MANILA, December 29, 2011—Expressing solidarity with the typhoon victims in Mindanao, Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle said his new year’s greeting comes as a message of hope in the midst of devastation.
He conveyed his unity with the people “whose lives were reduced to rubble by typhoon Sendong and human irresponsibility.”
But aside from the victims of calamities, he also keeps in his thoughts and prayers the many people “whose lives are ruined daily by poverty, disease, corruption, lack of employment, inadequate services and abuse of creation.”
“Some people might think that mentioning the ruins of life does not belong to a
New Year message that purports to center on hope,” Tagle said.
New Year message that purports to center on hope,” Tagle said.
He explained that in the Scriptures, “hope arises and becomes truer in absurd and difficult situations.”
He said Christian hope is all about putting one’s trust in God and the acceptance of the truth.
“If we eliminate God in the promotion of life and the construction of society, we will find ourselves buried in ruins of our making,” he said.
Pride and false self-sufficiency destroy, Tagle said, stressing that they never build a world fit for human beings.
“We should know by now that God is not an extraneous factor in genuine development,” he said.
“A Blessed 2012 will come only if we place our hope in God,” the prelate furthered. (CBCPNews)
