2013-07-25 Daniel Daring 2013 articles 2012 articles
17th Sunday: The righteous in the city
Genesis 18:20-32; Colossians 2:12-14; Luke 11:1-13
Manila. A relatively peaceful city. One does not find it on the list of the most dangerous cities in the world. Malls and skyscrapers are mushrooming; the hospitality industry is booming; and the DPWH (the Department of Public Works and Highways) continues to renew and develop its infrastructure. Yes. A relatively peaceful and prosperous city is Manila, adding each year to its population thousands of newcomers, who leave their towns and villages behind in search of a better life.
I enter the Ayala Mall and I am being greeted by a security guard: “Welcome to Trinoma.” I sense his tiredness and boredom. I do not dare to ask whether he is paid well for the service offered to so many people. Then, a beautiful smile of a young saleswoman invites me to buy clothes or shoes at her boutique. ‘How sad’ – I am telling myself – ‘that after six months she will be fired and there is no assurance that her boss will rehire her.’ I leave the Mall and walk along the street. A child sleeps on the pavement. What is he dreaming about? A man passes by talking to himself. What made him give up and withdraw to his own inner world? A woman extends her hand for a peso. Is this her only option in life?
“The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me or not. I need to know,” says God to Abraham (Genesis 18:20). I wonder who reported to God against those two prosperous and relatively peaceful cities. When Lot and Abraham decided to part their ways, the beauty of the whole region, where Sodom and Gomorrah were located, influenced Lot’s decision. “Lot looked up and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan was well watered, like the garden of the Lord” (Genesis 13:10), and he “pitched his tents near Sodom” (Genesis 13:13). I also wonder what they were reporting. Was it all about forced homosexuality? (Genesis 19:1-5).
One day early morning, a six-year-old boy is kidnapped and sold to a thriving industry of child prostitution; another day late morning, a politician is killed in front of a church; on a Wednesday early afternoon, my cell phone is snatched from my bag; still another day early evening, a Catholic priest loses consciousness after a blow from behind; and one Saturday night, a Protestant pastor is killed inside his car by unidentified gun men. Yes. Petty crimes, serious crimes and crimes against humanity take place on the streets of the relatively peaceful and prosperous city of Manila. And yet, it continues to exist. Why? Does God not hear the outcry against it? Were the crimes of Sodom and Gomorrah graver? Or, perhaps, God, in His dialogue with our contemporary Abrahams, is reminded about His promise: “For the sake of ten [righteous people], I will not destroy it” (Genesis 18:32).
Laura is a Divine Mercy devotee. Each Friday, she dedicates an hour to pray for her husband, three children, and all her friends. Her prayer list has grown longer in recent months as more people request her intercession. The city of Manila is also on that list. She is not the only one who beseeches the Lord for mercy, requesting Him to search for those righteous people, who try their best to outnumber Manila’s crimes with the deeds of holiness. And God finds many of them. Arthur spends his spare time serving the dying and abandoned; a group of young professionals builds five houses for the poor; Anabel accompanies two foreigners to a hospital for emergency treatment; Gregory buys a sack of rice and brings it to those living on the streets; Mel teaches blind people the techniques of massage; a Catholic parish runs a free clinic; a Protestant church opens a cooperative.
As I am riding the MRT (Manila’s equivalent of Metro), and seeing a big billboard of the Philippine National Police (to Serve and to Protect), I hear: ‘Sir!’ I turn around and look into the smiling eyes of a teenager. ‘Sir! Your backpack is open.’ I thank him, close my bag, and continue my journey with a sudden realization that it is not the police that can protect this city, or any other city, from succumbing to crime and violence. It is the quiet presence of the righteous ones that make any city habitable, peaceful, and prosperous.
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