ARE WE GOOD CHRISTIANS?

By Antonio M. Reyes

To many Christians Christmas is a time to reflect on how well they have followed the teachings of Jesus Christ who died for them at Calvary.
When I think about the sad state of our country which is the only Christian nation in Asia, I am reminded of what the late Indian Prime Minister Mahatma Gandhi told a visiting Catholic dignitary who was trying to convert him to Christianity:
“I admire your Jesus Christ,” he told him “but I don’t like your Christians. But if they would really follow the teachings of Christ as contained in the bible – all the Hindus in India would convert to Christianity tomorrow.”
Of course Gandhi knew he was asking for the impossible; since he knew no human being could actually follow the Ten Commandments of Christ.
Yet the question remains valid; how have we Roman Catholics fared in living our lives as called for in the Bible? One indicator we can use to measure our faith would be to review the performance of our political leaders.
These are the facts, and they are irrefutable. We have a president who admitted cheating her way to victory in the 2004 elections. A senate president who was the martial law administrator during the brutal Marcos era. And a speaker of the House of Representatives who used his political influence to jail the publisher of a newspaper who reported his sexual liaison with someone else’s wife.
Institution wise; we have a Congress that has abdicated its Constitutional power over government appropriations to Malacañang. And a Supreme Court that has legalized the overthrow of a legitimately elected president without due process.
Yet despite all these abuses, we the people, have remained complacent and have feigned ignorance of our people’s misery.
Fortunately there is now a clamor for moral Reforms. But the bad news is that it’s being led by the likes of former Speaker Jose de Venecia who was one of the biggest cronies of former President Ferdinand E. Marcos.
I believe we have already been judged on our Christian faith – and have been found wanting. For our leaders are the mirrors of ourselves, and in the final analysis, we have the government we deserve.
Think about this when you vote in the coming elections.

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