Ted Laguatan, Esq.
INQUIRER.net
CALIFORNIA, United States—Many Filipinos claim that the Philippines is the only Christian country in Asia. This is no longer true. Papua New Guinea and East Timor are now also predominantly Christian countries.
Some Filipinos seem to think that God favors them in some ways because they are Christian. In a somewhat profound and deep sense, they may have a point.
Ninety-two percent of Filipinos are Christians. Eighty-one to eighty-five percent of which are Catholics. Traditional and official Catholic belief sees suffering as a way to heaven. Some of the greatest Catholic saints have gone through incredible sufferings: painful illnesses, persecutions, tortures, disappointments, humiliations, and martyrdoms. Catholics are taught that offering sufferings to God results in the forgiveness of sins and other blessings.
To Catholics, the suffering and death of Jesus Christ is the most important event in the history of mankind. It healed the breach caused by sin between man and God. In Catholic mystical theology, undeserved suffering is connected to Christ's which brings forth much good.
The willing acceptance to undergo sufferings in imitation of Christ presumably bears much fruit not only in the life of the individual sufferer but also in the lives of others. For practicing Catholics, a good life involves accepting suffering that come's one's way and even deliberately seeking self-imposed suffering at times, such as fasting and other deprivations.
Millions of Filipinos suffer much because of government corruption, social and economic inequality, ignorance, malnutrition, slum housing, crime infested violent surroundings, and general poverty. An estimated one third of the population goes to bed hungry at night. The country is also prone to natural disasters: earthquakes, typhoons, floods, volcanic eruptions.
Perhaps it is this deeply embedded Catholic belief about the virtue of suffering ingrained in the Filipino psyche by almost 500 years of Spanish imposed Catholicism that makes him (or her) so resilient, enabling him endure so much. The Filipino somehow manages to remain smiling no matter how dire his circumstances may be.
His admirable resiliency and gentle toughness are also there because of his great faith in a loving God—that somehow, God will see him through all these sufferings. This simple faith and trust in a God whose love will make all things right in the end is also deeply installed in the Filipino psyche.
Some political pundits argue that this general Filipino attitude of quiet acceptance of suffering is a negative—that it leads to continuous suffering. Maybe. However, what is negative or positive really depends on the specific context and circumstances of a situation. I won't go into that in this article.
The Filipino's trust in a God who will come through for him likewise provides him the "bahala na ang Diyos" attitude that enables him to brave loneliness and dangers in distant cold or desert lands and strange foreign cultures: to find work that enables him to feed his family back home or to send his children or younger brothers and sisters to school so that they may have decent futures. Many OFWs and immigrants carry with them the Santo Nino image of the Christ child to foreign lands. It sustains him in a very real way.
Surreal scenes of so many smiling Filipino faces in the midst of so much devastation appear all too often in news coverages of natural disasters. When typhoon Ondoy smashed the Philippines in September 2009, it was fascinating to see on TV the smiling faces of Filipinos wading their way through deep flood waters with their children and belongings—as if it was all a game. I saw the same kind of smiles in the faces of evacuees fleeing from the wrath of Pinatubo when it exploded. It's as if they were saying: "It’s okay. We'll survive this no matter what. God is with us."
I have seen major disasters in the United States and other countries. Rarely does one see a smiling face, if at all—amidst flood waters, tornado, fire or earthquake wreckage. Of course, that's understandable, who can manage to smile in the face of so much pain and suffering?
I know the Filipino can. In that sense, maybe God does favor us.
The California State Bar honors Atty. Laguatan as one of less than 29 US lawyers officially certified continuously for more than 20 years as an expert/specialist in immigration law. He also does accident injuries, wrongful death, and business law. For communication: San Francisco area - 455 Hickey Blvd., Ste. 516, Daly City, Ca 94015. Email laguatanlaw@gmail.com
When in Cebu City, please visit gregmelep.com for your real estate and retirement needs.
No comments:
Post a Comment