Meet Sarah Geronimo

I’VE seen her face and heard her sing, but only peripherally. That’s when I’m on the road, in the barber and they happen to watch TV, or in the mall to buy my toiletries. Granted she has some face and talent to sing, I still wonder why she seems to be everywhere. It was a wonder that did not push me to look for the answer.

But the other day, while driving with a friend, I got some inside information about her. This friend started by saying how happy he was to be in a concert of the singer in Cagayan de Oro. It was jampacked, and was a whopping success. He was there mainly because of his little children who wanted to see the singer.

This made him curious about Sarah, and did some research. He found out that she was discovered by Vic del Rosario who apparently gushed upon seeing her that he has found another “Sharon Cuneta.”

He immediately got her into a 10-year contract, and started building her up, packaging her as a wholesome young girl worth emulating to millions of youngsters in the country. The idea seems to click, because now, you have legions of young fans adoring this girl

So that’s it. You have a market waiting to be tapped. You have a talent who clearly shows good potentials. Then the business cycle just needs to be closed with a man who knows how to link the two together.

My friend, ever so business-minded, chuckled at the cleverness of Vic del Rosario. I suppose he was thinking if he could also pull the same smart move. But there was still something in his mind that he wanted to share with me.

“Father,” he mused, “I wonder if God and his things can be made popular like Sarah Geronimo.” I immediately knew he meant well, though it sounded like a blasphemy. And I remember that in the Gospel, our Lord took pains to present his mysterious lessons in parables to attune himself to the people. I caught his drift.

It certainly would be nice if the mysterious things of God can be made attractive in a visceral way, in the manner young people react to a rock star and his loud songs! Of course, without compromising, if possible, on God’s nature and words.

In fact, there is a crying need for the things of God to reach all people, because God is the God of all, and not just of some. But how is this going to be?

The phenomenon of Sarah Geronimo can give us some ideas, according to my friend. He said that again upon the instance of his little girls, he watched movies of hers, and he said not only are they clean, but also they conveyed the right messages and lessons. “Why don’t you try watching them, Father?”

I’ve received this kind of invitation before, and frankly I don’t know if I should take this one seriously. I have been disappointed a number of times before. The hype and expectation often failed to match with the actual seeing. So I just told him, I’ll try if I can find time and the right mood.

I must admit that there had been a few new Tagalog movies—the few and accidental times I saw them—that managed to improve my impression of them in general.

But yes, it has always been the perennial challenge for us priests and for anyone who has some ideas to sell, to come up with an effective way of presenting things to the people.

I know that preaching is not easy, and that it’s more the Holy Spirit than the human effort that makes it click. Just the same, the human element is indispensable, and should be done in the best way possible.

Anything that would enhance it, including the human art involved in preaching, is always welcome. It certainly would not do any harm to know those qualities of Sarah that make her the magnetic idol of many youngsters.

My friend recommended that I watch some local telenovelas to get ideas. Again I tried to be courteous and said, “I will try.” But I remember that there are also people who get bored with telenovela gimmicks and sleep through homilies, while trying to get the essentials.

I myself am of that type. I think I survived because I managed to be patient. But I prefer to be told things straight and simple, rather than being given the run-around or presented with a heavily overlaid thing.