THE ROLE OF PRO-TEST IN A CULTURE OF CON-TEST
By Fr. JASON LAGUERTA
Vocations Director, Archdiocese of Manila

We live in a culture of contest. Our daily life is stuffed with dichotomous structures that force us to make choices and loyalties. From the innocent children of our preparatory schools to the adults in the highest offices of our institutions, we float in a sea of never-ending contests and rivalries. Singing contests. beauty contests, TV Ratings contests. Electoral contests. It does not surprise us anymore that our sources of national pride in these trying times are billiards and boxing. We have a way of justifying vice and brutality as inspiration and heroism. We like to engage in physical, psychological and political games which result in winners and losers. We hate to lose. We do everything to win. In a culture of contest, the other is an enemy, an adversary, a competition. Battling for the scarce resources in zero-sum games, where triumph is the gain of one and necessarily the loss of the other, we are transformed from decent human beings to a desperate pack of beasts. Contests are about power and dominance, to prove that the others are mistaken and I am right, the other is weak and I am more capable. And as power and fame are addictive, so is winning at all cost.

But contests per se are not wrong. In fact, they can motivate us to reach our highest potentials. They can evoke an adrenaline rush, a surge of energy that, in normal circumstances, we would not have discovered that we have in ourselves. Contests are guided by rules and standards of behavior. Laws and norms assure fairness and equality. And so winners are applauded and losers bow graciously. This is what is supposed to happen in a culture of contest. Not that we don't disagree or argue on issues. Not that we don't have the right to form our own opinions and differ from each other. But it is that we expect people to abide by the highest norms of reason and the demands of rightful conduct.

The sad reality, however, is that many of us, especially our leaders, have been eaten up by unbridled ambitions and insatiable desire for power. Legitimate contests are turned into wars of attrition. Opponents are regarded as rivals to the throne. Dissenting voices are treated as nuisance. Loyalties of people are divided like spoils of war. Are you with me or are you with them? Instead of, are you for the truth or for the lies? For what is just or for what is blatantly sinful?

It is a good thing that our society is not just known as a culture of con-test, it is also described as a culture of pro-test. If con-tests, either for power or resources, are no longer executed within the bounds of reason and justice, we pro-test. If con-tests no longer follow the legitimate demands of rights and duties, we pro-test. Unlike con-tests that try to bring down the competition, pro-tests are done to rescue what is proper and honorable. Pro-tests done for the sake of truth and common good are positive actions that should not be denigrated into distractions.

EDSA I was a legitimate pro-test that gave us a new lease on life and a new fervor to hope. It did not just bring down the corrupted powers. It raised up our spirits. It invigorated our souls. When we pro-tested, we asserted that we wished to live in a society of honor and honesty, responsibility and accountability. When we raised our arms and clenched our fists, it was not to fuel rage and violence, it was to preserve our values and secure our future.

It is in this paradigm of contest-protest that I also wish to discuss the vocation to the priesthood. In a world which puts too much emphasis on success at all cost and winning at the expense of one's principles, the priesthood is a sign of protest. In a culture of individualism, materialism, and pragmatism, the priesthood steadfastly points to altruism, transcendence, and spiritual primacy. When the vows are framed as to have, to hold, and to hoard, priesthood promises to let go and to let God.   To become a priest today is to witness to the faithful love of God for humanity. Faced with the challenges of irrelevancy and impracticality, the priest in our midst reminds us that not everything could be found in human relationships; that there is a greater Love that he is willing to wage and risk for. Priesthood is not a contest of who are the strongest, the brightest, and the fittest. Priesthood is not a contest of who has the most influence or who gets the highest votes. Priesthood is all about grace working through frail human instruments who have been called and who took the risk. Priesthood is not for cowards. Priesthood is for the brave who are willing to sacrifice their lives so that the memory of God may not be erased from the horizon of human experience. Priesthood is a pro-test against the prevailing culture of contest, convenience, and compromises.

At the end of it all, the question is not really about who won the con-tests here on earth, but who resisted, persevered and pro-tested so that evil may not triumph and the good may be protected. Amen.