This came to mind when I recently attended a priestly gathering. A training officer of the Philippine National Police (PNP) gave us a presentation of what they were doing to form and reform their men. Always an intriguing topic.

The affair was meant to highlight the possibility of a kind of partnership among the clergy, police and a certain group to effect a greater participation of the people in the governance of our provinces, cities, towns, etc. So far, so good.

While the programs presented were based on accountability to God, family, colleagues and people in general, the discussion turned a bit too sentimental and lachrymose, sending many of us to feel some discomfort.

The training officer, a general who told us of his dramatic, edifying past, mentioned that their program for their scalawags and other morally unprincipled elements is producing good results. Conversions, changes for the better were noted.

He rattled off some data. These bad elements confessed publicly that 85% of them left their wives and family for at least 3 years before going back to them. Some admitted mulcting, getting involved in drug deals, even rapes, and a long etc.

But everyone changed. That's the good news, enough to forget what happened in the past. With the requirements of justice met, mercy was given and reintegration attempted.

It was good that they stressed on the power of prayer. Conversion, more than anything else, is a matter of grace which is usually received in prayer. Not much psychologizing was made, much less physical coercion. Mainly prayer!

Of course, prayer has to be sustained, because conversion is only a matter of a moment, and what we should achieve is sanctity, which is a matter of a lifetime.

Then the personal testimonies of two policemen were made. This was the teary part as we heard how the painful passage from darkness to light, from evil to goodness, from the pits to the surface, took place.

It was at the point that I remembered the story of the prodigal son. These erring cops are like the prodigal son who, abusing their power and authority, got their just deserts.

But they repented.

But what about those in high positions, much smarter and more clever than these cops?

They remind me of the prodigal son's brother, who appeared good and faithful to his father, but actually was not attuned to his father's heart.

These, more than the cops, need to repent and change. I wonder if some reformatory programs can also be designed for them. These are a much harder nut to crack. They are good in rationalizing, and in being a step or two ahead of the law.

In fact, between the prodigal son and his brother, the former is easier to handle, because he is simpler and his sins are obvious. The latter is a more complicated fellow, and can camouflage his faults well.

This is the bigger challenge. The erring cops, for all their malice and vileness, cannot compare with what the more intelligent, cleverer and better endowed, can commit. In fact, we have better prospects to reform drug addicts than these highly-placed scalawags.

And yet we need to care for them also. Like the father of the prodigal son who talked to his other offspring, we need to appeal to those in higher positions to change their ways, or simply to be better. They cannot be contented with what they may be now.

They have to improve.

We can do this mainly through prayer and sacrifices. And to encourage all, hero or heel, to go to confession and spiritual direction. A more personal approach is needed.

Different people need different ways of handling.

The brother of the prodigal son can also be an image of all of us when we just look good outside but are not truly so inside. Hypocrisy, which marked the behavior of the prodigal son's brother, can also mark ours.

We need to shed this spiritual and moral pathology off. And this can be done if we go through a continuing conversion all our life.

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Fr. Roy Cimagala is the Chaplain of Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE) in Talamban, Cebu City. You can email him at:Email: roycimagala@boholchronicle.com