CHRISTMAS 2005: An Essay of Sorts

The article talks about poverty in the Philippines, touching on lack of food, the attention being given to it, and its connection to prostitution (although it only touches on that issue very briefly). This reflection cum essay will focus on the poverty issue in general, using the article as a jump-off point.

Christmas Eve 2005 is a recollection of Payot’s Christmas “outing” with a friend who was a former seminarian. They decided to spend Christmas Eve out in the streets, giving food to those they chose (because they obviously can’t give food to every poor, hungry, and begging soul in their quest). The problem that can be seen here, although the article doesn’t expound on it (it’s more of a story), is the rampant poverty which millions of Filipinos are experiencing.

Poverty, for lack of words, has no beginning and probably will have no end. It knows no race, religion, or culture. Everybody is aware of it, but not everybody is paying attention to it. A good example the article gave is a fast food store not attending to a young street urchin who wanted to purchase a sundae… on Christmas Eve! To an observer, this setting is a good way to show how the society in general and poverty co-exist yet do not exist in co-existence. It’s a simple thing: the haves and the have-nots. But generally, any sight (or even hindsight) of have-nots and the haves miraculously turn into blind and deaf people.

Sadly, there’s nobody to blame in particular. We can’t blame the haves saying that they’re the cause of the problem because they’d just put the blame on the have-nots and say they should work harder. On the other hand, the have-nots will blame the haves for not working harder to HELP them.

Oddly, there are many haves who take advantage of the have-nots. They seem to rely on them being impoverished, i.e., politicians. Some of these well-loved and well-hated representatives of our nation bank on the impoverished masses for their vote. They use and abuse their position in order to maintain an image they have built over the years. They sit there in their plush seats session after session trying to show face that they are working hard to alleviate the situation when in fact, behind the lowly taxpayer’s back, they are steadily leeching money which does not belong to them. They also pay fewer taxes than the others. Moreover, it has been noticed that there is an insufficiency of governmental programs which address the issue at hand.

Of course, this kind of setting cements the division between the haves and the have-nots. It also creates a further separation between those who want to help and are helping, those who want to help but are not moving, those who help for their own twisted schemes, and those who don’t want to help and don’t do anything, to name a few.

Generation after generation, a few saintly people try to lessen the problem but, unfortunately, the patriarchal basis of our current culture (brainwashed into the “barbaric” minds of our ancestors by some domination-blinded country) does nothing to help. The tradition simply goes like this, “I am a have, and I will bestow my fortune to my children.” The mantra goes on, and on, from one have to the next. Paradoxically, the same also applies to those have-nots and, to make matters worse, they RELY on their children to lift them from the slums. No wonder nothing’s happening. What makes matters even worse is that a majority of the population are affected by the “bahala na” syndrome leaving everything up to the hand of God.

On that note, I am also sorry to say that although the Church has countless parishes and organizations working around the clock receiving donations from their faithful, regardless of their in/capacity to give, it doesn’t seem to help those who are in dire need because there are still people in dire need. Allow me to give an example by telling a little story.

In a certain parish in a certain town, there was this certain little Church who wanted to expand the capacity of their tiny, termite-infested building, in order to accommodate the already large number of churchgoers. So, this certain priest asked his congregation for donations in order to facilitate their plans. This priest also mentioned the cost of construction, and since it amounted to millions they needed the assistance of the congregation. As months passed, one could start to see the beginnings of a mini-cathedral, and yet, the Church needed more money. So, aside from the initial collection from congregation, there is a certain second collection done especially for the building at the end of every Eucharistic celebration. A little through the construction (about one-third of the estimated roof area), one certain side of the building was almost fully completed. There was a certain 30-foot tall stained glass artwork of the risen Christ behind the altar and tabernacle. Directly above it was another stained glass artwork of God and the Spirit, about 10 feet in diameter. Suffice to say, it is going to certainly be a grand Church building, hopefully worth every peso that was put into it.

However, just a few meters away during a certain evening, one could see certain little shanty-stores occupying the sides of the streets, some with women wearing clothes too short and too light for the cold evening air. Here and there, as shops close, there are certain homeless men, women, and children huddling for warmth on the sidewalks using flattened-down cardboard boxes as beddings. The Church, needless to say, like the shops, has its gate closed, locked, and waiting to be opened the next day. The Gospel for that certain night was about Christ who could just knock on your door at any time.

I’m being bigoted, of course, because the story is just about one certain parish. But what if this is happening all over the country? One might be small, but nonetheless there’s still one. And if there’s one, there might probably be two.

If I base it all on that story alone, I would say that although its intentions are honorable and helpful in glorifying God and Christ, the act of “multiplying the few pieces of bread and fish that we have [to help those crying in pain for help][1]” can not be clearly seen. And if ever this story could be rewritten to show concrete efforts to help the said people crying in pain for help, can all other similar stories be rewritten as well?

The teachings of the Bible hint that the less one has the greater chances s/he has in entering the Kingdom. It also teaches that one should share what s/he has to those needing it most. In fact, being poor, the smallest, and the despised, are considered brothers by Christ and those who are not, are encouraged to treat the latter as if they’re treating Him himself

The late Pope John Paul II was very empathic regarding the situation of the impoverished. He reminds those who have to do something in order to help improve the situation of those who have not. That includes but is not limited to, isolated and individual efforts, organized responses of society, and a strengthening of civil society.

However, in spite of that, only hypothetical solutions have been made. Solving this problem is not easy. It requires the effort of a lot of people to change the hearts of a lot more people. In short, the only way out of this is for the whole world to change the way they perceive poverty.

Or, we could start by ourselves and try to be like Payot and his friend, who, out of the goodness of their hearts, fed a few hungry stomachs. They might be only 2, but they’re a start.

[1] Zegarra, Philippe, POVERTY AND SOLIDARITY. Brackets supplied.

The mother article that triggered this is Christmas 2005 in P.D.I.'s Jan.9,2006 issue.