Road to peace, the common good

A fresh year began when midnight struck, but we cannot deny that 2014 will grow old very soon especially when work and classes resume and we find ourselves facing the same old problems.

How shall we proceed in the year ahead?

Pope Francis in his message for today’s World Day of Peace, an occasion to remind the world what genuine human development is about, proposes the approach of fraternity, which he calls “the foundation and pathway to peace.”

“Peace, John Paul II affirmed, is an indivisible good. Either it is the good of all or it is the good of none,” Pope Francis wrote.

“It can be truly attained and enjoyed, as the highest quality of life and a more human and sustainable development, only if all are guided by solidarity as ‘a firm and persevering determination to commit oneself to the common good.’”

Francis said peace can be achieved if people refrain from acting out of a desire for profit or thirst for power and lose themselves in serving others instead of exploiting them.

“The ‘other’ – whether a person, people or nation – [is to be seen] not just as some kind of instrument, with a work capacity and physical strength to be exploited at low cost and then discarded when no longer useful, but as our ‘neighbor,’ a ‘helper,’” Pope Francis said.

These words are addressed to everyone but should be pondered deeply by some.

They must be heeded by government leaders like Gov. Hilario Davide III and mayors concerned with rebuilding north Cebu in the aftermath of supertyphoon Yolanda.

Politicking must end and the people must be consulted as they rebuild their shattered communities.

The survivors need shelter and zoning of excellent quality rather than shoddy work done for political expediency.

In Cebu City, Mayor Michael Rama and the City Council should work harder to achieve a working tension that is collaborative and positive.

Creative solutions are needed to address the lack of funds for basic services.

Bickering wastes time. There’s less time for residents living beside flood-prone waterways and landslide-prone hills. Power tripping won’t help street dwellers, many of them children who are at risk of being trafficked into enterprises of human slavery.

The short three-year terms of office should prod elected leaders to do as much as they can for their constituents who are not only voters who decide their political career but neighbors, who have a claim to their service.

Let 2014 be a new season of genuine fraternity and of striving for the common good.