Lessons from Pope Francis' visit
It was a memorable experience, the five days that the Holy Father was with us. He was only in two places-Manila and Tacloban, but because of extensive media coverage most Filipinos had a chance to see the scenario of the visit from start to finish. More than seeing they felt the very presence of the Pope and as he motored his way amidst thousands of them they prayed silently for his safety.
The spiritual father of more than a billion Catholics-who would not be touched by his presence? But if we were touched even from afar, how much more the thousands who actually saw him in flesh and blood? No wonder they braved the storm and rain and cold just to be with him in the scheduled rituals. No wonder they travelled far and waited for hours, even days, enduring the inconveniences in the street including hunger and thirst.
What's the magic of the Prince of the Church-and particularly Pope Francis--that makes millions mesmerized? Magic may be a wrong qualifier because faith is never inspired by magic. Miracle could be more precise because where faith is strong miracles abound. Anyway, as we reflect on that historic visit it would be useful for us to find out what lessons we learned in order to profit from that experience.
From my own viewpoint these lessons are: first, that the Christian faith of the Filipinos is strong, and second, that such faith can unite us to achieve our common goals. Majority of the people of the only Christian country in Asia are of course believers in God. But such belief has been described as tentative and skin-deep, and therefore not strong enough to be a determinant of behavior. Yet how come it has driven more than six million faithful to endure rain and cold for hours just to hear the Mass of the Holy Father? How come it made a quarter of a million people to disregard a storm just to attend the same solemnity?
Split level Christianity. Sunday Christianity. The Filipino Christian has been so decscribed. But the phenomena of the recent papal visit have disproved this. The faith of the Filipino is still strong.
The second lesson we learned is that the faith of the Filipino is a force that can unite this nation towards attaining what we want to become in the years to come. From economic stand point the claim that we are one of the less developed countries in Southeast Asia is an accepted fact. Our per capita income of $1501 is among the lowest, while unemployment has remained high all these years. As a result, millions of Filipinos have sought employment in foreign work stations, a situation which strains the stability of the Filipinos family. If as Pope Francis says, the family is the anchor of social stability, what will become of this country if the exodus to foreign lands continues?
We can draw back our foreign workers by creating jobs for them. And this can be done by getting ourselves solidly united in developing our resources, in building factories, and in building our people's character.
Such unity is two dimensional: political and social. The political aspect refers to solidarity among our leaders regardless of political color in working for our common goals. If they can set aside their obsession for political power and personal gain in the interest of our country and people, our stride towards a brighter future can be speeded up.
Social unity calls on mainstream Filipinos to be one in their resolve to choose as leaders only the most competent and honest, regardless of social status, politics and religion. In this way our financial and human resources can be fully harnessed to address our multi-faceted problems.
Sadly, socio-political unity has been an elusive dream in this country for decades. Now Pope Francis' visit has shown us that unity can be achieved through faith. Can we build on this force and work together for our own brighter destiny?
- Latest
