The words ‘power’ and ‘entitlement’ have entered into a strange dance that is undoing each as useful concepts that we can use in order to think and communicate effectively.
Today is the Ascension of the Lord. Jesus has completed His earthly mission and ascends into heaven but He remains with us through His Holy Spirit. This is a new dimension of His presence. No longer physical, but nonetheless real and valid. He entrusted to His disciples the continuation of His mission. “As the Father has sent me, so I send you” (John 20:21). This is like in the athletic (the relay race) where runners pass the baton one after the other. Jesus passed the baton first to the apostles and now to us. Therefore, we are now the “extensions” of Christ. We will do the work of Christ.
During our baptism, we received the priestly, kingly, and prophetic offices of Christ, i.e., to become holy, to serve, and to preach the good news of salvation to others. He said: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded” (Mt 28:19-20). This is what we called the Great Commissioning and that is empowerment. This is a privilege given to us. However, some people who are given the privilege are abusive. Look at any institution, there will always be ungracious men and women. They think that empowerment means sense of entitlement and lording over other people. They act and they seem to have sense of impunity. They are not considering the well-being of others but only for themselves. I wish and I hope that people with authority must use their pudence and skills to execute properly the responsibility entrusted to them.
The question is: Are we ready to be Commissioned or empowered to do the work of our Lord Jesus Christ? Remember that to preach the Good News is not only intended for the Ordained ministers but for all who are baptized. We all have the responsibility to make this world a better place. That’s why I am very thankful to the lay leaders and workers who kept on sharing the words of God through their reflection and by showing their acts of random kindness to others.
To end this short reflection, I would like to quote a story entitled “Whose Job Is It, Anyway?” taken from “A Poem About Responsibility” by Charles Osgood. It goes this way: “There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed when Nobody did what Anybody could have.”
The challenge now is: do we do our part? Stop blaming and cursing each other. We need to become mature citizens and responsible Christians. KAPWA KO MAHAL KO; KAPWA KO PANANAGUTAN KO. Caring is Sharing.
