viatico publico - caring for the weak among us
We did the Viatico Publico on the second Sunday of Easter at the residences of the Ledesmas and the Jalandonis. These are the traditional residences where, since time immemorial, the yearly communion for the sick and the dying are held. The viaticum is communion given for the dying. The word comes from two Latin words,via and tecum, which literally means “on the way with You.” Death, since ancient times, has been considered as the final journey. Even the funeral rite alludes to this belief when it directs us to accompany (acompañar) the dead in his/her final journey (as we go from the home of the deceased to the church and from the church to the cemetery). The viaticum is therefore food for the final journey, and as the name of the rite and our faith in the real presence allude to, the viaticum refers also to a companion on this final journey – one is set on the way with Jesus as companion.
This practice started as something pagan. Ancient pagan Rome then believed as the Greeks did that when a person dies his soul makes one last journey by crossing the river that separates the dead from the living – a journey to Hades. To cross the river the dead needs to ride on a boat rowed by Charon and to be admitted in the boat one has to pay the “fare”. Thus, they put a coin or two either on the eyes of the dead or in its mouth, otherwise the dead could not cross the river and the dead would roam and haunt peoples and places in the land of the living.
When Rome became Christian this funeral practice was also continued but this time instead of giving the dead a coin or two, they placed in the mouth of the dead person a piece of bread consecrated into the Body of Christ in the Eucharist. Thus, it came to be known as viaticum – the companion on the journey. Later, the Church would prohibit this practice for the dead and instead give the bread, the Body of Christ as Holy Communion for the dying. Thus, as Catholics today we are required to receive Holy Communion before we die so that we can have Jesus as companion on our final journey towards our goal which is heaven.
During Easter we hold a public viaticum in contrast to the private viaticum (which is given individually at anytime) – the dying and those considered in close proximity to death are gathered together in one or two houses in the parish and Holy Communion is given to them as viaticum. This is the same practice that we continue every year in the residences of the Jalandonis and the Ledesmas. It is done during Easter because Church law also requires that we receive Holy Communion at least once a year during Easter.
In our parish however, what we call now as viatico publico sa mga barangay is actually already a combination of three sacraments – the sacrament of reconciliation (confession), the sacrament of holy anointing of the sick, and the giving of the Body of Christ, the Eucharist, as viaticum or just simply Holy Communion to the sick. The priests in the cathedral, teaming up with our barangay coordinators and ministers of the sick, are going around the barangays to reach out to the sick and the weak (the old who are too weak to go to church) among us. Last Holy Week, our so called “apostoles,” bringing with them the cross, visited them, so that they too can venerate the wood of the cross from which comes our salvation. This time the priests are bringing to them the Body of Christ and the comfort and care of the Catholic community of the parish of Jaro. How we care for the sick and the weak among us is the most visible measure of our love for each other as a community. Love is mere rhetoric or in the words of St. Paul, a clanging cymbal, when the weak in the community are deprived of our physical and spiritual care.
As of this writing we have already finished Barangay Benedicto where we visited 35 persons, in Brgy. Luna 1, in Brgy. Calubihan where we visited 12, and in Tabuc Suba Proper where we anointed 46 persons. We hope that those who are healthy among us would do what they can so that the sick and the weak among us can be nourished spiritually by receiving these three sacraments on a yearly basis. It is not enough that we provide our loved ones the material and physical aid necessary for their sustenance, but we should do all we can to provide also and even more so for their spiritual life and well-being. After all we are caring for human beings, children of God, inheritors of the Promised Land and not just mere pigs, cats and dogs. As I have observed, most often, when the spirit is ordered and cared for, the body is also healed, or at least the person is led to embrace his/her pain and disease. Disease after all is a dis-ease – an imbalance in life caused by attitudes, feelings and perspectives as well as viruses.
I would like also to encourage the family members, the friends and loved ones of the sick and the aged, and even the neighbors to accompany us in visiting them and praying with them during this viatico publico in the barangays. The sacraments of Anointing of the Sick and the Eucharist given as Viaticum, with the Sacrament of Reconciliation are all parts of the overall pastoral care which the church extends to its sick members. Sickness and old age can make people lonely, very lonely and also very insecure. I hear these feelings often said and sometimes hinted at in my visits to them. It is bad enough to get sick, but it can become worst when one gets to feel abandoned too. And why make so much fuss about visiting the dead and being there at the wake or funeral when you have not even cared to say hello while he/she was there in bed sick and awaiting death’s knock all alone and lonely? It would have been better appreciated when he or she could still see and hear your assurances, your love and your care while he or she is yet alive, isn’t it? Well as some of us would say, better late than never. But the viatico sa mga barangay is an invitation that it’s never too late for us. We can still be there for them.
This practice started as something pagan. Ancient pagan Rome then believed as the Greeks did that when a person dies his soul makes one last journey by crossing the river that separates the dead from the living – a journey to Hades. To cross the river the dead needs to ride on a boat rowed by Charon and to be admitted in the boat one has to pay the “fare”. Thus, they put a coin or two either on the eyes of the dead or in its mouth, otherwise the dead could not cross the river and the dead would roam and haunt peoples and places in the land of the living.
When Rome became Christian this funeral practice was also continued but this time instead of giving the dead a coin or two, they placed in the mouth of the dead person a piece of bread consecrated into the Body of Christ in the Eucharist. Thus, it came to be known as viaticum – the companion on the journey. Later, the Church would prohibit this practice for the dead and instead give the bread, the Body of Christ as Holy Communion for the dying. Thus, as Catholics today we are required to receive Holy Communion before we die so that we can have Jesus as companion on our final journey towards our goal which is heaven.
During Easter we hold a public viaticum in contrast to the private viaticum (which is given individually at anytime) – the dying and those considered in close proximity to death are gathered together in one or two houses in the parish and Holy Communion is given to them as viaticum. This is the same practice that we continue every year in the residences of the Jalandonis and the Ledesmas. It is done during Easter because Church law also requires that we receive Holy Communion at least once a year during Easter.
In our parish however, what we call now as viatico publico sa mga barangay is actually already a combination of three sacraments – the sacrament of reconciliation (confession), the sacrament of holy anointing of the sick, and the giving of the Body of Christ, the Eucharist, as viaticum or just simply Holy Communion to the sick. The priests in the cathedral, teaming up with our barangay coordinators and ministers of the sick, are going around the barangays to reach out to the sick and the weak (the old who are too weak to go to church) among us. Last Holy Week, our so called “apostoles,” bringing with them the cross, visited them, so that they too can venerate the wood of the cross from which comes our salvation. This time the priests are bringing to them the Body of Christ and the comfort and care of the Catholic community of the parish of Jaro. How we care for the sick and the weak among us is the most visible measure of our love for each other as a community. Love is mere rhetoric or in the words of St. Paul, a clanging cymbal, when the weak in the community are deprived of our physical and spiritual care.
As of this writing we have already finished Barangay Benedicto where we visited 35 persons, in Brgy. Luna 1, in Brgy. Calubihan where we visited 12, and in Tabuc Suba Proper where we anointed 46 persons. We hope that those who are healthy among us would do what they can so that the sick and the weak among us can be nourished spiritually by receiving these three sacraments on a yearly basis. It is not enough that we provide our loved ones the material and physical aid necessary for their sustenance, but we should do all we can to provide also and even more so for their spiritual life and well-being. After all we are caring for human beings, children of God, inheritors of the Promised Land and not just mere pigs, cats and dogs. As I have observed, most often, when the spirit is ordered and cared for, the body is also healed, or at least the person is led to embrace his/her pain and disease. Disease after all is a dis-ease – an imbalance in life caused by attitudes, feelings and perspectives as well as viruses.
I would like also to encourage the family members, the friends and loved ones of the sick and the aged, and even the neighbors to accompany us in visiting them and praying with them during this viatico publico in the barangays. The sacraments of Anointing of the Sick and the Eucharist given as Viaticum, with the Sacrament of Reconciliation are all parts of the overall pastoral care which the church extends to its sick members. Sickness and old age can make people lonely, very lonely and also very insecure. I hear these feelings often said and sometimes hinted at in my visits to them. It is bad enough to get sick, but it can become worst when one gets to feel abandoned too. And why make so much fuss about visiting the dead and being there at the wake or funeral when you have not even cared to say hello while he/she was there in bed sick and awaiting death’s knock all alone and lonely? It would have been better appreciated when he or she could still see and hear your assurances, your love and your care while he or she is yet alive, isn’t it? Well as some of us would say, better late than never. But the viatico sa mga barangay is an invitation that it’s never too late for us. We can still be there for them.
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