Gospel Reflection 2021/2022

Where is justice?

As most of us can fondly recall, Malaysia was tipped to become the fifth Asian Tiger, right after Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan. However, the Asian financial crisis in 1997 has dealt a severe blow and hindered its economic progress.

To make things worse, cronyism and nepotism have taken roots under the pretext of privatisation and corporatisation. Corruption has now become an open secret and an acceptable norm – which has escalated into ‘grand corruptions’ – due to the abuse of high-level power that benefits the few at the expense of the whole nation. Day and night, these politikus (political rats) are spinning their web of lies and wreaking havoc to fuel their political mileage. Thanks to them, Malaysia is now an ailing, falling and failing nation.

These corrupt leaders misuse their powers, leech off the wealth of the nation, abuse the judiciary system and make a mockery of it. They enjoy special treatments and exclusive rights. Some corrupt leaders receive only a slap on the wrist while the more powerful ones walk away scot-free.

Where is justice?

Evil has made a comeback.

Since Feb 2020 after the infamous Sheraton Move ousted the elected Pakatan Harapan government, Malaysia and Malaysians have suffered much with no end in sight:

• • The political turmoil in Malaysia has persisted: Five days ago, the Parliament has been dissolved, paving way to the 15^th General Election (GE 15). We can expect to see dramatic episodes of power grabs, power plays, party hopping, secret deals and unholy alliances. Again, fake news and fabricated news will be created and circulated to daunt, distract, deceive and divide the people.

• • The economy is crumbling: Since April 2022, we are experiencing severe inflation and prices are skyrocketing. As analysed by Trading Economics, Malaysia’s Inflation Rate has increased steeply from 2.3% (Apr 2022) to 4.7% (Aug 2022). A day ago, our Malaysian Ringgit (MYR) has even dropped to a new all-time low as reported by the Edge dated 14 Oct 2022.

• • Our education system is deteriorating: Two days ago, our best local university, Universiti Malaya (UM) has fallen out of top 350 in world rankings as reported by the Rakyat Post dated 13 Oct 2022.

In the previous General Election (GE 14), we thought we have conquered evil. But evil has made a comeback. Evil has recovered, revived, reorganised and returned – scary but it is true. It is exactly like what Jesus has warned about ‘the return of the unclean spirit’ [Mt 12: 43-45] who has left a person but returned with seven other spirits more evil than itself!

How can we defeat evil?

Our help is in the Lord, Who made heaven and earth! (Ps 121: 2)

With our own strength, we cannot defeat evil. Only God can save us! The Psalmist exclaims [Ps 20: 7], “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.” How true it is that our help is in the Lord and He is the only Person we must trust!

We often pray for peace in the world. But how often do we pray that God’s justice (not ours) be done in our country?

God is a JUST judge.

It is God-incident that in the Gospel reading of the 29^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Jesus speaks of the persistent widow and the unscrupulous judge. The widow desired JUSTICE against her enemy so much that she kept pestering, bothering, bugging and harassing the judge. And the judge finally budged and gave in to the persistent widow – JUSTICE was granted.

God is a JUST judge. He is JUSTICE Himself. And He will ensure that justice is granted to all who seek for it. Jesus has promised us [Mt 5: 6] that, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”

God has the last say. Not evil.

God is always in control. And evil does not have the last say: it may flourish but it will never triumph.

We must:

1) Pray earnestly: Like the persistent widow in the Jesus’ Parable, and Moses in the First Reading [Ex 17: 8-13], as long as we fix our eyes on God and lift our prayer consistently and persistently to Him, He will – in His mercy and compassion – hear and answer us.

2) Discern wisely: Only guided by the Holy Spirit, can we have the clarity of mind and calmness of heart to navigate through the treacherous sea of truths, untruths, half-truths, fabricated truths and distorted truths.

3) Act justly: The little that we can do to save Malaysia is to exercise our rights as responsible citizens, to abstain from sharing unverified news, to keep each other informed and formed, and yes, to vote for the suitable candidate in the coming General Election.

God is in control. He always is. Let us therefore, PRAY earnestly, DISCERN wisely and ACT justly. There is STILL hope for Malaysia.

Let our fervent prayer be:

“Lord Jesus Christ, help me to build Your Kingdom of justice, peace, love and truth here in Malaysia.”

Let us also pray that God’s justice, peace, truth and love may prevail in Ukraine, Sri Lanka and Nicaragua.