Easter Sunday from Gems:

Dear Fellow Phase 678 Lot Owners:

Yesterday I watched Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ. Accustomed to blood and gore and long familiar with the plot, I didn’t think something could still move me. But it happened to this 63-year old senior citizen. 

In the climax, right after Longinus pierced the right side of Jesus with a spear to ensure he was dead, when Jesus had, in fact, just breathed his last  – after crying out, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit…” – I couldn’t help my anger at first, and then my tears, as blood and water poured out from under the rib cage of Jesus onto the face of the partially blind Roman soldier, instantly restoring his sight and converting him into a believer. The scene was overpowering. 

Reflecting, as depicted in the movie, on God’s infinite love and mercy despite man’s brutality and rejection of the truth in those times, I was reminded that everything was for a perfectly divine purpose, the highest of which was, as we all know, to atone for the sins of humanity or save mankind.

But Christ’s death and resurrection also reminds us that governments can be unjust. As history bears witness, when governments claim divine authority or attempt to suppress the truth, they eventually fall. But Christ, the resurrected King, reigns eternally.

Thus, believers today are called to live in this tension: to be good citizens, but never to worship the state; to respect authority, but never to idolize it; to obey laws, but only insofar as they do not conflict with the higher law of God.

As Phase 678 Lot Owners, are we caught in this kind of tension? Do we see excessive discretion by authorities in their judgment of our lots? Do we see abuse in the application of power to deprive us of our rights? 

Do we feel the scorn or systematic persecution of those in power, whose minds cannot discern what is right from wrong, righteous from immoral, fair from discriminatory, just from unjust, and what’s protected by law from what’s illegal? 

Do we feel the apathy or disinterest of the general public who have yet to see the light of our cause? Do we feel the reluctance of the media to help, perhaps finding our long tortuous struggle to repossess our land not worth retelling? 

Do we feel as though some authorities had already cast lots on who would get the rest of our possessions after the last of the first four plaintiffs had died this year without ever seeing the Supreme Court writ of execution served in their favor? 

Do we feel spat on, derided and laughed at by officers in immaculate white who had already begun to build a massive housing project on our private lands, shielded as it were from the public view, as though no lightning or earthquake can strike it down?

Do we feel the draining silence of supporters, let alone the lukewarm support from fellow retired comrades who have long settled in the prosperous AFPOVAI village by the grace of the same Presidential Proclamation No. 461, which we continue to vainly pursue – 60 years after its issuance as law? 

Do we feel like being abandoned occasionally by a few disheartened or disillusioned members even as many others from our community continue to send contributions, offer support, bring us food, and figuratively wipe the blood, sweat and tears off our faces and help bear our own cross? 

And do we feel too bloodied and weak to speak the truth to power after taking the toll of quiet beatings and resistance from government offices? 

Yes, do we now feel resigned to what would appear to be our inevitable fate?

My dear fellow Lot Owners, yield not and fear not. There comes a point where the application of human power and authority begins to turn back unto itself, when people who think they are lords in authority fail to realize their limits, when they think only of themselves, instead of their larger brethren, and when they think that the bell is rung only for the Admiral and higher stars, instead of paying the highest tribute and glory to God.

Trapped yet again as we are in the face of the new suspension of our lot applications, inaction on our pleas before the highest offices, as well as the unrelenting illegal occupation and construction on our land, let us close ranks, bear ourselves to our tasks, and summon our strengths as never before.

Through each burden, let us focus our sinews. Through each painful step, let us push forward. And through each fall, let us resolutely rise up.

But in our own struggle, let us not be carried away by its pain and agony. Instead, let us allow this timeless message to resonate and spread. Let us love and forgive those who have made it their mission to persecute and dispossess us. Let us do good to them who cause us suffering, instead of returning acts in kind.  But let us do it without sitting on our rights, without giving up our struggle, without acting like cowards to our cause. 

Let us resist when we are pushed out of our legal rights. Let us not give in to demands contrary to what’s right and just. Above all, let us fight without fear, but also without scorn or hate for our enemies.

The Passion of Christ ends with His resurrection three days after his death, shattering the illusion of all that earthly powers cling to. Governments can crucify, they can silence, they can bury—but they cannot resurrect. The empty tomb is the ultimate protest against tyranny and injustice. It declares that God’s purposes will prevail, that truth cannot be killed, and that divine justice is supreme and above human law.

May this reflection help to renew our hopes, reforge our solidarity and restore our fighting spirit. May the wounded hands of Jesus lift and guide every Phase 678 member. And may God ultimately deliver the lots of AFPOVAI Phase 678 to all of us.

Happy Easter, everyone!