TACLOBAN CITY—Praising mothers, Palo Archbishop John Forrosuelo Du urged last Sunday members of the Archdiocesan Federation of Medalla Milagrosa to go out and rally for the sanctity of life.
The Dumaguete-native prelate expounded on the mother’s important role in nurturing life in the womb for nine months, but which, in these days, has become “cheap”.
Du said mothers, who care for their children, are represented by the Blessed Virgin Mary, and should, in the same way, be Mary’s representatives on earth.
He, however, lamented how life’s value is disregarded nowadays.
A mother’s weeping heart
“Here comes death penalty, and life now has become very cheap,” said Du in his Homily at the Mass on the occasion of the 48th Annual Pilgrimage of Medalla Milagrosa Visita Domicillaria at the Redemptorist Church (Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish) in this city.
For sure, the prelate said, whenever a person is killed, a mother’s heart weeps, because the one she loves the most was not given a chance to reform his life.
He noted how life has become “nothing”. Du exhorted the members of the federation to collectively cry for the protection of life, which is “sacred and precious”.
Even after President Duterte momentarily put on hold his hardline war against drugs following the sensational killing of a Korean businessman inside Camp Crame, extrajudicial killings have never stopped.
On February 18 the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines led thousands of Catholics in the Walk for Life at the Rizal Park to publicize the Church in the Philippines’s rejection of the proposed reimposition of death penalty, abortion, the unabated extrajudicial killings and corruption in government.
Chance to offer oneself
According to the prelate, life is from God, and no one has the authority to kill someone just because he is wrong.
Du also underscored Jesus’ humility, who, despite being the Son of God, lowered Himself and became a poor man in order to save mankind. He emphasized the challenge to help others experience the fullness of life and to share the best one can offer to others.
“Simply they cannot offer the best, because they are not given the opportunity because of the circumstances,” he commented.
Du remarked, “Can you expect a child to grow up good and show his or her best when there is no food on their table and the parents are separated?”
Posing the challenge, he said, “that is why a child needs love and support and assistance”.
“The Lord is telling us ‘Give him the opportunity to make his life better and offer himself,’” he said.
The prelate also reiterated God’s call to mankind to be holy and to live the fullness of life “because life is beautiful”.
Dealing with evil
Emphasizing that Sunday’s Gospel he said, “If anyone presses you into service for 1 mile, go for 2 miles; we have to make extra effort to help our brothers and sisters who are being misled or lost in their lives.”
Du also explained how a Christian should deal with evil.
“Offer no resistance to what is evil. Don’t give what is evil another evil because there is no end to ‘evil, begets evil,’” he said. “If there is evil, share love; if there is wrong, forgiveness; be patient, because eventually you will get back that love you have offered to that person,” Du said.
“But if you will kill the person, you will miss the point of the renewal, the transformation and the fullness, the best that he can offer to you, to your family and to our community,” he said.
Eileen N. Ballesteros/CBCP News