Violence to redress injustice?

By Fr. Roy Cimagala .

LET’S be wary of what appears to be a trend in the Internet these days: video clips that glorify violence as a way of redressing injustice. These videos are particularly appealing to the young ones who still are more in their idealistic outlook, not yet knowing how to discern other considerations that should make their reactions more realistic, humane and Christian.

These videos usually depict extreme cases of injustice, like bullying, racism, etc., that cry to high heavens for justice. While it’s true that these cases can be real, it is actually improbable that they happen. Some demonic forces should be involved there, but I imagine that is not common.

What’s even more improbable is to see that many others appear to be in agreement with those who inflict these extreme forms of injustice. It makes me think whether these videos are realistic. We all know that there is always a tendency in those involved in media and entertainment to fall into sensationalism. But we should be clear about where to draw the line.

This is a dangerous trend because the young ones usually are still impressionable. Their reactions to what they see are guided more by their feelings and passions which are whetted by these extreme cases of injustice. They tend to act at the impulse of their base instincts rather than their reason enlightened by faith and charity. And so they tend to blindly follow and imitate what they just see.

Let’s remember that when these base instincts are activated and revved up to the level of a stable attitude of a person, they can be very difficult to overcome. The condition is akin to that of an addiction or an obsession.

The sense of justice and injustice of many of the young ones is still in the purely black-and-white model, shaped more by emotions and external factors rather than by what is truly proper to man as a person and as a child of God. The need for patience and the attitude of drowning evil with an abundance of good, following the example of Christ, are hardly inputted.

We need to find effective ways to curb, if not eliminate this disturbing trend. If the producers of these videos feel free to take advantage of our modern technologies that would enable their products to get to us quite easily, we too should we take advantage of the same technologies to express our reactions to them.

Parents, teachers and Church and civil authorities should take the initiative to express their reactions to these videos. Of course, everything has to be done in charity, without falling into bitter zeal that would just defeat the purpose.

This will be an ongoing affair for us now. I suppose this should part of the new normal these days. We cannot be complacent in this regard. We have to be actively vigilant, and more than just being defensive, we should be aggressive in putting forward good, edifying materials in the Internet to help others, especially the young ones, to become better persons and children of God.

We know that aside from peddling violence, the Internet is also rife with pornography nowadays. It’s time that we openly acknowledge the reality of this very perverse trend. We just cannot keep quiet and passive in the face of this development. While we have to be most tactful, discreet and prudent in handling this very delicate issue, we also need to be active, with the activeness of charity and mercy, of truth and justice in resolving this matter.

Obviously, in doing this, we cannot expect to keep ourselves completely clean. We have to expect some bruises and cuts, some falls and failures ourselves, but we just have to learn to get up, fight and move on toward what is ideal for us.

But let’s start with these violent videos because they usually offer the opening for other perversions, like pornography, to come and thrive.

Let’s grow in our Marian devotion. It’s May again, and we are reminded to turn our mind and heart to the most beautiful, blessed, divinely honored woman in the whole universe, none other than our Our Lady, “Mater Dei et mater nostra,” the Mother of God and our mother.

Let’s see to it that our devotion to her grows. And if it is practically dormant if not dead, then let’s stir it up to life again. She is important to us. In fact, she is indispensable to us. She cannot be treated as an optional feature in our spiritual life, nor something decorative or appendical only.

While she is not God and, therefore, not to be accorded with the worship that is only due to God (latria), she rightly deserves to be given the highest form of veneration (hyperdulia) among all the saints who are already with God in heaven.

She never competes nor undermines our relationship with God. If anything, all she does is to bring us to God and to help us fulfill the will of God. Thus, in that episode of the wedding at Cana where she noticed that the hosts were running out of wine, she told the servants, “Do whatever he (Christ) tells you.” (Jn 2,5)

She is a mother to us. In fact, she fulfills the perfection of motherhood because she conceived the Son of God in her womb, thereby making herself, in a mysterious sense, the mother of God (Mater Dei), since Jesus is not only man, but is, first of all, God.

And since Christ is the “prototype” of the redeemed humanity, she, being the mother of Christ, can rightly be called the mother of all humanity that has been redeemed by Christ.

That is why before Christ died, he gave his mother to us through the Apostle John when he said, “Woman, behold your son.” And to John, he said, “Behold your mother.” Like John, we should bring our Lady to the home of our heart. We would stand to benefit tremendously from such gesture.

If Eve was the first woman and thus the mother of all humanity who fell into sin with her, Mary is the second Eve who begot all of us by begetting the very son of God, “the way, the truth and the life” for us, the savior of all humanity.

And as mother, she really takes care of us the way she took care of Christ. She will always be with us, ever solicitous of our needs, always ready to help and intercede on our behalf. As mother, she will always understand us, and will be quick to help us fix whatever mess we make in our life. Most importantly, she is focused in helping us achieve our ultimate goal—our salvation.

These are basic truths about Our Lady that should never be missing in our mind and heart. On the contrary, they should always be made to be felt more deeply so as to give the pertinent impulses and motivations to our thoughts, words and deeds.

Let us develop the habit, even the instinct, of bringing Our Lady wherever we are. To be with her is to be with Christ, to be sure. For this, let us soften our heart to welcome and accommodate her, and develop an intimate mother-and-child relationship with her. With her we can never outgrow our condition as a little child who always needs his mother.

Let’s develop a certain fondness for her by availing of some human means that are used for this purpose. These can be developing the habit of looking affectionately at her pictures, saying something nice to her, saying the rosary and explore the different mysteries of Christ’s life with her, etc.

And even if we are in this stay-home order, we can still do some pilgrimages to Marian shrines by doing it online. Love and devotion will always find a way.

E-mail: roycimagala@gmail.com