The auxiliary bishop of Managua, Monsignor Silvio José Báez, urged parishioners to remain alert to false solutions to social crises that are based on “lies” and “dark negotiations” or “under the table”, which only favor tyrants to remain in power.
“The lie is a privileged weapon of the tyrants. Their repeated displays of lack of integrity and the many promises they have broken in the past require us to be alert so as not to fall into the trap of false solutions that the only thing they try to do is ensure their permanence in power and the continuity of the system.” reflected the prelate in exile.
The bishop pointed out that “genuinely democratic changes do not come with obscure dialogues” behind the backs of the people, “much less negotiating the dignity and freedom of people as if they were a bargaining chip.” Therefore, he urges the population not to repeat history.
The bishop’s reflection was given during his homily on the Solemnity of the Epiphany held this Sunday, January 8, 2023, in Brooklyn, New York. The bishop has been in exile in the United States since April 2019, from where he raises his voice about the crisis that Nicaragua is suffering.
This Sunday he asked that parishioners follow the example of the three wise men who traveled from distant lands in search of the “king of the Jews. “The first thing that the magicians teach us is that life is a constant search and that only by searching can we find the meaning of life and the mystery of God.”
He added that life is not a museum to be observed For this reason, one must “live in constant internal pilgrimage, dissatisfied with what has been achieved and enlightened by the hope that everything can always be better.”
He stressed that people and societies make mistakes, but the mistake is not making a mistake but not recognizing it, do not get up, do not rectify. The magicians also teach us to follow the path without stopping the step, but not to rush either.
“This lesson is very useful on a social level. The great social changes are slow and complex, they are not achieved from one day to the next, especially when it comes to overcoming so many social and political vices that have dominated our history, such as the submission of the law to the arbitrariness of the powerful or the indifference of a large part of the citizenry in the face of social and political reality,” he recalled. .
While waiting for these changes, call not to lose calm, not to despair and to free hearts from “petty ambitions and commit ourselves to the re-education of the new generations”.
Tyrants feel threatened even by their own circle
The bishop recalled that just like King Herod, who went on a hunt to prevent the birth of Jesus, “tyrants who are brave, arrogant and aggressive are very fearful. They feel continually threatened.”.
“For them, others, the entire town, even those in their inner circle are always rivals or enemies to fight against and to deceive or eliminate,” he said.
“In the dark world of the powerful anything goes as long as they secure power”, he added. For them, cynicism, lies, cruelty, contempt for human beings, terror and the destruction of the innocent are worth it.
“The tyrants of yesterday and today they disguise themselves as defenders of peace and order, but they are cruel and heartless and, like Herod, they always end up causing a lot of pain and shedding innocent blood,” he said.
the prelate invited the faithful to follow the example of the Magi: “Do not be deceived, do not be afraid or obey the powerful”. Likewise, to trust more in the goodness of God, than in the apparent splendor of the powerful.
“After adoring the Child, the magi, “warned in a dream not to return to Herod’s house, returned to their land by another way” (Mt 2,12). They return to ordinary life “by another way”. They return enlightened by the truth and transformed by love, ”he recalled.
