who is God: psalm 145 31st sunday C

I have been reflecting on the Responsorial Psalm for months now and I would like to direct your attention to our psalm today, psalm 145.  "The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness. The LORD is good to all and compassionate toward all his works."  Pope Benedict XVI calls this verse in psalm 145 as the divine portrait.  Kon mamangkot ka who is God, describe God to me, give me a picture of God, Psalm 145 will say, this is the picture of God, this is who God is:  "the LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness. The LORD is good to all and compassionate toward all his works." 

Actually, it is not just the author of the Psalm who said this is who God is.  God himself said the same about himself, when he revealed himself to Moses in the book of Exodus saying "The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness."  And I believe this is the same line of thought when in the New Testament the letter of John answered the question who is God.  His answer is, "God is love."

In our gospel today Luke mentioned that in order for Zacchaeus, a tax collector, a sinner, a thief, a corrupt official, wanted to see Jesus, he climbed a sycamore tree because he was short in stature.  Luke said he climbed a sycamore tree.  Why a sycamore tree?  Why not a palm tree, or an apple tree or a kalachuci or why not just simply say, he climbed a tree.  Why mention specifically a sycamore tree?  Because it is said that a sycamore tree even though how short it is cut, will always grow back, bisan utdon mo nga daw wala na gid bilin, bisan ano pa kalip-ot sang utod nga nabilin, given time, matubo ina liwat into a big tree.  The sycamore tree therefore symbolizes God's love, "the LORD who is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness. The LORD who is good to all and compassionate toward all his works." God is persistent lover – his love is incessant.  He will not stop loving us no matter how we try cutting ourselves away from him.  Nothing can smother and nothing can suffocate the love of God, not even sin, for God is a forgiving God.  Cut it down and it will grow again. This was the experience of Zacchaeus – the persistence of God, a love that does not give up on us or on anyone.

The Archbishop has sent us this Sunday a pastoral letter entitled Unleashing the Power of Love and Mercy.  He is asking us to read this letter.  You can read it in full in Candle Light.  It even came out in the Inquirer yesterday.  Today I will just give you a summary.

Our Diocese has acknowledged that the drug problem has reached "epidemic proportions that demands our most urgent attention and proactive response."  The church of Jaro even acknowledges her own "shortcoming in failing to foresee the magnitude of the drug menace especially in forming our consciousness and behavior" in confronting this problem.  And so the church "shares in the vision of our government leadership in its desire to put an end to this problem" and "affirms its passion" in doing so.  In fact, the church calls all of us "to galvanize our energies and efforts to put a stop to this problem."  However, and this is a big but "the church declares that we cannot accept in conscience extra-judicial killings.  The inviolability and sacredness of human life in all its aspects must be upheld. "Each time a person is killed without due process, a part of us, dies also.  Our humanity is diminished and our dignity is cheapened."

Instead the church exhorts us not to be contented with retributive justice but to more and more embrace restorative justice.  Kon retributive justice amo ini ang hustisya nga mapabayad sang sala nga ginhimo – bayri, sukta, paantusa, mamay mo, karma, ti man.  Pero sa restorative justice iya ang tawo nga nakasala ginahatagan sang kahigayunan nga magbag-o.  Siling sang pastoral letter, "this is the spirit at the heart of Mother Church:  we see evil in men and we are affected by that, but at the same time we also see what Jesus sees, a soul still capable of conversion – a soul worth dying for towards redemption."

Because of this our archdiocese especially through our social action arm will work with the DILG and the Barangays to fight illegal drugs.  At the same time the bishop is also asking the 92 parishes of our archdiocese "to pitch in financial resources in order to help set up a certain rehabilitation program or area which can offer a chance of healing and hope."  We need to work together to restore people, appealing to "Christian leaders, businessmen, professionals, physicians to invest time, resources and energies to help curb this problem" ..... by offering whatever help for the cause for the rehabilitation of offenders.

Why is this so, why does the diocese advocate restorative justice, why does if condemn extrajudicial killings, why?  "The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness. The LORD is good to all and compassionate toward all his works."  God is persistent lover – his love is incessant.  He will not stop loving us no matter how we try cutting ourselves away from him.  Nothing can smother the love of God, not even sin, for God is a forgiving God.  Cut it down and it will grow again. This was the experience of Zacchaeus – a love that does not give up on us or on anyone.  That is why the church cannot take a different stand.