Take some time to sit at those decrepit benches along the crowded Libertad street or simply stay awhile at a comics stand at the City Market along Taft Avenue and you are quickly kept abreast of what is going on around you. Listen to what people say about the Odd-Even scheme, or the controversial Value Added Tax, or the Anti-Terrorism Bill, and the Rising number of religious sects approaching what has been feared as "The Three Days Darkness".

Hope in a Name

Let us place ourselves in a critical atmosphere of recall wile we see ourselves gently opening our eyes from the womb of our mother. Notice the joy you brought to your parents when at last the priest poured out water on your head saying"... I baptize you in the namve of the Father, and of the son, and of the Holy Spirit." Their eyes were filled with Love and Hope. Eyes that saw a brighter destiny as they heard friends utter the chosen name they gave to you. some of us were baptized with the name Maria, a name that hopes to imitate the purity of the Virgin Mary. Some of us were named Dominic, which means "one who belongs to the Lord". Some of us were named Asuncion after the Holy Assumption of Mary to Heaven. Some were baptized Salvador, a name identified to the Saviour Jesus Christ. Our parents were full of hope that these names may help us come to achieve what they really mean and stand for.

The parents of Zaccheus wished that one day their child may truly become just and clean as his name derives. And yet, Zaccheus turned out to be a chief tax collector whose injustice and corruption failed to meet the dreams of his parents. Many of our children today failed and disappointed many parents as well. Maria now becomes a prostitute. Dominic now becomes a drug dependent. Asuncion becomes a bar pimp and Salvador, a habitual drunkard. Money and wealth are now made to justify wrong values and we appear much like Zaccheus himself.

The many blocks when we want to see Jesus

Zaccheus heard something about Jesus in the miracles and teaching that the people share each other in their casual talks. This made Zaccheus curious about Him. And it was that curiosity that brought him the interest to meet him personally. One day, he heard that Jesus was passing by and his great interest was burning within him. So, he joined the crowd to welcome the Lord. But it was not possible for him because he was short and the crowd didn't care to give him way. and yet, the more he felt his littleness in the midst of the crowd, the more he desired to see Christ.

We at times have some difficulty to see Jesus because of the many people around us. People have so much to say about us, often negative things. What they say block our ears and we can no longer listen to what Jesus has to say. We often fear about people's negative comments even if we have the desire to change. This happens also because we are not as yet centered on Christ but to ourselves. That is why we are "Self-Centered" not "Christ-Centered". While it is true that people's negative attitude is a major obstacle to a change of heart, we should never be conquered by hopelessness and defeat.

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