Relieved: Comments on the Feast of the Black Nazarene

It has always been difficult for me, someone who a priest has called an "inquiring faithful", to understand many of the rituals and traditions of Philippine Catholicism. Don't get me wrong, whenever I recite the Apostles' Creed, I mean it. It's just that, sometimes, the human aspect of the Catholic Church is not easy to "believe in". Because I often find the actions of many "devout Catholics" to be utterly pointless and adverse to the Christian faith, it's not easy for me to defend the faith when questioned. Many people, myself included, are not good representatives of the Catholic Church.

This Sunday, I felt vindicated when a priest echoed my thoughts in his sermon. Fr. Nolan criticized the devotees of the Black Nazarene in this way. "Mag-tsinelas nga kayo. Baka matusok yang mga paa ninyo. Tingin niyo ba gusto ng Nazareno na magkasugat-sugat yang mga paa ninyo?" Fr. Nolan further told us that when you ask most devotees why they do what they do on the feast day of the Nazareno, they reply "Para matupad ang mga kahilingan namin." I think the priest's internal retort "Ano to, gamitan?" was most appropriate.

It is traditions, no, mentalities like this that make non-Catholic Christians shake their heads at us, marking us as unbelievers who have a very superficial relationship with God.

We tend to treat God like a vending machine. Insert good deed. Select wish. Take wish from compartment below. And when we don't get what we want we become resentful. We smack the machine. We curse at it. We swear never to use it again. This way of thinking assumes that when we do the things good Christians should do, God owes us something. But, how can that be when all the things we have and do are gifts from God? See the disconnect?

The feast of the Black Nazarene is a beautiful example of how Catholicism is still very much alive in the Philippines and how many Catholics are not merely nominal, but are devout. At the same time, to me, it is also a poignant picture of misleading tradition and skewed reasoning.

Contradiction?

I was forcing myself to get through my last two minutes on the stepper at the gym yesterday when I remembered something the priest said during his Sunday homily. In so many words, he criticized people for being afraid of death as death is currently the only way for a Christian to go to Heaven (that and the second coming, but we don't know when that's happening, do we?). He surmised that people tried to "stay young" because they were afraid of facing the idea of death. He then said that concepts like anti-aging, age-defying and going to the gym were testaments of how people are afraid of death. He said that doing such things were signs that people did not want to die because their desire for Heaven is not strong enough.

But, to be honest, I think the priest missed the point of the "theme" of Sunday's readings (2 Maccabees 7:1-2, 9-14; 2 Thessalonians 2:16 - 3:5) and Gospel (Luke 20:27-38). I think the message of the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time is that enduring suffering and dying in the name of faith, martyrdom, is glorious. Paul encourages the faithful to endure and pray and look forward to the day that they are delivered from those who persecute them. Suffering and dying for your faith as the seven brothers and mother in the first reading did is glorious and would take one to Heaven; purposelessly dying does not do that. To stress my point, I quote Paul from the second reading.

"Brothers and sisters, pray for us, so that the word of the Lord may speed forward and be glorified, as it did among you, and that we may be delivered from perverse and wicked people, for not all have faith."

If God wanted us to suffer, if we were meant to suffer, why would Paul ask for deliverance from the unfaithful persecutors? Even Jesus asked for deliverance as he agonized in Gethsemane, thinking about his oncoming sacrifice. As for "staying young" and seeking death, it's also in the Bible that our bodies are temples of the Spirit. I believe we have the responsibility to take care of this temple, both physically and spiritually.

To end this, I will quote what Jesus said in the gospel.

"Even Moses made known in the passage about the bush, when he called 'Lord' the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive."

That said, while it is not wrong to die for Christ, we should not seek for death. So long as it is not yet our intended time and day to return to him, we should strive to LIVE for Christ. We should take care of ourselves so we are able to fulfill our mission given to us during the "Great Commission". We were not born simply to die, we are born to glorify our Creator.

At least, these are the things I believe.

Pagbasbas ("Blessing")

Lyrics by Rene Javellana, SJ
Music by Jandi Arboleda and Manoling Fransisco, SJ

This is a very upbeat Recessional Hymn. I just like its sound. It's characteristic a characteristic song of supplication. I prefer "Humayo at Ipahayag" in terms of message, but this is good, too. I'll try to translate the lyrics, but I'm not very good at translating. ^^

The title means "Blessing" as in the verb, not the noun.

-

Panginoong lumikha ng kalangitan at lupa,
Lord who created the sky and the earth,
Ang sansinukuban ay 'di sukat sa 'Yong kadakilaan
The universe does not measure up to Your greatness
Ano pa kaya itong abang tahanan?
What more this humble home?

Ngunit Ikaw ang Ama na sa ami'y nagkalinga
But, You are the Father that nourished us
Sa harap ng 'Yong dambana
In front of Your altar
Kaya't sa samo ng madla, magdalang habag Ka
So at the plea of Your people, bring mercy (yeah, this is painfully loose)

Pumanaog ka, Poon, sa tahanang laan sa 'Yong kaluwalhatian
Descend, Lord, into the home meant for Your glory
Puspusin Mo ng biyaya ang dumudulog sa 'Yong dambana
Shower with blessings those who come to Your altar

You Are Mine

by David Haas

This is a very beautiful song that I like hearing. It's sung during Communion. It's reminiscent of two other favorites of mine, "Here I am, Lord" and "As the Deer". It speaks of Christ's gifts to his people, like "Here I am, Lord" and of our unquestionable need for God as in "As the Deer". My favorite line here is "Stand up, now; walk; and live", words that I have yet to heed, but I want to follow one day.

-

I will come to you in the silence
I will lift you all from your fear
You will hear My voice
I claim you as My choice
Be still and know I am here

I am hope for all who are hopeless
I am eyes for all who long to see
In the shadows of the night
I will be your light
Come and rest in Me

Do not be afraid, I am with you
I have called you each by name
Come and follow Me
I will bring you home
I love you and you are Mine

I am strength for all the despairing
Healing for the ones who dwell in shame
All the blind will see
The lame will run free
And all will know My name

Do not be afraid, I am with you
I have called you each by name
Come and follow Me,
I will bring you home
I love you and you are Mine

I am the word that leads all to freedom
I am the peace the world cannot give
I will call your name
Embracing all your pain
Stand up, now; walk; and live

Do not be afraid, I am with you
I have called you each by name
Come and follow Me,
I will bring you home
I love you and you are Mine

On Prescription/Memorized Prayers

I'm not sure how accurate this post will be. I'm neither a religious nor socio-cultural expert. I am just stating and analyzing observations that I have made throughout the years.

-

Before meals, I always pray. Depending on who I am with, I pray differently. Whenever I'm with my nephew, we sing the Prayer Before Meals song:

"God is Great and God is good,
Thank you, God, for our food."

Whenever I'm alone or with my parents, we pray the prayer before meals that I learned when I was young and they learned when they were young:

"Bless us, O Lord
And these, Your gifts,
Which we are about to receive
From Your bounty
Through Christ, our Lord
Amen."

When I am with my non-Catholic Christian friends, we don't use these prescribed prayers that Catholics commonly use. With my friends, our prayers are a bit more organic, more customized to our specific needs, so to speak. Although we follow the "ATS format" (Acclamation-Thanksgiving-Supplication, no Confession/Contrition, because the prayer leader cannot be contrite for the sins of his/her companions), the prayers we pray as friends are rarely the same.

Protestants [1] do not have "memorized prayers". Now, I don't believe that there is a right way and a wrong way of praying. I believe that a prayer, memorized or not, so long as it is spoken from the heart, is still the most effective way of communicating with God. But, when faced with the question why Catholics must pray memorized prayers, I found myself giving my own theory on the matter.

Catholics focus on the community. We are constantly reminded that we are part of the "Body of the Church with Christ as our Head". With our memorized prayers, Catholics can echo the prayers of other Catholics from other parts of the world. We "believe in the Holy Catholic Church" as much as we believe in "God, the Father Almighty", "Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord", and the Holy Spirit. On a less spiritual level, I attribute this focus to the age of our religion. Catholicism, being the oldest Christian religion, was born at a time when men focused on the community. On the other hand, religions formed during the Protestant Reformation [2] focus on the personal relationship of the individual with God. I am often asked if I have accepted Jesus Christ as "my personal Lord and savior". As we do not memorize litanies to repeat them in different conversations over and over again, so Protestant brothers and sisters do not memorize prayers.

I was in high school when we read Homer's Iliad and my English teacher said that "epics can no longer be written in this age of novels" (I think she was quoting someone). People are now more focused on their own philosophies and ideals. When writers write, it is of their personal thoughts. Once upon a time, man could not separate himself from his community. When a writer wrote, he wrote about the philosophies and ideals of his community or race. The differences in the literary styles of the eras show the differences in the mindset of the people. The differences in the mindset of the people who established the different religious institutions created the differences in prayer practices. This is, of course, only my humble opinion.

Please allow me to make it clear that we Catholics do not ignore our personal relationship with the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Similarly, though it is not their main focus, Baptists also believe in the church community (else, why would there be such a thing as Baptist religion?). There are just different focuses, and therefore, different practices and approaches towards the one goal of salvation.

-

[1] I really hate that word. It's so medieval. Unfortunately, it is the only term I can think of at the moment.
[2] wiki said "The Protestant Reformation was a movement which emerged in the 16th century as a series of attempts to reform the Roman Catholic Church in Western Europe. The reformation ended in division and the establishment of new institutions, most importantly Lutheranism, Reformed churches, and Anabaptists. It also led to the Counter-Reformation within the Roman Catholic Church."

Oratio Imperata Ad Petendam Pluviam

I'm adding a new label : Reflections of Faith.

This is my sad attempt at trying to bring focus to my Christian life. Ivan sent me a "Read the Bible in a Year" program and I'm already four days behind schedule. So, maybe writing about it in my blog will make me take this a bit more seriously.

That said, here's my first entry under this category.

-

The dry spell afflicting the Filipino people, particularly the Luzon region, threatened to bring about many bad things: shortages in rice supply, water shortages, power shortages, etc. However, this also brought about one good thing. The dry spell once again brought the Filipino people together in prayer. Catholic churches all over the country recited the "Oratio Imperata Ad Petendam Pluviam" (I guess it means "Intercessory Prayer for Rain"). I thought it would be interesting to put the prayer up so people could read it:

God our loving Father, creator of our earth and of the universe, and all the wondrous elements of nature that sustain your living creatures, we humbly ask you to send us the rain that our country needs so badly at this time, to irrigate our fields, to stave off a power shortage, to provide water for our bodily health, and to refresh our parched lands. At your command the wind and the seas obey, raise your hand Almighty God to commence the normal rainy season that has now been long delayed so that crisis may be averted.

Merciful and generous God, open our eyes to the richness and beauty of your creation and instill in us a deep love for this earth and all that is in and around it. Teach us to be wise stewards of your creation so that we may always use them responsibly and protect them from abuse and exploitation. At this time of crisis, dear Lord, move us to share more, to serve more and to love more.

Loving God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, you entrusted the Filipino people to the special care of Mary our Mother, listen to the prayers that we bring up to her, our Blessed Mother, to intercede for us, for the protection of our land and our people, whom she loves.

Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ who lives and reigns with you in the unty of the Holy Spirit, One God for ever and ever. Amen.

Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us.
Saint Rose of Lima, pray for us.
Saint Lorenzo Ruiz, pray for us.

Just to make things clear, however, I am not attributing the miracle that was typhoon Chedeng to Catholics, only. If I'm not mistaken, other people prayed for rain, as well. The indigenous people did their rain dances and appeals to their gods, too. This shows how powerful the prayers of a people are. This also shows what can happen if a people stand together and aim for something.