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9 The “Favorites”: A Growing Self-Awareness

On this same consideration, in still other barrios, peasant leaders point out to their fellow peasants that, in a sense, they are “God s favorites,”

How do we know that a person has a special love for some people? Mang Jose asks. When that person celebrates his birthday, we can tell who his special friends are by knowing whom he has invited on that day.

When God celebrated His first “birthday,” whom did He invite on that day? None other than peasants, shepherds, the poor people. It is true that; he also invited the educated, the kings and the rich, but not immediately for that day.

And while He only sent a star to invite the kings and the learned. He sent-a whole host of angels to invite the peasants

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and the shepherds. With humorous seriousness, Mang Jose concludes: So, you see, we are God’s favorites.

Moreover, when God instituted the Mass, He showed again How much He values us, peasants. What are the more important element in the celebration of the Mass? Is it the church building which engineers constructed? The chairs or the pews, perhaps? No, because we can have Mass without all these. Rather, it is the bread and the wine that become the body and blood of Christ: the bread that comes from wheat that’s planted by the peasants, and the wine that comes from grapes - - - planted by the peasants. Without the peasants, there is no Mass. And. in fact, if one has no communion with the masses, there is no meaning to the Communion at Mass.

Finally, when He started his “organization,” whom did he choose as his first “leaders”?

If I had been in God’s place, Mang Jose emphasizes, I might, perhaps; have started in Rome instead of Bethlehem; be born son of the Emperor, get the Senators, the politicians, the generals, and in relatively short time, “conquer” the whole world with no more need of crucifixion.

Instead, with all His wisdom, He started in Galilee, a small town, and chose, as first leaders, the peasants and the fishermen, So, I say, the importance of (the peasants is recognized not only before society but in the eyes of God, too. The problem,

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however, is that, too often, the peasants themselves do not realize their own importance.

The voice of Mang Jose is emphatic: We must now wake up to our own importance and to our dignity, and unite m saying that we can forge our own destiny.

Another peasant in the same meeting objects: If God loves us so much that we have become His favorites, how come we are so poor and exploited, how come we suffer so much injustice? Is this His way of showing us His love?

In answer, Mang Jose says: The God, who loves us is Creator. But we cannot pray to Him “up there” and say, “God, Creator, you love us; we have a land problem, please create more lands!” For though, He is indeed Creator, He wants us to co-create with Him.

He makes the crop to grow, but He will not make it grow unless we plant it. He will not even create a single human being without the co-creative help of a man and a woman. Neither will He create a just, humane society, unless we do our part and struggle for liberation from landlordism and usury and other oppressive forces.