What is poverty? A reflection from Fratelli Tutti

As I was reading through Pope Francis’ encyclical Fratelli Tutti, I read on his critique of a throw-away world where he mentioned poverty. We usually think of poverty as the state of being economically poor and disadvantaged. Pope Francis, echoing Pope Benedict XVI’s teaching, reiterates that “new forms of poverty are emerging” in a globalized world where while there is an increase in wealth there is also an increase in inequality.

Poverty for Pope Francis is a lack of actual opportunities in a concrete historical period. I take it is actual because these are the very opportunities afforded by a society’s way of living. The problem is that in every society, a part of the population does not enjoy opportunities that others enjoy.

It is also important to talk of what these opportunities are. While it is easy to think of economic opportunities like a store of wealth and access to resources, Pope Benedict’s words on new forms of poverty is curious. What I can think of now is poverty in information where a segment of the Philippine population does not have proper and decent access to information (access), where in the online world false and misleading information drowns truth (source), and where information consumers do not have the sufficient skills and the attitude for human communication, reflection, and critical thinking (ability).

Poverty exists for as long as we fail in solidarity, when we forget to share and care, and imprison ourselves in self-centeredness. Fratelli Tutti is the Pope’s teaching on fraternity or brotherhood which as the current events and violence shows us, the world’s needs badly today. If we really are all brothers and sisters in this common home, my brother’s poverty is also mine and in looking out for each other’s poverty, nobody becomes poor.

Frustration in a Consumer World

It just works. That is the basis of how consumers evaluate a product. If something does not work as it is advertised then the product is considered bad. Apple products enjoy a good reputation because of its simplicity and effectivity. Other brands also work but not most of the time. But the truth is, with all the layers of technology used in devices, nothing works perfectly.

It is sometimes very frustrating when technology fails us at a time of use. There are a gazillion anecdotes of how Windows devices update themselves in the middle of use, of how printers refuse to print when documents are rushed, or when projectors don’t work in the middle of a presentation. You just want to tear your hair out at the frustration or be on the verge of smashing the tech only to restrain yourself after remembering its value.

Product design revolves around utility and ease of use. Designers, engineers, and product managers often fail at it however. When it comes to business, a product loses its art and is reduced to a commodity. Businessmen after all have already set their eyes on profit rather than the dignity of work, of the product, and of the consumer. These days we also realize that we don’t consider the dignity of the planet.

If society really values the dignity of labor and the art in production, then we would have great products that are effective, intuitive, efficient, moral, beautiful, and long-lasting. Our products however reflect the defects of society. I guess we make from who we are.

The Lazy Writer

I stumbled again on my blog. This blog has been quiet since last year. I’m just amazed that I started this way back 2007 back when I was an aspirant. The web was booming and I am a millennial riding its wave. Of course, those terms were unknown then. This little blog did come far.

I cleaned it up a bit. I had no taste for design when I started this. At least now I have a sense of what looks bad or not on a website. I also have to set a good example. I heard my blog, for whatever its worth, was made an example for our aspirants in Lawaan.

Most of my writings now are in my digital journal. I’m thinking of posting some of them here so that this site doesn’t feel too lonely. Over and out.

Should the Moon Shine More Brightly Than the Sun

Religious people - priests, nuns, and brothers, are for the  most part people of privilege in Filipino culture. Not because of their own achievements but because of the identity they have taken for themselves. Religious are honored because they chose a life of service to the Church, a life that strives to be closer to Christ - two difficult endeavors in our society today. Besides that, their consecration to Christ marks them as a group Jesus Christ has taken for Himself. It is that acceptance of their self-donation by Christ through the public admission of the Church that religious are seen as "people close to God".

It is both a privilege and a responsibility. It is not a right. It is a privilege because the vocation to serve is a gift. It is a responsibility because the religious share in the mission of Christ and the Church more closely. It is not a right, because what man has the right to claim God's glory for himself? Religious people are like the moon that help govern the tides and seasons of earth but they are not the source of light and warmth. They accompany the earth in its dancing journey around Jesus, the sun and Son.

The big danger so far, as what Pope Francis has also pointed out in the past, is clericalism, or that sense of entitlement within the Church. Too many religious people fall into the trap. Pampered by people, admired by parishioners, listened to in talks and homilies, religious begin to think that they are the source of light. How many of us priests and religious feel proud when garnering more likes and shares in social media than the average person? How many of us priests and religious expect to be served and given special attention at social functions?

The privilege of attention, of focus, of a captured audience, was given to us because we are supposed to be heralds of the Gospel. The Gospel, Jesus Christ, takes the center stage of all our ministry. Our success in the ministry, the plans that we perfectly executed, the achievements we have garnered, our political beliefs and ideas should not eclipse our main mission of proclaiming Christ. For when the moon has eclipsed the sun, then we have defeated our self-donation to Christ and the Church.

For the ordinary Christian, stop praising priests because they are priests. They did nothing to deserve their priesthood and call it their own - it was Christ who chose them and not the other way around. The same goes for religious sisters and brothers. But rather, pray for them, assist them, encourage them, and help them become faithful in their ministry. In our society permeated by social media, the temptation to shine more brightly than the sun is stronger, our weak self-image and the need for affirmation trap us in an illusion of self-grandeur. Should the moon shine more brightly than the sun, remind it of its own proper place.

Visitation: A Ministry of Presence

As we celebrate today the Feast of the Visitation, my thoughts linger on the joy of today’s readings. Certainly the event of the Visitation was a joyful one. We hear Elizabeth sing. We hear Mary sing. Both women exclaim in song the profound joy that has overwhelmed them. So we have today the first part of the Hail Mary and the Magnificat because of this event.

The visitation was not just the Blessed Mother, now conceiving the child Jesus in her womb, dare to go up the mountains of Judea to visit her expecting relative, Elizabeth. If there was great joy in the event, it was because God has first visited His people. Prior to Mary’s journey, the Angel Gabriel came to her and announced to her that she would become the mother of Jesus. Her assent opened the floodgates of grace, as her womb became the New Temple where the Most High has chosen to dwell. Yahweh, the God worshipped at Sinai is no longer felt through manifestations of cloud, lighting and thunder. The God that worked wonders has chosen to come in flesh.

It was this holy presence inside the Blessed Mother that brought about the joy of the events. It was a presence welcomed by Mary but also moved her to go out of her way to visit a relative in a distant place. God’s presence in us is meant to be shared. If God is truly present in us, He fills us with great joy and peace, so much so that it overflows. Truly, deeply, profoundly happy people emanate a joy that shines through everything.

The Visitation then is the sharing of the presence of God by Mary. The Child in her womb caused John the Baptist, though still in the womb, to move with joy, as if dancing at the presence of his Lord. The Child in her womb overshadowed both women with the Holy Spirit that filled their hearts with joy and their mouths with songs.

The question for us today is how much do we make God present in the very places we live and move, and to the very persons we meet everyday?

The Dignity of Human Work

“It is an honor for the Congregation if a Salesian dies with his work boots on,” St. John Bosco is often quoted as saying. My fifteen years of Salesian formation in the seminaries and houses that I have been in have always placed emphasis on the importance of manual work. While I was in high school in DBTC, our older peers have told us, “a Bosconian is never afraid to get his hands dirty.” This culture that honors and values manual work has taught me the hidden gems that come with sweat and physical fatigue.

This memorial of St. Joseph the Worker, also our national Labor Day, is given to us to rest in order to ponder the value of human work. Even the readings of today’s mass contribute to this effort as the first reading from Genesis reminds us that God, in the beginning, was at work in creation. He continues to work even today. His power is seen working in nature and in human hands.

While our culture today exalts convenience and efficiency in our unrelenting quest for comfort and time, the Church invites us to see in human work that struggles and takes time, the human reflection of God’s creative power. Work gives humanity its dignity as it is the expression of his ingenuity, creativity, and fruitfulness. It is the expression of human power and sovereignty given him by God, to cultivate the earth and so enjoy its fruits. Workaholics enjoy the thrill of being productive. Retirees struggle with the prospect of being less productive. The young have to deal with the pressure and expectation of being productive. But it is not the fruits of our labor that really matters but the love with which we infuse our labor. Love empowers and directs work. Without love, all work becomes tasteless and useless labor. It was by love that God created everything.

We remember today the issues that hound our workers, especially the blue collar workers and the rank and file, who silently grind the hours away for the sake of providing for their families. While many are not living their dream jobs today, they are enlivening their dreams for family through work that not many want to undertake. It is with special concern that the Church continues to commiserate with those who suffer injustice and abuse, as she challenges governments and corporations towards social justice. Human society should not be carried by the shoulders of slaves and victims. Our society could only be human when we treat everyone, especially our workers, humanely and with dignity.

It is with hope that I call out my brother Salesians, religious, and clerics, to examine how we treat our lay mission partners, our scholars and recipients of our ministry, whether we teach them the value of human work through our example of industry and whether we give them the dignity and justice that is inherently theirs.

Jesus was fully human not just because He came from Mary’s womb but also because He was taken in by Joseph’s house and possibly learned the trade in Joseph’s workshop. If Jesus endured the rigors of working for the Kingdom, it was because Joseph handed on to him the manliness capable of building God’s house. May we follow in their footsteps and not shy away from our share of tasks and responsibilities in building the Kingdom and Family of God.

The Miracle That Is The Church

I recently blessed a newly opened office space, my first in Cebu, in the uptown area where I met the executives of the company. After the blessing, I was invited to lunch where I ate with chief officers of the company, most of them looked like veteran business people. Being man of the cloth, my presence drew conversations towards religion and the faith.

It was the Chief Operating Officer (COO) who made an interesting remark. “Jesus Christ is the best CEO,” he said. “Look, the Church still stands today even after 2,000 years.” Human institutions, no matter how powerful, have all faded in history but not the Church. “Despite the scandals and even the corruption inside the Church, it still continues,” he added. I could not help but blurt out, “that is what we call grace.”

It was interesting for me because it was a layman who made the statement, and a man deeply involved in business. When we start to think that faith has no place in business, we need to think again. There are more and more Christians who strive hard to live their faith in the business world.

But thinking about it again, Jesus did not organize the Church. He did not group the apostles into dioceses and assign them territories. What He did was form a community around Him. It was a community that became part of His Body. It was the Holy Spirit that breathed life into that Body. He gave it organization over time, showered it with many charisms and set it on fire. It became diverse but remained one. It is both the work of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.

The Church still stands because of God’s grace. Being an action of God’s grace, it is rightly a miracle.

Love Made To Be Touched

St. John Bosco in his letter from Rome writes, “ the youngsters should not only be loved, but that they themselves should know that they are loved.” This pedagogical wisdom underlines the human need to feel concrete love. Love, after all, is not an abstract concept nor is just a subjective feeling. Love is an immersive reality that seeks to embrace a human person and seeks to lift him to a higher consciousness and existence.

God knows this perfectly and so the Father, in the fullness of time (Gal 4:4), sent His Son into the world so that the Father’s love may have a face, may be touched, and may be embraced. The Feast of the Annunciation is the celebration of this mystery. Through the proclamation of the Angel Gabriel unto the Virgin Mary and her subsequent assent to God’s invitation, the Word became man in her womb. It is the beginning of humanity’s assent towards God. It was God’s condescending act towards humanity. In this event, God stooped down to not only love humanity but they themselves know that they are loved with a Love that is made incarnate.

Our human experience has always taught us that love is not only said, it must be felt, must be given time. This is where the connecting power of the internet and technology finds its limit. Nothing compares to the tactile experience of love. The human heart feels loved when it is touched. The great mystery of God’s incarnation of the womb of Mary, when He stripped Himself of His glory to don our weak humanity, is God’s own invitation for us. He invites us to feel His love in the person of Jesus. He invites us to make others feel His love through our touch.

The Fire of Curiosity

We were having our practices inside the church in preparation for the Easter Vigil when the frantic shouts of people outside stopped us. “Sunog! Sunog!” was the shout. Apparently, a fire just erupted in one of the sitios in Pasil. This time it was near the convent of the Missionaries of Charity sisters. Just last January 14, 2018, a fire raged in another section of the parish, in Lawis, robbing 300 families of their homes. Fire can spread easily in this neighborhood since most of the homes are built very near each other and the houses are made of light and combustible materials.

Interestingly, the Knights of the Altar (or KOA) members dashed towards the church side door towards where the shout was coming from. Unlike the world of common sense, most people in Pasil where I grew up would rather see the spectacle of the fire than run for their lives. They say fire lit man’s imagination. It still does so with a Pasilanon’s curiosity. For your curiosity’s sake, the fire was immediately put out even before the first responders from the fire department came.

This short anecdote reminded me of Jose Rizal’s story about the moth and the candle flame. Too often we come close to the light that has bedazzled and enthralled us. Our curiosity gets the best of us. Young people who start with experimentation end up enslaved to addiction to drugs, alcohol, and smoking. It is however responsible of many more good things for humanity in the many discoveries and inventions that the curious have achieved.

As we celebrate the Easter Octave this week, there is one Light that we still need to appreciate and get close to. There is still one Flame that can engulf us with passion and power without consuming us, just like the fire that Moses saw on Sinai. May the fire and light of Easter also captivate our curiosity, so we could get closer to our Savior.

Autograph or Selfie?

A celebrity comes and people flock to him. This time, instead of pen and paper, the flock is armed with cameras. If you were to meet your favorite celebrity, what would you do, ask him to write a message for you and sign his name, or take a selfie with him that you can post on social media?

New technology means new behavior. The tools that we use everyday change the way we think, feel, and act. The internet and the smartphone has erased the word patience from everyday vocabulary. Everything runs in an instant. We expect people to reply immediately. We immediately check our new Facebook posts for reactions. That is why we feel that the world runs on octane and everything should catch up to fiber optic speed. People are often frustrated and restless. Smartphone and social media addition is fast becoming a global pandemic. Instant gratification takes on high tech mode. Everyone fixed and imprisoned in the world of their phones' and computers' LCD screens.

The question really brings us to a realization. Celebrities are as old as human civilization itself. We love to be connected, especially to the powerful and the famous. But how is this need expressed today? Autographs require people to pause and think before writing down a message. A written word is more tangible. It conveys ideas that are not easily discerned from the outward. It speaks of an exchange and an encounter of persons. A selfie has more impact. Pictures always speak louder than words. It is a piece of the now forever frozen in history. It presents me boxed in with you in a frame and that frame holds us together forever.

Life is all about connections. We can use any tool and technology available just to be connected. This runs true in all of our relationships, be it in the context of a family meal, an outing with friends, or inside the church. Even prayer and communication with God makes use of tools. The need to be connected is part of our human nature, one that everyone is athirst of. We just have to make sure that the connection is more important than the tool used.

What behavior are you more likely to exhibit? Your choice reflects your own values in life. Some could even ask for an autograph, then take a selfie.

Martyrdom Today

Today we celebrate our Blessed Mother, our Lady of Sorrows. Fulfilling Simeon's prophecy of her during the Presentation of the Child Jesus in the Temple, her presence during the Passion and Death of our Lord on the Cross saw a sword pierced through her heart. It is an unimaginable experience for a mother to witness the butchery and killing of her own son. No one has to experience a helplessness in front of inhumane brutality. Yet our Mother accepted all that in silence and in faith. Though her eyes are still veiled to the sight of what's to come, she still set her eyes to the only Person she has left in the world, her only Son hanging on the Cross.

I believe our august Lady has set forth the real meaning of martyrdom. Our world today has always been in a game of running away from pain. The preoccupation for comfort and luxury, of speed and efficiency, of convenience and accessibility all speak of an attitude that runs away from pain and suffering. We are mentally trained to shy away from the difficult.

But life has always been difficult. It is an existential fact that humanity has to undergo. What the Cross offers us is not an exemption slip from the rigors of daily life but an option to find meaning in its harsh realities. Christian martyrdom is not a masochistic preference for pain and suffering in the hope of holiness and purification. We are made holy in our sufferings and purified in our trials by finding in our personal struggles the value of the Cross. Our blessed Mother stayed with Jesus through His suffering and joined in that suffering. Today, we are suffering and are invited to allow Jesus and Mary to join us in our suffering, to find meaning in the confusion and senselessness of pain.

It is in the staying-with that martyrdom has a place in our Christian lives. When a person stands by us in the midst of suffering and pain, it is a sign of love. There might not be a reason and purpose for suffering as of now and it is by faith that we hold on. But we hold on, and Jesus and Mary holds on with us, because love that endures pain is the meaning of martyrdom.

The Concreteness of Being Human

We all need to be touched and to touch. Psychological studies have shown that babies who do not experience touch in the first hours of their birth tend to develop emotional problems later on in life. As children we all feel the need to be cuddled by our parents. If something is wrong we need a shoulder to cry on. When we are discouraged we need someone to lean on. When victorious we need someone to tap our back. And even later in life, we need someone to hold hands with in joy or in sorrow, in sickness or in health, till death do us part.

This is so evident now in the era of technology. We used to wonder at the marvel of the television when we have created something that allowed us extend our power of vision. Now, technology is developing in such a way where it seeks to engage us more than our sight and our hearing. The field is called Haptics Technology where we engage our sense of touch and proprioception. While it has developed well over the years in user interfaces like the touch pad and the touch screen and with movement sensors in the Xbox and other game consoles, research and development among technology companies are now seeking ways to allow devices to give us what they called a haptic feedback.

Tech companies want their devices their to respond to their users through touch. This means a touch screen that vibrates upon tap. This means being immersed in an augmented or virtual reality where virtual objects are experienced through touch. Engineers are hard at work on creating pressure feedback whenever you interact with virtual objects. It's like petting a virtual dog and you can physically feel its fur on your palms despite it a hologram.

Such movement in technology and science is a clear indicator that as human beings we beings of touch. We are also beings that are physically present in a physical world. This explains why we want our loved ones to be physically present during important events of life and why a phone call is still not enough to compensate. Such an experience is a gift of being a creature that is both body and spirit. Haptic experience, the sense of touch, is the gift of the physical bodies to us, something denied to spirits.

So I find it absurd that some people go so far as to dream to become pure spirits or be reduced to pure consciousness that run inside a computer. To be separated from the body means to lose the sense of touch. To lose the sense of touch is to experience a separation from the physical universe and its sensual pleasures.

Perhaps one good lesson we can learn today is to really take advantage of our sense of touch. How many times do we hug our parents and our children in a day? Who among our friends need a pat on the back or a shoulder to cry on? I believe many hearts are waiting as they lie imprisoned in their own loneliness. All we need is to reach out and touch those hearts.

If the psalms would say that we have a higher dignity than angels, then having bodies is one of those advantages of being humans. It is time for us to let go of the idea that the soul is imprisoned inside the body. No, the soul is expressed through the body in the same way that the external world is experienced through the body. No wonder then that Christ gives us His body and blood in the Eucharist. It is in touch that we become concrete.

The Anxiety of Not Doing Everything

Salesian life is a busy life. We often multitask in order to do as much good as we can. We put everything in to make good the adage of doing ordinary duties extraordinarily well. It is tiring. It consumes a lot of energy. Without grace from prayer and personal relationship with Jesus it becomes impossible.  

Oftentimes we fall into the trap of trying to do everything. We get so used to works and tasks and to do's that we forget everything else. We have become slaves. We have become needy for attention, glory, appreciation, greatness. We forget that we are but workers in the vineyard who were given a fair share of work that is to be completed in God's time. Therefore we are the grumpy ones, the stressed ones, the irritables. We become unkind and uncompromising. We have become the opposite of who we truly are.  

I often find myself fidgeting over things that I need to do and complete. I become anxious. My prayer becomes distracted. I am consumed by my work and tasks. Worst comes to worst I can't even complete one task. I simply don't know where to start. This is the anxiety of our age. We want to do everything. We forget that we are not God.  

God's plan for us is simpler than we imagine. All He wants is for us to walk with and beside Him in this journey of life. Whatever comes comes in His time and goes away in His time. Be it joy or sorrow, comfort or difficulty, they are not meant to last and they are not meant for us to obssess on. Our lives were meant to enjoy God in haapiness or sadness, in sickness or in health, and not even death do us part. All we have to do is trust our Father and we will be at peace.  

A Grace-filled Eucharistic Event

I am now on my way to Manila. My phone buzzed with a message from Fr. Mel Racelis, SDB who I texted earlier. He replied to my goodbyes and thank you's. It was a fitting reminder. "Hope you can integrate all your experiences in the IEC into your life."

The 51st International Eucharist Congress just wrapped up yesterday. It was a unique stop in the global Catholic event. Held in Cebu, it was colored by island festivities that's unique to the tropic Philippine culture. Besides, it came a few days after the Sinulog. There was much praying, reflecting, dancing, and sharing.

The endless flow of activities and dignitaries in and out of the newly built IEC Pavilion could leave one disoriented. We often lose our connection with reality whenever we climb our Mount Tabor. Going down the mountain needs some re-orientation and a reminder to bring what was given from above to the ordinary below.

It could take me days to fully digest all the grace-filled experiences that happened to me. From dignitaries and prelates that Divine Providence had allowed me access to, to the wisdom-filled and awe-inspiring talks and catechesis given by the speakers, and to the simple slices of moments during the congress where time stops to invite you to fully absorb the ordinary miracle happening before your eyes.

If we have to pause our theological studies for two weeks, it was to give way to a more in-depth appreciation of the great mystery of the Eucharist in the Church and the way Christ makes himself present to each and everyone of us.

We Need To Build More Bridges

A joke goes around during election time. A politician comes and entices the people. "If you would vote for me I will build a new bridge here!" One of citizens replied, "But, sir, we don't have rivers here." The politician answers, "Then we'll make rivers!"

I once observed a community where two of the members were at odds with each other. Both were barely speaking to each other. The matter became so bad it almost got to a point where they would pretend the other is non-existent. It is understandable that some personalities don't get along naturally. Like water and oil some people can't simply just mix. But, hey, that's the beauty of the religious community. You get diverse types of people bonded only by their faith and love of God.

What bugged me since then is not the length or the depth of their fight. It was actually the attitude of some of the other members who lived like nothing was happening. Smoke was already rising up their noses yet these members weren't minding the fire at all. Were they afraid of getting caught in the crossfire? Were they thinking it's none of their business or that such fires are not worth putting their noses to?

Edmund Burke once said: "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." The false sense of human respect sometimes stops us from intervening in disagreements and fights. But as Christians we are called to be peace makers. Even more so, we have the vocation to be men and women of communion.

It is beautiful to note that the only real treasure that Christ left us is the gift of His body and blood in the Holy Eucharist. In the bread and wine of the mass, the sacred species, becomes the body and blood of Christ. God infuses himself into food that we might eat of Him and in turn become part of Him. This we call holy communion. All these people coming from all walks of life, eating the same food, becomes part the Body of Christ, the Church.

Jesus Himself was that one special point in reality where the Divinity meets Humanity. He is both God and man. In His person, humanity comes side to side with God again. The distance wedged by sin from ages ago has been bridged. This is the reason Jesus is the only Way, the only Truth, and the only Life because there is no other way to God except Him. Jesus then is the point of communion.

image credits: National Geographic

Black holes receive a lot of publicity in science news for the past decade. I can say then that Jesus is that black hole who draws all things unto himself (John 12:32). He is that singularity whose great force attracts everyone from everywhere into a point of convergence, to a point of communion. And so we can speak of a communion of saints, the communion of Churches around the See of Peter, the parish community, the religious community, and the family as the domestic church because these are all but reflections of God's call to communion.

Even in the theory of Communication, when a sender reaches out with a message for a receiver, the former's goal is to get the message across. When it does, then both sender and receiver share in and are united in the same thought. They become one in mind - that is, communication, or better yet, communion.

And so as Christians, we are missionaries of communion. No level of erudition, physical attractiveness, or polymathy can ever replace a person who can build bridges, heal divisions, and promote communication among people. We have to build bridges.

We have to because communion is the bigger movement of all reality. It is the calling of every Christian.

We are not afraid to risk it because it's easy. It can be difficult. People can be difficult to bridge. Yet in faith we believe that we are more alike than different.

Bridges can break and fall. Like physical bridges, we will feel the strain and the weight of our calling. But unlike physical bridges, when a point of communion has been reached, even if for only a second, the bridge may fade away but the communion has had its mark in eternity.

Let's build bridges.

We, the Salesians of Don Bosco

It's not often that things we casually take for granted pins us down for a moment and brings us closer reflection about the ordinary. This is what happened when I stared blankly at the name we use for all members of the Congregation, "Salesians of Don Bosco". It was there written in blank ink on a book we were using in our Salesianity class.

The mundane experience suddenly shifted in focus to those four words. I never really appreciated them for what they truly are. They were just casual things of the ordinary.

The name jumped out to me! It was a slap on the face to wake me up. There was so much to glean from the name we give ourselves.

SALESIANS. We are a community of brothers and priests who follow the spirituality of St. Francis de Sales. It was St. John Bosco who wished that the congregation take upon itself the gentleness and kindness that the Doctor of Charity had heroically followed in life. Our founder knew that to be good shepherds to the young we must possess the same gentleness and kindness of the Good Shepherd.

DON BOSCO. There are great religious congregations and orders that precede us Salesians in history and honor. Prestige shines through in their names: the Society of Jesus, the Order of St. Augustine, the Order of Preachers, and many others. Yet there is something peculiar with the Salesians. Our name bears the endeared name of our founder. We are not the Salesians of St. John Bosco. We are the Salesians of DON BOSCO - the very name the dirty street urchins of Valdocco used to call out loudly to get the attention of the smiling priest. It is a name that brings about a sense of familiarity with this priest of Turin.

The word "Don" in Italian is an address to a priest. In English it would be rendered "Father Bosco". If it were in Cebuano, "Pader Bosco", or in Filipino, "Padre Bosco". The poor young men of Valdocco had been calling Father John Bosco that in their games in the field, in their classes, and in their workshops. Much like the challenge of Jesus to call the Father, "Abba", so does the name "Don Bosco" an attitude of trust and confidence towards our saint. "Don Bosco" is a name that speaks so much of friendship and family to that marginalized generation who knew no real friend and had no real family. It is the same with us.

And when we use such a name for the Congregation, it also brings to mind that this Society of Salesians is not a society of scholars, administrators, nor social workers. Rather it recalls the deep bond shared with that kindly priest of the 19th century who labored so much for the salvation of souls. The Salesians of Don Bosco is a community, a family, a brotherhood bound by familiarity and kindness. Did not Don Bosco wish that our Family Spirit set us apart?

To bear the congregation in my name, Salesian of Don Bosco, is an affirmation of a commitment to live on the joyful spirit of trust and friendship, gentleness and kindness. The nearing bicentenary of Don Bosco's birth is both a symbolic and real challenge to give birth again to that kindly person, a maker of saints, friend of the young, and bring him again through our ministry, in our persons and communities, in our time and place - bearers of God's love to the young.

Where it all began

I was talking to Ate Mindex in the CLAY Office last week during my short stint in Cebu. Our chat brought to topic the history of Cebu which for a long time had perplexed me. The History that was taught me in elementary studies touched little on the topic. However, I feel that there is more to the story of the place where I grew up than what I know now.

This is always the question of history and its importance. History is tied to culture and both are essential to a people. If Cebuanos were to remain ignorant of their rich history, even pre-dating Spanish colonization, then we would never fully understand ourselves as a people much less set a path for the future.

One of the questions that intrigue me is the place of Pasil and of San Nicolas in history. Was it really probable that Magellan landed in the shores of Suba and San Nicolas? Was the kingdom of Raja Humabon established in the area of San Nicolas? And much more importantly, did the first Filipino baptized Christians live there?

In the dawn of 500 years of Roman Catholicism in the Philippines, I find these questions become more important. An air of ignorance and lack of interest in our history as a people looms over the celebration. How can we ever claim to be "us" when we never fully understood who we "were"? The dilapidated and disharmonious sight of the area reflect this reality. As the celebration breaks the dawn, our people remain sleepy and stagnant to this glorious arrival of Christ in Cebu's shores.

I believe that we need to address the following points:

1. Educate and enlighten our people to our rich history. There are already good online sources for reading: Pigafetta's account of Magellan's last days in Cebu and with it the description of the early Cebuanos; an interesting article on the Kingdom of Sugbu or the Rajanate of Cebu; or Eskrima's quest to understand its history.
2. Incite people to take interest in Cebuano, Philippine, and Christian history. Get to know the etymology of the name of your hometown. Read and share folklore.
3. Reflect and discern on the identity and future of our people. What is our identity as Cebuanos, as Filipinos in this globalized world? How do we proceed from here in which we embrace progress but at the same time preserve our traditions, values, and culture?
4. Push our leaders, both government and Church, to prepare for the 500 years celebration. Will we let this chance to celebrate a historical landmark slip through our hands when it is in our very lifetime?

Is this really the face of our identity, the haunting of our past, and the vision of our future?

Learn from the Meek and Humble Heart

It is always a challenge for us Salesians to live out the meekness and humility of the Good Shepherd. The spirituality of St Francis of Sales and of St John Bosco tells us that if we are to love, let it be sweet and gentle.

This song by Jose Mari Chan always reminds me of the power of gentleness. Against the power greatly desired by the world for its fierceness and rawness we proclaim the sweetness of Divine Love that cannot be captured in words. It is a gentle love, empowering and transforming everything.

Whenever I look at my own weaknesses, whenever I catch myself angry, impulsive, and domineering, I remember Sts Francis and John who spent their lives conquering their own nature to configure themselves to the image of the Good Shepherd.

All saints are meek and humble. They have become Christ.

Solemnity of Sts Peter and Paul

courtesy of professorjohnston.com

Many commentaries today would speak of the differences and similarities between the two great apostles we celebrate today. St Peter held the primacy of Jesus' Church while St Paul brought it to ends of the world. The former they say belonged to the margins of society while the latter enjoyed the center of it all. The beautiful thing about these two lives, however, is not their beginnings nor their end. It is not even just their mission, sufferings, and martyrdom that makes them great. These two saints are great because Jesus chose them and made them great.

It is wonderful to think that both actually come from the margins of human existence, one from obscurity while the other from blindness. Yet Jesus, despite their limitations, personally chose them and sent them and thus made them apostles. From the margins of poverty in fact and in spirit, He brought them to the center of His story for them to continue in deed and writing the very Gospel we now enjoy.

This is a great lesson for us Christians today. We who often complain of our limits and inadequacies, seeing ourselves more of victims than opportunities must face a greater reality. When we allow ourselves to listen as Jesus calls us to be sent we would realize that it is not our worth that matters but that the Master has made us worthy for His mission.

Simon the obscure has become the Rock in whom the Church is built, the primate among the princes now visible head of the Church. Paul whose mind was blinded by his ideas has become the light that brought the Gospel to far recesses of the world. It is only in the hands of God that we come who we were meant to be.

Happy Solemnity!

Beyond Comfortable

Lent, with its 40 days observance, is a commemoration of Jesus' own experience of being led out by the Spirit into the desert. The experience of being led out, inspired, or moved by the Spirit to go away from the comforts of home into the wilderness is the same for every Christian this Lent.

The mention of home is not just a metaphor to family and the house where you grew up in. I believe this home is something deeper and more encompassing than familial relationships or the domicile. Home for me is everything in your existence that makes you comfortable and at ease. Be they bonds of relationships, physical comforts, financial security, emotional stability, intellectual achievement, everything that brings about security in your existence is your home.

And Jesus is inviting us to go out of our homes, to leave that place of security, and into the unknown, into insecurity and discomfort. He challenges us this Lenten season to go out of our shells, naked and vulnerable, out into the open in order to see for ourselves the horizons blocked out by eyes already at ease with comfort. It is in the limits of the wilderness that you see how small your world has been and this opens you up to real growth.

We do not physically leave our houses to venture into forests and live with wildlife. No, we venture into living life with better set of behaviors, more pronounced and lively outlook, and a stronger will to do and stay good. Perhaps there are bad habits that need to be broken and good ones that need to gain traction. Perhaps there are relationships that have turned either stale or sour that needs to be reinvigorated or repaired. Perhaps the will to live and fully experience life has waned through time and test and one needs to revisit the core of one's existence.

Even more, it is an invitation to leave the lethargy in spiritual battle and charge out into the front lines. To face one's inner demons and point out the very weaknesses that has kept one from standing up again. It is a call to courageous admission of one's imperfections, and facing them squarely vow to accept them and improve on them. It is a call to remove sin from one's internal life and proceed on to live at peace with God.

The deepest call of Lent perhaps is for us to examine our love for God, how it is lived and expressed towards Him and our neighbors. It is a call to revisit those instances in our lives when we were truly touched by the Spirit and have met God in the inner locus of our being. It is a call to go back there without the distraction of the comforts of the world or the rest of creation, our persons bare, naked, and vulnerable before God.

Yes, Lent for me is that time to go out into the open. To be see and be seen naked by oneself and God, with all the imperfections and all the potential. For it is in the wilderness of discomfort that we begin to see the truth and in truth we find freedom and growth.

All these may remain to be words unless we take up the challenge. Can I challenge myself to love more each day the persons I already love and begin to love those I find difficult to love? Can I challenge myself to break bad habits and form new good ones? Can I challenge myself know better Christ that I may love him better? The list goes on and on.

But Lent begins with the single challenge to challenge, to have a strong resolve and will, to be led out by the Spirit into the open, not alone, but sharing in the same challenge with Jesus.