THE TWO highest-grossing nonfestival Filipino films, “Starting Over Again” and “A Second Chance,” center on the theme of second chances. I think this says much about our innate desire to try and try again until we get it right.
Often, we see this as a virtue, and perhaps accounts for our readiness and willingness to forgive—to a fault. At times it can be a “vice” that sets us back to being perennial recidivists, as we forget to correct the fault that made us fail.
This Sunday’s Gospel on repentance, using the Parable of the Fig Tree, is a parable of second chances. It clearly lays out conditions for second chances to succeed.
First, we must bear fruit in the end, remaining faithful to our original identity and believing that we were all sent into this world for a specific mission. The fruit is fulfilling this mission and making our world a little bit better.
Two, we need “gardeners,” mentors who will nurture us to help us bear fruit, who will love us into excellence, becoming the best persons we are destined to be.
Repentance from the Biblical perspective is seen as metanoia, “to turn back to” after some serious thought and reflection. Thus, it is a conscious choice.
Inherently good
The Filipino word illustrates it more vividly for us: “pagbabalik-loob.” It bring us back to our “kalooban,” our interiority that we presume is inherently good. Its goodness lies in the integrity of the “kalooban,” the identity and mission which are ours from the start.
As Thomas Merton puts it, “There is in all things a hidden wholeness”—the wholeness and integrity that make us holy, our identity and mission lived out with great love.
One of the stories circulating in the Internet in various versions is about the lawyer, Easy Eddie, a business partner of Al Capone. Capone, for those who do not know him, was the notorious American gangster of the 1920s. For the longest time, US law enforcement agencies could not nail him.
At one point, Easy Eddie’s conscience bothered him. He was particularly concerned that his illegal activities were something he could not be proud of to his son. (Some say he acted to simply save himself; a comment on this later.)
Easy Eddie repented, became an undercover agent for the government and led federal agents to Capone’s bookkeeper, who was instrumental in convicting Capone for tax evasion.
Several years later, as Capone was about to be released from prison, in part due to his deteriorating health, Easy Eddie was gunned down. He surely knew about this possibility when he cooperated with the Feds, so this refutes the saving-his-ass theory.
Lieutenant Commander Butch O’Hare, a US Air Force pilot who fought in the Pacific theater of World War II, was the section leader of one of the fighter squadrons protecting the USS Lexington from Japanese bombers.
Heroic feat
In aviation-history.com, you will find the story of O’Hare’s heroic feat on Feb. 20, 1942. First to spot nine enemy planes, O’Hare single-handedly downed five and damaged a sixth before the four other planes in his squadron came to the scene; his wingman’s guns jammed, leaving O’Hare all by himself to get the job done. The Lexington was untouched.
His Medal of Honor citation describes O’Hare’s heroism as “one of the most daring, if not the most daring, single action in the history of combat aviation.” He was killed in action in November 1943.
One of the busiest airports in the world, in his hometown Chicago, was named after Lieutenant Commander Butch O’Hare. O’Hare is the son of Easy Eddie, the latter’s motivation to repent. In the midst of his checkered life, Easy Eddie decides “to turn back to” his “hidden wholeness,” his fatherhood—being father to his son, Butch O’Hare.
Second chances in the story of Easy Eddie produced a hero. We could safely assume that Easy Eddie’s influence as a father shaped his son’s values of courage, honor and love for country; the story of their relationship supports this.
Easy Eddie’s repentance bore fruit in his son, Butch. He remained true to his identity and mission. It made our world a little bit better at a time when courage, honor and love for country were needed to bring back peace to a world ravaged by war.
The irony of this story is Easy Eddie, in the end, was nurtured by his son, Butch. His love for his son inspired him to repent, “to turn back to” being the loving father.
Our second chances—third, fourth, fifth, ad infinitum—will always be ours for the taking. This is the invitation and inspiration of the Lenten season, a season of grace.
It is a season when we can look into our heart and soul, no matter how convoluted and polluted they may seem, and know that we can always turn back to the kalooban that is inherently good, as beloved sons and daughters of God, Our Father.
The season of Lent is the annual season of second chances. As Robert Johnson writes, “The Grace of God is always available, but man must ask for it before it is effective.”