UCA News
Contribute
shay_logo

Father Shay Cullen is an Irish Columban missionary who has worked in the Philippines since 1969. In 1974, he founded the Preda Foundation, a charitable organization dedicated to protecting the rights of women and children and campaigning for freedom from sex slavery and human trafficking.

The astounding child from Nazareth

The astounding child from Nazareth

A life-size statue of baby Jesus lies inside a Nativity scene in the Philippine province of Tarlac. (Photo by Angie de Silva)

Published: December 24, 2015 01:43 AM GMT
He survived poverty and dangers and learned well from his parents who had suffered poverty, rejection

For millions of Filipinos, Christmas is a celebration of the family. They come together from around the world and delight in the togetherness and sharing of respect.

They honor the aged, bless the children, feed the hungry and fill churches with light, song and joyful celebrations. They also recall the story of that astounding child who became the greatest person to influence the history of mankind.

Christmas is a time to celebrate the greatest values of human kind brought to us thousands of years ago by the child from Nazareth. He survived poverty and dangers and grew up at the knee of his mother and the workbench of his father and was taught the Song of Mary, that most challenging of songs.

He learned well from his parents who had suffered poverty, rejection and who fled the massacre of children by Herod before crossing the border into Egypt as impoverished refugees.

They knew the merciless anger of the fanatical tyrant King Herod and seen the intolerable injustice of his regime.

The child heard the stories and listened when his mother sang that song where the mighty power of love would scatter the proud elite and rubbish all their evil plots and plans, where the mighty elite would be put down from their positions of power and the poor would be lifted up.

The teenage youth from Nazareth learned how such love can change the world and fill the hungry with good things and how — in justice — the selfish rich are sent away empty to reflect, repent and ask forgiveness for their greed, arrogance and abuse.

He grew to be that powerful personality who was and is a hero of the oppressed and became a threat to their rulers. He was a great teacher, a servant leader and the example of self-sacrificing love where no greater love can be found but in giving one's life for others. It was a loving message of compassion and care, helping and sacrifice.

But justice, equality and compassion for the poor, the refugees and the homeless had no place in the society into which he was born. The culture and religion of his time had become fanatical and cruel — the stoning of women, crucifying dissidents, beheading reformers.

He taught justice, compassion, mercy, and love of neighbors. It was a world where such powerful values were salvation for the huddled masses ground underfoot by religious intolerance and oppression and a military might that claimed to be always right.

Rebellion and wars were common in a world where foreign military occupation, oppression and exploitation of the poor by the rich, the silencing of opposition with the sword were a way of life. In that violent culture, Jesus of Nazareth was indeed a savior.

The poor realized the truth that they were not the dung, vomit or a curse on the Earth as the rulers told them they were. The prophet from Nazareth told them that. He told them they were the children of eternal goodness and love that they were worthy of the dignity inherent in every person. He said they were called to a life of dignity, had inalienable human rights and equality and had a right to a happy prosperous life.

Blessed are the poor for they have the right to inherit the Earth, he said.

 

Powerful truth

The knowledge of this powerful truth if lived out would awaken them and give them the courage to transform their society. This truth would set them free. The child from Nazareth set out to change the world, to turn it on its head to cause a nonviolent peaceful spiritual revolution with social justice.

Before he could make it a reality he was arrested, jailed, tortured, and sentenced to death. The barbarism of intolerant religious fanatics and Roman cruelty ended his mission and scattered his followers. Today it seems the powerful truth and dream of a just society where equality and love of thy neighbor reigns does not escape the barbarism of modern conflict and corporate greed.

That great truth revealed by the man from Nazareth would only be realized when his followers had shunned all exploitation, violence, and abuse and organized a community to live out these extraordinary values together.

They would be helping each other as one family and making those values real. What emerged was a powerful social and spiritual movement based on personal dignity and social justice that was capable of redeeming humanity, changing society from being a cruel and brutal regime to one of compassion, forgiveness mercy and love, following the example of the Good Samaritan.

It was this force that came into the world at the first Christmas, had its roots in the Song of Mary, and had the possibility of saving a suffering humanity from the garbage heap of the rich man’s dominance.

But sadly it seems to have failed, or has it?  When he was born so was this dream, but can it ever be a reality in the modern world or remain a dream, an unattainable reality?

It is up to each one of us to work together to make that dream come true.

Irish Columban Father Shay Cullen established the Preda Foundation in Olongapo City in 1974 to promote human rights and the rights of children, especially victims of sex abuse.

Help UCA News to be independent
Dear reader,
Lent is the season during which catechumens make their final preparations to be welcomed into the Church.
Each year during Lent, UCA News presents the stories of people who will join the Church in proclaiming that Jesus Christ is their Lord. The stories of how women and men who will be baptized came to believe in Christ are inspirations for all of us as we prepare to celebrate the Church's chief feast.
Help us with your donations to bring such stories of faith that make a difference in the Church and society.
A small contribution of US$5 will support us continue our mission…
William J. Grimm
Publisher
UCA News
donateads_new
UCA News Catholic Dioceses in Asia
UCA News Catholic Dioceses in Asia
UCA News Catholic Dioceses in Asia