Fr. Catalino Arevalo, S.J.
For those opposed at Sen. Miriam Santiago’s impeachment court antics and vituperation, who wouldn’t love to see her languishing in the ‘fires of hell?’
Fr. Catalino Arevalo, S.J., in his 80s, and one of those strongly disagreeing, and vocal enough to condemn Santiago’s behavior has quoted Matthew 5:20 during his homily at the historic Our Lady of Edsa Shrine, saying, “But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment. And if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council. And if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the fires of hell.”
This made reference at the height of Santiago’s ire and blistering attack at the prosecution panel when she called them “gago” or fools.
Sen. Miriam Santiago
The question, however, is: Is there such a place as hell to accommodate even a vituperous senator of the realm?
This question was answered by no less than the feisty senator herself who happens to hold a master’s degree in Theology who said that, “Under Vatican 2, there is no hell. But even if there is, there is nobody there. In theology, hell is not a geographical place, but is a metaphor for distance from God.”
Though I used to like Miriam, but abhor her now like a plague, I cannot help but agree with her.
In my younger days I had the privilege of knowing this old, kind and religious Spanish speaking lady, who, when we were talking about the realities of heaven and hell, looked at me straight and said: “No creas que hay infierno ni cielo. Se no tienes paz en el mundo y sigues viviendo en pecado y problemas, ya estas en el infierno. Pero se sigues viviendo feliz y en harmonia con los demas, estas seguro que ya estas en el cielo.” (Do not believe that there is hell or heaven. If you don’t have peace in the world and continue living in sin and problems, you are already in hell. But if you have a happy life and living in harmony with the rest, you can be sure that you are already in heaven.)
To this day I continue believing what the old lady has told me.
Shall we elaborate some more? With her cantankerous attitude, now you know who is spending time in hell already.
Relative to this issue, I fundamentally agree with Miriam when she gave an unsolicited advice to the priest, saying: “That priest should spend his energy fighting pedophilia within the Catholic church instead of meddling in politics and serving to divide church practitioners.” That is putting him in his rightful place.
Now, let us talk about Miriam’s forthcoming job as one of the 6 judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague, Netherlands. She, thus, becomes the first woman from an Asian developing state to join as a judge in the Netherlands-based international court that tries persons accused of the most serious crimes of international concern.
Facebook media ‘afeccionados’ in the Philippines is abuzz with the move to send the Hague a letter asking to abrogate or disqualify Sen. Santiago as ICC judge because of her abominable behavior.
For crying out loud, why are you guys doing it?
Isn’t it a blessing that she will be gone for a long, long time and the whole nation won’t be putting up with her? Praise the Lord, as Christians says!
Amen, I say, and again, good riddance.
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