The Church calendar puts the Solemnity of the Sto. Niño this year on January 15. The devotion to the Sto. Niño is happily a part--I would say a living part--of our culture and history as a people.
Just look around and you will readily see images and icons of this kingly child even in jeepneys, V-hires, taxis, sari-sari stores, and of course in many homes.
The devotion may run through a variety of expressions and different degrees of intensity and orthodoxy, but the devotion is simply there, throbbing and pulsating, somehow coloring people's thoughts and ways.
This is one more evidence that no matter how imperfectly lived, the Christian faith inheres in the Filipinos' ethos. It's Christian faith spontaneously lived Pinoy-style. And this is how it should be. Faith becomes true faith when it permeates a people's culture.
In Cebu there again will be the impressive celebration of the feast highlighted by Masses and a big religious procession of the "Pit Señor" matched by the popular Sinulog. Similar celebrations take place all over the country.
These festivities remind me of that beautiful psalm 149 which says:
"The Lord takes delight in his people... Sing to the Lord a new song of praise... Let them praise in the festive dance, let them sing praise to him with timbrel and harp. For the Lord loves his people, and adorns the lowly with victory..."
This is the ideal picture of the people of God enjoying a living communion with their Father and Creator. It's, of course, a living communion that needs to be sustained, deepened, enriched and strengthened.
Thus, the Filipino Christian faithful would do well when together with an active participation in the festivities, there is a serious effort to imbibe the qualities shown to us in a very forceful way by the Sto. Niño.
These are the qualities of both a child and a mature person, the qualities of simplicity and humility together with prudence and wisdom. These are the qualities we all need especially at this juncture when are going through a very rapid pace of development.
Our Lord himself articulated this blend of virtues when he said: "Be therefore wise as serpents, and guileless as doves." (Mt 10,16)
St. Paul echoed it when he said: "Brethren, do not become children in mind, but in malice be children and in mind mature." (1 Cor 14,20)
Childlike simplicity is a must these days, because the allurements of the world, not to mention those of the devil, can easily overwhelm us. This childlike simplicity enables us to go on unaffected and oblivious to these allurements as we swim through this life.
It is the simplicity that makes us firmly pro-God, and everything that is genuinely good, without getting entangled with the confusing world where evil can assume irresistible appearances of good.
It is the simplicity that enables us to be vibrantly chaste and focused on what is truly essential in our life, making us happily tempered and detached from material things and ever revitalizing our spiritual life.
But it's a simplicity that does not remain in being sweet and tender. It's one that blends well and even requires the manly virtues of fortitude and prudence. A simplicity that does not excuse us from our responsibility to a deeper knowledge of our faith and to a more perfect life of virtues.
These are qualities being asked of us now as we start a new year not only as a Filipino people, but also as a Filipino Christian people. It's a challenge we all have. The goal is spelled out. The means are made available. What is simply needed is for us to put our mind and heart to bravely face the challenge.
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Monday, January 9, 2006
Sex and gender
If the title baffles you, it may be because you are still happily unaware of the questionable moves some radical feminists are making in many places nowadays.
This may still be a good thing to have, but I must hasten to say that we cannot and should not be naive and complacent with this development. Though it affects more the advanced countries, it is actually also affecting us in our own country.
Even in my native Bohol, once a sleepy place but now, thanks be to God, bustling with life due to tourism, these disturbing maneuvers are taking place.
Imagine, in a supposedly Catholic school run by nuns, the little girls are taught not anymore to address God as Father, because according to them God has no sex and gender. Similar efforts to neuter Jesus Christ are reportedly being made too.
The parents, of course, were alarmed. A mother complained why such fuss was raised over this matter, when it is quite clear that in the Bible, God is referred to as Father or Son or Holy Spirit.
This, to me, already sounds like a radical feminist paranoia, that tries to undo well-entrenched historical and cultural elements with an arbitrary and abrupt move. There are other manifestations of the same paranoia.
Another feminist group, now banding themselves as an NGO in Bohol, is busy teaching young girls about the different techniques of safe sex, including a "taste test" of the different flavors condoms now have.
The problem with the radical feminist movement is that while it raises legitimate questions and issues worthy of public attention and concern, it also pursues and promotes an ideology that not only is anti-Christian, but also is clearly anti-human.
Thus, its proponents deftly use nice words and concepts, such as reproductive health, responsible parenthood, and the like, while at the same time rewriting moral law by promoting contraception, sterilization, even abortion.
They can talk about rights of women over their own bodies, taking this to mean that women have the absolute right to do anything with their bodies because these are theirs. In short, the Church should not pontificate on this matter. Let the women be absolutely free with respect to their bodies!
Now, in many international conferences, radical feminists not only make a distinction between sex and gender, between the natural differences between men and women and the cultural and historical attitudes related to these natural differences.
They are separating them, detaching gender completely from sex, and making gender a purely cultural thing with no relation to the sexual nature of the person.
Thus, because of this emphasis on gender, as defined and understood by them, any person can be anything he or she likes--masculine, feminine, homosexual, bisexual, etc., irrespective of one's natural sexual condition. Every so-called sexual orientation chosen by a person would just be all right.
This is the kind of mentality that is being propagated by some feminist groups these days. This is a clear case of what is termed by the present Pope as moral relativism about which he is warning all of us. This is neither progress nor growth in maturity. This is a regression to barbarianism.
While we all have to love one another as we are, this charity does not mean we can totally forget the objective truth of things. We have to learn to blend both, because one without the other nullifies or empties both.
This may still be a good thing to have, but I must hasten to say that we cannot and should not be naive and complacent with this development. Though it affects more the advanced countries, it is actually also affecting us in our own country.
Even in my native Bohol, once a sleepy place but now, thanks be to God, bustling with life due to tourism, these disturbing maneuvers are taking place.
Imagine, in a supposedly Catholic school run by nuns, the little girls are taught not anymore to address God as Father, because according to them God has no sex and gender. Similar efforts to neuter Jesus Christ are reportedly being made too.
The parents, of course, were alarmed. A mother complained why such fuss was raised over this matter, when it is quite clear that in the Bible, God is referred to as Father or Son or Holy Spirit.
This, to me, already sounds like a radical feminist paranoia, that tries to undo well-entrenched historical and cultural elements with an arbitrary and abrupt move. There are other manifestations of the same paranoia.
Another feminist group, now banding themselves as an NGO in Bohol, is busy teaching young girls about the different techniques of safe sex, including a "taste test" of the different flavors condoms now have.
The problem with the radical feminist movement is that while it raises legitimate questions and issues worthy of public attention and concern, it also pursues and promotes an ideology that not only is anti-Christian, but also is clearly anti-human.
Thus, its proponents deftly use nice words and concepts, such as reproductive health, responsible parenthood, and the like, while at the same time rewriting moral law by promoting contraception, sterilization, even abortion.
They can talk about rights of women over their own bodies, taking this to mean that women have the absolute right to do anything with their bodies because these are theirs. In short, the Church should not pontificate on this matter. Let the women be absolutely free with respect to their bodies!
Now, in many international conferences, radical feminists not only make a distinction between sex and gender, between the natural differences between men and women and the cultural and historical attitudes related to these natural differences.
They are separating them, detaching gender completely from sex, and making gender a purely cultural thing with no relation to the sexual nature of the person.
Thus, because of this emphasis on gender, as defined and understood by them, any person can be anything he or she likes--masculine, feminine, homosexual, bisexual, etc., irrespective of one's natural sexual condition. Every so-called sexual orientation chosen by a person would just be all right.
This is the kind of mentality that is being propagated by some feminist groups these days. This is a clear case of what is termed by the present Pope as moral relativism about which he is warning all of us. This is neither progress nor growth in maturity. This is a regression to barbarianism.
While we all have to love one another as we are, this charity does not mean we can totally forget the objective truth of things. We have to learn to blend both, because one without the other nullifies or empties both.
Saturday, January 7, 2006
Whisper and hush no more
OH my, oh my! There you have it. The Vatican recently has come out with a document about homosexuality, the seminary and the priesthood.
It’s a very bold move, I must say. First of all, because the topic itself is very delicate and volatile. Happy and lucky is the man who can discuss it without whipping up a storm of controversy.
My experience has been that every time I write about this issue—and I do it
mainly to echo official Church teachings, not my personal opinions—I get many scorching hate mails coming mostly from the US.
A good number of people appear unable to discuss issues without getting emotional. This sadly is one of the signs of our times, indicating how our education should be revised. My only consolation is that I’m at least read.
I was happy to learn that a Vatican official said that the document was never meant to bash gays. Following Christ, the Church always loves everyone, sinner or saint, gay or straight, even if it has to teach difficult doctrines.
But more importantly, the document represents the Church’s serious effort
to confront a very complicated and screamingly scandalous problem that exploded in many dioceses some years ago.
For sure, the problem is not confined to the Church alone. It’s a seething problem worldwide, affecting all sectors, again showing us the kind of world we are now having.
But it cannot be denied that because of the conditions under which seminary formation is done, this problem is likely to pop up. Yes, there’s a certain tendency or susceptibility, something that should be constantly monitored.
Actually, many of the problems in this area are transitory and not deep-seated. To a certain extent, they’re normal, and easily curable or outgrown. But these problems should not be ignored. Never!
The document indeed is a source of jubilation in the Church. It certainly
marks a step towards maturity in so far as the Church is a human institution. Church authorities should never forget this human aspect of the Church. They should always remind themselves of their duty to strengthen and enrich it, drawing from both human and divine wisdom to govern with competence and to give good example to everyone.
This openness and transparency hopefully will stop the age of whisper and hush, the culture of gossip and diletantism pervading in Church environment. These latter things are terrible. They deserve to be buried for good.
Let’s hope that the document will be studied thoroughly by the bishops and
seminary fathers. It offers a lot of light and provides clear guidelines as to how the problem of homosexuality in seminarians and priests should be tackled.
The document itself, while clear and charitable, does not descend to concrete details. These are left for local Church officials to devise, obviously so as to input considerations peculiar to particular places.
With all the years and even centuries of experience in seminary formation, Church authorities should possess significant practical wisdom in tackling this delicate problem. It’s time this wisdom is made operational.
Besides, relevant sciences like psychology and medicine have progressed handling this problem. These should be expertly used.
Thus, while the supernatural and spiritual means like prayers, sacrifices, recourse to the sacraments, development of virtues, etc., should always be used, every effort should also be made to make use of scientific advances now available.
Offhand, what I can say is that closer supervision of seminary formation should be made by the bishops and their delegated experts, and a pool of competent and holy spiritual directors should be made available to the seminarians and priests.
It’s a very bold move, I must say. First of all, because the topic itself is very delicate and volatile. Happy and lucky is the man who can discuss it without whipping up a storm of controversy.
My experience has been that every time I write about this issue—and I do it
mainly to echo official Church teachings, not my personal opinions—I get many scorching hate mails coming mostly from the US.
A good number of people appear unable to discuss issues without getting emotional. This sadly is one of the signs of our times, indicating how our education should be revised. My only consolation is that I’m at least read.
I was happy to learn that a Vatican official said that the document was never meant to bash gays. Following Christ, the Church always loves everyone, sinner or saint, gay or straight, even if it has to teach difficult doctrines.
But more importantly, the document represents the Church’s serious effort
to confront a very complicated and screamingly scandalous problem that exploded in many dioceses some years ago.
For sure, the problem is not confined to the Church alone. It’s a seething problem worldwide, affecting all sectors, again showing us the kind of world we are now having.
But it cannot be denied that because of the conditions under which seminary formation is done, this problem is likely to pop up. Yes, there’s a certain tendency or susceptibility, something that should be constantly monitored.
Actually, many of the problems in this area are transitory and not deep-seated. To a certain extent, they’re normal, and easily curable or outgrown. But these problems should not be ignored. Never!
The document indeed is a source of jubilation in the Church. It certainly
marks a step towards maturity in so far as the Church is a human institution. Church authorities should never forget this human aspect of the Church. They should always remind themselves of their duty to strengthen and enrich it, drawing from both human and divine wisdom to govern with competence and to give good example to everyone.
This openness and transparency hopefully will stop the age of whisper and hush, the culture of gossip and diletantism pervading in Church environment. These latter things are terrible. They deserve to be buried for good.
Let’s hope that the document will be studied thoroughly by the bishops and
seminary fathers. It offers a lot of light and provides clear guidelines as to how the problem of homosexuality in seminarians and priests should be tackled.
The document itself, while clear and charitable, does not descend to concrete details. These are left for local Church officials to devise, obviously so as to input considerations peculiar to particular places.
With all the years and even centuries of experience in seminary formation, Church authorities should possess significant practical wisdom in tackling this delicate problem. It’s time this wisdom is made operational.
Besides, relevant sciences like psychology and medicine have progressed handling this problem. These should be expertly used.
Thus, while the supernatural and spiritual means like prayers, sacrifices, recourse to the sacraments, development of virtues, etc., should always be used, every effort should also be made to make use of scientific advances now available.
Offhand, what I can say is that closer supervision of seminary formation should be made by the bishops and their delegated experts, and a pool of competent and holy spiritual directors should be made available to the seminarians and priests.
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