“Do you know where you’re going to? Do you like the things that life is showing you? Where are you going to?”
These are the words that come to my mind as I survey the things that are happening around us, the lyrics of the theme of the film Mahogany in 1975 and sung by Diana Ross.
The question is not only for me, I think, but for all of us as a society today at this point in history. The Philippine government’s priorities are skewed, far removed from what a government that is of, by, and for the people should be.
The war continues in Ukraine and there is fear that another is brewing not far from our shores. Minorities and migrants worldwide continue to be systematically demonized and dehumanized as far-right extremists and fascists gain support in governments.
All this is happening while we brace for the catastrophic effects of climate change. We are sending more rockets into space, know more about other people we have never met living in places we have never been to, and are both dazzled by and wary of artificial intelligence.
And yet, despite this immense progress we have made, nine out of ten Filipino children aged ten struggle to read simple texts. We have accomplished so much as a human society and yet the divide that separates the haves and have-nots continues to stare us in the face, our progress contributed very little to eliminate this divide, it has, in numerous instances, even exacerbated it.
If we continue on this path we are on, it could grow exponentially to become an abyss.
“Do you know?”
Where are we headed? We seemingly are a flock without a shepherd. The Church reminds us through this Sunday’s readings that we need not be so. Our God is a God who always reaches out to us. Jesus had shown this to us through his ministry, life, death, and resurrection. Likewise, each one of us is called to reach out to those who are in need.
The Israelites were liberated from slavery in Egypt and led through the wilderness by God. They often forgot this during their journey and yet God remained faithful to them.
Not that they deserved God’s faithfulness, on the contrary! God was just infinitely merciful: God had rescued them and carried them on eagle’s wings!
All that God had asked for in return was their faithfulness to the covenant that they had made, which benefited the Israelites more than it did God.
God’s kindness extends to us today because of Jesus Christ. His very life is the epitome of God’s mercy. In his very person, the people who drew near to him experienced God.
Like God carrying the Israelites on eagle’s wings, Jesus offered his life to show his love that comes from the Father. Jesus remained undeterred despite the constant threat to his life because of his ministry of proclaiming the reign of God.
He preached that the poor, sinners, strangers, the sick, women, and children are first in the kingdom of God. This cost him his life. He was mocked, tortured, and killed in the most cruel fashion. However, God brought him back to life; God never abandoned Jesus. This is why God’s mercy and faithfulness extend to us today. This is why we can claim, together with the psalmist, that “We are his people: the sheep of his flock”.
As God’s people, we cannot but do the same. Like what he did with his apostles, Jesus also calls each and every one of us by name to become laborers for his harvest.
This call to be Christian is not random as some people may think. The circumstances by which we had become Christian may make us think that it is, but if we look deep in our hearts we know that it is not.
The command that he had given to his apostles then is the same command that he gives us today: “The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons.”
In a world where the future seems uncertain despite immense progress, God calls us to be shepherds to each other. We are not just random people looking on as our insatiable appetite to consume merchandise slowly but surely destroys the only home we have, as minorities and migrants continue to be dehumanized, as the technologies that we have created fragment our families and twist our perception of reality and truth, and as the news of war at our doorstep persists we are called to be proclaimers of good news!
We can still turn this around. It is in this context that we are called to cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, and drive out demons. We can still change things for the better.
It is a daunting task if we think of it without God in the equation. This call of God to discipleship today is not far more or far less formidable than in the time of the apostles. The contexts are very different but there is one constant: it is God who calls us to be laborers for his harvest. When the going gets tough, God will carry us on eagle’s wings. When faced with death, we know that it is life in God that awaits us.
Ex 19:2-6a Ps 100:1-2, 3, 5 Romans 5:6-11 Matthew 9:36—10:8
Balik-Tanaw is a group blog of the Promotion of Church People’s Response (PCPR). The Lectionary Gospel reflection is an invitation for meditation, contemplation, and action.
“As we nurture our faith by committing ourselves to journey with the people, we also wish to nourish the perspective coming from the point of view of hope and struggle of the people. It is our constant longing that even as the crisis intensifies, the faithful will continue to strengthen their commitment to love God and our neighbor by being one with the people in their dreams and aspirations.” – PCPR
The Title of the Lectionary Reflection would be Balik –Tanaw , isang PAGNINILAY . It is about looking back (balik) or revisiting the narratives and stories from the Biblical text and seeing, reading, and reflecting on these with the current context (tanaw).
