This afternoon I'm reminded why I absolutely enjoy listening to one of Father Bob's sermons. His theme for today's mass was, of course, about the birth of our Lord. Never in a million years would I have guessed that he had a list of other "lords" waiting. Seriously!
First, he talked about drug lords. Now who doesn't know one of those. Admit it, even if you don't know one of them in person, surely you've heard who they are and what they are now infamous for -- their business, I mean. For those who are still in the "buffering" stages, drug lords are best known for heading drug "rings". Okay, I have to admit, I kind of inserted the rings part. I was really tempted to shout "lord of the rings" earlier so you're gonna have to forgive me for that pun. It was intended. Sorry.
Anyway, Father Bob talked about the next set of lords, the warlords. You know, like the ones who staged the whole bloody massacre in Maguindanao. For those who are offline, (not even buffering), the Massacre was a whole bloody mess, pardon my British accent (?). Well, these lords are even worse than the druglords. They kill... actual people! And they don't have any qualms about getting their hands (or someone else's for that matter) really dirty!
At this point, I'm gonna have to stop and say a short prayer for those who died in Maguindanao. May they rest in peace. Lord, please forgive them for all their sins and may they see the light of your presence in heaven. Thank you, Lord, Amen.
Next, Father Bob talked about the gambling lords. You know, the ones who made jai-alai infamous in the Philippines. Those who "manage" casinos and other gambling rings, legal and illegal. I won't go on and on about it since I really wanna get to the next bunch.
At this point, I was really fidgeting a lot, dying to shout out my favorite (sugarcoated!) set of lords -- the ones I came to know quite well back in college during my rebellious years -- the landlords. And yes, Father Bob mentioned them. He even said the word "sugar lords". I think he was referring to those who owned haciendas in our provinces and oppressed sugar farmers.
I was really tempted to giggle at this point cuz I was just watching Spidey 3 earlier and I couldn't help but think about Sandman during the time of his transformation from just another fugitive to, well, Sandman. That's how I pictured sugar lords would look like. But that's just me. Yes, I'm that weird. Sorry. I didn't giggle though. I was in church and the topic was serious. Talk about inappropriate. I still have my manners, thank you very much!
Anyway, I'm quite familiar with the brand of "killing" landlords do. I won't bore you to tears with my version of that tale. Needless to say, they "kill" farmers little by little with each passing day simply by withholding Filipino farmers' God-given right to own the land that they till -- the land they work on from daybreak to sundown until they go home bone-weary to their families to eat their meager dinners and get a few hours of sleep before waking up in the wee hours to go back to the same routine. Day in and day out, they till lands they don't own. That's how our farmers "die" a slow death.
Well, some landlords have no problem about killing farmers point blank, no questions asked. I've met quite a few landlords who were not afraid to show off their different guns. Yes, I mean the ones that blow people's brains out! But the rest of them are even more brutal. Forgive me Lord for my harshness but this is such a sore topic, I just had to write this down.
And so, the point of the entire sermon was simple, really. Father Bob stressed that we have only one Lord, the one who became man, suffered and died on the cross to save all of us. He became sin so that our sins would be forgiven. He was God, even before our creation. Yet, when He came here, His people would not accept Him for who He was and still is -- our Savior -- the promise of the Father. And so, all those mini-lords are or should be put to shame! Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior came here to save us. Yet, these mini-lords still have the gall to lord it over others, to put it bluntly.
Now you see why Father Bob made mention of all those lords -- to put into contrast the damage and devastation they have made to the salvation that our true Lord brought us. Yes, the offer still stands, eternal life, the forgiveness of sins and your salvation. Your choice!
As a footnote, I admire the way Father Bob used his own personal loss to highlight a silent killer, an epidemic of sorts -- lung cancer. His exact words were, "to all men out there, if you want to die young, then keep on smoking your sticks of cigarettes!" You see, his younger brother died of lung cancer due to chronic smoking. They buried him yesterday, the day before Christmas. My condolences to you, Father Bob.
And so I will end with a short prayer for Father Bob's brother. May he rest in peace. Lord, please forgive him his sins and may he see the light of your presence in heaven, this I ask in Jesus' name. Amen.
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