BEFORE GOD ALL MEN ARE EQUAL. This is the gist of an article written by
Rev. Fr. Oliver G. Dy, SJ, published in the SAMBUHAY, dated October 30, 2011. He reflected on the Words of Christ in Matt.
23: 8-12 which reads: “As for you, do not
be called ‘Rabbi’. You have but one
teacher, and you are all brothers. Call
no one on earth your father; you have but one Father in heaven. Do not be called ‘Master’; you have but one
master, the Christ. The greatest among
you must be your servant. Whoever exalts
himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
Life in this world, however, is a
string of relationships wherein some kind of authority or power is exercised by
someone over another, either on a one-to one basis or on others depending on
the extent of the authority vested on him.
Hence, Fr. Dy says: ”In the normal
course of human interaction, a person in authority cannot but be a step higher
than those under him. A power relationship is “asymmetrical”. The master is above the slave, the jail
warden above the detainee, the prison official above the convict, the parent
above the child, the teacher above the student, the priest or pastor above the
flock. It is the nature of power to
create, preserve, or reinforce a hierarchy.”
In the Catholic Church there is such a
HIERARCHY. The Pope exercises power over
the whole Church. The Bishops together
with some members of the clergy exercise power over a defined segment of the
Church. The clergy as a whole exercise
power over the laity. This exercise of
power, however, should be seen as a gift to be used to perform a certain
function, and not to make oneself higher in dignity than others. In the Church we certainly have different
functions, but we all have one and the same dignity – the dignity of being
children of God.
To further elaborate on this exercise
of power Fr. Dy cited the example of St. Augustine of Hippo who said: “To you I am a bishop, but with you I am a
Christian” The saint admitted to the fact that God had called him to be in
ministerial power, but at the same time affirmed that he was a companion and
friend with all the baptized. It was his
sense of “being-with” others that guided Augustine in the exercise of his
Episcopal powers. The ultimate meaning
of power is, therefore, its possessor’s ability to actualize his personal
“oneness” with the people over whom he exercises such power. The one in power is called to be one with the
people.
Equality
before God is based on the reality that all men owe their existence on God’s
creative power, without which they would
simply be reduced to nothingness. Hence,
the statement of Fr. Dy: “Before God, one
feels stripped of all power and is reduced to being just like any other.”
struck me that when we stand before God we have to humbly acknowledge our
nothingness and our oneness with all men as God’s creatures. Whatever I am and
whatever I have all come from the Creator, and there is nothing that I can
boast of. This realization makes me treat others as my EQUAL BEFORE GOD, for,
indeed, all men are creatures of one the same God – the CREATOR of the
UNIVERSE.
November
6, 2011
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