MAKING A DIFFERENCE BY OVERCOMING INDIFFERENCE

Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God

World Day of Prayer for Peace

Nm 6: 22 – 27 / Ps 67 / Gal 4: 4 – 7 / Lk 2: 16 – 21

Let me begin with these figures… According to the United Nations, 21,000 people die of hunger or hunger – related causes every year. That is one person every four seconds. From 2006 to 2014, almost 200,000 died because of terrorism. Just this year, more than one million migrants and refugees crossed into Europe. And 3000+ of them died along the journey. Well, in the Philippines, in 2011 alone, there were 600,000 cases of abortion. I am sharing with you these figures not in order to spread “bad vibes” as we meet the new year 2016. Rather, I am sharing with you these figures because most of us including myself are guilty of INDIFFERENCE. As long as we are healthy and wealthy, why care about those hungry people in Africa or the war stricken refugees from Syria. My dear friends, we have to admit that we have become INDIFERRENT to the realities of the wider world. Our hearts have grown cold to those who are in pain and suffering.

However, Pope Francis in his message for the 2016 Celebration of the World Day of Peace begins with the truth that “God is not indifferent! God cares about mankind! God does not abandon us!” Such a truth we can see in our Christmas story. Mary was not indifferent to the message of the angel. Joseph, after his dream, was not indifferent to Mary’s need to have a protector and provider. In our Gospel today, the shepherds too were not indifferent to the news of the angel. They went in haste to see the child. Even the parents of Jesus were not indifferent to Jewish tradition for they submitted their son to circumcision and name – giving.

Well, if we try to reflect on the meaning of Christmas, we realize that it is about God destroying the walls of indifference by becoming one like us except sin. The mystery of the Incarnation is about God making a difference in human history by conquering indifference through the birth of his Son in the little town of Bethlehem.

As we begin the new year of the Lord and not the year of the fire monkey, let us make a difference by overcoming indifference. And how do we concretize this task of overcoming indifference? Pope Francis in the same message tells us that “mercy is the heart of God. It must also be the heart of the members of the one great family of his children.” Mercy, therefore, overcomes indifference. In our families, let us practice mercy. It’s okay to have conflicts and debates in the family. Just make sure that at the end of the day you forgive one another. When problems come in the family, practice mercy by dialogue. Talk to your wife, to your husband, to your children! Don’t talk to strangers!

My dear friends, we can only overcome global indifference by practicing mercy in the most basic unit of society which is the family. Let us invoke the intercession of Mary, Mother of Mercy, to grant us the grace of humility to ask and give forgiveness; to grant us the grace of humility to dialogue with one another.

Just as I began with figures, let me also end again with figures. 2016 is a leap year. Therefore, there are exactly 366 days next year. There will be 52 weeks and 2 days next year. There will be 8,784 hours next year. There will be 527, 040 minutes next year. And there will be 31, 622, 400 seconds next year. Thus, we can say that there is much time next year. There is much time for us to overcome indifference by practicing mercy in our families. Enjoy your time! Amen!