Salus Populi Romani, Protectress of the Roman People
St Mary Major Basilica, Rome [Wikipedia]

On New Year’s Day, the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God, Pope Francis paid a visit to the image of the Madonna Salus Populi Romani, the Protectress of the Roman People, in the Basilica of St Mary Major, and prayed in silence. This was his third such visit since being elected Bishop of Rome last March.

The gospel on New Year’s Day tells us, ‘Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart’ (Luke 2:19, NAB). St Luke tells us in his account of the finding of Jesus in the Temple when he was 12, ‘He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart’ (Luke 2:51, NAB).

Little Self-Portrait, Rembrandt, c.1657 [Web Gallery of Art]

Professor Randy David in his Public Lives column in the Philippine Daily Inquirer on 28 December wrote about ‘Selfies’.He writes: “While almost every painter of worth in every era has done a self-portrait, taking a selfie for sharing and liking cannot possibly compare with the experience of an artist pondering the moods, desires, and emotions evoked by the lines and contours of his own face. The selfie is pure self-absorption where the self-portrait could be self-analysis. What distinguishes one from the other is the superficiality to which much digital communication technology has lent itself’.

Dr David quotes Rebecca Solnit: ‘The fine art of doing nothing in particular, also known as thinking, or musing, or introspection, or simply moments of being, was part of what happened when you walked from here to there alone, or stared out the train window, or contemplated the road, but the new technologies have flooded those open spaces. Space for free thought is routinely regarded as a void, and filled up with sounds and distraction’. He adds: ‘And selfies’.

The columnist is not condemning selfies or those who take them but is pointing out an essential dimension of life that many of us may not even be aware of: the need for silence. He further quotes Rebecca Solnit: ‘The new chatter puts us somewhere in between, assuaging fears of being alone without risking real connection. It is a shallow between two deep zones, a safe spot between the dangers of contact with ourselves, with others’.

‘Others’ include God. Mary wasn’t involved in self-absorption when she ‘kept all these things in her heart’. She was reflecting on what was happening around her in the light of the mission that God had given her, to be the Mother of God, the Theotokos, the title that the Council of Ephesus gave to her in 431, a Greek word meaning ‘God-bearer’.

Randy David, Pope Francis and our Blessed Mother through the words of St Luke are, in their different ways, calling us into the vulnerability of silence, into a silence where we are prepared to take a risk, the risk of what friendship may ask of us, the risk of what God may ask of us.

Pope Francis in his homily on New Year’s Day said of Mary, ‘By her example of humility and openness to God’s will she helps us to transmit our faith in a joyful proclamation of the Gospel to all, without reservation. In this way our mission will be fruitful, because it is modeled on the motherhood of Mary’.

Mary’s humility and openness to God’s will were the fruits of silence, ‘keeping all these things in her heart’.

The Holy Family with St Mary Magdalene, El Greco, 1595-1600 [Web Gallery of Art]

The author is a teacher Iligan City North 1 Central School. In recent months we have been very conscious of the havoc caused by Supertyphoon Haiyan/Yolanda last November. Great destruction was caused in parts of Mindanao in December 2011 by Severe Tropical Storm Washi/Sendong. Iligan City was one of the places most severely hit.

It only took one night for our family to experience a tragic event. Sometimes such events paralyze us and leave us broken and fragile. Many were devastated by the tragic floods caused by Typhoon Sendong. Houses were washed away, lives lost. Thousands, including my family, were victims of the floods. We are all alive, my husband, my 17-year old twins, 25-year old son and me. This is our story.

The aftermath of Sendong in Orchid Homes Subdivision, Brgy Santiago, Iligan City, where the author lives.

16 December 2011, Dep.Ed Night . . . I was one of the awardees of the Search for the Ten Most Outstanding Public School Teachers in Iligan City. Though earlier in the night the rain was very heavy the Dep.Ed night celebration continued, the presentations were great, everybody was dancing and joyously exchanging pleasantries with one another. Me? As an awardee I felt proud as did my husband. After the awarding we immediately went home and arrived at our house at Orchid Homes Subdivision, Brgy. Santiago, Iligan City, at 9:20.

I noticed that the rain wasn’t too heavy but the wind was very strong. We went to sleep. I was awakened by the noise outside our house. As I went out to see what was going on I glanced at clock. It was 12:20 midnight, 17 December. I saw no one on the street, so I went back to our bedroom and lay down, but again heard noise all over the neighborhood and a siren. So I hurriedly stood up to check what the commotion all about.

Aftermath of Sendong in Hinaplanon, Iligan City by Khert John Claveria]

I was shocked. Water was rushing in like a devil ready to take our lives. I called my husband and woke up our sons.  In just a few seconds the water was already at knee level. My mind was disturbed with many questions and thoughts. ‘What will I do? What will I do first? Can we be saved? Will we be saved? I have to be strong for my children .I should have presence of mind.’

I told myself, ‘Don’t panic! Everything will be OK’.

Blessings, by Laura Story

But it wasn’t OK. The water now reached my waist. Despite my desire to save important things I had no time to do so. We have to vacate the house because everything inside was already floating. I just grabbed my bag with my wallet inside, my cellphone and my glasses. My husband ordered us to settle in my neighbor’s house with a second floor. But it was 20 meters away and the current was very strong. We had no choice but to climb onto the roof of our own house. The water was still rising very fast and reached our roof. So we had to transfer to the higher roof of a neighbor’s house at the back, with my cousin’s family and two other neighbors, crawling because it was very slippery.
Then very big logs entered the picture, destroying and washing away some of the houses in the subdivision. I can still clearly remember neighbors shouting for help on rooftops when logs crashed into their houses. Then the cries for help just vanished. That was when I cried because I knew that my neighbors, my friends were gone. I could no longer heard their voices or the crying of the children.

Then a deep silence, with only the sound of logs crashing into houses to be heard. I thought it would also be the end of us.

In Times Like These, written and sung by Glenn D. Elmidulan from Kapatagan, Lanao del Norte. His sister Marie Fe produced the video.

My husband was trying to find a way for us to jump to the other side of the road. I gave instructions to my sons: ‘If mabungkag ning balay atong gitindugan (if our house is destroyed), save yourselves. Don’t think about me kay dako pa kaayo inyong chance mabuhi mo (because you have a better chance of surviving), I know ug unsa man gani mahitabo sa ako ug sa inyong Daddy dili jud mopasagdan sa inyong mga auntie (Whatever happens to me or Daddy, don’t neglect your aunties) both sides. Be good and responsible’.

The side story of this tragedy was that my then 16-year-old twins hadn’t been on good terms for four years, never speaking to each other, I’d tried so many times to patch up their differences but to my dismay nothing worked. So I just waited for the right time where they might be friends again and I never thought, even in my wildest dreams, that a destructive storm would be that right time. In the midst of our fear and anxiety they really showed how much they cared for each other by thinking about each other’s safety. I asked them, ‘Kinahanglan diay mahitabo ni aron magamigo mo ug balik?’ (Does it take something like this for you to be friends again?) And I added, ‘Whatever happens ug mamatay ko or kami sa inyong Daddy (If I or your Daddy and I die), don’t stop loving and caring for each other. You should draw from each other’s strength so that you will survive”

Everybody was  praying so hard I even wanted to shout my prayers to make sure I could be heard by God. Thinking that night would be my end, I asked forgiveness for my sins and from those I had sinned against. And I forgave those who had caused me pain, heartaches and trouble. What I thought might be my last words were, ‘Thy will be done.

It seemed that we were just waiting for our deaths. At 2:00 to 3:00 in the morning of 17 December - I was constantly checking the time on my cellphone - the water was still rising but the current wasn’t so fast anymore. But we didn’t know when the water would subside. And if it didn’t we were trapped on the roof where the water was already at ankle level. My husband decided that we should cross to the other side of the road by the electric wire connecting posts. (Electricity had by then been totally shut off). But I strongly disagreed with him because I knew it wouldn’t work. I said to him, ‘Kung mangamatay man gani ta karon dinh dili na to tagbuon atong kamatayon, atong hulaton’ (If we die here now let’s not avoid it, let’s wait for it).

So we just stayed where we were and prayed, prayed and prayed because I strongly believed  at that time that the only weapon we had was to pray and trust in God and whatever plans He had for us.

And a miracle happened . . . at 4:30 the water started to subside slowly but surely. Praise God, He answered our prayers. All our family were alive, destined to live longer.

The  next thing I knew was that the  3-year-old daughter of my close friend and neighbor and the 31-year-old special child of another close friend and neighbor were missing. Their bodies were never found. So many bodies were found trapped in their houses, and others were drowned.

Our house was totally damaged, and everything in it, including appliances, destroyed, I had nothing left. Back to Zero. .But still I have to be thankful that God gave us another chance to live. And most importantly, my twins are now friends, talking to each other sharing their  ideas. For me that was the best thing that happened to our family, because of the Typhoon Sendong tragedy.

By Fr Elmer M. Dula RCJ

Fr Elmer M. Dula of the Rogationists tells us how unplanned was his entering the seminary and then later on found himself embracing his vocation. Father Elmer continues his mission work as a parish priest in Papua New Guinea.

I believe that everything that has happened in my life is a blessing – successes, failures, joys and pain. They come in so many forms because of a God whose love for me and for the rest of mankind is infinite and boundless. It is by his grace that I became a missionary priest in a land I thought would only be in my dreams. Looking back on my formation years, I can only see that indeed, my missionary vocation has been a ‘blessing in disguise’.

In 1992 I was in fourth year high school. One day a classmate who was seriously considering the priesthood invited me to accompany him to our parish priest. He wanted to be an altar-server as his personal preparation for the seminary. I went with him I don’t know what he said to the priest but after his interview, the priest called for me. My immediate reaction was surprise, ‘Why me?’ I was only accompanying my friend. Out of respect I obliged and also became an altar-server.

Holy Spirit Seminary, Bomana, near Port Moresby
The Diocese of Alotau-Sideia is part of the ecclesiastical province of Port Moresby.

We were the oldest in the group. Our companions were grade six students and first year high school students. I was a bit embarrassed but for friendship’s sake continued serving at the Holy Mass for the rest of our high school days. My friend also invited me to join him for a ‘vocation orientation’ in Cebu City. Wow, an opportunity for me to leave Leyte and see other places. So I willingly accompanied my friend. He was seriously considering life in the seminary, while I was just looking for adventure. As the saying goes, ‘God writes straight with crooked lines’.

Alotau, Milne Bay [Wikipedia]

After graduation, my friend decided to pursue another career and I found myself inside the seminary. I told myself that I would try it for a year only. That one year became two, three, four until I became a novice in 1998. My family was surprised with my decision to become a priest but they were happy and supported me all the way.

Almost everything was going well. I passed one stage of formation after another, but when I was in second year Theology in 2004 when I was a temporarily professed religious brother when my Superiors decided to send me home because of a bad decision I had made. A high school friend asked me to help her go abroad. In my eagerness to do so, I borrowed money from friends. Then I found out that everything was a lie. She ran away with the money and I was left alone not knowing how to return it. I had borrowed from friends just to help her. It was a very painful experience, a feeling of being betrayed by someone I had trusted with all my heart, even putting my vocation in danger. My superiors had known nothing about what I had done but when they found out they judged me accordingly.

Walter Bay, Port Moresby [Wikipedia]

I bowed my head in recognition of my fault. With a very heavy heart I accepted their decision, one they had a right to make. It was a friend of mine who had got me into the seminary and now it was also a friend who had got me out of it­.

I asked my Superiors for just one more chance to prove myself. Perhaps I had a vocation to the priesthood. Having in mind the vocation story of St Peter who after realizing that he had betrayed the Lord, with all humility accepted his own fault and from where he fell stood up and offered his whole life preaching about the person whom he betrayed – Jesus. With God’s grace, just like St Peter, I was given another chance. And my Superior decided to send me to the Land of the Unexpected: Papua New Guinea (PNG)! This time I wasn’t going in the name of adventure. I was going eagerly to serve the Lord.

In 2004, the Rogationists were just starting to form a community in PNG and needed a Religious Brother to assist them. Sideia Mission is the first missionary presence of the Rogationists in Oceania. Yes, I took the challenge because I also wanted to see if I had the vocation for the mission.

I was asked to stay for a year only after which I could continue my theological studies. I asked myself, ‘Is this some sort of punishment for the mistakes I committed?’ My Superior, perhaps reading my mind, said to me, ‘Don’t take this as a punishment.’ When my missionary exposure was almost ending, I was already preparing to go back home to continue my studies but I was asked if I could stay for one more year. I stayed for two years and two months, with a heart full of gratitude to the Lord for showing me the way. My missionary exposure had helped me strengthen my vocation.

I admit that I did not make converts in the mission land; I simply tried to live the life of the people in the village where I was based. I did not preach lengthy sermons but simply gave witness to the love that God had shown me. In other words, the mission ‘converted’ me, I was transformed as I lived my day-to-day routine with the people by sharing in their joys and sorrows, listening to their stories, laughing with them, playing football with the students under our care, facing conflicts together and trying to solve them in a more Christian way. That’s how I did my mission as a Rogationist missionary brother from 2004 to 2007. I encountered many difficulties, but I found strength in prayer and in the prayers of those who supported me.

Before leaving Sideia Mission Centre, which is in the Diocese of Alotau-Sideia under Bishop Rolando Crisostomo Santos CM, a Vicentian from Malabon, Rizal, I promised the people that I would be back as soon as I would be ordained as a priest. In this way I would not only give witness by deeds but also preach the WORD.

In 2007, I went back to the Philippines, continued my theological studies and was ordained priest in August 2009. In January 2010 I returned to PNG, this time with no thought of ‘punishment’ but of gratitude. I came back in this mission land to fulfill a promise, not only to the people of Sideia Island in particular and PNG as a whole, but to a gracious God, who gave me the ‘chance of a lifetime’. Yes, the Mission became my ‘saving-grace’, and it is out of gratitude that I am spending the rest of my life, loving God in the faces and hearts of the Papuan people.

In 13 January 2010 I set foot again on the ‘Land of the Unexpected’ ready to face the challenges ahead, challenges different from those I faced as a seminarian. Now, as Parish Priest, I am aware of the weight of my responsibility, something I didn’t experience as a student.

My experience in PNG as a missionary tells me that it is not easy to live a life of witness to the truth of Jesus Christ. I have to live the gospel values all the more, so that the people may see the God that I worship and adore. But more than being a witness, I am also asked to preach the Word of God in small communities, to speak about the good news of Jesus Christ. At times I have been unable to explain the gospel properly and there saw my weaknesses and inadequacies. Yes, in the mission, I am living my consecration to the best of my ability, my life-witnessing alive. I can say with St Peter, ‘Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope . . .’ (1 Peter 3:15, NAB).

By Fr Pat Colgan

The author, from Northern Ireland, is a member of the General Council of the Columbans since September 2012 and based in Hong Kong. Ordained in 1994, he worked in Fiji before his present assignment.

Sally, can you tell us something about your childhood and your early involvement in the Church?

Father Pat and Sally

I was born in Guimaras, now an island province in the Western Visayas, on 14 September 1961. I am the fifth of eight siblings, five boys and three girls. My father was a rice farmer and my mom a busy housewife. Although our church was far away from the village, we always went, and I can remember dreaming about being a nun. I used to play at being one, dressing up in a veil!

Filipino Maids in Hong Kong Cope with Loneliness [Video produced by UCAN, an independent Catholic news service].

Tell us about your working life.

Firstly I went to work as a domestic helper in Kuwait. I worked there for a local ‘mother and daughter’ family, who were very considerate to me, not demanding that I dress in full Arab robe and veil – even allowing me to wear trousers at home (unlike most other domestic workers). When the Gulf War drew near, the Philippine government urged us all to evacuate and paid part of our fare to fly out of Kuwait. But it was a nightmare journey going by Jordan and Iraq, the normal routes to Saudi Arabia and Dubai being closed. In Jordan we had to sleep on the street for a week, in Iraq the government found an empty warehouse for us, where we were fed tinned sardines, cucumber and lettuce, every day, every meal for another week. I can never eat sardines again!

In 1991 I came to Hong Kong. My first employers were a British couple for whom I worked for eight happy years. I thought I had enough money by then, and planned to go back home for good. But within two years, and with big hospitalization costs for my sickly mother growing all the time, I realized I would have to return. So I came back in 2000, first to a Chinese and then to an Australian family. I am now with a Korean couple with young children.

How did you interest in prison ministry begin?

In late 2008 I attended a seminar on Suicide Counseling run by a Filipina catechist. I was very interested in this because a number of close and distant family members, as well as neighbors in my village, had committed suicide and I often wondered if I should have ‘seen the signs’ and been of greater help. During that seminar, I met the wife of a Filipino prisoner here in Hong Kong, who happened to be the friend of my cousin. I went to see him, and he gave me the names of two others who wanted a visit. It has mushroomed since then. I now visit four prisons in Hong Kong every Sunday, in rotation, and am in frequent contact with the families of seven prisoners, from the Philippines, Benin, Surinam and Colombia, helping to get messages in, as well as buying them batteries, soaps, magazines, Bibles and whatever they ask for and need.

Do you find the work difficult?

Yes, I often find it challenging. My only day off is Sunday, and I often spend traveling long distances to jails and then waiting for the all the security procedures to be completed. When I eventually do see a prisoner, he is behind a glass screen and we have to use phones. Sometimes it is hard to hear him. It is particularly difficult when a prisoner’s English is poor.

Do you feel your visit helps them – have you any stories for us?

I have one Filipino ‘cuyo’ in prison who is paralyzed. At first he was very silent and sullen, just saying ‘Bahala na’ (‘There is nothing I can do’). I used to cry on my side of the glass, trying to encourage him. I organized lodgings for his wife when she visited in 2011 and then last year kept her in my room, with my employer’s permission. Slowly he has become more positive, praising his wife’s love and his children’s good education. He even joked with me on one occasion, asking me not to cut my hair! I told him, that even though the weather was very hot, I would sacrifice cutting my hair, as a prayer for him.

What gives you the strength to continue?

Even though I am not a formal member of a Church group such as the Legion of Mary my attendance at Sunday Mass is very important to me. I often cry inwardly during priests’ sermons – as if the Lord is speaking to me directly. I promised God that once all my family debts and obligations were cleared, I would live and use any disposable income totally for Him. I have seen miracles even among my employers’ families (who are not believers) when I pray for them – for example the total healing of my Korean ‘grandfather’ from a stomach complaint. I do wonder sometimes if I am really helping the prisoners enough in what I say, because I am not an expert in the Bible, but often it is their words to me that inspire me and keep me going.

Do you have any message for other domestic workers here in Hong Kong?

Yes; I would like to encourage them to use their gifts, especially the gifts of listening and healing that God has given to us Filipinas, for our brothers and sisters in jail. Sometimes we ‘waste’ our day off sitting around the streets and parks when we could give just an hour or two to someone worse off than ourselves. Jesus did say, ‘I was in jail, and you came to see me . . .’

Your birthday is coming soon (14 September) – how do you plan to spend it?

God is so good – I am going home to the Philippines for ten days, arriving on my birthday. I will organize a time of ‘praise and worship’ for the people in my home village. I feel sorry for those simple, peaceful people – they work hard on the farm but still cannot find money for their bus fare to church. I will encourage them. I may finish my contract in Hong Kong next year, so I need to look over my little house and land there. I miss my parents not being alive, but God is our Shepherd always.

By Claudette I. Galacgac

The author finished her Bachelor of Arts in English, major in Language at the University of South Eastern Philippines in Davao City. Claudette has been involved in campus journalism since high school. Here, she shared how reading an article in Misyon has touched her and has made her look back her experiences too.

Upon reading the article Dealing Positively with Life Despite Uncertainties (Misyon, September-October 2012), I could say that I have wasted my time grieving over silly and petty matters. Unlike the author, I don’t have a disability affecting any aspect of my life, only financial instability. Ric is a polio victim but he has managed to keep a positive outlook on life which has led him to where he is now. The story of his life somehow changed my perspective.

I wasn’t the optimistic type; I was more of a pessimist. Nevertheless, I was able to learn and to try harder to believe in myself that I can always do something better in any situation. But it’s not easy at first. You have to undergo a battle within yourself whether to move forward or to give up. My relationship with God taught me to keep going and to never give up a battle without fighting.

I come from a broken family. My parents went their separate ways when I was still ten years old. Being the eldest, my family had high expectations of me. At a young age I became mature, always having in mind that I should help my mother. I learned to do my best, especially in my studies, as this would lead me to a better future.

I have encountered different trials on my journey. Some were very difficult and almost made me give up. One example was the uncertainty of finishing college because money was so scarce. When you feel the world weighing upon you and a solution to your difficulties hard to find, there is usually a temptation to give up. But I didn’t. My mother has been my inspiration to keep going. I always hold her in high regard since she managed to raise the three of us without my father. She has been my strength to carry on, for without her my life would be meaningless.

But life does not look back; we have to keep going and that’s what I did. I continued my studies with some help from my relatives. I had a hard time trying to budget a small amount of money with so many requirements for graduation. As I look back, I can’t imagine how I survived. But I did. In fact, I unexpectedly graduated with flying colors.
Despite the trials I’ve encountered along the way, God has blessed me enough in this lifetime and I am really thankful to Him. My relationship with Him started when I was three years old, when I couldn’t yet understand the meaning of what I was praying. My aunt taught me to pray the rosary. Praying it became a routine as did going to church regularly. It was only when I reached high school that I understood everything. What started as a routine later became my life. My life is centered on God.

Even in darkest times, I seek comfort in Him. It may not be very obvious to others, but deep inside me I know I have a special bond with Him. He has never left my side. I am not perfect, I make mistakes but He never fails me.

Aside from changing my perspective in life upon reading the article, I was also inspired to pursue my dream. Call it coincidence but, like Ric, I also want to be a lawyer. It is what I’ve always wanted but I cannot yet pursue that dream. My sisters are still studying and it would be selfish on my part to proceed to law school while they need my financial support. Maybe someday, in God’s perfect time, I can go to law school.

Life is a temporary assignment. We don’t have to be too attached to it. What matters in the end is how we live our life in accordance with God’s will. Furthermore, having a positive outlook in life will help you attract positive things to happen eventually. Think positive, believe, have faith and everything will go well as God has planned. It is then fair to say that if life is a game, we should know how to play it; only that there are rules to follow. We have to abide with it and make sure to keep in mind that God is the ‘game master’, not us.

‘Do your best and God will do the rest’ might be a cliché for some but it is only with God that everything is possible.

By Fr John Keenan

The author is a Columban priest from Ireland who first came to the Philippines in 1966. Apart from a few years working in Britain he has been here since then. He is chaplain at Centro Escolar University, Manila.

To mark the Year of Faith and the New Evangelization, which ended on 24 November, the Solemnity of Christ the King, a very inspiring Philippine Conference on New Evangelization (PCNE), convened by Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, Archbishop of Manila, was held at the Pontifical University of Sto Tomas (UST), Manila, 16-18 October 2013.

Located in the Quadricentennial Pavilion, an ultra modern arena with seating accommdation for some 6000 people on three raised terraces, it was indeed an awe-inspiring spectacle enhanced by colorful cinematic, light and sound effects. The altar on a raised colorful platform served as the focal point for the vast crowd of participants. Masterly planned and organized by some 60 people under the able leadership of Henrietta T. de Villa, former ambassador of the Philippines to the Holy See, it can serve as a model of conference planning for people anywhere in the world.

In his homily at the opening Mass Cardinal Tagle welcomed delegates from Brunei, Taiwan, Jakarta, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Japan, India and the USA as well as from all over the Philippines. This was shortly after the devastating earthquake in Cebu and Bohol in which some 186 people lost their lives and 583 were injured. Many ancient and historic churches were also destroyed. Cardinal Tagle expressed his solidarity with the victims and their families. The collections at all the Masses of the conference, to which the religious, priests and bishops contributed, were to offer them some help and support.

The theme was ‘God Can Make All Things New’..

According to the Cardinal the whole point of the PCNE is a humble contribution to the construction and strengthening of the Church rooted in Jesus, His words in the Spirit in the midst of ruins. Quoting what God reputedly said to St Francis, ‘Build my Church, rebuild my Church’, Cardinal Tagle said that the people of Cebu and Bohol have promised to do this. They are the real living Church.

The journey of the Church in the Philippines and the role of Popular Devotions in the New Evangelisation was ably explained by Fr Catalino Arevalo, S.J.
Archbishop Emeritus Leonardo Z. Legaspi OP of Caceres explained the great devotion which the Bicolanos have to Our Lady of Peñafrancia.

Our Lady of Peñafrancia

Celebration of Our Lady of Peñafrancia, Dublin, Ireland, 2012

Monsignor Clemente Ignacio, Parish Priest of the Shrine of the Black Nazarene in the Parish of St John the Baptist, Quiapo, Manila, which is very popular, as seen in the almost fanatical participation of some one million men who take part in the fiesta procession in January each year.

Feast of the Black Nazarene 2013

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI once said that popular devotions are one of the greatest treasures of the Church. However they need to be deepened by being based on the Bible, good catechesis, liturgical practice and by linking faith to life -- good moral behavior and the practice of social justice especially, for the poor. Indeed the people’s love of fiestas, devotion to patron saints, novenas, processions etc. has helped them to hold on to their Catholic identity and culture in spite of aggressive proseletysing by many sects here, both local and foreign.

Assisi Revisited, Interfaith Prayer for Peace

The Assisi experience was echoed in the testimonials of representatives from Muslims, Christians, Buddhist and Hindus. These represent most of the billions of the people of Asia. Unless the major religions work for and live peace, finding it will be very elusive.

In addition to the main events ‘Streams of Encounter with God’ took place in halls within the UST campus. They covered such topics as Word of God (The Bible), Prayer, The Youth, Justice and Peace Issues, the Integrity of Creation, Healing, Mary and Popular Devotions. I attended the one on Justice and Peace Issues. The speaker, Bishop Broderick Pabillo, Auxiliary Bishop of Manila, asked why the social teachings of the Church were largely unknown and not practiced. I believe it is because they are not taught as vehemently as they were here during Martial Law years some 30 years ago. But they are needed now as much as ever especially on account of all the graft and corruption scandals that are being exposed day by day.

MESSAGE OF POPE FRANCIS

The Pope’s message as seen and heard by the participants at PCNE

‘Through this conference’, Pope Francis said in a video message, ‘I hope you will experience again the loving presence of Jesus . . . That you would love the Church more and that you would share the Gospel to all people with humility and joy. Don't get tired of bringing the mercy of the Father to the poor, the sick, the abandoned, the young people and families. Let Jesus be known in the world of politics, business, arts, science, technology, and the social media. Let the Holy Spirit renew the creation and bring forth justice and peace in the Philippines and in the great continent of Asia that is close to my heart’.

CLOSING MASS AND MISSION SENDING

Cardinal Tagle’s homily at the closing Mass

Providentially, the Mass was that of the Feast of St Luke, Apostle and Evangelist. In the gospel, Luke 10:1-9, Jesus sends forth the 72 disciples to proclaim the Good News reminding them that the harvest is big and the laborers few but to pray to the Lord of the harvest to send workers into his harvest. In his closing homily Cardinal Tagle thanked God for the success of the conference and for the 6,000 plus laborers present and committed to sharing the Good News of Jesus in the Philippines and across Asia.

Lumina Pandit, ‘To Spread the Light’, Led by Cardinal Tagle, 16 October 2013

The culmination of the conference was the service of light, Lumina Pandit, ‘To Spread the Light’.

The importance of Light since God first said "’Let there be light’ in the story of creation, the light in the desert guiding the Chosen People in their journey to the Promised Land to the birth of Jesus, Light of the World, was traced by a narrator. Each of the 6,000 present in the vast arena waived their lights to the strains of Trina Belamide's ‘Tell the World of His Love’, chosen in a competition as the theme song of World Youth Day, held in Manila in 1995 which was attended by soon-to-be saint John Paul II. A mammoth crowd took part in the closing Mass of WYDA 1995 in Luneta Park, Manila.

The Conference on the New Evangelisation was for many a life-changing event and one to be remembered forever by all present in UST and through the social media, radio and television.

John A. Keenan

By Jimmy A. Badilla

In obedience to the call of the Church to spread the Good News, Neocatechumenal Communities all over the world initiated a ‘Great Mission’ during the recently ended Year of Faith - reaching out to as many people as possible and hoping to share the love and mercy of God that they themselves have experienced in their lives thereby offering hope and salvation to the desolate, the forsaken, the downtrodden. Yolanda victims need the love of God more than all the material things that many of us want to comfort them with.  It is good, proper, and just that we give them whatever relief items we can afford, but above all as Christians we are called to let them feel how God works in our sufferings, how He wants to be with us as we agonize and bear our burdens, how He wants to give us hope and invite us to believe that after all ‘Man does not live by bread alone but by the words that come from the mouth of God’.  Popular Missions of the Neocatechumenal Communities in various typhoon-hit places in the Philippines are ongoing.

Estancia, Iloilo, is the Tacloban of Western Visayas. People died. Houses and properties were destroyed. The future seemed bleak and uncertain as no immediate chance at normalcy could be gleaned, except some reported plans from Canadians and other foreign groups to give sustained support for rehabilitation to those severely affected by Supertyphoon Haiyan/Yolanda. And the Philippine Government's usual promises that yet await concrete results.

This is what I ask of you. Be shepherds with the smell of the sheep. POPE FRANCIS

Meanwhile, the people of Estancia needed to grab at any good thing that might come their way just to survive: food, used clothing, tarpaulin or thin roofing--anything that could help them try and rebuild their lives once more. They need to move on. And they need people, too, to talk with them, feel their pain, their loss, their suffering. They need somebody to empathize with them. They need some shoulders to cry on to. They need to feel that God is alive through their fellow men.

When Father Angel Mojica from Colombia, Neocatechumenal catechist coordinator based in Rome who has been to the Philippines a number of times, asked for volunteers, my wife Flor and I stood up without really realizing how this mission would affect us. Never did Flor and I fully grasp the gravity of the situation, and felt some helplessness in trying to carry out our tasks. It was only when we were already given the instructions on how to go about our assignment that we became so unsure on how to actually proceed. We were asking ourselves: How do we approach these typhoon victims who are so filled with bitterness, problems, and pain? Father Angel said that some of them were even losing their faith in God already!

So we would talk with them and try to let them feel that God is still alive. With us, at least. And we were not supposed to give any material things to these people. Just plain talking with them and to try to pray with them, if possible.

So, how do you bring hope to the hopeless? How do you tell people about God in a place where God seemed to have been absent? How does one lift the burden from his brothers' shoulders? Wow. Might not these people have a violent reaction to us? Gosh, this is some Mission, I thought grudgingly. But I didn't complain when finally we were sent off two-by-two with a blessing by the parish priest of Estancia, Fr Macario N. Sortido. At least my companion was a brother who was a resident of the place and a victim of the typhoon. At least he would know his town-mates, and I could expect a better deal. Or so I hoped. I was terribly in fear of rejection. 

And so, like soldiers ready to be killed in battle, we approached the tents. And I experienced how to deal with my fear of being rejected by others for Christ's sake. With my brother I was able to initiate a few pleasantries with a woman and her daughter who was a minister in their Congregation. Surprisingly I started feeling at ease talking with the victims and hearing their stories, their ordeals, their fears. I cried with them, too. And I shared my own ‘Yolanda’--those unbearable sufferings that I encountered in my life, my problems, my own fears and sufferings--and they cried, too.

We noticed then that we were not different from each other after all. We were brothers and sisters, fellow human beings with all our weaknesses and our sins. But the most wonderful thing that we realized is that despite Yolanda, God manifested Himself in many ways and in many instances where we felt His most powerful presence, His mercy, and His love. We thanked Him for giving us another chance at life, and blessed His name for His endless mercies. We read His message from the Bible, and prayed. Finally, we kissed each other and asked for God's peace and blessings. And we parted like brothers and sisters. In Christ. For Christ. With Christ.

That was unbelievably wonderful. We did that for two weekends. What gloriously blessed weekends! And one Mission: To share oneself for those in need. To talk, not to preach. To suffer with those who suffer. To cry with those who cry. To empathize. To be one with the poor and miserable. To live the Gospel, not in comfort but in dire adversity. Pope Francis said: ‘Be with the sheep and smell like the sheep’. We did just that.

I kissed and smelt the awful smell of typhoon survivors, and experienced two days smelling practically like them, and guess what--I felt deliriously free and happy! And we went back home rejoicing. We were victorious. Not because we were seasoned, strong, and courageous warriors. No. It was God's grace working on our fears, weaknesses, and inadequacies. We felt His power in us every time we asked for His guidance and support. And we felt His love and tender mercy overflowing with us as we go along the way.

This is one of my most memorable and blessed Christmas. I felt God alive in the Mission, and the spirit of that sojourn still haunts us. Flor and I have no Christmas lights in our home, and we did not put up a Christmas tree either. No party and no feast. No fancy holiday things whatsoever. Just a simple glorious peace at home. We're doing this because, first, we want to cherish the memory of those people in Estancia, and second, because we want to be reminded that Christ did not come to give us an easy and comfortable life as many would like to believe, but the one that is everlasting, truly happy, and eternal.

By Richelle Verdeprado

Shortly before Christmas the Assistant Editor and Editorial Assistant of Misyon, Anne Gubuan and Richelle Verdeprado, went to the island of Panay, west of Negros, and visited the municipalities of Sara and Estancia in the north-east of the island and the north-east of the province of Iloilo to help in the aftermath of Supertyphoon Haiyan/Yolanda.

Last 8 November was supposed to be like any other day in the lives of Filipinos. For the children I was able to talk with on Friday 13 December, it was supposed to be another day of playing in the fields and along the shore and for some another day of learning at school.

But something happened that day that made these children hide under their beds and when their houses were destroyed, made them run as fast as they could to seek solace in the hills, in the houses of the well-off in their community and then in the evacuation centers. There was something not ordinary that day that has made the children tremble with fear, cry hard and then pray on their bended knees. That day typhoon Yolanda came in so fast and then left the country with unimaginable destruction and deaths. That day came and has left these children with awful memories.

I had just no question when 9-year-old Jose told me that he wished that 8 November had never happened at all and that typhoon Yolanda had never hit their place. He described it as something he never thought could happen for real. He recalled how the winds made him feel so helpless and so worried about his parents and siblings who were outside their house. He tried drawing that scenario in his notebook and he shared with the group how the rushing rain and wind had literally hurt his face. He knew it was so strong because their roof flew away. 8 November is now a day impossible for him, all the survivors and their loved ones to forget.

Since that day when Yolanda hit the Philippines, we at the Misyon editorial office in Bacolod City have been disturbed too, in deep sadness. I know I share the same feeling with many people from various walks of life across the world. Survivors are still badly in need of assistance for their basic necessities like food, potable water, clothes and medicine, and materials for re-building their houses. They also need psychological support so that they can cope with trauma and the negative impact of the disaster. Even their spiritual aspect is in need of some consolation because due to the loss that they had incurred, many are still in the midst of darkness.

It is easier to see the physical effects of Yolanda compared to the emotional scars. We can get possible get estimates of how many will be starting from scratch again in terms of building their houses. While traveling towards Sara and then to Estancia, Iloilo, together with a team from the Philippine National Police (PNP) in Camp Delgado, Iloilo City, who organized the relief operation, I saw many houses still roofless. I saw several junk shops filled with scrap housing materials. I saw uprooted trees and tilted electric posts. Estancia’s situation was worsened by an oil spill that we witnessed. We also passed through temporary housing campsites for the people. It will take time before things will be back to normal again.

More than a month had passed since the storm when we went to Iloilo but I could still sense the sadness in the communities we visited. Part of me says that help can never be enough. Typhoon Yolanda has left but its long-term effects will continue to haunt the people. With the inconceivable aftermath of the typhoon and the tears and losses you hear and see from television and newspapers, you are moved to do something, whatever it is that you can do to help, or at least lessen the hunger, pain and suffering of the people.
That is why Misyon assistant editor Mrs Anne Gubuan and I got found our way to that relief operation. We wanted to do whatever we could to be of help. We were so disturbed that we couldn’t just sit and watch our neighboring island suffer. I had no doubt that it was God who was touching us. Our editor Fr Seán Coyle immediately said ‘Yes’ to our request to go. We are thankful that God had given us that opportunity to use our academic background, our experience and our passion to be with the survivors even for two days. With that very limited time of helping in the repacking of goods, of hearing the stories of the children and looking at their artwork, and then seeing the communities and the people, we felt at one with them. We hoped that with our simple efforts we were able to bring a message of hope and love to them.

Estancia, Iloilo, after Haiyan/Yolanda Video by Philippine Information Agency, Region 6

Survivors, Estancia
[Video produced by HCBN, a service of the Seventh-day Adventist Church]

It was not the first time that I participated in a relief operation but it was made so unique for the people and even for me as we were singing Christmas carols. Fr Ron Arevalo Datu, Regional Chaplain of Regional Office 6, PNP, spearheaded the singing and then later on encouraged the people to sing. When they sang with us with smiles on their faces, I felt we were producing the best melody ever. It was so special maybe because I knew that I was hearing it from people who would be having a different Christmas this year.
They were only beginning to re-build their houses. They are recovering from the loss of means of their livelihood such as carabaos and boats. But here they were, clapping their hands and enjoying the music. God is really so amazing. ‘Pwede syang gumawa nang mabuti sa isang masamang pangyayari’, (God can make something good out of a bad situation) shared Father Ron.

How could a tragic event such as Yolanda cross all barriers and borders and revive our brotherhood and sisterhood? How can it lead us back into unity and into love? God can do that.

Survivor, Estancia
[Video produced by HCBN, a service of the Seventh-day Adventist Church]

Canada’s Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) in Sara

Sara, Iloilo, after Haiyan/Yolanda

Our team did not just go there to bring material goods or simply to talk with the people. We went with the hope that God would use us as instruments for the people we visited to feel the spirit of Christmas and to affirm their resilience. On our way home, despite the same view of roofless houses and junk shops filled with dilapidated housing materials, I found myself feeling just a little less sadness. Optimism overpowered me. I just knew that right at that moment, God was continuously disturbing many young and old hearts all over the world. I just knew that once God touched them, they would find themselves helping too. Like us, they will go home not having only reminded the people they’ve visited of God’s love but also reminded of God’s undying and empowering love for themselves. And that will lead them back to the beauty of cheerfully offering themselves for others.

By ‘D.J.C.’

Our Hideaway is a venue for the youth to express themselves and to share with our readers their mind, their heart and their soul.

The author is a single young man, a guidance counselor.

I now recognize that love is the most wonderful thing of all. I know it sounds corny, but you may search the far corners of the universe and you won’t find anything more wonderful than love. And the only ones capable of loving are humans. That is what makes man so special and higher than all other earthly beings. Animals are capable only of producing and their ability to feel is restricted to physical pain only. They act from instinct. But we humans are gifted not only with the power of intellect but with susceptible emotions as well. This is why people have the tendency to become overwhelmingly attached and in turn it becomes awfully painful to become detached.

The Return of the Prodigal Son (detail), The Face of the Father
Rembrandt, c.1669 [Web Gallery of Art]

As I go more deeply in my thoughts, I ask myself how much I know about love. What is it really? How does it affect people? Yet my sole purpose is to know why such a wonderful thing can turn into such unbearable pain. I grew up in a family where my parents often had misunderstandings that led to serious fights. Thus, my siblings and I lack the affection of a true and complete family. We became closer to our mother and ended up hating our father.

As I reflect on this, I have become more troubled now than earlier in my life, for I might already be losing that sense of the ideal family I used to want. Nevertheless, it has led me to realize one thing: love will not last if not taken care of, probably the most common reason why so many couples separate.

Love can lead to many attachments and then make things special. I have been a witness to and have even been the reason for the pain of others by virtue of loving. We can live without loving but we cannot continue existing without it. As C.S. Lewis said, ‘Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art . . . It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival’. Furthermore, in love you cannot just simply end things. The source of it may be long gone yet love remains and that which remains is what causes the torment.

A friend once told me this reality: ‘The truth is that everybody is going to hurt you in the end, but you just have to find someone worth the pain’. True, even our parents, our siblings, our closest friend, and even our soul mate will, intentionally or not, hurt us in the end. Yet the reason we are hurt is because of love and attachment. Thus, love isn't only romantic nor it is all contentment and inspiration, it is also displeasure and longing and also, in most cases, if not all, something that can bring excruciating pain.

I know that as I continue living in this world, I will discover more what love really is, though I feel that there is something very strong and so unfathomable in it just like the example given to us by Jesus, what his love for us led him to do and then how that love has changed our history, our present and our future.

At this point I want to make clear that this isn't an exploration on what romantic love is or how to love. This is for all the people that I have hurt. Let this be my plea for forgiveness, a sincere expression of apology written with love.

LOVE

By George Herbert (1593-1632)

Love bade me welcome; yet my soul drew back,
Guilty of dust and sin.
But quick-eyed Love, observing me grow slack
From my first entrance in,
Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning
If I lack'd anything.

'A guest,' I answer'd, 'worthy to be here:'
Love said, 'You shall be he.'
'I, the unkind, ungrateful? Ah, my dear,
I cannot look on Thee.'
Love took my hand and smiling did reply,
'Who made the eyes but I?'

'Truth, Lord; but I have marr'd them: let my shame
Go where it doth deserve.'
'And know you not,' says Love, 'Who bore the blame?'
'My dear, then I will serve.'
'You must sit down,' says Love, 'and taste my meat.'
So I did sit and eat.