My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as we continue our fight for our faith it is undeniable that our Church community is suffering because of the continuous misery of the poor. Let us not forget what CBCP President and Davao Archbishop Romullo Valles, DD, said, that “our sufferings as church leaders are nothing compared to the sufferings of the poor in our country.”
It is true that addictive drugs destroy a person’s life, including his relationship with family and God. However, it is not part of our mission as children of God to put the names of drug dependents in shame and blame them for being the victim of illegal drugs. Addictive drug is a communicable disease in our society and drug addicts are victims of this disease.
Let us stop labeling the drug addicts as “non-humans” and stigmatizing them as criminals when their names end up in the dreaded “drug watch lists,” as they are also suffering in pain.
“Yes, we are aware of the sufferings of those who have been victimized by substance abusers, but can we not see them also as sick people who are struggling with a disease?”
They are victims of a disease, crying out for help and seeking for God’s mercy and compassion. As Christians and a shepherd of the Lord, it is part of our responsibility to take care of His flock. We might not be the good shepherd, but “are we to remain as bystanders when we hear of people being killed in cold blood by ruthless murderers who dispose of human lives like trash?”
Do we ever think that “for every drug suspect killed, there is a widowed wife and there are orphaned children left behind—who could hardly even afford a decent burial for their loved ones?”
To those in this world who boast of their own wisdom, those who arrogantly regard themselves as wise in their own estimation and the Christian faith as nonsense, those who blaspheme our God as stupid, Saint Paul’s words are to the point: “For the stupidity of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength” (1 Cor 1:25).
My dear children of God, let us not use our saying in Tagalog—“Ang sakit ng kalingkingan ay ramdam ng buong katawan”—as this is not always true, because “there is no way we can feel each other’s pains when some parts of the body are numbed by sheer indifference.”
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