by Abraham M. de la Torre
(In affirmation of Valerie Schultz)
EVEN IF IT came to a point that being a Catholic would be most difficult, I’d still choose the faith of my birth.
Having said that, I would now venture to take from Valerie’s cue the additional reasons why I will remain Catholic to the ends of my days. This essay does not refute but hopes to reinforce her piece.
1. Creation. once have I stopped in awe at the seemingly simple things that surround me. Out of nothing, God created sunrise. Clouds in cottony shapes forming very which way the wind whiffs them away. A blazing fire tree against an azure sky. A periwinkle bush. Huskies, Labs, Poodles and German Sheps out for their litter stroll. Shady, fruit-heavy mango trees. Birds that flit and tweet. Yellow bells. A welcome downpour in scorching summer. A rainbow. A lone Eucalyptus in bloom. A carpet of emerald frog. Sunset. Stars that pale when the moon is full. A firefly in the dark. In BF Homes alone. To say nothing of awesome sights in places I’ve been that took my breath away. All underscoring the glory of God’s creative hand. A magnificent work of art made more immense by the love that went with it. Spectacles you only have to stand back to marvel at and inevitably exclaim, “How lovely is Your creation, Lord!” To top it all, we were included in His grand plan.
2. The Cross. However grotesque its presence in the center of the sanctuary, the sacred oblation attests to the great sacrifice the Son of God offered that mankind may be cleansed of sin and saved. Jesus is the visible unifying testament of the Catholic faith that one of the triune persons of God lived with His creations and, in spite of their transgressions, died for them out of love. The ancient tree where our King was crucified and died also serves as a timeless symbol of our relationship with God (the vertical plank) and neighbor (the patibulum).
3. The Holy Eucharist. Because we believe, we remember and celebrate. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is an occasion that brings the faithful together not only every Sunday, the summit of the Catholic week, but daily, for those who are commendably habituated. The centerpiece of the Mass is the Our Father, the prayer taught us by the Son Himself, honoring God as holy, in heaven and whose kingdom we ask to reign in us, Whose will we accept and are resigned to, Whom we ask for everything our poverty needs daily, by Whose forgiveness of our sins we forgive those who sin against us and Whom we ask to deliver us from evil. These seven petitions help us to avoid lapses and protect us from our spiritual enemies. (The Secret of the Holy Rosary by St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort) I pray the Lord’s Prayer with eyes closed, a conduct I took from a choir member whose solemnity rubbed off on me. The prayer has no equal in lifting body and soul up. And hammers home the gospel’s import. And makes me ready, with all my senses wrapped in readiness, to praise His holiness in heaven and on earth. Before I receive His body (and blood, where given) to sustain my holy wholeness again.
4. Marriage. We understand the inclination of gays and lesbians and respect their orientation without having to join the legions that seemingly make it their cause to bash them and some to publicly condemn and physically inflict harm on them. But we draw the line there. We do not condone their activity and – definitely – marriage between similar genders. We hold the sacrament of matrimony sacred. While some Catholics inevitably separate, we do not divorce as a matter of course and a great majority opt to preserve the union. No malevolent force is strong enough to separate that which was joined by God.
5. Confession. I used to take this sacrament for granted until I attended the PREX (see Item No. 10) seminar. It opened my eyes to the import of an intimate admission of sins to a priest in order to obtain forgiveness and reconciliation with God, Whom sins separated from me. The priest, acting as Christ’s alter ego, listens, prays for me and absolves my iniquities by the power vested in him by God. He and I become a pair in the church’s evangelical mission of mercy and compassion. The seminar gave me an insight into personal guilt that produced a longing to better myself through the act of contrition. The profound repentance impelled me to go from dark into the light in which I am healed. The intimacy reminded me of Mary’s Legionaries working in pairs in their apostolic crusade as soldiers of the Mother of Christ to spread the Word through the Holy Rosary and works of faith. Exactly the way Christ’s apostles preached what they practiced. Penance completes confession by making restitution or satisfaction for a wrong that has been committed. “Penance must not take place exclusively in my head; I must express it in acts of charity and in solidarity with others. One does penance also by praying, fasting and supporting the poor spiritually and materially. Penance is often misunderstood. It has nothing to do with low self-esteem or scrupulosity. Penance is not brooding over what a bad person we are. Penance frees and encourages us to make a new start.” (Catechism in a Year)
6. The Virgin Mary. Were it not for a woman wrapped in silence, where would humanity be. God could not have chosen any woman to bear in her womb mankind’s deliverance. “In the salvific plan of the Father, Mary was already loved by the Most High. The world would know redemption through her. The incarnation of Jesus in her virginal womb was prepared by God. In her, death begins to be undone. The strength of the evil one succumbs, the serpent’s head is crushed and so are the cunning plans of the author of evil who wishes to prevail over God’s plan of love. Mary is wounded in the foot, a permanent and visible sign of the struggle between life and death. The wounded foot of Mary is the ultimate expression of God’s action in the world; her heel supports her entire immaculate body. The weight of holiness presses upon the head of the author of sin. Mary went into Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth, who was herself pregnant. As soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.” (Imitation of Mary: How to be graced by God by Luís Erlin, a Claretian publication)
7. Easter. Christmas is the longest celebration in the Catholic calendar. I put priority on the resurrection of Christ over His birth. Only because I prefer the scarcity and solemnity of the Holy Week that prepares us for the promise of Jesus Himself to the commercialism and consumerism of the Yuletide trimmings. It is a fact that we tend to indulge in excess in conducting merriment it reduces the humble message of the nativity into mediocrity. The Holy Week’s cross should hold a more meaningful merit than the manger if only to reflect on the humility that led to horror. And the redemptive glory of the resurgence.
8. Commandments. Not to make the other commandments less crucial, Jesus, in response to a teacher of the law’s question on the matter (Mark 12:29-31) said, “The most important one is this: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength.” The second most important one is this: “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” These two commandments encompass the other eight. With love of God and neighbor, one would be armed against having strange gods and putting His name in vain, not observing the Sabbath, not honoring one’s father and mother, committing murder, adultery and stealing, accusing anyone falsely and desiring another man’s house, wife or anything else that he owns. For these directly violate love for God and neighbor, a virtue that a good Catholic espouses.
9. Inclusion. Respecting other people’s faith is the gospel inculcated in us by Christ. He died on the cross not for a few selected denominations but for all of mankind. This is the greatest reason why I am what I am. While some of us delight to debate with other faiths, those who are really spiritual prefer to be inclusive. I die a little when a Catholic priest squeezes into his homily characteristics of other faiths that run contrary to the Catholic doctrines. Even more so when his opinion becomes enraged and he advances to an attack. Not exactly what Jesus would do in an effort to evangelize. It is unimaginable the thought of an exclusive Son of God who discriminated against, instead of died for, mankind. While we are accepting, we are also aware that we are not the chosen ones. Heaven has rooms enough for all who are baptized, repentant and cleansed. After all, our Shepherd leaves the 99 just in search for the lost sheep.
10. Fellowship. We advocate the idea of family and community in the bosom of God through our service to Christ’s bride the church. From the church springs all activities organized by various mandated ministries and organizations. PREX is one such activity. It stands for Parish Renewal Experience, a movement that conducts periodic seminars to bring the faithful together in an interactive discussion and sharing – and refreshing – of the scriptures. I am a self-avowed PREX addict and do not need to be provoked to ramble about my epiphany. In PREX, I was introduced to speakers who touched my heart with their sincerity and self-effacing humility as they opened their souls to the participants. The organic sharers also infused the seminar with their reflections on biblical tales like Ruth’s, a hauntingly beautiful love story between a pagan woman and her Israelite mother-in-law who held on to each other through dire times. And St. Monica’s trials in her marriage to Patricius, a womanizer of violent temper and dissolute habits. And a host of other spiritual stories I would never have had the fortune of discovering had I not been blessed with the prexperience. The seminar also served as a threshold to other ministries/organizations which expanded the church family into caring communities.