by Rev. Dr. Mariano C. Apilado
Hope is what we need during these times of difficulties, uncertainty and mistrust, and people are trying to get by. Mistrust is in the air when planned resumption of talks among warring parties break up, like the GRP ant eh NDF talks, the GRP and the MILF talks. This column is dedicated to the restoration of hope as a unifying thread for people to gain inspiration and direction for meaningful living, given situations of hopelessness in many quarters. This assurance is rooted upon the conviction that above and beyond the cares and difficulties of people, this world can be better. People just need to endure and put their trust in God.
Most Christian believers put their trust in a God, whom we know as Father and Creator, who became a human being, in Jesus Christ, our Savior, and continues to be present in our contemporary world. Belief in this God provides a gospel of hope, represented by Jesus’ announcement of blessing in the beatitudes found in Matthew 5:3-12. This hope is specifically stated in Matthew 5:6, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.” Righteousness means in complete accord with what is right, just, honorable, honest and Godly..
Righteousness refers to things that are upright, virtuous, noble, morally right and ethical, despite situations of immorality, corruption and difficulties in the world.. Righteousness is a lifestyle that completely conforms to the will of God, one that Jesus not only finds pleasing but one that He approves of. The gospel of hope means that righteousness and goodness will triumph despite appearances to the contrary. Is this a quixotic, utopian dream? May be..
And yet, history has shown that though despots and cruel leaders may reign for a long time, righteousness, justice and godliness triumph eventually. What the beatitude suggests is that hunger and thirst are physical appetites that return frequently and require that they be met. To remain healthy and strong, one has to hunger and thirst for daily food and nourishment of the right kind, right amount and right proportion. In a similar way, to be hungry and thirsty after righteousness is to experience not only spiritual emptiness but develop a strong craving and eagerness to be filled spiritually.
The question is: in the spiritual bankruptcy of Philippine society, is there hunger and thirst for righteousness? In this spiritual bankruptcy, what is the role of the church? What is the role of Christians? Christians by being Christians have an appointment from God to point to the spiritual as the ground and source of hope. There is a gospel of hope in the beatitude, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled.”
