ASIA/MYANMAR - The Archbishop of Yangon: "turn the guns into I-Pads, the country towards a new Jerusalem"

Yangon (Agenzia Fides) - The "New Jerusalem" evoked by the Sacred Scripture "begins here and now". And, for the Myanmar context, this means an era of peace, freedom, growth and development, democracy, respect for nature. "God is willing to do his part, our task is to cooperate with Him". This is what is stated in a note sent to Agenzia Fides by His Exc. Mgr. Charles Maung Bo, SDB, Archbishop of Yangon and the Secretary General of the Episcopal Conference, using and applying to the Burmese context some Bible passages that characterize the period of Advent.
Speaking of the "new Jerusalem", the Archbishop puts the emphasis on peace, citing the passage from the Prophet Isaiah: "They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nor shall they train for war again"(Isaiah 2.4). And he comments: "Looking at the situation of our country, we must pray and speak out to put a stop to civil war between government forces and the Kachin army. God wants the tools of violence to be transformed into instruments of life, such as those agricultural. Today it means for us to turn guns and bullets into I-Pads and computers".
Mgr. Bo also recalls the "integrity of Creation" and, in the Burmese context, it refers to the great Irrawaddy River, which "is our life and our history". "Yet there have been attempts to destroy it - notes the Archbishop - to make it flow into China. We must thank the President for stopping the Myitsone dam project. We hope it has stopped for good, and not just temporarily". "Illegal logging has to be also stopped: Myanmar - he continued - is a green country: we have to stop all attempts to destroy this beautiful nature".
The Archbishop is pleased to note that "the country is moving towards democracy. But one must be careful not to give a misnomer to the term democracy which, if it is not well used, could destroy us. Relativism in our society gets stronger and stronger. The good is mixed with evil: we cannot deny the presence of misleading elements in society".
"The New Jerusalem – explains Monsignor Bo - will be completed only when we give place to God, who is our light and hope". The same "sense of hope" comes from the Magnificat, described as a "revolutionary great poem", which teaches how the "weak and vulnerable are protected by God". The lesson of the Magnificat, Mons Bo concludes, is that "with a heart full of love you can achieve great things. With faith we can do miracles. This is the message of our Blessed Mother, Mary. God has done wonders. Together with Him we can make this world a paradise on earth ". (PA) (Agenzia Fides 14/12/2011)