‘Daang matuwid,’ a second, deeper look

My article from the point of view of a senior citizen (and a priest), “How far should our faith guide our political life?” (Opinion, 8/17/15), got mixed comments in the Inquirer website and led to an interview with Radio Veritas on Aug. 20. In the article, one of the questions I raised was: “Where is God in daang matuwid?”

I want to clarify that “God” does not have to be mentioned specifically, or referred to even indirectly, in any platform or program of any political party or group. If daang matuwid—or any program or ideology under any name, for that matter—is promoting the common good (for the benefit most particularly of the poor in their various levels of existence and dependence, whether in the material, cultural, intellectual, mental or emotional realm; and of the children, the youth, the weak, the sick and the elderly, etc.) and the care for creation, then GOD IS THERE. And this has to be strongly stressed, because God loves them all, whether they are aware of this love or whether they like it or not. God simply and unconditionally loves them—all of us, for that matter—as all of us are poor in one sense or another.

God does not need to ask our permission for Him to love us, though we know we can refuse that love by living against what we know to be good. And yet God will not withdraw His love. The more “lost” or “confused” we are, the more He seeks us, the more He cares for and about us. And this is the truth. We can turn way from Him; but He will not turn away from us, ever. Because in the end, His love will triumph. His love is stronger than all the evil we can conjure together.

Bottom line: If the daang matuwid, or any other program or ideology under whatever name, is really and truly for the poor in the comprehensive categories mentioned specifically earlier in this article, then GOD IS THERE.

This is not in any way an endorsement of any candidate or a presumed judgment on anyone’s capacity or personality, as those are for the individual voters to discern with responsibility and concern for the common good. But that candidate with that platform will get my vote in 2016, no other questions asked, with my eyes closed.

—FR. ANTONIO-MARIA ROSALES, OFM, thinktonymaros@gmail.com