ALL OUR PAINS WILL EVENTUALLY END

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Reflections on Exodus 22:20-26  /   1 Thessalonians 1:5c-10    /   Matthew 22:34-40

ALL OUR PAINS WILL EVENTUALLY END

by Frank D.B. Savadera, SJ

The other day, we saw flashed in the newspapers the arrest and eventual execution of Libyan President Moammar Khaddafi. Who is he for us?  I've searched the internet and YouTube and realized that he figured significantly in the diplomatic peace talks between the Philippine government and our Muslim brothers here in Mindanao.  We often times hear about the TRIPOLI AGREEMENT (Tripoli – the capital of Libya where Khadaffi was former president).  There had been videos of then First Lady Imelda Marcos visiting Libya in the 1970s to secure the support of Khadaffi to MEDIATE the peace talks between the Philippine government and the Muslim separatist movement here in Mindanao.  Apparently enamored by the beautiful Imelda Marcos, Khaddaffi agreed to support the peace talks in the Philippines. 

This week Khaddafi is dead.  Not that he died simply of a sickness ... he died violently at the hands of his own countrymen.  Apparently, he was most hated.  Apparently, he had caused a lot of misery among his own people.  Reportedly, he himself was blood-thirsty and ordered the execution of many of his opponents.  The video on YouTube was very graphic:  one sees the bloodied Khadaffi being paraded around by gun-toting soldiers and civilians.  There was a lot of noise in the background.  He was being pushed against the hood of a truck ... and apparently, in his own language was begging that the soldiers do not kill him.  The video went very fast ... and the next time you see ... a gun was pointed at him ... the gun was fired ... not once but a countless times.  And the next video showed the lifeless president of the former Libyan president lying dead on the ground.

What reflections from our readings apply to the historical event mentioned above?

Firstly, we say that we as Catholic Christians do not and must not support ALL FORMS OF VIOLENCE.  In fact, we must even express openly our displeasure and strong rejection of violence inflicted against another person ... regardless of what that person had committed.  If you explore Youtube, there are other videos of thieves, robbers and snatchers caught red-handed by townfolks ... and much like the video on Khadaffi ... were mugged ... as in, bugbog-sarado.   And may we repeat, as you may in the future find yourself in a similar situation,  we as Catholic Christians do not and must not support ALL FORMS OF VIOLENCE. 

What we support however, is the END TO ALL VIOLENT REGIMES.  ALL OUR PAINS ... much like everything in this world ... WILL EVENTUALLY END ... because God listens to all our cries.   We are assured of this ... by our reading from the Book of Exodus:  “If  you wrong them and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry.” ALL OUR PAINS WILL EVENTUALLY END ... BECAUSE GOD LISTENS TO ALL OUR CRIES.  If God listens to our CRIES ... then we should have no problem CRYING IN FRONT OF THE LORD.  Often, we cry about our problems.  QUESTION:  DO WE CRY ABOUT THEM IN FRONT OF THE LORD?  God may seem quiet ... but in the quiet ... can we be assured that he nevertheless LISTENS TO US ... God surely hears our cries.  

HAVE YOU CRIED ABOUT PEOPLE WHO OPPRESS YOU ... WHO PUT YOU DOWN ... WHO CAUSED YOU SO MUCH TROUBLE AND PAIN?  Or perhaps, we may have caused the suffering of people ourselves ... that we may have caused others so much pain ... that we may have dropped a word that caused anxiety for another.  Or do we even wish and deliberately plan to cause pain against another?  If we say that God listens to the cries of his people ... much like the case of Khadaffi ... we would wish to believe that he will deal most appropriately against wrong-doers in society.  ARE YOU AN EVIL DOER?  Believe it or not ... even for us who regularly attend Sunday masses ... some of us ... and this we need to be personally honest ... we cause pain against others.  Thus, a warning had been set.  From Exodus again, Yahweh says:  “My wrath will flare up, and I will kill you with the sword; then your own wives will be widows, and your children orphans. IF GOD LISTENS TO THE CRIES OF HIS PEOPLE ... IF HE MOVES ALWAYS TO PROTECT THE OPPRESSED ... a warning thus for all of us:  Can we examine ourselves.  Do we contribute to the PAIN and MISERY of others? Whom have I hurt or continue to hurt?    

From St. Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians:  “You became imitators of us and of the Lord, receiving the word in great affliction, with joy from the Holy Spirit, so that you became a model for all the believers.   WE ARE ASKED TO BE MODELS FOR ALL BELIEVERS; WE ARE ASKED ALWAYS TO BE IMITATORS OF CHRIST in all our ways.  The GOSPEL therefore becomes more meaningful:  You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 

ALL OUR PAINS WILL EVENTUALLY END ... BECAUSE GOD LISTENS TO ALL OUR CRIES.  

GOD poses a warning for all of us EVIL DOERS (including myself).  Stop harassing the poor and the helpless ... pray that we do not become the cause of PAIN and DIFFICULTY for another person.

Lastly, be MODELS FOR ALL BELIEVERS.  The Gospel shows us how:  Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.   Love your neighbor as yourself.