Career Alone is Stupidity!

There are many naïve people in the society, religiously affiliated, preach about the kingdom of heaven and ignoring the reality of earth. So they get busy injecting with their doctrinal preaching of self-denial and charity or service on their charges, but they never practice such doctrines. They never will because their minds are on the benefits which are, in the first place, of the things supposed to be for ordinary men and women. And they have all the time hanging around the malls on weekends, instead on charity works and missionary calls.

But all these doctrinal preaching are deceiving, a thing can be considered as stupidity. The reason is this that ordinary men and women not clothed with an expensive and immaculate textile are not professed to live that kind of life. They are persuaded by their know-how to live, embrace, and imitate the virtues and rules they were supposed to dedicating their lives to their almighty. They want their charges be intoxicated on the concept of ‘career alone’ with their deceiving doctrines. And some people show their affirmation because of emotional and religious impulse with the promise of rewards here and in the afterlife.

The best thing to do in that kind of abnormal situation is balanced life – career and life – of their charges. Career refers to the kind of work applied and employed by the charges in their institution. And life is the means in achieving quality life as ordinary men and women. And in case you do not know what it is, just look at their own lifestyle, for they exhibit it. That is a balanced life meant not only for them but also for their charges. They find themselves impossible to live by career alone, thus it is a blunt stupidity on their part to preach ‘career alone.’ They deserve the promise of eternal damnation.

Morality in Crisis!

Morality is in crisis! Morality is a topic that turns away peoples’ attention. Many do not want to discuss it. What are their reasons? Is it simply because morality is considered as a private thing and it serves as constraint to one’s freedom? Or some other hidden motives to meet the dark end?

How do we define morality?

The definition of morality is by nature broad in scope. It encompasses all actions and transactions in daily human affairs. Morality in its universal definition is ‘doing good and avoiding evil.’ Everybody understands it by people from all walks of life. And this universal definition is applicable to any philosophical doctrines and religious beliefs.

This is where the universal notion of morality comes out in different pictures. It is clothed with and fit according to one’s philosophical and religious notions. It is interesting to note that though it is clothed with different colors, still the highlight of its universality is always present, except for one thing: the scope becomes limited and defined to cater the selfish needs of some people.

Morality in Crisis

This is where the crisis of morality lies. People with selfish needs choose just a portion of morality. The universality of morality becomes the particularity of morality. It is a morality not well-rounded, not faithful to its definition.

In order to see and detect them, there is no need to read books about the subject or consult a moralist. By understanding the definition itself, one can deduce how it is being shortcut. Just open our eyes to see them around, especially the practices in action and transactions.

Innocence of the Poor

Authority is taught by the Church as gift from God. St. Paul, the apostle to the gentiles, writes about authority as of divine origin. If that is the case, then the holder of authority cannot have the luxury of abusing that power. But such the case is not the case at all.

Those in authority are known to be knowledgeable enough on how the institution works. And if such people in authority enjoy such knowledge, it is not far from reality in using it at her disposal. The privilege of having that disposition can be exercised in two ways – for the good of the institution and of others, or for the good of the institution but at the same time at the expense of others.

People working in the institution are innocent of what is really happening above. How does the organization work is not really their focus. Some of these people are by nature submissive to the imposition of the rules, either for their advantages or not. And some are just trying to go with the tide, but deep within them are full of ill-feelings of discontentment and low morale.

But since we are talking about authority being classified as of divine origin, those in the higher ups must have pondered enough the definition and implication of what authority is. That power is not inherited. That power is given. It is a privilege. And so it goes with great responsibility. The action of taking responsibility should be in equilibrium with that of one’s calling – as a Christian.

The realization should be this, that one must learn that authority as privilege does not come first. Before one is given the authority, one is being called by Christ to be his follower. And that should be the identity one must be aware of. What one becomes of the present is not all the case. It is not in isolation by discarding what was before, because discipleship comes first, then authority.

Dualistic Life

The mandate of Jesus

When our Lord was about to ascend into heaven, he gave a mandate to his followers – the Church as People of God – to continue the mission of the Father. He fulfilled that same mandate entrusted to him by His Father in heaven. And that is exactly the mission by which the religious leaders have to comply by responding to the holy and divine call. That is character of their religiosity, their specific purpose. That is the kind of mentality should have been inculcated during their formation years, and to be manifested in their being religious and servants of God and the Church.

Doing Business

The mentality of doing the will of God - to continue the mission of the Father - should serve as the motivating factor in doing their daily task wherever they are assigned by their superiors. Doing business and gaining money is not part of their identity, and definitely an unbecoming as doers of the will of God. If any of this individual is engaging in such activity, that person has no place in the Church of God. The Church should not be mirrored as business institution where profit is the sole manifestation in their daily dealings with people. Theologically speaking the Church is a visible sacrament where salvation is distributed. Thus their concern should be the salvation of theirs and the people whom they are serving.

Dualistic Mentality

A professed religious person, sometimes, is the cause of confusion and scandal among his adherents. While these sacred people teach about the need to continue the mission of the Father, in their actions, they show exactly what the opposite is. And sometimes when the adherents criticize their wrongdoings, they have a bunch of encyclopedic reasons to apologetically justify what they do. The demarcation line of what is true or wrong identity of a religious is not clear anymore. What is left is double standard or dualistic kind of living. It is a living that contradictory binds the sacred mission of the Father and doing business by gaining money.

Perfect example

Living a double standard life produces negative consequences. And these are the weakening the faith of the ordinary people, confusing what we ought to do, and how to live our life according to the divine call. Many clerics, despite of their knowledge of the canon law, have made a realistic decision and follow the course of action according to the desires of their hearts. Two priests from Luzon and another couple of priests from Mindanao follow the call of political mission. They exit the convent to avoid further scandal and confusion. It is from this paradigm, I hope, that those professed religious people whose lives are identified as double standard must think several times and make the greater sacrifice to leave the comfort zone, or be reformed and faithfully follow the divine call of continuing the mission of God. If their hearts are the desire for wealth, then go into business, rather distorting the image of the Church.

Corruption in the Church

Some Filipinos experience the reality of poverty in the midst of their life. They don’t have the opportunity to land a good job or no job at all. This economic reason affects their financial status. Indeed money as we learn is not is the sole measure of man’s happiness. For Aristotle, it is the well-being of the person, ranging from economic, financial, to intellectual and spiritual too. And so this people develop the mentality of blaming the government as the cause of all miseries that poverty brings to humanity. 

But it would be unfair to blame all the consequences brought by poverty due to corruption to the government alone. Its leaders and workers are not the sole cause of every the mess. It is a fallacy to think that way. It is true that the government is the lead institution to serve the people. But it has its own limitation. They are only human beings prone to commit mistakes, being lured with the false promises and pleasure the world is offering, and lack of spiritual and moral guidance from the known spiritual gurus of religions.

In the history of our country, the vanguard of morality is the Catholic Church. The role it plays is always crucial in the development of our country. See the EDSA 1 and EDSA 2. Thanks to them and their effort of bringing hope, and with courage, leading change in the society. They provide moral guidelines for the electorates when local and national elections come to choose upright candidates.

Just like the strategy of Pinoy in abolishing the use of siren or wang-wang, can the leaders of the Church also do that among their ranks and files? Can the religious leaders imitate the principle of leadership by example? Can they walk the talk? In the church, corruption is not new anymore. There are some types of corruption that are obvious - in terms of money, moral values, business transactions, etc.