To the beloved wife of Gov Freddie, Dr. Marilyn Marañon, to Mayor Thirdie and the rest of the other six children with their spouses and their grand children, to Tita Bebing – the only surviving sister of Gov Freddie, her husband Tito Edgar and their family… Msgr. Erwin, Fr. Jofferson, government officials, public servants, Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
I’ll start by quoting and paraphrasing the prophet Isaiah in today’s first reading: “Let me now sing of my friend, Gov Freddie, my friend’s song concerning his vineyard – Sagay – Negros Occidental.
My friend had a vineyard – I would dare call it NIR – on a fertile hillside; he spaded it, cleared it of stones, and planted the choicest vines; within it he built a watchtower, and hewed out a wine press.
Then he looked for the crop of grapes, but what it yielded was wild grapes.”
(Is. 5:1-2)
This is where I have to depart from the prophet Isaiah: “The he looked for the crop of grapes, and it yielded not wild grapes but abundant sweet-tasting grapes; for they were organically grown and nurtured in a coal-free environment, lovingly cared for by the youth of this island that my friend, Gov Freddie has left a legacy of hope while being governor of Negros Occidental for three terms.”
Let me continue to quote the prophet Isaiah putting his words on the mouth of our friend, Gov Freddie:
“What more was there to do for my vineyard Neg Occ that I had not done?” (Is 5:4)
For indeed, Gov Freddie had never stopped being concerned with our province until he died at 84.
When I learned that he died on the very day that we laid the first cornerstone of this Church he worked so hard so it would be finished soon – that was the feast of the Little Flower of Jesus – St Therese – October 1 – the first thing I wrote was: “Thank you for giving us all hope, especially to our youth.”
I was affirmed when I read later that the Youth for Climate Hope expressed publicly that there is a coal-free Negros, because when the youth and the people stood up and spoke out, there was a leader in Gov Freddie who listened.
The youth group said this is one of the noble legacies Gov Freddie has left Negrosanons with — inspiring advocates all around the Philippines.
They said, “We are proud to remain a coal-free and renewable energy province, and we are blessed to have had a leader who understood that the planet and its people are what matters most!”
I joined our Youth for Climate Hope as they express hopes that “our current leaders will honor (Gov Freddie’s) legacy and renew their commitment towards keeping Negros clean and sustainable.”
Together with them I say, “thank you for standing with the youth and our right to a livable future.”
Today’s gospel calls for responsibility and accountability in our dealings with God, which include our dealings with our fellow human beings and the rest of God’s creation. The parable has a lot to teach us about stewardship.
First we see the PROVIDENCE of God. “There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower” (Matt 21:33a). Before God entrusts a responsibility to us, He makes provision for all that we will need in carrying out the responsibility. This is true in the life of Gov Freddie.
“Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country” (v. 33b). This shows God’s TRUST in us. God trusts that we will do the right thing. Unfortunately many of us don’t. We certainly hope and pray that Gov Freddie did the right thing most of the time if not all the time and we invoke God’s mercy for those times!
The story also highlights God’s PATIENCE with us. God sends messenger after messenger to the rebellious managers who would not render to God what is His due. With each messenger, God provides another chance for us to put an end to rebellion and do the right thing. Finally there comes a last chance. God plays His last card and sends His only son. If we miss this last chance, then we’ve missed it.
This is how Fr. Munachi E. Ezeogu, CSSP interprets the parable:
In the end we see God’s JUDGMENT in which rebellious humanity lose their very lives, and their privileges are transferred to others who are more promising. The picture is that of a provident, trusting, patient, but also just God.
From this we can learn a lot about ourselves and how we stand in relation to God.
First, we see human PRIVILEGE. Like the managers of the vineyard, everything we have is a privilege, not a merit. This is what we mean when we say that everything is God’s grace. Grace is unmerited favor. Another word for this is privilege. Life itself is a privilege which can be taken away from any of us at any moment.
Privilege comes, however, with RESPONSIBILITY. We are ultimately responsible and accountable to God for the way we use or abuse our God-given privileges. God has given us all that we need to make a judicious use of all our privileges, yet we retain the ability to abuse them.
This is called FREEDOM. This is a parable.*
