What the hell is such a dreaded word like greed doing in an otherwise solemn occasion like All Souls Day?

Confused? Well, there’s nothing to be confused of except try you must to reconcile why it is possible for greed to rear its ugly head even on the day we supposed to honor our dearly beloved. Although we are a day late since All Souls Day(it was celebrated yesterday), we still see the relevance of tackling the issue when a selfish desire to make money out of love ones who had gone to the Great Beyond is the order of the day. Take the case of this most recent celebration of All Souls Day.

In Bohol, it’s a day more of a long weekend because on November 4, Boholanos from all walks of life will mark CPG Day and therefore another non-working day. Four non-working days, and what a exciting way to enjoy a long planned vacation. Exciting? Indeed it is, to those who took advantage of the long vacation. The long weekend may be devoted to reunions with relatives especially those who are not lucky enough in the pursuit of hitting the elusive pot of gold. In other words, family members who remain poor while their siblings were no longer the same ones as they left the family abode because of their conscious effort to make the difference in their social standing, they hit pay dirt in no time. The rare occasion is the meeting of the poor clan members and rich “visitors” who do have the means to take advantage of the long vacation. But what do you get from entertaining siblings who have since become rich from what they used to be? Of course, we do expect that the nouveau rich have become generous because of their new found wealth. Other than their generosity, we expect too that they possess the same disposition as when they were as poor as their relatives back home only this time, they became moneyed because may be of luck or industry.

With All Souls Day, chances are the new rich were making the much needed homecoming trek to pay homage to the dead most of all their parents who have gone forever. So you thought it was a grand reunion in the name of the deadly departed only to find out that they have since adopted to the lifestyle of their equally rich neighbors in the metropolis that instead of paying homage to the dead because the occasion calls for it, they storm to some exotic locations like beach resorts and mountain retreats. The message is that they came home to enjoy for the long weekend, not to bother looking for the forgotten tombs of their parents. When the excitement of the long vacation subsides, guess what is on top of the grand homecoming? Unknown to their poor relatives, the real reason why the siblings found the time to go home was the possibility of knowing where’s their share of whatever is there representing the inheritance left behind by their dead parents. If you ask this BGlante, what do you think is the motivation of these so-called rich siblings in poking their fingers in the inheritance of their forebears if not the selfish interest to get their piece of the action. Although by law, they are very much entitled to get a fair share as a legal heir, but under the circumstance don’t you think it is most prudent for the concerned survivor to pay their respects on All Souls Day for those who brought them in this world in the first place before making a big deal of the inheritance?

With all the money now coming out of their ears, do they still have the temerity to claim their part of the inheritance even if they know that their own siblings are wallowing in poverty? We see no rhyme nor reason why those who are more blessed in terms of money are still lusting for more to the prejudice of their poor brethren. We would like to believe that gratefulness is one component of sharing one’s blessings to poor brothers and sisters. All told, there’s no other justification why those who are more in life are still asking for more. What else but greed is the ultimate motive. We can’t imagine greed to rein in this time of the year when we honor the dead in their final resting place. But greed is greed and now we discover that it knows no holiday.