Card Bo tells Burmese priests to carry out the revolution of mercy
The Archbishop of Yangon celebrated the Jubilee for priests in St Mary’s Cathedral with clergymen from various dioceses. In a country hurting from poverty, exploitation, violence and disease, we bring "the message of Jesus Christ,” which “for a modern man [. . .] looks so impractical”.
Yangon (AsiaNews) – As part of the celebrations for the Jubilee of Mercy, Card Charles Maung Bo, archbishop of Yangon, spoke last Wednesday in St Mary's Cathedral, in Yangon, at a service dedicated to priests.
"Become the bread of mercy, broken and shared among all our brothers,” he told the priests present who came from the Archdiocese as well as the dioceses of Pathein, Mawlamyine, and Hpane Pyay. In his homily, he urged them to start the “revolution of mercy" brought by Christ.
At the beginning of his speech, the cardinal mentioned US President Barack Obama’s recent visit to Hiroshima, where the US leader thoughtfully noted that the bomb was the by-product of a “scientific revolution”.
By contrast, "What we need today is a moral revolution. Yes, the year of Mercy is a year of moral revolution and the leader of this revolution is Jesus Christ."
Looking at the history of mankind, he added, it seems that "hatred was born with us [. . .]. Open the Bible, and in the first five pages there's already blood. Not the blood of a Muslim, a Jew, a Hindu or a Buddhist.”
After Cain and Abel, centuries of violence followed. “Out of 5,000 years of recorded human history, we have had only 120 without war.”
Against this background of heinous crimes, "Christ appeared with his great message: Be merciful as your heavenly Father is merciful to you. Pray for those you hate you and pray for those who persecute you. Forgive seventy times seven.”
“For a modern man it looks so impractical,” but Pope Francis “has been showing us by his deeds how mercy is the core of the human identity.”
For the prelate, “His identification with the poor, disfigured people, his visit to prisons, his welcoming refugees, his fellowship with sinners and those are at the margin: he is really the prophet of mercy and the world has been attracted once again to the message of mercy.”
“As priests we are called upon to forgive,” the cardinal said. “In this season, we need to use the confessional as the field hospital as the pope says, of people wounded by sin.”
“For all the religious I have only great respect for the works of mercy you are doing. You are involved with the poor, with the sick, with HIV people, with the rural and urban poor.”
“You have seen poverty spread faster in democracy. You have seen our youth being trafficked. You have seen thousands of our children subjected to inhuman child labour. Be present among them.”
According to Card Bo, the work of mercy is not the prerogative of priests. " I call upon families to be the epicentre of mercy. To have a family at this time is a great challenge. But families need mercy more than ever.”
Hence, for husbands, “be merciful to your wife, appreciate her hard work, do not magnify minor mistakes.”
Finally, speaking about his country’s plight, he said, “Myanmar offers a thousand ways for us to become messengers of mercy. We have our poor, we have our slums, we have our sick people, we have our homeless people, we have our trafficked people. We have our youth without any future.”
“Let us visit these people, [. . .] and Always remember: ‘If you give a cup of water to a thirsty man in my name, you will merit the Kingdom of heaven’."
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