By Dr. Dennis Acop
A journalist critic of Duterte and Marcos Jr., Percival Mabasa a.k.a. Percy Lapid, had just been shot to death. By a coward for pay upon the order of an even more cowardly mastermind. The Filipino people and the rest of the world were quick to condemn the dastardly killing. Locals reacted claiming the killing did nothing but merely validated the truth about the journalist’s critical messages against those who abuse their power. A reaction from the United Nations seconded the local indignation stating that ‘killing a journalist does not kill the truth’. By now, the Philippines has gained a universal notoriety of being the present killing fields of the world — of journalists and suspected drug addicts especially. The ongoing investigation of alleged extra-judicial killings of suspected drug addicts in the thousands by the International Criminal Court is still fresh. A post I saw said the killing has a ‘chilling’ effect against dissenters of Duterte and Marcos Jr. But I also think it and others like it have an ‘enabling’ effect for dissenters. This should come as no surprise. It was exactly what happened during the reign of the dictator Marcos Sr. The more he turned the screws tighter on the Filipino people, more and more the people tried to squeeze their way out to resist. But good people, even when they die, have hope. Especially those who are martyred or carried heavy crosses for the common good during their lifetimes. While the bad and evil people of this world only have hellfire to look forward to when they perish from this earth sooner or later.
A priest sick with cancer, a former soldier, posted about the alleged connection between tattooing and satanism. While people who read the post expressed gratitude for the enlightenment, one or two others expressed disagreement even attacking the source of the message as ‘deluded’. Well the source of the message, the late Fr Gabriele Amorth was the chief exorcist of the Catholic Church at the Vatican. Throughout his lifetime, he had exorcised hundreds of demons out of possessed individuals. His biography and exorcisms are well documented to be reviewed by anyone interested. The chief exorcist in the Philippines, Fr Jose Syquia of the Archdiocese of Manila, trained under Fr Amorth. You can also check my Facebook post for the details which I cannot give justice to here. Anything done to mutilate the natural human body seems a violation of human rights even if the self-absorbed world does not see it. I see Hollywood actors with botoxed faces and wonder why they chose to become ugly from being handsome or pretty. I see people with beautiful God-given bodies and wonder why they want them permanently covered by ink. The designs of the evil one appear innocent enough. How else would people fall for what is actually bad for them? But beware of what merely looks good from the outside. God sees through to the heart of every person more than just the physical trimmings brought about by liberal secularism and relativism. You do not want to be a disciple of Satan. Or do you?
Finally, the homily of Fr Ben last Sunday still rings true in my ears. Talking about the parable of the mustard seed, the good presider asked about how strong our faith is, if we have one at all. A recovered addict before he got ordained, the priest narrated that he frequently visited the sick and dying in hospitals. One thing he noticed with the patients stood out. Those with faith were calm. But those without were terrified that they would no longer exist in this world. At times we fear that having faith is so daunting that it actually discourages us. It is such an impossibility to become a saint haunts us. But Jesus did say to the crucified thief to his right that ‘today you will be with me in paradise’. St Paul, the Christian persecutor turned disciple to the Gentiles, was a very late bloomer. Even just the tiniest faith could save your soul. What brought you to church today? What made you go through a biblical post or liturgical reading on social media? Soon, that tiny seed of faith will grow into a tree of evangelical preaching and good works commemorative of our baptismal heritage as priest, prophet, and king. Soon, you are doing more good than bad. Loving more. Serving more. Being kinder. Utterly selfless. In God’s time, you will be in the Father’s house, your true home. The seed ultimately paid off. Good does pay. Evil does not.
