SOME time in 2008, I wrote an article about a homily preached by Father Jeff, a young, and obviously technically savvy priest, using a paradigm that young people are very familiar with. His homily could not but touch a chord in their hearts, and Father Jeff is one of those young priests who are able to deliver God’s message in a language that young people are able to connect with in their lives. Allow me to return to that article, which continues to be relevant.
Father Jeff tickled the attention of the parishioners by saying that being Catholic was about remembering an Internet address they are all familiar with, namely “www.com.” The first “W”, he said, refers to “Word”. And the Word refers to the second person of the Holy Trinity, Jesus, the Son of God. It also means the word of God as found in the Gospels of the New Testament. He encouraged the parishioners to read the Gospels and learn from the life of Christ, the way of living.
The second “W” he said was “Witness”. Stressing that it was not enough to read the Gospels to know about the Word, it was also necessary to “bear witness” to one’s faith. It was about living one’s life in such a way that others would look upon you as one who was a disciple of Christ, one whose principles were upright, who was moral, and who cared about others. In short, this is not about Mr. Businessman who went to mass on Sunday, but went to hell because of what he did on Monday. This also evoked in me thoughts about my current advocacy about good corporate governance, where it is expected that the culture of a corporation or a business is really set by the ”tone at the top.” The leaders of industry and the government must bear witness to honesty, straightforwardness and transparency.
The third “W,” Father Jeff said, was “Worth.” He emphasized that every one of us has worth or value before the eyes of God. For, indeed, we are creatures made in His own image and likeness. And recalling Saint Paul in his letter to the Corinthians, we have been “purchased…at a price.” This young priest was also clearly someone who loves his country dearly, for he stressed that, as Filipinos, we have worth and that we should always be proud of our heritage. Looking at the young people straight in the eye, he told them never to belittle their being Filipino, and to stand for everything that was good in our country and in ourselves…that as Christian Filipinos they had to “bear witness” to the value of being Filipino.
I recall that this homily was said around the end of May, and that this was as good as any speech for the forthcoming celebration of the independence of our country on June 12. Over the past few years, our country has gone through so many problems and hardships—economic, political, social—such that we have seen the exodus of our people who have gone to live and work in foreign lands. Some have left for lack of opportunities in our country, others have left out of dismay and cynicism over the shenanigans of politicians, over corruption which has not only escalated but become endemic. One can understand why those young professionals would sacrifice living their comfort zones here for a new life overseas, for the sake of their children’s future. And so I thought Father Jeff’s pitch to his young audience to always consider their worth as Filipinos as a good pre-independence day speech.
And finally, Father Jeff said that “com” stood for commitment and community. Commitment to the word and to bearing witness to our faith, and to valuing ourselves as Filipinos. Community, because not one of us is an island, and that we must all live as a harmonious community of brothers and sisters where we live our Christian belief.
And so, as he stressed to an enthusiastic young audience that the tenets of Christianity were embedded in www.com as Word, Witness, Worth, and Commitment,” he also encouraged our young people—and the rest of us, I must say—to adopt the meaning of this Internet address as a mantra for living our Christian lives, despite the many roadblocks that we meet.