“Blessed are the peacemakers, they shall be called sons and daughters of God.”—Matthew 5:9
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we are now in the midst of a storm where our faith is being attacked by the enemies. A tirade was being thrown upon us that challenged the strength of our faith in Almighty God.
However, as what Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines President and Davao Archbishop Romullo Valles, DD, said, “Our enemies in this world are not fellow human beings, not ‘flesh and blood’ [Ephesians 6:12].”
Those people who condemn our faith and religion, those people who don’t believe in God, and those people, who kept on attacking us using guns and bullets, are not our enemies that we need to fight because “we do not fight our battles with guns and bullets, and we do not seek protection from those who might wish to harm us by wearing bulletproof vests.”
Our real enemy is the darkness that is trying to overcome our soul because “the battles that we fight are spiritual.” This is not a battle that needs violence in order to win, but rather it is a battle that needs peace and faith.
“In these times of darkness, when there’s so much hatred and violence, when murder has become an almost daily occurrence, when people have gotten so used to exchanging insults and hurting words in the social media, we admonish the faithful to remain steadfast in our common vocation and mission to actively work for peace.”
Let us all remember as “sons and daughters of God” that peace is our common vocation and mission, and that the peace of God is “never the peace of compromise or capitulation to evil; it is also not about the absence of conflict and turmoil,” but rather it is “a peace that transcends all understanding, will guard our hearts and our minds in Christ
Jesus [Philippians 4:7].”
“There is nothing that can calm us down in these turbulent times except the quiet recognition of Him who assured us of His abiding presence—‘Be not afraid; it is I!’”
(Matthew 14:27)
Let us not be afraid to stand and profess our faith and be united as one “Catholic Faithful Community” that “always strives to bring love where there is hatred, pardon where there is injury, faith where there is doubt, hope where there’s despair, light where there is darkness and joy where there is sadness.”
May the Almighty Father protect us in this battle of spirituality and give us strength to speak about our faith through our Lord Jesus Christ.
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