‘God bless this mess’ was the theme of the homily at the Pentecost Sunday mass last week held at the shrine of Notre Dame de Lourdes in France. The priest’s homily evoked some thoughts on the imminent assumption to office of a new President of the Philippines.
Consider the composition of the Lord Jesus Christ’s ‘Cabinet’, his 12 apostles.
The leader was Peter, a braggart and rabble-rouser who denied him thrice in the garden of Gethsemane. Then there was Judas the Iscariot who betrayed Him for 30 pieces of silver. The brothers James and John were always positioning for advantage; their mother even lobbied Christ that her two sons will be seated at the lefty and right sides of Jesus when he assumes His throne in heaven. Then there was Philip, the slow-poke, always seemingly clueless apostle.
Well, what should we expect from a rag-tag band made up mostly of poor fisherman whom Jesus seems to have randomly picked and tapped as he walked on the shores of the River Jordan and the sea of Galilee.
But Peter went on to become the founder of the one, holy Catholic and apostolic Church, the first Bishop of Rome. He died a martyr for Christ. St. James the Greater became known as Santiago de Compostela. He went farther to the Iberian peninsula, evangelizing Spain which also evangelized (and colonized) the Philippines that became the only Christian country in Asia. Except for Judas who took his own life, the other apostles and disciples became effective evangelists who spread Christianity throughout the world.
On Pentecost Sunday, the Holy Spirit descended upon Christ and the apostles. It was one of his last meetings with them before his Ascension.
The nine fruits of the Holy Spirit, as embodied in Paul’s epistle to the Galatians are charity (or love), joy, peace, patience, benignity (or kindness), goodness, faithfulness, gentleness or mildness, continence or self-control.
These fruits are the graces or virtues that were conferred or endowed upon the apostles. As interpreted by the priest-homilist at Lourdes, these are the virtues that enabled them to be aware, care and share. With an abundance of such fruits, they were able to transcend their weaknesses and limitations. They stretched themselves to the upper limits of their God-given talents and fulfilled their fullest potentials as servant-leaders of the Christian faith.
Uncannily, our new President’s name is Benigno, from the Latin word benignitas. Wikipedia’s discussion on kindness is quite instructive:
“Kindness does not necessarily mean being nice. One can be kind and not nice. Nice is defined by dictionary.com as being agreeable. In contrast, kindness is acting for the good of people regardless of what they do. Kindness is goodness in action, sweetness of disposition, gentleness in dealing with others, benevolence, kindness, affability. The word describes the ability to act for the welfare of those taxing your patience. The Holy Spirit removes abrasive qualities from the character of one under His control.”
I was privileged to have observed erstwhile candidate Noynoy Aquino at close range during the recent campaign. Indeed, he possesses many of the qualities associated with benignitas. Some people like to say he is the “male Cory”, referring, too, to the kindness and gentleness of his late mother, President Corazon Aquino.
Noynoy Aquino brings to the presidency the essential virtue of kindness that also includes friendliness, mildness and benevolence. He is never given to excess exuberance, not one who would easily get excited.
The word kindness comes from the Greek word chrestotes (khray-stot-ace), which according to Wikipedia, “often depicted rulers, governors, or people who were kind, mild, and benevolent to their subjects… (and were) compassionate, considerate, sympathetic, humane, kind, or gentle.
Moreover, chrestotes also “conveys the idea of being adaptable to others.” This means that, “rather than harshly require everyone else to adapt to his own needs and desires, when chrestotes is working in a believer, he seeks to become adaptable to the needs of those who are around him. (Sparkling Gems from the Greek, Rick Renner).
This is another essential quality demonstrated by Noynoy Aquino. Recall that he was the quintessential non-candidate, or better still, anti-candidate, who did not even aspire for, nor harbor any ambition to become President. When he launched his candidacy barely nine months before the elections (his rivals had been preparing for years), he inherited a campaign organization that was not his own. Yet, he serenely adapted himself before opting to set up his own staff, relying on a few trusted allies to bring in volunteers who eventually bore the brunt of his campaign.
One of the unfair criticisms hurled against him during the campaign was that while he himself was honest and incorruptible, he was vulnerable to those around him who were likely to take advantage of his kindness. They simply do not know that he is, in fact, made of sterner stuff. His character was forged on the anvil of personal trials from the time of his father’s arrest (when he was only 12 years old) and through his mother’s presidency, during which he stood by her as a quiet pillar of support especially through the seven coup attempts that bedeviled her presidency. This is the young man (who at 27 years old) took several bullets at the hands of rebel soldiers as he rushed back to Malacanang to be with his mother and sisters in the August 1987 failed coup.
Noynoy Aquino’s formation (or better still, transformation) took place over two decades, from the time of his father’s arrest at the inception of martial rule in 1972 to the end of his mother’s presidency in 1992 during which she brought about the first peaceful transition in power in this country under a democratic regime since 1965.
Many of those who do not look kindly upon his mother’s presidency call attention to the many conflicts and power struggles among the members of her rainbow coalition. They are either naïve, uninformed or misguided. Despite these, she remained firmly in control of the government as she quietly put down political brush fires and fired those who undermined the stability of our then-fledgling democracy. Her detractors were looking at the proverbial trees, not at the forest. They were misled by the seeming confusion at ground zero and did not afford themselves the opportunity to cull historical lessons that only a helicopter view of unfolding events could offer.
Fortunately, we will soon have a benign President who comes to office more than adequately enlightened by the lessons of history. He studied and learned these lessons well while standing by his President-mother (even if away from public view) who eventually emerged as the most beloved servant-leader of the Filipino people.
Readers are invited to sonnycoloma.blogspot.com or send their comments to sonnycoloma@gmail.com
