preservation) that are involved and are IMPORTANT ENOUGH such that even our Catholic bishops should weigh-in publicly over the matter.

IN CONTRAST the issue of MARTIAL LAW, even if only in “Maguindanao as of now” is at least a HUNDRED TIMES more FACTUALLY and LEGALLY complicated. Thus it is far more important than a small woman’s politically self-destructive and last minute desperate attempt to survive the expected horrendous judgment of our BLIGHTED nation. And so I suppose bishops should leave this most recently developing tragic complexity to others more capable and qualified to sort out if they still can, BEFORE it blows up in the face of that very same small lady would-be Speaker. For in truth she is the single most accountable and BLAME-WORTHY public official whose brazenly corrupt political and financial CODDLING of a whole tribe of FRANKENSTEINS have brought Maguindanao and MINDANAO to the brink of imploding and/or exploding anytime NOW.

And so I beg our Catholic bishops, please, not to further complicate the confusion of our people by suppressing their own urge to publicize their premature personal opinions on this obviously POLITICAL and LEGAL issue of martial law. They should wait UNTIL they are reasonably certain about the real facts and over-ridingly relevant faith/moral principles IF ANY, underlying such an ESSENTIALLY political-legal controversy. For it would be far far better for their own credibility as pastors and moral guardians, to be SILENT when UNSURE or out of their element, than to be quick-on-the-draw but DISCORDANT and thus DISCREDITING THE ENTIRE MYSTICAL BODY OF CHRIST….

But more importantly I dare say: our Catholic bishops will ultimately be able to arrive consistently at a comprehensively Catholic yet credible even if controversial, PUBLIC declaration on the faith and moral aspects of any TRULY IMPORTANT national issue, ONLY for as long as a clear and cohesive MAJORITY among THEMSELVES are personally and habitually attuned to the same basic theological, ecclesial and philosophical MOORINGS, coupled with a truly PRAYER-FILLED MARIAN  spirituality, in solidarity with their first-among-equal brother, the Bishop of Rome, Peter’s Successor!

For as of now, Heaven Help the Philippines, perhaps only a FEW but still TOO MANY of our Catholic Bishops are certainly NOT LOYAL ENOUGH to the perennial teachings of the SOLID MAGISTERIAL AUTHORITY of those whom God has anointed over the past two millenia as Bishops of Rome. And so as a DIRECT RESULT, far more TOO MANY of their own teaching Catholic FACULTY within their dioceses, including Catholic priests of wellknown Catholic religious orders, are openly teaching moral and theological FALSEHOODS with utter IMPUNITY to our unwary Catholic children, including the young would-be-priests and nuns, especially in our own biggest, most prestigious and supposedly Catholic schools, seminaries and universities. Shades of the prophesied great apostasy of the coming end times!

So sad, and yet so true. And so in this 21^st century end-of-epoch phase of human history, Our “full of grace” Lady has continuously prophesied as far back as some 92 years ago in Fatima, Portugal that her faithful devotees who have been consecrated to her Immaculate Heart, particularly her beloved truly Christ-centered Catholic priests and bishops, shall lead the loyal remnants of Christ’s Mystical Body into a new heaven and a new earth, in a total and PERMANENT victory with Jesus Christ as the Returning King.    

Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus come…

---