ROM Atty. Melanio
"Batas" Mauricio, convenor and chairman, Alyansa’s Board of Trustees: "For the
nth time, the Alyansa ng Mananampalataya submits that the real priority of any
incoming Philippine president in 2010 is not the economy of the country,
battered as it is and even projected to get worse as world economies continue
tumbling down.
"The priority, really, is spiritual renewal of the Filipino,
and this must be addressed posthaste, even now, if we want an honest-to-goodness
turnaround for the country and our people.
"Thus, the Alyansa makes a call to our presidentiables–Senators
Manny Villar, Loren Legarda, Mar Roxas, Panfilo Lacson, Francis Escudero, Mayor
Jojo Binay of Makati City and anyone else interested to run for the presidency:
come up with your plan of action or platform of governance that would include
instilling fear and love of God among Filipinos and bringing them back to
obedience to God’s commands and laws.
"Many will smirk at this call of mine, thinking that
spirituality has nothing to do with improving the economy of a nation, or
uplifting the lives of a people. But the Bible is very clear on this.
"In Deuteronomy 28:1-2, God, through Moses, said: ‘If you
fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you
today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All
these blessings will come upon you and accompany you, if you obey the Lord your
God.’
"In Matthew 7:24-25, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself said:
"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is
like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams
rose, and the winds blew against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had
its foundation on the rock."–Batas Mauricio.
***
Atty. Mauricio, this column would like to take your Plan for
Spirituality seriously and write a piece on it. I’m one of those Filipinos you
are referring to, likely needing spiritual renewal but don’t know how to comply
with your three criteria. The commands you are referring to are unclear to most;
it’s not explicit in what activities are sin and what are not sin.
Different religions, aspects of ethics, values and cultures
often disagree, and vary in their interpretation of Commands. I am not a Roman
Catholic. One globally powerful church sees drinking tea and colas as an
abomination to God. You probably drink tea and Coke. To this church, that makes
you a candidate for eternal damnation. Another church forbids the wearing of
make-up and jewelry, which 99.99 percent of humanity defy. Make-up and jewelry
are among the five largest of consumer industries world-wide. That leaves only
.001 percent of humanity are obedient to, and favored by these Commands.
How can we possibly have a Plan for Spirituality when we
cannot agree on what’s good and what’s bad to God, what is sin?
Please detail the activities against these Commands you gave:
1. "If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow
all his commands [what activities defy these commands you are referring to?] I
give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on
earth. All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you, if you obey the
Lord your God."
2. "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine [what
are these words? What activities go against these words?] and puts them into
practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down,
the streams rose, and the winds blew against that house; yet it did not fall,
because it had its foundation on the rock."
3. Presidentiables should come up with plan of action or
platform of governance that would include instilling fear and love of God among
Filipinos and bringing them back to obedience to God’s commands and laws [what
are the activities politicians must avoid to comply with these commands and laws
you refer to?]
Please favor this column with a reply. Thank you.