The WORD in other words (2016) by Fr Vic Rayco SVD – Saint Jude Catholic School, Manila
Tuesday 2nd Week of Advent
The movie Saving Pvt. Ryan was set during World War II. A platoon of highly trained Rangers led by a captain was sent to save the said soldier whose brother died in that same war. The government, wanting to bring home at least one of the sons alive, ordered the retrieval of Pvt. Ryan from the battlefield. Throughout the movie, the recurring question was ever present: Was one life worth risking several others? For, indeed, the whole platoon died saving that one.
The proponents of the family planning visualize the world’s resources as a pie. If the population is 4, each one gets a fourth. If 8, each one gets a half of the fourth. If 16, each one gets even a smaller piece. And that pie is not even the family size pie. In effect, such logic says that the smaller the population, the bigger the size one gets from the shared pie. Not said loudly but equally clear is the proposition allowing one to kill all the rest that one can have the pie for one’s self especially if it is a personal size in the first place.
Jesus proposes that an individual is so precious as to even risk losing the ninety-nine. Such a thought would be highly unacceptable for one who counts resources so mathematically accurate and so impersonally clouded. But to one who believes s/he is loved as if s/he is the only one in the whole world, such an intention is only too natural.
Maybe that is why St. Nicolas (Santa Clause) is so popular among the children. Children demand a love that is total and complete. Grown ups, however we pretend to have out-grown such a sentiment, also demand an absolute love. We know that is how God loves.
Yes, each one is worth it!
