Hosanna – Hosanna to a new beginning

Good governance was, and hopefully still is, a promise that can be fulfilled by a political party in future.

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It is sad that the current administration has failed to deliver on this promise. In the last decade or so, good governance was regularly in use in the political arena, alongside other terms and concepts such as popular participation, human rights, democracy, sustainable development, social justice, civil society, subsidiarity and so on. But words are cheap and mean nothing if these remain empty promises. A total commitment towards achieving these values cannot remain lip service and political jargon. It would be very painful to regain these values if our society allows this administration, or any future administration, to make a mockery of these values.

And because good governance has been shelved, the promise to alleviate the hardship of many, including vulnerable people and pensioners, within our small community remains unaddressed. With growing numbers of people living in poverty, at the risk of poverty and the working poor, all the gloating about the surplus in our national finances is irrelevant if there are people within our society who have to live in difficult situations. It is very clear that the fair distribution of wealth is only a promise not fulfilled by the current administration. The living wage promise remains a pie in the sky.

While supplying vulnerable people with rations of food items may be perceived as a solution, to my mind this is a gross social injustice. This measure should be substituted with more respectful and dignified ways to help people improve their situation. Safetynets should be the basic trampoline to put people back on their feet.

But this week I am putting aside the many national controversies, some of which are in dire need of being addressed. I am also putting aside the carnage which from time to time makes headline news. Many law-abiding citizens both locally and internationally are looking for shelter, albeit for different reasons; but it seems that no one can, with honesty, protect societies anymore. But then let there be hope. This week is Holy Week and I thought it would be appropriate to reflect on the events which lead to the resurrection of Jesus, after he was put to death. Jesus rose from the dead on Easter Sunday, as he had promised his disciples. Not all believed him; some very close to him had very serious doubts. Others decided to stop following him and called him a fake and insane. One of the selected few even betrayed him for thirty pieces of silver and then hanged himself. According to legend, the variety of tree from which Judas hanged himself, and its oncewhite blossoms, blushed with shame to be part of such a terrible history.

Parallelisms are not appropriate here, but one may reflect as to the role that each one of us can play today in our daily duties while carrying out our responsibilities, whatever they are. Hopefully, no one has aspirations of playing God, not even with a small “g”.

It all started with the raising of Lazarus from the dead. It seemed to have been a major cause in the series of events that led to the arrest and death of Jesus Christ. The cleansing of the temple was another of the triggering factors that eventually led to the crucifixion of Jesus.

Yesterday, in many towns and villages, pageants were held to mark Palm Sunday, Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. As Jesus rode on a donkey into Jerusalem, the people spread their coats in front of him and waved palm branches to greet him. Many were delighted with his presence, and at the top of their voices shouted Hosanna, Hosanna. Jesus had spent months travelling through the towns and villages of Palestine, preaching about the kingdom of God, healing the sick, and raising the dead, and this was his return to Jerusalem.

Once he got into Jerusalem, Jesus went to the temple and he didn’t like what he saw. This most holy of places had been turned into a marketplace. Merchants were selling animals for temple sacrifices. Moneychangers were exchanging pilgrims’ money for special coins used in the temple, with many cheating the pilgrims who had come to celebrate Passover in Jerusalem. Jesus turned over the seats of the merchants and the tables of the moneychangers, scattering their coins. He told them all to leave. He made a whip of some cords and used it to drive out the animals. It is written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations, but you have made it a den of robbers!’

The pageantry continues on Good Friday, with many processions commemorating the events leading to Jesus’ crucifixion on Golgotha. The costumes, the statues and the penitents walking to the monotonous beat of funeral band marches capture a mood of melancholy and gloom, to later give way to the exultant celebrations of Easter Sunday.

May this Easter be the beginning of a new political era wherein people begin to matter to policy makers and politicians start taking decisions in the best interest of all and stop protecting the selected few.

I take this opportunity to wish you and your loved ones a Happy Easter.