A: 4th Sun of Adv (22 Dec 2019) - MORAL INTEGRITY (Mt 1:18-24)

Warren Buffet, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, was ranked as the richest man in the world in 2008 and has been a consistent Forbes’ Top Four among the world’s richest from 2000 until now. What amazes us is that he is unlike his peers who revolutionized the world with their monumental discoveries in Information Technology, ala Bill Gates (Microsoft) or Steve Jobs (Apple). He is also different from other billionaires who are business magnates like Bernard Arnault (Louis Vuitton) or Amancio Ortega Gaona (Zara). Neither is he a commercial entrepreneur like Jeffrey Bezos (Amazon) or Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook). He actually does not have any inventions nor a well-established global product. He only capitalizes on business investments and partnerships. But how did he become rich by simply only corporate dealings?

What he uniquely possesses, as Conor Neill points out in his TEDx talk on June 10, 2013, is that he has surrounded himself with the right persons who make daily major decisions on his behalf, even on ten percent of his material fortunes. Thus, they are the ones who make Mr. Buffet rich. But what are the traits of these persons? What are the criteria Mr. Buffet sets for himself in choosing them? Neill identifies three (in ascending order of importance): adaptive intelligence, energy, and integrity. Integrity proves to be a game-changer as this characteristic of his trusted fellows allows Mr. Buffet to remain rich not only at one point in time but at all times. Truly, based on our own experiences, having someone in a management team who has a questionable reputation of credibility destroys its harmony as the so-called “trust factor,” which is the heart-and-soul of all social organizations, is constantly compromised.

Our gospel today presents the character of Joseph. Indeed, he is a saint. Despite not speaking a single word in the Bible, and despite not making a solid decision for his family without God’s intervening message, he is considered by the Church as one among the holy ones in heaven. In fact, he was even proclaimed Universal Patron of the Church by Pope Pius IX in 1870. I think that the main virtue that stands tall among his many virtues (e.g., obedience, docility, purity, simplicity, etc.) is his moral integrity. This means that he performed only the things that are just, and nothing more, even if it would mean losing his betrothed wife by divorcing her secretly (Mt 1:19); or being the laughingstock of his townmates when they ever discover that he is not the father of Mary’s child (v. 20); or experiencing the pains and hassle of journeying repeatedly (2:1, 14, 21). This virtue of Joseph of consistently doing the right thing not only earned him his saintly status but solidified the image of the Holy Family (viz., Joseph, Mary, and Jesus), becoming the quintessential model of communal holiness and spiritual maturity.

Indeed, it takes a very credible lead man to make any group efficient, unified, and successful. Hence, we should begin to check our own selves if we possess this same quality, lest we fail to lead our own local communities and families into harmonious relationships. In a similar vein, we adopt this lens in checking the administrative performance of all the leaders of our land. Some would reason out that these leaders may be given a pass for not possessing credible reputations since they are efficient in many other practical things anyway. We strongly argue otherwise. Missing this main ingredient of integrity is like building a beautiful building on shallow grounds. True enough, we may enjoy and marvel at the edifice’s beauty and function, but if the foundations are not fortified enough, all of the sight we are beholding now will crash to ground zero someday. In contrast, a community or social group with a just/righteous leader, even if the building is less in grandeur and takes a long time to rise, will stand the test of time, even amidst natural calamities (cf. Mt 7:24-27).

As we near Christmas Day, let us continue to build on our integrity, our moral foundation. Being righteous may be less popular, but we are guaranteed by Joseph’s example that a new better world surely arrives. Such is the legacy of the Roman Catholic Church that has stood for the past 2,000 years guided by the patronage of Joseph… who is simply a just man from the town of Nazareth.

- Rex Fortes, CM