CEBU CITY (MindaNews / 2 December) — On Sunday, December 3, all Christians in the whole world will enter into the Season of Advent lasting for four weeks. It is supposed to be a time for reflections as we believers in Jesus Christ prepare our hearts and homes for His birth and entrance into the world’s human history.
Families and faith communities are encouraged throughout Advent to seek the true meaning of Jesus’ Incarnation and why He became a human person through prayer, reflections, liturgical celebrations and good deeds to others, especially those in need. This is why many parishes, church organizations and religious congregations organize Advent retreats and recollections.
However, as we have observed through the years, as malls and other commercial firms proactively promote the consumerist angle of celebrating Christmas (as early as September), and media outlets add to the frenzy, many of us get caught in the whirlwind of activities. As we rush through the days leading to December 25, making sure not to miss the Christmas parties, shop for gifts, hold family and class reunions and prepare for a sumptuous meal for the noche buena, there is no more time left for a quiet time to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas! The intense anomie owing to consumerism – and the constant checking of our ubiquitous cell phones – gets in the way to deeply enter into the spirit of Advent!
Take note that if we go to Mass on the first Sunday of Advent on December 3, we will hear the gospel of Mark 13: 33-37 reminding us of Jesus’ warning to his disciples then but also addressed to us today: “Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch. Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping.”
Clearly there is a warning for all of us Christians in these words of Jesus. I leave it to the priests who will be giving homilies on Sunday to tell us the deep meaning of these words from the biblical perspective. I will not be surprised if there are those who would echo the very same meanings repeated through the centuries by the traditionalist clergy: “Prepare yourself for the coming of the Lord! Repent and sin no more so when the end of the world comes, you will surely go to heaven!”
I have no quarrel with this interpretation and it is a warning we Christians need to heed. However, I will attempt to make my own interpretation of these words in the light of what is happening to the planet today (with the worsening impact of climate change) and the geopolitics at play among powerful nations out to dominate over the rest of the globe (that has spawned wars from Ukraine to the Middle East and the dirty little armed conflicts in Myanmar and a number of African nation-states).
Have the worsening crises unfolding across the planet and the world been the result of human persons not being watchful? Have we failed to be alert to the signs of the earth’s deterioration and the collapse of democracy in many nation-states? Have the political authorities whom we have trusted to make sure there is peace in the world and to protect the environment been sleeping on the job and have we the people failed to make them accountable? Have we left it to the superpower countries and giant corporate firms to be the only ones to make all the decisions that have caused too much damage to the environment and great suffering to tens of millions of the poorest people on earth?
No matter how much we sing Christmas carols celebrating the joys of Christmas and peace on earth, the fact of the matter is that during this Christmas season there can only be pain and sorrow for millions of people, while Mother Earth laments over the continuing devastation of our common home! And peace on earth? Tell that to the refugees in the camps of Gaza and occupied West Bank, to families forced to stay in bunkers in Ukraine, to families who have lost children in these senseless wars, to the victims of racism, ethnic cleansing, religious persecutions and to the political prisoners all over the world!
It is very timely that as we enter into the Advent season, the COP28 just opened in Dubai, a two-week (November 30-December 12) summit where diplomats from nearly 200 countries are expected to approve a draft plan for a fund to help vulnerable countries hit by climate disasters, which are made worse by pollution spewed by wealthy nations. For more than three decades, developing nations have pressed for compensation from wealthier, more industrialized countries to help with the costs of destructive storms, heat waves and droughts fueled by global warming.
And the good news is that some developed countries – especially the United Arab Emirates and Germany – have pledged amounts far bigger than the biggest polluters in the world today, the United States and China. However, total pledges are not expected to go beyond $600 million. On the other hand, climate-related damages are expected to cost developing countries between $280 billion and $580 billion per year by 2030.
Meanwhile the target to cut down on the production and usage of fossil fuels – the main culprit for the rise of climate change – has not been fulfilled as agreed in past COPs. Developed countries continue to rely on fossil fuels and gas to sustain their economic growth. Why have the wars in Ukraine and Gaza erupted? Why is Israel, fully backed by the US, continuously occupying Gaza and committing ethnocide killing tens of thousands of Palestinians? Because there is oil to be tapped.
According to EgyptOilGas.com issued on April 5, 2018: “In 1999, British Gas (BG) discovered the existence of natural gas in the Gaza Marine fields, 20 nautical miles off the coast of Gaza, at a depth of 375 miles. Further exploration by BG through two successful wells — Gaza Marine 1 and Gaza Marine 2 — determined the field could contain up to 1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.” In short, behind Israel’s end game for Gaza is to have full control over these offshore gas reserves.
Meanwhile, Russia and China as well as companies that extract fossil fuels are spreading false and misleading information claiming that global warming is a hoax. Clearly, they have no intention at all in heeding the Paris Agreement, the international treaty adopted by 196 Parties at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris, France, on 12 December 2015 aimed at substantially reducing global greenhouse gas emissions. This is only possible if production and usage of fossil fuels are reduced drastically and ecologically-sound, alternative energy is proactively pursued.
Meanwhile economies in the world are floundering even as governments – even in developed countries – are shifting towards the populist, authoritarian regimes. The worsening impact of climate change with disasters taking place regularly, the breakdown of democracies, the increasing gap between the few elite and the vast poor populations, the threat of another pandemic, the insecurities of the youth and so many other issues have contributed to a sense of dread that things will get worse before they get better. No wonder there are prophets of doom in all corners of the world predicting the end of the world!
So are we Christians going to go down on our knees, repent for our sins and just get ready for the second coming of Jesus Christ? Jesus’ exhortation for us to be watchful and alert is a challenge to all of us to respond to the crisis at hand in the hope that we can all redeem ourselves from an impending catastrophe? May our reflections this Advent help us to find ways to – in the words of Pope Francis – work for “peace (that) depends on justice… for peace is a gift, a challenge and a commitment,” which can “only come about on the basis of a vision of human beings capable of promoting an integral development respectful of their transcendent dignity.”
(MindaViews is the opinion section of MindaNews. Redemptorist Brother Karl Gaspar is Mindanao’s most prolific book author. Gaspar is also a Datu Bago 2018 awardee, the highest honor the Davao City government bestows on its constituents. He is presently based in Cebu City.)