Easter message urges people to hope amid poll fraud fears, crises

Remain hopeful amid fears of electoral fraud, killings, poverty and other crises that continue to hound the nation in these trying times. This was the Easter message of the head of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), a day before Catholics celebrate the Resurrection of Christ. "However dark the horizon may seem, today we celebrate the radiant triumph of Easter joy. We are now children of resurrection! Let no one yield to dismay and lack of trust! We hold in our hearts the very foundation of Hope. Christ is risen! Christ is alive in our midst; truly present in the Sacrament of the Eucharist. In and with Him, the journey through life gets brighter, not darker. People going through great crisis find comfort in His presence. He comes to us as answer to our tears over death," CBCP president and Tandag Bishop Nereo Odchimar said in his 2010 Easter message, posted on the CBCP news site. Odchimar admitted that many Filipinos today are still cynical about progress and development, amid what he called the "ascending rate of poverty, electoral deceit, crime and violence, graft and corruption, abuse of natural resources and other forms of social evil." While only a few can speak of hope for a better Philippines, the vast majority wallow in abject poverty, he added. "Electoral processes are manipulated by some influential politicians. Suffrage is curtailed by vote-buying-and-selling, various forms of threat, and erratic understanding of Utang na loob (debt of gratitude)," he lamented Odchimar also noted extra-judicial killings and massacre have become rampant while rainforests have turned into barren places due to illegal logging and indiscriminate mining. Yet, he said there is no reason to fear, citing a passage from the Easter message of Pope Benedict XVI. "By his rising the Lord has not taken away suffering and evil from the world but has vanquished them at their roots by the superabundance of his grace," he said, quoting from the Pope's message. "By his death Jesus has crushed and triumphed over the iron-clad law of death, eliminating its poisonous root for ever," Odchimar added. Odchimar urged Filipinos as they contemplate Christ's resurrection to let the Holy Spirit "bring us to that glorious event where we may encounter the risen Lord again and relive the joyful hope of Easter." "May we, who truly experience this life-giving hope, light, and love of Christ, also become rays of hope for the despairing. Lighted candles amidst darkness, and compassion for the abandoned. God bless us all!" he said. —LBG, GMANews.TV