Brothers and sisters, the continued implementation of the enhanced community quarantine in Luzon to address the spread of Covid-19 has greatly impacted so many people, and our government seems to have forgotten the poor, especially our fellow people living in the streets that they consider home. How can they remain inside their homes, like what the government officials keep saying, when they are homeless?
During the first week of implementation of the total lockdown in Metro Manila, we saw how the poor who are living in the streets were being left out. In Tayuman, in Manila, barangay officials and policemen forced those residing in the streets and those waiting in line at the St. Arnold Janssen Kalinga Center to evacuate. The Kalinga Center is an institution established by Fr. Flavie Villanueva, SVD, that gives free food and vitamins, and even offer baths for our brothers and sisters in the streets, whatever their age and gender.
Over 100 people knocking on the doors of the Kalinga Center were reprimanded because they weren’t following the rules on social distancing. They were set aside like trash, Fr. Villanueva said. The priest could no longer help but say that there is a new virus destroying the hearts of other people—the virus of apathy and abuse of power by stepping on the destitute. It is good that they were welcomed by De La Salle University, De La Salle College of Saint Benilde, and St. Scholastica’s College, and the private Catholic Schools in Manila.
Because of the government’s lack of action in helping our homeless brothers and sisters who were adversely affected by the lockdown, Church-run schools in Manila opened their doors to momentarily receive them. Among these schools are the Malate Catholic School, Espiritu Santo Parochial School, Holy Trinity Academy and Paco Catholic School. Truly, at the center of great need and crisis, the generous are always there to lend a helping hand.
While the enhanced community quarantine lasts, we can’t help but notice the shortcomings of our government, up to the point where we rely on donations from the private sector to help the poor. Surely there will come a time when we can hold these so-called leaders accountable for their inaction, especially those who failed to fulfill their duties in this time of crisis. For now, it is important to work together to provide the needs of our brothers and sister who are severely affected by this global pandemic.
In opening the doors of private schools and institutions for our brothers and sisters who cannot help themselves, we saw the embodiment of the major principles of the social teaching of the Church—the principle of solidarity. In the Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, St. John Paul II explained that solidarity is not the same as shallow pity and grief from the suffering of many people. It is striving to offer ourselves for the common good because, first of all, we share a common responsibility with one another.
Brothers and sisters, let us listen to Jesus through the poor who are gravely affected by the lockdown. With the best of our abilities, let us respond to His words in the book of Matthew 25:35-40, “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me… whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it for me.”
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