WORD ALIVE

Not too long ago a carjack incident happened when a lady tried to stop the carjackers by blocking the way of her brand-new car from being stolen. But the carjackers were determined. They did not only shoot her but even bumped her as they fled away with the car. The grieving father described the merciless killing as “satanic and evil.” “Why did those carjackers just steal the car instead of killing her!” he moaned. \* \* \* Some people get to asking, “Why does God allow evil people do their wicked ways?” Add to this such crimes today as extra-judicial killings, peddling dangerous drugs, human trafficking, violence against women, corrupt practices like briberies, overpricing in government projects. \* \* \* God’s forbearing patience puzzles us. But even when evil that comes from the devil seems to have the upper hand, perfect justice will triumph in due time. Another reason for God’s apparent “inaction” and “weakness” is due to his desire to give new chances of repentance to those who do evil. \* \* \* Just why God doesn’t punish evil people immediately is discerned from Jesus’ parable of the Wheat and Weeds in this 16th Sunday gospel.  (Read Matthew 13, 24-43). “Let the wheat and weeds grow together,” the Lord says. “But at harvest time, collect the weeds first and bundle them up to be burned!” He was referring to the Last Judgment and hell as tormenting punishment for the bad people. \* \* \* While we are still on earth, we should do our share in building God’s kingdom that is characterized by peace, justice and love. We should not only avoid evil but counter it by doing as much good as we can. As St. Paul says, “Let us overcome evil with good” (Rom 12:21). \* \* \* At the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in the country, a TV news showed how barangay officials were caught in the act of opening amelioration cash envelops and hiding thousand-peso bills as they distributed to the constituents. Seeing what was happening, a courageous young man nearby took video shots clandestinely from his cell phone. He reported the corrupt officials to the police showing the cellphone shots; eventually, they were apprehended. \* \* \* The whistle-blower act is not easy but it is an effective way of fighting evil in society. As the British statesman Edmund Burke puts it: “The only way by which evil people prosper in society is for the good to do nothing.” \* \* \* Let’s ask our government, too, why godless people continue to sow terror and misery as in kidnappings, holdups and senseless killings. Add to that, unscrupulous officials who plunder the government coffers. Moreover, we ask: why does our country lag behind other Asian countries like Japan, South Korea, Taiwan in going after criminalities. To think that we are the predominantly Christian country in Asia? \* \* \* Let’s examine ourselves, individually and collectively, “Am I a good wheat or a bad grass? If it’s the latter, let’s heed the Lord’s warning and reform…before it’s too late. \* \* \* Appeal.  It’s enrolment time again. May we appeal for help for the seminarians we are supporting under “Adopt a Seminarian” scholarship program. You may contribute an amount or sponsor a seminarian’s schooling for one year. Please remember: seminarians  are very important in the church. Without them, we cannot have priests, missionaries, bishops, and popes. Priests start as seminarians. (Email: [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]).)