Politics in Ghana, and Value Based Leadership

                                                                             Introduction

 

Leadership is an issue that affects all of humanity. But, visionary and true leaders are difficult to find. Not only are we impacted by this phenomenon, but we are also called upon to exercise it. Whether we are involved in leading government or business, guiding young minds, leading a family, a sports team or a committee, organizing a dinner, a class project, a carpool or a household, or just standing for what is right. At every turn of human endeavour, everyone has a leadership role to play. In other words, we are called upon to be custodians of what is right and good, lasting and of value for those in our care at one time or another.

It is as a result of an obvious lacuna in worthy, responsible leadership in many economies of the world that these questions were thrown up not long ago: "What has happened to leadership? Have all the great leaders gone from the world scene?" The search for true, value based leadership is not limited to the global arena, but also relevant in the task of socio-political, cultural, educational, and moral transformation of developing economies such as Ghana.

However, why does a true leader need to demonstrate values in leadership? Values are regarded as esteemed qualities which are intrinsically desirable. That is why experts in the humanities have described values as "the especial essence of who we are as human beings." Such demonstrable and authentic values on which the Ghanaian society should be built upon include transparency, patriotism, personal integrity, fear of God, courage, transformational leadership, accountability, vision, creativity, knowledge, character and passion.

Leadership also, has been described as a form of service. Thus, In order to lead effectively, a leader should be willing to meet the essential needs of the individuals in the team or group. London's Sunday Times published an article with the title, "Whatever Happened to Real Leaders" the time it noticed the perceptible inadequacy in the leadership of some economies in Europe. The fact not only applies in the Western world where the people combat leadership problems of recent, it is also applicable to the Ghanaian situation, as the reputed most populous Black nation (in terms of the production of cocoa, gold and a strong football team) who needs values-based, visionary leadership. It is a powerful, well-timed plea for the emergence of a right kind of leadership that can deliver Ghanaians from the grip of its many socio-economic problems resulting from poor governance.

Nature of leadership in Ghana

While underscoring the need for anyone entrusted with the sacrosanct mandate of leadership in any human community, Walter Lippmann, a late American newspaper commentator, in his syndicated column "Today and Tomorrow", attempted another description of leaders as "the custodians of a nation's ideals, of the beliefs it cherishes, of its permanent hopes, and of the faith which makes a nation out of a mere aggregation of individuals." According to Lippmann, the term literally, refers to a keeper, a guardian or a caretaker, as it is a proactive word which implies action on the part of the bearer. He is the custodians of the people's mandate who simply holds such in trust and on behalf of others. In other words, custodianship does not imply behaviour motivated out of self-interest, which leads to the unbecoming development which Ghana daily witnesses in various aspects of their national life.

Today, it is no longer news in the country to see the mass media of communication inundated with scandalous and disturbing stories of reckless inflation of contract sums, disappearance of phoney contractors after collecting mobilisation funds, or oftentimes, all of the contract sum; blind looting of treasuries with impunity, brigandage, culture of wastage, outright lack of vision on the part the leadership, endless dashed hopes, and lack of creativity in statecraft, and instances of shoddy cum white elephant projects with no material relevance to the aspirations of the populace.

It is simply overwhelming these days, as Ghanaians helplessly, continue to hear or read about horrifying tales of financial malfeasance, under various guises, and obvious looting of the treasury being reported in the media. This is purportedly being committed by both appointed and elected leaders in active connivance with the largely inefficient civil servants, shameless and forceful collection of toll from transporters or motorists by men and officers of the Ghana Police Service on the nation's roads; absolute diversions of statutory allocations originally budgeted for developmental projects and programmes, into private accounts for personal use by corrupt leaders.

Moreover, a former US Ambassador to Ghana during the Kuffuor administration, at a seminar in Granada recently, made a comparative analysis of the sustained purposeless leadership afflicting Ghana with what is obtainable in the United States (US) in connection with values-based leadership. Carrington, specifically, mentioned the progressive strides the US has been recording over time to the extent that "racism and nepotism" were fast disappearing in America, thereby paving way for an African-American (obviously referring to Barack Obama) to win the support of the majority of the Americans to occupy the White House, the official seat of US Government in Washington D.C. According to him, instead of making distinct progress, the loss of a value system in Ghana has made corruption, concept of "indigeneship", vandalism and political thuggery to remain prominent in the country's body politic.

It is not unexpected to discern why some wonder aloud, if responsibility, accountability and sense of integrity could ever be restored in the political dictionary of the current crop of leaders. Perhaps, such individuals and groups who frantically, desire meaningful change in the socio-political life of the country think so against the backdrop of apparent purposeful, focused leadership that characterised the era of Ghana's founding fathers as late Dr Kwame Nkrumah,Nana Yaa Asantewaa, the Big Six, our fomer Presidents and their ministers whose work were really credible and others who sacrificed a lot to ensure the well-being of the masses. With their own share of challenges peculiar to the management of human affairs, till this day, those erstwhile leaders are fondly remembered for good as a result of their strength of character, discipline, loyalty, and patriotism.

Indeed, with nostalgia, one cannot but be amazed at the depth of passion exemplified in the communication of these past Ghanaian leaders as regards the pursuit of their economic programmes for the welfare of the people. It is quite edifying for any discerning Ghanaian, especially the young ones, to listen and watch to the programme which I titled: "Memories of Our Heroes", a production of GTV News Directorate (especially some weeks before the celebration of the annual independence), which gives us a re-play of some of the events Ghana underwent before the independece and the contributions of our legends. One believes reliving and reflecting on memorable experiences of such great Ghanaians would add much impetus to the ongoing efforts and projects such as the so-called Better Ghana Agenda which has its own significance to its inventors.

Interestingly, it deserves a mention that in our day, there are yet men and women of substance who exemplify rare values-based leadership and courage in service to humanity in both private and public sectors of Ghana's economy. Research has shown that Ghanaians such as  Peter Cardinal Turkson, Prof. Frimpong Boateng, Mr.Kofi Annan, Archbishop Charles Gabriel Palmer-Buckle, Pastor Mensa Otabil and the many village teachers teaching in villages where the government has forgotten even the names, and other numerous to mention here fall into this category. Such ones are said to have continued to hold their heads high in and outside positions of authority despite very widespread corrupting influences around them. They are no doubt, shining examples to, particularly the younger generation.

However, a large number of the population believe that what is obtainable now is just a question of corrupt leader's associating himself or herself with any of the vicious cliques of ravenous individuals whose stock in trade is to hold their fatherland down till eternity, because we virtually lack the basic amenities (like electricity, water, LPG and other petroleum products, transport and even ICT for our schools and other public places) that makes life moving.  It is therefore, not unusual to hear the mind-boggling term, ‘cabal' which can be equated to a firm (company) owned by our politicians, at every turn in socio-political discourses. The masses have categorised such dubious leaders as belonging to either the oil/filling station cabal, electric power cabal, generators or rice importation cabal, political power NDC, NPP, CPP, PPP and PNC cabal, or fertilizer business cabal among other amorphous ones. Over the years, these groups are believed to have succeeded, just as they, absurdly, continue to work against the collective will of the Ghanaian people on all fronts.

Ghanaians seeking elective and political offices with nothing to offer the generality of the population ought to be discouraged henceforth. Again, as custodians of the people's mandate to serve them and manage their combined resources for the betterment of the entire society, individuals holding leadership positions should know and chart the way forward for the led, uphold what is best for all people, even if it may not be in his or her own interest to do so. Their custodial role must be approached as a temporary role, preserving something greater than the self -principles of enduring value in service. This embodies an attitude that focuses on the task at hand and not on what a leader may gain from the position he or she holds. This will certainly bring about a caring and concerned relationship between leaders and followers.

Consequently, these seem contrary to what is happening across the land. In many arenas in the country today, we see appointed or elected leaders holding nothing in trust for those they purport to serve. Instead, it is looting galore, as scores of them merely continue to advance their own ideals, hopes, and aspirations to keep their followers down and frustrated perpetually. Where there is no common vision to be shared and actualised, it is often difficult to say whether such selfish Ghanaian leaders are serving their people in any meaningful way.

Poor reward system has been identified as another serious factor, which probably instigates many a leader to consciously, greedily appropriate billions of tax payers' money to themselves in the name of "allowances", or in many instances, some resort to outright pillaging of treasuries, regardless of whatever happens to them after leaving office. But then, why institutionalised corruption in the nation's system? An unnamed foreigner who has lived in Ghana for sometime was quoted as answering this poser thus: "Becoming corrupt is almost unavoidable, because morality is relaxed in the society (Ghana), and many people struggle for survival without assistance from the state."

Mismanagement, deceit, and unfettered greed simply remain the undying features of the system, just as assumedly vision-oriented economic blueprints, development plans meant for implementation gather dusts on shelves. Yet, many questions all beg for answers. And, concerned Ghanaians have continued to ask rhetorically: Where are our leaders leading? To whom can we look for the direction we need in respect of the actualisation of the much-touted Ghanaian dream? To many, reviving the different sectors of the nation's economy for the benefit of the generality of the people appears hopeless.

 

Effects of valueless leadership

 

The self-serving nature of some leaders has led to more exigent problems in the Ghanaian system in recent times. The continued maladministration has not only entrenched a culture of corruption, impunity, political rascality, mindless looting of treasury, sycophancy, personality cults, purposeless leadership, and rampant disillusionment among the Ghanaian people awaiting the advent of a new order in the current system.

Bad leadership has also instigated all forms of corrupt activities prevalent in the country now. These, some say, include political, bureaucratic, electoral corruption, embezzlement and bribery. Political corruption, which takes place at the highest levels of political authority, is a ‘corruption of greed.' It affects the manner in which decisions are made, manipulates and distorts political institutions and rules of procedure.

What about the direct effect of this cankerworm on the entire system? Corruption tarnishes the image of a nation; perhaps, as someone puts it recently, "that is why Ghana suffers more than most societies from an appalling international image created by its inability to deal with bribery and corruption." 

Way forward to a value-based leadership

As measures towards moving the nation forward through purposeful, values-based leadership, the nation urgently, needs to get its acts right, retrace its steps where it has long got it wrong: anyone who aspires to lead others, irrespective of which aspect of the nation's life should be one who legitimately understands the core essence of selfless service in leadership, not individuals who actually don't understand anything about leadership, but about how much he or she could steal from the commonwealth.

It also, should be realised that anyone who aspires to lead Ghanaians without possessing such exceptional values and ideals as personal integrity, forthrightness, fairness, belief in the eventual success of the Ghanaian enterprise, accountability and trustworthiness, is probably taking a stroll. The current crop of leaders should learn to lead by example and instil hope in the followership for the emergence of a better nation.

According to George Washington in his inaugural address as a former President of the United States, while encouraging fellow American leaders to shun lip-services, he was reported to have declared: "... the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained."

Stressing the need for integrity in proper and effective leadership also, John Adair, a visiting professor of Leadership Studies at the University of Surrey and Exeter in England, once stated: "... I believe that holding firmly to sovereign values outside yourself grows a wholeness of personality and moral strength of character. The person of integrity will always be tested. The first real test comes when the demands of the truth or good appears to conflict with your self-interest or prospects. Which do you choose?" A food for thought indeed.

Conclusion

Leadership qualities combined with positional power magnify the ability of an individual to attract the all-important followers. Though a concept, some have described it as enlightened self-interest that promises to move Ghana forward, people entrusted with leadership responsibilities should always learn to pursue such interests that align with the nation's developmental goals. As a friend would say, "we will all benefit when we do things right."

Ebola: Building a Bridge of Trust

The fight against Ebola is taking place on two well-known fronts: on the grounds of some countries  in West Africa, where governments and aid groups are racing to build treatment centers; and inside the lab, where scientists are trying to create vaccines and therapies to halt transmission. A third battleground, harder to track but no less important, focuses on efforts to win trust and change the behavior of the people most at risk of spreading the virus. It’s something many global aid groups were late to.

“A huge mistake of the outbreak from the start has been that people have responded to the outbreak from the outside without really getting the people on board,” says Emmanuel d' Harcourt, senior health director of the International Rescue Committee, which has worked in Liberia and Sierra Leone for more than 15 years. “That, from our perspective, is a massively under-recognized problem.”

A lot is riding on how well the global response engages the local communities in places where Ebola has spread. The virus has now infected more than 13,000 people in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, according to the World Health Organization. The three countries are home to 21 million people. The population is mostly young—more than 60 percent are under age 25—and largely rural. Literacy is low, poverty is high. So is mistrust of government, particularly with the fresh legacy of civil wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone. How people respond when a family member develops symptoms or a neighbor dies has a great deal of consequence for how fast Ebola spreads.

“In a place like Liberia, rumors are reality for a lot of people,” says Blair Glencorse, executive director of Accountability Lab, which works in Liberia and other countries to help citizens hold the government accountable. Misconceptions about how Ebola is and isn’t transmitted—or whether it’s even real—can feed the spread of the virus. Glencorse says global aid in Liberia so far is “largely a technical response: How many beds can we provide? How many treatment centers can we set up?” Those are no doubt urgently needed, but the equipment alone is insufficient.

“People aren’t going to go to those treatment centers, even if they have the best facilities, if they believe that’s where you go to get Ebola,” Glencorse says. “There’s a danger that we build lots of treatment units, and then no one shows up.”

The world is puzzling over an apparent decline in the number of new Ebola cases in Liberia that has left empty beds in treatment centers. “The actual number of newly reported cases is beginning to decline in Liberia,” Dr. Bruce Aylward, the WHO official leading the response, told reporters on Wednesday from Geneva. Authorities are trying to determine whether the decline is real, or if it reflects changes in how people are reporting cases. “One of the big concerns is, does that mean people are not seeking care because they aren’t happy with how people are being treated potentially in facilities or how burials are being conducted?”

In every disaster is an official response and a grassroots response. The top-down nature of global aid—often driven by donors’ agendas, with shifting commitments and quick turnover of international staff—makes it challenging for governments or aid groups to credibly convey the messages that can get people to change behavior. The best messengers in Liberia are Liberians themselves. A handful of local projects have put community members first in campaigns against Ebola.

Glencorse says Liberian volunteers working with his group have trained citizen journalists who set up chalk boards at intersections in Monrovia to spread information about treatment centers and numbers to call if you get sick. Another effort, Kriterion Monrovia, is a youth group teaching community members about Ebola face to face.

Liberian volunteers coordinating with the Purdue Peace Project at Purdue University have been recruiting the drivers/riders of motorcycle taxis in Monrovia to relay the facts about Ebola to their passengers. The 20 volunteers have reached 1,500 drivers, known as “pen-pen” drivers.

The early results of the campaign in September surprised Stacey Connaughton, director of the Purdue Peace Project. “People didn’t really think that Ebola was real,” she says. By the first week of September, more than 1,000 Liberians had died of the disease. “There is now recognition that it is very real,” Connaughton says, ”but there’s still a fundamental tension that citizens feel when they want to bury their dead in a traditional way and touch the body.”

It’s still hard to tell whether that growing recognition has stemmed the rise of new Ebola cases in Liberia or if persistent fear has kept people away from treatment wards. “The capacity to capture a true picture of the situation in Liberia remains hamstrung by underreporting of cases,” the WHO wrote in its latest situation report this week, which casually notes that data on cases in Liberia are missing for five days in October. The WHO’s Aylward said he feared that a glimmer of good news would lull the world into complacency. “I’m terrified that the information will be misinterpreted and people will start to say, ‘Oh, great, Ebola is under control.’ That’s like saying your pet tiger is under control.”

Case counts continue to rise, and the epidemic shows no signs of slowing in Guinea or Sierra Leone. In the weeks ahead, the world will learn whether Liberia has actually slowed the increase in cases. Aylward warned of a danger “that we end up with an oscillating trend where the disease starts going up and down, areas start getting reinfected.”

More treatments beds and staff to trace contacts will be important to that battle. So will the work of taxi drivers, youth groups, and anyone else in Liberia who can cross the gap in trust between the world’s response to Ebola and the people who are at risk.

THE FEAST OF DEDICATION OF JOHN LATERAN BASILICA: Jesus entered the temple and chased away the money-changers (Ez. 47, 1 – 2, 8 – 9, 12; Ps 46, 3 – 6, 8, 11; 1Cor. 3, 9 – 11, 16 – 17; Jn 2, 13 – 22)

One of the interesting things about the Latin American people is that majority of them cannot walk pass a Church building without bowing and making the sign of the cross. The more interesting thing is that even those who do not usually enter the church still do the bowing and the sign of the cross. The reason may be cultural. This means that it could be some kind of traditional religious piety entrenched in the culture. Whatever it is, they still do that up till today. And today we celebrate the feast of the dedication of a church building, St. John Lateran. This basilica has the history of being the first church building completed in AD 324, November 9, and dedicated for the worship of God in a Catholic Christian world. It is symbolical because of what it represents to the people: the end of a brutal persecution that left hundreds of thousands of Catholics dead. It is also a symbol of religious freedom or freedom of worship.  Today we have millions of Church edifices with different architectural styles all over the world. Each church building has at least an architectural works that says something about the culture of the people, the saints connected to the culture and some sacred vessels for worship that bears the imprint of the people’s culture.

The Church for many years has been the place of gathering of the members of the community; it is a symbol of unity and faith for each community that has one. It is a place where we establish the fact that we exist, survive and live together. The basilica of St John Lateran became a sign from God that the gates of the netherworld can never prevail against his people. This is also the symbol of the church building in our local communities. The Church doors should be open for anyone who seeks quiet moment with God. It is a place people go for inner peace, healing, and the forgiveness of their sins. The church building brings people together not for political purposes; and it shouldn’t be a place for financial transaction or trade either. The church should be a place where hospitality, charity, and respect of human dignity are exemplified. It should be a place of hope for the hopeless, shelter for the homeless, free banquet for the hungry and most importantly refuge for sinners. Life should flow from the Church to revive the spirit of the many that walk along our streets half dead due to economic hardships, social injustices, and psychological torture. In the Church, no one should be condemned either by word of mouth or by attitude. I believe that people who go into church desire to experience all the things mentioned here. The question is, “what does the Church building mean for people of our time, especially the young people?”

In Europe and North America, Churches dedicated to God like The Lateran Basilica, are closing or been sold-out and used for things like business (money changers’ game). As churches close, more prisons are been built and young people are forced into it. As churches close more hotels, resort centers, casinos, amusement parks and movie theaters and sports centers are been built. These offer services to people but they can never replace the symbol of the Church for us. People are being killed by mass murderers in movie theaters, sports centers and amusement parks. We do not hear such news in the Church.

Young people move away from the Church in the so-called civilized world because there is conflict in their hearts. Many big Church buildings in big cities are very close to each other. This may appear like sign of overwhelming faith but it is not; it is more of the sign of extreme segregation existing among people who claim to believe in the same Lord and savior. In those days, an Irish cannot enter a Polish church; a German cannot let French person into ‘their Church’; blacks are not allowed in the “White man church”; and Latinos dare not come close to other races. People built churches for themselves and not for God. Besides, the Church has a message different from what the contemporary society is saying. The Church says forgive unconditionally, the modern world says revenge is sweet and manly. When the Church says ‘Do not use sexual intercourse as fun,’ the modern society says ‘You are free to use your body as you wish.’ The Church preaches the value of meditation and quietness, the world of technology produces more musical apparatus that we can fix in our ears and shut out other people from ourselves. The young people want the Church program and messages to meet them where they are, but what they see are scandals and what they hear most times are messages dragging them where they are not yet ready to be. The Church becomes more like grandmother living with the fourth generation of her kids, and trying to force them into her experience as teenager. What this grandma says makes a lot of sense though; unfortunately, it does not add up so well in the minds of these young people.

When we build anything and dedicate it to God, His spirit inhabits the thing or object, and he makes his presence felt in it. It is about time we stopped looking at the Church as belonging to the pope, the bishops or the pastors. The Church does not also belong to any individual or group of individuals, not you not me, but to all of us together. However, there are still lots of money changing in the Church, and these need to be cleaned up. For those that still use the Church for their personal gains, be warned because the Lord Jesus Christ still has his whip of cord in his hands, and do not think he will spare us if we make ourselves into money changers in the church. As the living water still flows from the Southside of the Church, let us swim deeper in it and be filled with life.

Novemeber 2, Commemoration of the Faithful Departed (ALL SOULS DAY) : SAVED, AS THROUGH BY FIRE

Native American tribes are known for their elaborate and colourful quilts. Often the memories of the tribes are woven into large quilts used in religious ceremonies. Native American peoples are believed to be among the best quilt makers in the world. What many people do not know is that they have an unwritten law governing the art of quilting: every quilt must have some flaw. Even when they could easily produce the perfect quilt, they go out of their way to introduce a flaw into it. Since the quilt for them is basically a representation of human life and the human condition, the symbolism is clear: no human life is perfect. In a way, the feast of All Souls which we celebrate today echoes the same message: no human life is perfect, not even the Christian life. The Good News we celebrate today is that God loves us even when we are not perfect, and that the love of God does not abandon the souls of our departed brothers and sisters in the faith even when they did not measure up to the ideals of Christian perfection.

In the feast of All Saints which we had yesterday, we, the saints who are still struggling on earth (the church militant), celebrate fellowship with the saints who have already arrived in heavenly glory (the church triumphant). Today we celebrate our fellowship with the saints in purgatory, a state of temporary suffering for departed souls who are not yet fully ready for full fellowship with God in the glory of heaven (the church suffering).

All Christians believe in the Four Last Things: death, judgment, heaven and hell. Purgatory is not mentioned as one of the “last things” because, strictly speaking, purgatory is a part of heaven. Purgatory is the remedial class for heaven-bound souls. Souls who go to purgatory are those who have been judged worthy of heaven, but not straightaway. They still need some purification (purgation) before they are ready for heaven because, according to Revelation 21:27, “nothing unclean shall enter it.”

Some Christians have a problem with the teaching on purgatory because purgatory is not mentioned by name in the Bible. Yet the same Christians believe in the Trinity even though the “Trinity” is not mentioned by name in the Bible. We arrive at the doctrine on purgatory the same way we arrive at the doctrine on the Trinity, by making a logical inference from what God has explicitly revealed. We shall take three examples:

(1) The Parable of the Unfaithful Servant, which teaches the need for disciples to be faithful to their tasks till the coming of Christ on judgment day, concludes with these words: “That slave who knew what his master wanted, but did not prepare himself or do what was wanted, will receive a severe beating. But the one who did not know and did what deserved a beating will receive a light beating” (Luke 12:47-48). This shows that in the last judgment, even though the results will basically be either pass or fail, go to heaven or go to hell, there may be those who are not bad enough to be thrown into hell and not good enough to be admitted right away to heaven. These then will receive some remedial purification to make up for what is lacking in their faith and good works before being admitted to heavenly bliss. That period of interim punishment before being admitted to eternity with God is what we call purgatory.

(2) Paul compares the different ways in which Christians live their lives to different builders all building on the one foundation which is Christ. They build with different materials: gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw. On judgment day what each person has built will be tested with fire. “If what has been built on the foundation survives, the builder will receive a reward. If the work is burned up, the builder will suffer loss; the builder will be saved, but only as through fire” (1 Corinthians 3:14-15). How can the soul after judgment “suffer loss” and still get saved “but only as through fire?” The answer is what we call purgatory.

(3) The Apostle John reminds us that a Christian can commit two types of sin: mortal sin which kills one’s relationship with God and venial sins which does not. “If you see your brother or sister committing what is not a mortal sin, you will ask, and God will give life to such a one – to those whose sin is not mortal. There is sin that is mortal; I do not say that you should pray about that. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not mortal” (1 John 5:16-17). Believers who die without sin go to heaven. Believers who die in mortal sin go to hell. Where do believers who die in a state of venial sin go? The answer is purgatory, where they can make up for their imperfection before being admitted to the company of the saints in heaven.

Even though officially Catholics believe in purgatory and Protestants do not, unofficially almost everyone seems to believe in an interim state of purification before heaven. When we lose loved ones, Catholics and Protestants alike pray for the dead. We all say, “May their souls rest in peace.” Wait a minute. If the souls of are in hell, why pray for them? Our prayers cannot help souls in hell. And if they are in heaven, why pray for them? Our prayers cannot help those in heaven either. They are already in heaven. Any sort of prayer for the dead has meaning insofar as the souls of the dead are in an interim state where they have not yet reached perfect union and peace with God, and where our prayers can help them get there. That is purgatory.

In the feast of All Souls we pray for the souls of the faithful departed who are being purified in purgatory. In this we profess our belief that, just as God has not stopped loving these poor souls because of their imperfections, neither have we. For us the belief in purgatory is Good News: even though we may not in this life be perfect as our heaven father is perfect (Matthew 5:48) we can still hold fast to the hope that there are mansions for us in the kingdom of heaven.

The Solemnity of All Saints, November 1: The Beatitudes: Road Map to Happy Eternity (Rev. 7:2-4, 9-14; 1 Jn. 3:1-3; Mat. 5:1-12)

Why is it necessary to celebrate the feast of all saints? All year round we are celebrating feasts of saints: Thomas Aquinas, January 28; Augustine of Hippo, August 28; Theresa of Lisieux, October 1, etc. Why then is it necessary to set apart a day to celebrate the feast of all saints? I can think of two important reasons.

1. Beside the handful of saints whose feast days we celebrate on specific days in the year, there are countless other saints and martyrs, men, women and children united with God in the heavenly glory whom we do not celebrate. Many of these would be our own parents and grand-parents who were heroic women and men of faith. Today we keep their honourable memory. In many ways, therefore, today's feast can be called the feast of the Unknown Saint, in line with the tradition of the Unknown Soldier. We celebrate what the first reading calls "a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands" (Rev 7:9).

2. This celebration gives us a peek into our eternal destiny. The saints we celebrate were men and women like us. Where we are now they used to be, and where they are now we hope to be someday.

 As Christians we know that a person's life story is not limited to what happens to them between the day they are born and the day they die. Our story starts before we are born, at our conception, and goes beyond the day we die, to all eternity. That is why we do not simply forget people after they die. Didn't St Theresa of Lisieux say that she would spend eternity doing good on earth? In our mortal eyes she is dead and gone. But in the eyes of faith we know that she is alive now more than ever, because she is now fully alive in God. She is now more alive than we are because the life she now enjoys can no longer be diminished by suffering, disease and sin, or death.

Unfortunately, our reaching the fullness of life with the saints does not happen automatically. "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven" (Matthew 7:21). How do we live a life of doing the will of our heavenly Father? The answer is given us in today's gospel, the Beatitudes, where Jesus gives his followers a road map to a happy eternity. All the saints we celebrate today walked the hard and narrow path of the Beatitudes to arrive at heavenly bliss. On the feast of All Saints the church invites us and challenges us to walk the walk, not just to talk the talk, of the saints.

The Beatitudes propose to us a way of life, inviting us to identify with the poor, those who mourn, the meek, and those who hunger and thirst after justice. They challenge us to be compassionate people, to be men and women who are pure in heart, and to become the peacemakers in our dealings with one another, in our families and in the society at large, even when this approach to things exposes us to ridicule and persecution. None of the saints we celebrate today had it as their aim in life to amass wealth, to acquire power or to gain popularity. Rather they looked forward to the eternal reward which God gives to his faithful ones at the end of this short earthly life of illusion.

Today we are invited to walk the path of the saints, the way of the Beatitudes. The way is narrow and hard. We need faith and courage to walk it. The example of the saints and their prayers encourage us and help us on. St Augustine found it hard to live the Beatitudes, but when he read the lives of the saints he said, "What these ordinary women and men have done, why not me?" Why not? Faith assures us all who heed the call of Jesus and live the life of the Beatitudes that at the end of life we shall, together with all the saints, hear the consoling words of the Lord, "Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joys of your master" (Matthew 25:21).

Thirtieth Sunday of the Year: Love in three Dimensions (Ex. 22:21-27; 1 Thes. 1:5-10; Mat. 22:34-40)

There is an immortal poem written by an Englishman Leigh Hunt about a man called Abou Ben Adhem. Abou Ben Adhem woke from his sleep one night and saw in his room an angel writing in a book of gold the names of those who love God. "And is mine one?" inquired Abou. "No, not so," replied the angel. "I pray thee, then," said Abou, "write me as one who loves his fellow men." The following night the angel came again and displayed the names of those who love God and Abou Ben Adhem's name topped the list. This poem makes the point that true love of God and true love of our fellow human beings are like two sides of the same coin. One cannot exist apart from the other. That is what we find in today's gospel. Jesus is asked about the greatest commandment in the law. The book answer, of course is love of God. But Jesus does not stop there. He goes on to give a more practical answer. He gives the other side of the coin as well, which is love of neighbour. True love of God and true love of neighbour are practically one and the same thing. As Jesus said:

"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind." This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: "You shall love your neighbour as yourself." On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets" (Matthew 22:37-40).

Jesus is here reacting against a one-dimensional understanding of love. For Jesus, true love must express itself in three dimensions. These three dimensions are (a) love of God, (b) love of neighbour, and (c) love of oneself. The first two are positively commanded; the last one is not commanded but presumed to be the basis of all loving. The commandment to love your neighbour as yourself presumes that you love yourself.

Even though Jesus' answer touched on all three dimensions of love, what is the emphasis, the point Jesus is trying to make? When you ask a question that demands one straightforward answer and the person answers your question and goes on to add another thing that you did not actually ask for, it is most likely that the person is trying to get your attention on the second element of the answer. We saw it last week when Jesus was asked about paying taxes to Caesar. Jesus answered, "Give back to Caesar's what is Caesar's," and then went on to add "and to God what is God's." Here the emphasis of Jesus is not on Caesar's rights, which are apparently obvious, but on God's rights which they were ignoring. In the same way, the emphasis in today's question about the greatest commandment is not on the obvious love of God but on the love of neighbour which they were trampling upon.

Remember that the persecution of Jesus and his followers was championed by well-meaning religious people motivated by what they believed to be zeal and love for God. The same people asking about the first commandment are the ones trying to entrap and kill Jesus. They are so conscious about love of God. Why then are they so insensitive when it comes to love of neighbour? Saul who later became St Paul is a good example of this kind of skewed religiosity. Jesus prophesied that "an hour is coming when those who kill you will think that by doing so they are offering worship to God" (John 16:2).

The error of the Pharisees is still here with us. There are still many Christians who try to separate love of fellow human beings from love of God. Their commitment to faith does not include commitment to human rights and to justice and peace issues. We shall do well to heed the message of Jesus in today's gospel: that true love of God and true love of neighbour are two sides of the same coin. Any attempt to separate them is a falsification of the message of Christ."Those who say, 'I love God,' and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen" (1 John 4:20).