real worship
If all goes well according to plan I would be officially replaced as Chairperson of the Commission on Liturgy of the Archdiocese this month of June after almost ten years serving in that capacity. In fact I have been involved in the Liturgy since I was allowed by the seminary to wear the sautana in 1983! In all those years my world revolved around the correct and proper worship of God – what is to be done, where it can be done, how it is done, and why it is done. Liturgy has always been in reality among priests (and lay enthusiasts too) an interesting subject, too interesting in fact it instigated the first murder ever mentioned in the bible – the murder of Abel by Cain over the question who has given better worship to God. I have been called among other things to resolve quarrels among the lay who in their overwhelming zeal to do the right thing before God, made quite a scene during the offertory of the mass, because one would not allow the other, who was equally insistent, to bring lighted candles in the offertory procession. I oversaw foul language, bitter insults, hurt feelings, indignant looks, heated debates and hurtful personal accusations over a rubric (those little instructions found in the missal printed in red). I have been insulted and a subject of intrigues. And frankly I did that too to those who oppose me and my views, tit-for-tat. I have been treated as if I am the most intimate friend of God who knows everything that should be done to please Him in our worship. And some were so mesmerized by my answers and solutions they would take my pronouncements on liturgy like instructions for a suicide bomber out on a jihad. And I was treated like a nobody too who have to grab a broom every now and then to tidy things up in an otherwise untidy church, without so much as a “thank you” or at the very least a pat on the back afterward.
Do I sound resentful and embittered? Far from it. I am happy with that work, too secure to be exact, but I don’t want to grow old doing the same thing for the rest of my life. It’s not me! Life is short (the earthly one, I mean) and I’m an arthritic and there are just too many things to discover, and too many possible things to do, and still too many capacities to unravel before I get settled up in kingdom come.
But there is one unfinished business with liturgy which I would like to venture myself into. I have often called this the other side of the “coin” of liturgy and worship – the social concerns of the church. I would like to set foot on something which I believe is at the very heart of true worship – charity. No, I am not saying that I am trading one over the other, that what I consider trivial gives way to the more pressing concerns of daily life. No, it is not that or even akin to that. Rather the works of charity perfects worship. Concern for the well-being of others completes our Eucharist. Feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick, providing a home for the homeless and jobs for the jobless are necessary components that complete our offering of bread and wine in worship, as necessary as the bread and wine themselves! This is the other side of the coin of true Christian worship. That is why I believe that a true liturgist is necessarily a social activist. I just feel that after ten years as chairperson and countless others trying to give God the best our humanity can offer in worship, my efforts were all in vain when I would not and could not pursue the church’s work of charity. No, this is not just an inkling as fickle as the weather. It completes the picture, and should providence decree, it completes my life’s work.
In this parish of Jaro where I have been staying for nearly two years I have been privilege to live side by side with the haves and have-nots. The opposite pull of living amidst the plenty of the turn-of-the-century mansions and living amidst the teeming squalor of squatters, is the life I have learned to live with everyday for the past two years. I sat at the tables of the wealthy eating the rich array of sumptuous beautifully laid-out food and I also sat at the tables of the poor eating the best that they can afford. I celebrated masses surrounded by perfumes of varied kinds and I also celebrated masses surrounded only by the stench coming from a pig’s pen just a few feet away, masked only from time to time by the cooking of a not so distant neighbor. I blessed houses as big the master’s bedroom of the one I blessed a day before, and I would surmise, costs way below its bathroom. This is the Jaro that I serve as a priest which apparently for obvious reasons is a curse for the untrained eye, but can be a source of tremendous blessings for those who believe.
I would like to exploit its blessings rather than whine in its curse.
The guiding principle for our KABALAKA Project comes from the Second Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians (which by the way came up suddenly while I was scanning through the bible). It says, “The one who had much did not have too much, and the one who had little did not have too little.” The Hiligaynon translation (as translations in vernacular almost always are) capture it better: "Ang nagatipon sing madamo wala magsobra, ang nagatipon sing diutay wala makulangi." (2 Cor 8: 15) This, I believe, aptly fits our present circumstance or should I say this is tailor-made for the parish of Jaro. Jaro after all is in so many ways the same with the city of Corinth to which this letter of Paul was addressed.
This is what I would like to propose therefore.
Permit your parish to be a conduit, a coordinator of your charity. Actually you already have. As I have already said in this same column ten percent of the colecta are set aside each week for our social action program which includes dental-medical missions, emergency assistance in time of calamities, scholarship programs (we are at the moment supporting 10 students), assistance for walk-in clients in terms of medicines and food. At the height of the crisis caused by Bagyo Frank we set up the Bag-o nga Panugod Fund which provided for building materials for parishioners whose houses were demolished by the flood. We have also converted the Our Lady of Candles Cooperative into and employment generating arm with candle-making. We have feeding programs and also the Alternative Learning System for drop-outs who wish to proceed to college. Then we set up the livelihood program of the parish which we called the KABALAKA Project.
My proposal is to further coordinate our efforts so that our social action programs will be more efficient and effective under one office rather than different uncoordinated entities. The KABALAKA can be that single entity with a livelihood and employment arm, provide emergency assistance, scholarship programs, medical assistance and even dole-outs (if this could not be avoided). This way our efforts, and even the group effort of various religious organizations in our parish can be efficiently carried out. Charity to be ecclesial should be an “organized charity” of the whole parish and not just the uncoordinated work of the many entities and individuals in our community.
The economic extremes of our parish and the timely message of St. Paul to the Corinthians is a challenge. I hope we rise up to that challenge.
______
For our traditional Mes de Junio wherein we expose the Blessed Sacrament for adoration and prayers after every third mass in the morning, we embarked on a month-long prayer and reflection on the priesthood. This is our way of culminating the Year for Priests. With the 6:30 weekday masses and the Exposition and Benediction after these during this whole month of June, we invite you to come and join us in praying for the priests of our Archdiocese.
Do I sound resentful and embittered? Far from it. I am happy with that work, too secure to be exact, but I don’t want to grow old doing the same thing for the rest of my life. It’s not me! Life is short (the earthly one, I mean) and I’m an arthritic and there are just too many things to discover, and too many possible things to do, and still too many capacities to unravel before I get settled up in kingdom come.
But there is one unfinished business with liturgy which I would like to venture myself into. I have often called this the other side of the “coin” of liturgy and worship – the social concerns of the church. I would like to set foot on something which I believe is at the very heart of true worship – charity. No, I am not saying that I am trading one over the other, that what I consider trivial gives way to the more pressing concerns of daily life. No, it is not that or even akin to that. Rather the works of charity perfects worship. Concern for the well-being of others completes our Eucharist. Feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick, providing a home for the homeless and jobs for the jobless are necessary components that complete our offering of bread and wine in worship, as necessary as the bread and wine themselves! This is the other side of the coin of true Christian worship. That is why I believe that a true liturgist is necessarily a social activist. I just feel that after ten years as chairperson and countless others trying to give God the best our humanity can offer in worship, my efforts were all in vain when I would not and could not pursue the church’s work of charity. No, this is not just an inkling as fickle as the weather. It completes the picture, and should providence decree, it completes my life’s work.
In this parish of Jaro where I have been staying for nearly two years I have been privilege to live side by side with the haves and have-nots. The opposite pull of living amidst the plenty of the turn-of-the-century mansions and living amidst the teeming squalor of squatters, is the life I have learned to live with everyday for the past two years. I sat at the tables of the wealthy eating the rich array of sumptuous beautifully laid-out food and I also sat at the tables of the poor eating the best that they can afford. I celebrated masses surrounded by perfumes of varied kinds and I also celebrated masses surrounded only by the stench coming from a pig’s pen just a few feet away, masked only from time to time by the cooking of a not so distant neighbor. I blessed houses as big the master’s bedroom of the one I blessed a day before, and I would surmise, costs way below its bathroom. This is the Jaro that I serve as a priest which apparently for obvious reasons is a curse for the untrained eye, but can be a source of tremendous blessings for those who believe.
I would like to exploit its blessings rather than whine in its curse.
The guiding principle for our KABALAKA Project comes from the Second Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians (which by the way came up suddenly while I was scanning through the bible). It says, “The one who had much did not have too much, and the one who had little did not have too little.” The Hiligaynon translation (as translations in vernacular almost always are) capture it better: "Ang nagatipon sing madamo wala magsobra, ang nagatipon sing diutay wala makulangi." (2 Cor 8: 15) This, I believe, aptly fits our present circumstance or should I say this is tailor-made for the parish of Jaro. Jaro after all is in so many ways the same with the city of Corinth to which this letter of Paul was addressed.
This is what I would like to propose therefore.
Permit your parish to be a conduit, a coordinator of your charity. Actually you already have. As I have already said in this same column ten percent of the colecta are set aside each week for our social action program which includes dental-medical missions, emergency assistance in time of calamities, scholarship programs (we are at the moment supporting 10 students), assistance for walk-in clients in terms of medicines and food. At the height of the crisis caused by Bagyo Frank we set up the Bag-o nga Panugod Fund which provided for building materials for parishioners whose houses were demolished by the flood. We have also converted the Our Lady of Candles Cooperative into and employment generating arm with candle-making. We have feeding programs and also the Alternative Learning System for drop-outs who wish to proceed to college. Then we set up the livelihood program of the parish which we called the KABALAKA Project.
My proposal is to further coordinate our efforts so that our social action programs will be more efficient and effective under one office rather than different uncoordinated entities. The KABALAKA can be that single entity with a livelihood and employment arm, provide emergency assistance, scholarship programs, medical assistance and even dole-outs (if this could not be avoided). This way our efforts, and even the group effort of various religious organizations in our parish can be efficiently carried out. Charity to be ecclesial should be an “organized charity” of the whole parish and not just the uncoordinated work of the many entities and individuals in our community.
The economic extremes of our parish and the timely message of St. Paul to the Corinthians is a challenge. I hope we rise up to that challenge.
______
For our traditional Mes de Junio wherein we expose the Blessed Sacrament for adoration and prayers after every third mass in the morning, we embarked on a month-long prayer and reflection on the priesthood. This is our way of culminating the Year for Priests. With the 6:30 weekday masses and the Exposition and Benediction after these during this whole month of June, we invite you to come and join us in praying for the priests of our Archdiocese.
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