Empty Talk, Empty Tomb

A badmouthed local political patron keeps on insinuating that three of his political opponents are homosexuals : two incumbent members of our legislative board and an aspiring candidate for Congress.

Attitude towards homosexuality have began to change in recent decades with the birth of modern psychiatry, social theories, including sociological and biological studies. In 1960’s, gay activism became a civil rights movement who asserted their rights and took pride of their sexual orientation. While some attitude change, prejudice against gays (men or women) or homosexuals still exists.

In the United States, gay political candidates had been elected to office, ranging from city councils to the House of Representatives. Here in Occidental Mindoro, I do not think that the issue of homosexuality should be treated as such. In the first place, is the political patron sure that there is no homosexual (open or not) in his ticket? So, it is nothing but an empty talk. No more, no less. It does not prove anything. Like the empty tomb of Jesus.

Regarding the empty tomb, a theologian named Walter Kasper author of the book, “Jesus the Christ” has this to say : “The important point is not primarily the emptiness of the tomb; it is rather the proclaiming of the resurrection, and the reference to the tomb is intended as a symbol of this faith to resurrection. This ancient tradition is not a historical account of the discovery of the empty tomb, but evidence of faith.”

The faith of the disciples, needless to say, is faith in the raising of Jesus, not in an empty tomb. Let me add that Jesus’ first appearance was to Mary of Magdala. It is the women who followed him, unlike his male disciples, to his very death. Women provide the element of continuity between death and the discovery of the empty tomb. Their conviction must have been very crucial and influential in nurturing the infantile stage of the early Christian movement. But these contributions were downplayed because of the still prevailing patriarchal status of the Church.

When will we, as a Church, truly acknowledge the role of women in the ministry of Jesus and the contribution they made to the post-Easter proclamation? We, as Jesus’ disciples, must not only simply state what Easter means, we must incarnate it.

Politician or not, gay or straight…

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(Photo from www.brokenman)