Dear People of God:

“Prince of Peace.” That was how the Prophet Isaiah called Christ who was to come to save the world. (Isa. 9, 6). “On earth peace to men of good will,” the angels sang when they announced the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. (Lk. 2,4) The message of peace is relevant and pressing today as it was around two thousand years ago.

Recently we have been exposed to the grim spectacle to mass murder in Mindanao, perhaps one of the most gruesome events in the history of violence in our country. Some children became orphans; a number of husbands turned into widowers while some wives became widows; and grieving parents were deprived of their children.

Peace however is not just the absence of war or physical violence; it can be unsettled through a number of causes. Greed for wealth and material possession could drive people to engage in shady transactions, into the degradation of our forests and environment, and into the use of public funds to finance private undertakings. Unbridled lust for power could tempt persons, particularly during election time, to resort to the use of money, guns and goons, in the process preventing the voters from exercising full freedom to elect worthy and deserving candidates into office. These in turn would breed situations for poor governance when officials are put into power through dubious machinations, seek replenishment of their funds unlawfully spent.

These are but some of the shadows and wrinkles in our social structures. But our faith gives us a glimmer of hope, as the bible in number of places has assured and exhorted us, and which the present Holy Father articulated in his encyclical letter “Spe Salvi Facti Sumus” (In hope we were saved). Social transformation starts within ourselves. We can at peace with ourselves, with others and with God.

Let us therefore ask Christ, the Prince of Peace, to heal our troubled land wounded by fraternal strife, and to touch our hearts to be open to love, justice and Christian faith. Merry Christmas to us all..

+ NEREO P. ODCHIMAR, DD
Bishop of Tandag
CBCP President
December 24, 2009