CARDINAL Pablo Virgilio David called on Filipino families not to cling to power but to be symbols of hope as the church closes the Jubilee year. Drawing from Sunday’s gospel, David said in a Facebook post that there are two types of families: those that like Joseph, who “do not calculate political advantage” but rather “simply protects life,” and those like Herod, whose family turns power into entitlement and “turns politics into business and pass it on as an inheritance.” He explained that hope grows when families choose the way of Joseph, lamenting the dangers of families consumed by the pursuit of power. “History tells us that Herod did not hesitate to kill his own brothers, his own wife, even his own children, once suspicion took over. A family that clings to power eventually turns against itself,” David reminded the faithful. He warned that when families prioritize control and dominance, they risk internal collapse. “Like Herod’s household, they often collapse from within — siblings against siblings, parents against children, spouses against spouses — once fear and insecurity take over. That kind of family is not life-giving. It is self-destructive. And when it dominates a nation, it slowly destroys the nation as well,” David cautioned. In contrast, the former president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines highlighted the Holy Family — Joseph, Mary and Jesus — as a model of vulnerability and faith. Joseph, the Cardinal noted, did not seek power or reclaim his royal lineage but simply chose to protect life and obey God’s call. “No palace. No army. No ambition to build a kingdom. Just a carpenter, a young mother and a child entrusted to them by God,” he said, underscoring that God’s plan unfolded not in palaces or courts, but in humble homes. David said that Filipinos uphold strong family values but this inclination is also marked by political dynasties and the temptation to treat power as inheritance. “When we protect life rather than power. When we seek survival and solidarity rather than dominance. When we raise children not to inherit privilege, but to inherit compassion. God did not save the world through an empire. He saved it through a family,” he said. As the Jubilee year of hope closes, David urged Filipinos to reflect on what kind of family shapes the nation’s future. “That is how a nation survives — when families, not dynasties, become its backbone. As we formally close the Jubilee of Hope, the Church does not send us back to grand strategies or political blueprints. She sends us back to our homes. Hope begins there,” he said.