HAPPY New Year to all!
I hope that our hearts are filled with gratitude to God for all the blessings that we received from him last year. And like Mary who “kept all these things, reflecting them in her heart,” I hope that we recognize the hand of God working mysteriously in our lives to reveal his personal love and will to us. In the midst of a family gathering or in solitude, I hope that our hearts are filled with joy, praises and honor to God as we begin another year.
I hope too that our reflections this New Year are not limited to God’s actions in our personal lives. I hope that we also recognize the will of God and his actions in the world and all around us.
In his message on the World Day of Peace on the first day of the year, Pope Francis recognizes God’s will to humanity. He urges “every woman and man, world’s people’s and nations, heads of state and government, and religious leaders to pray for an end to wars, conflicts, and the great suffering caused by human agency, by epidemics past and present, and by the devastation wrought by natural disasters.” He urges everyone to recognize “our common calling to cooperate with God and all people of good will for the advancement of harmony and peace.”
Pope Francis sees the evil of “globalization of indifference,” which has burdened the lives of many of our brothers and sisters. He asks all citizens and leaders of the world “to forge a new worldwide solidarity and fraternity capable of giving them new hope and helping them to advance with courage amid the problems of our time and the new horizons which they disclose and which God places in our hands.”
So here it is: our challenge this new year is not only to improve our lives but also the lives of our brothers and sisters. Our challenge is to move beyond our personal agendas but to commit ourselves to do something to help the poor and all those who suffer from pain and injustice so that we do not become influenced by what Pope Francis calls “globalization of indifference.”
As the Pope visits Sri Lanka and the Philippines this first month of the year, may compassion and mercy fill our hearts and those of the rich and politically powerful to ache for those suffer from extreme poverty, loneliness, oppression, and alienation. May this aching for humanity become transformed into real acts of justice, well-being, and charity for all peoples.
Do we have to be “big” persons to answer this global call? Of course not! In the song, “In Our Small Way,” the legendary singer, Michael Jackson proclaimed that “we may not change the world in one day, but we can still do something today in our own small ways.”
Let’s permeate this world with a culture of generosity, care and concern for others. Instead of the phenomenon of indifference, let’s build a world of compassion and tender mercy! Let not our hearts be hard and calloused to see and to respond to the suffering of people around us!
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From a Filipino immigrant family, Reverend Rodel G. Balagtas was ordained to the priesthood from St. John’s Seminary in 1991. He served as Associate Pastor at St. Augustine, Culver City (1991-1993); St. Martha, Valinda (1993-1999); and St. Joseph the Worker, Canoga Park (1999-2001). In 2001, he served as Administrator Pro Tem of St. John Neumann in Santa Maria, CA, until his appointment as pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary, Los Angeles, in 2002, which lasted 12 years. His term as Associate Director of Pastoral Field Education at St. John’s Seminary began in July 2014.