"ALL POLITICAL TRUTH IS PARTIAL AND TAINTED..."

"All political truth is partial and tainted..." these were the words said by Archbishop Leonardo Z. Legazpi, Metropolitan of Caceres, during his homily at the Chrism Mass on Maundy Thursday. He underscore the importance of not using the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for political propaganda before the assembled clergy of the Archdiocese of Caceres and the faithful. In emphasizing the importance of the Chrism Mass, Archbishop Legazpi noted that the Last Supper of Christ saw the institution not only of the Priesthood but of the Church herself. You can read more about these at the webpage of the Archdiocese of Caceres.

Here is my opinion: I feel sad that today we see some members of the clergy and some professed religious being used by politicians to achieve political ends. As Christians we are called to be charitable, to seek ways to change oppressive systems. But we should not forget that the end of our charitable works is not this present world, but it is beyond. For Christ does not belong to this world and His Kingdom is not of this world. That is the main reason why Christ never was involved in the politics of his time and never intervened in the politics of the Jews. Even among his disciples this revelation was not clear. If we recall the conversation between the two disciples on the Emmaus Road, the two disciples in disappointment said, "we thought that this Jesus was the Christ who would liberate Israel from the Romans...." From these statements of the two disciples we can see a striking similarity in some professed religious, clergy and lay faithful. They think that the end of social action is to make this physical world better and sadly they believe that by mere human effort and by secularizing the values of the gospel they could obtain true liberation. This is the main reason why, in my analysis, I could see many people fall into the trap of Liberation Theology. If Christ were a liberation theologian, I would surmised that He would have gathered up His disciples and stage a rebellion. But Christ did not do so. He rebuked his disciples and told them that the prophesies have to be fulfilled. And in the breaking of the bread, Christ opened the spiritual eyes of the two Emmaus Disciples, and lo they recognized Jesus and there He banished from their sight. The two exclaimed, "did not our hearts burned within us while he spoke with us along the road?..." Indeed as we discover for us the reality of the Eucharist, we will come to recognized that it is the pledge of God to us of our salvation. Just as St. Paul Said, "As often as you break this bread you proclaim the death of the Lord until He comes in glory!" Our charitable work, our social action should lead us to the realization that whatever good we do is our testimony to this decaying world and a call to the unrepentant to seek the Lord while He may be found.

How sad that in the confusion that we find ourselves, we see the Mass and the Eucharist dragged into partisan politics. Is this not a great offense to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Does it behooves us to offer sacrifice of reparation for these offenses? Should we allow politicians to offer messages within the context of the mass and should we allow the clapping of hands as if the banquet of the Lord has been reduced to a mere political "miting de abanse"?

Lets support our Church, Bishops and Priests who uphold the dignity of the Holy Mass and refuse to use the mass for political purposes. Above all let us pray for everyone. Let us learn to love our enemies and be forgiving. For Love cancels a multitude of sin.