INVITATION TO CHRISTIANS  

BY: BOY MONTELIBANO

Greeting the New Year is letting go of one that just passed. And whatever trials and tribulations 2008 may have brought, the magic of the Christmas season lifts the spirit and prepares a Christian for the New Year. For three years in a row, surveys conducted during this special period have monitored optimism among Filipinos to be as high as 90%. In the context of life in the Philippines, that level of optimism is simply miraculous.

It is no surprise, then, that the message of the Philippine Church hierarchy is for Christians to be bearers of hope. Optimism reflects hope, and it is hope sparked by the spirit of Christmas. To be bearers of hope require different tasks for different people and groups. For Christians, hope is a virtue and a perennial invitation.

Hope is not a seasonal virtue, but admittedly, needs seasonal triggers in the Philippines. Poverty sets a very un-Christian atmosphere and corruption, at present levels, further degrades life. Hope turns to fantasy for many Christians as evidenced by the propensity of Filipinos to gamble in search of relief from material deprivation. To be hope bearers is as much to ground ourselves and those we touch by our presence and example into reality.

Hope is not elusive, not when one's reality recognizes God as an omnipresent and omnipotent Father. It is that recognition that influences our daily life, our daily behaviour. It is forgetting the reality of God that causes us to lose our sense of security and, thereafter, adopt various ways of coping, often perverse and destructive to self and others.

The level of insecurity in one's life is directly proportional to one's losing recognition of a God who has provided abundantly for all Creation, and who arranged for man to be stewards of the earth. The loss of hope triggers the beginning of despair, or the beginning of aggression and greed. Life in the Philippines, despite its Christian posture, reflects a massive loss of hope. Greed that has led to corruption, and corruption that has caused poverty and violence, define Philippine society more than its Christianity. It used to be that the Philippines was known to be the only Christian country in Asia; now, it is more known as poor and the most corrupt.

The failure of Christianity to be an evangelistic force is the failure of all Christians who have not been faithful to the footsteps and teachings of Jesus, but it is especially a failure of leadership. Religion is not a democratic system. It is led solely by example, by the purity of its Source, and the faithfulness of its disciples. The leadership is the light, the force, and the very path itself, as all leaders are invited to reflect Christ. From this reality flows the principle of anointment,; otherwise, anointment is meaningless when it derives its value from position rather than fidelity.
The intent to be faithful is finally judged by its fruit. The mission of Jesus has specific components, all of which allow their fruits to finally attest to one's fidelity to and passion for thepo mission. The delivery of glad tidings to the poor, release of captives, healing of the sick and freedom for the oppressed is the purpose and invitation to all who would follow His footsteps, who would be faithful Christians. May the Lord grants us the wisdom and the courage to accept and follow His mission.

Boy Montelibano