From comfort zone to periphery?

Last week I urged our readers to answer NOW the question, Why are the people poor? This question should be answered in the context of what is happening today to Filipinos in the aftermath of the massacre of 44 police men of the Special Action Force (SAF) sent in mission to arrest two international terrorists.

This context refers to the “world of politics” mentioned by Cardinal Tagle in his farewell speech to Pope Francis. This world’s important aspects are the grieving families of the Fallen 44, the controversy on who ordered the PNP SAF mission, the reported bunglings of the authorities involved beginning with the President, the increasing anger and rage of concerned Filipinos, the new  anti-Muslim sentiments, the ever louder voices and opposition against the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) and the intensifying demands for BS Aquino to step down and relinquish his position peacefully to a caretaker government provided by the National Transformation Council as stated in its recent declarations.

This is the periphery for us now especially in Mindanao. We can bring the light of Christ here. For here there are many spaces, ways, actions and opportunities for involvement which can be a form of evangelization. But it seems few of us are responding. Very few indeed, except those in the social media, are getting involved. Why?

Pope Francis explains why. The majority find it difficult to leave their “comfort zone, go into the streets and get dirty” (Evangelii Gaudium chap 1, n. 20). Fears, doubts, biases, lies, mistrusts, self-complacency, incompetence, ignorance – these are some of the reasons for inaction. We do understand. We also hear rumors of mass action among the basic sectors and even within the Armed Forces (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP). They too may have their own comfort zones.

In the mean time, we wait, pray and, I suggest, we make extra effort to know the truth. The media reports and analyses are not always reliable. Some are more or less controlled by the government depending on the incidents and issues that affect it. Others, like social media, are not easily available to the general public.

Maybe there is a need to look more closely to these comfort zones. More on these later.