Pursuing a better Philippines with religious fervor

WE shall again witness tomorrow the largest spectacle of the Catholic faith in the Philippines during the Feast of the Black Nazarene, as devotees join the Traslacion when the dark-skinned statue of the suffering Christ carrying a heavy cross inches its way from Rizal Park to Quiapo Church.

The phenomenal frenzy during Traslacion, as barefoot devotes cramped in a sea of humanity surge and jostle to get close to the Nazarene carriage, is awesome. And only a staunch devotee can fully understand what fellow devotees go through in the annual ritual – the hardships, dangers, and the ecstatic feeling of triumph that seeps in after much suffering.

Why many opt to act like overzealous fanatics swarming like crazy over a statue of the Black Nazarene on one particular day, when the venerated wooden carving is accessible to them all-year-round at the Quiapo Church, can be baffling to many.

But those bewildered may find enlightenment in the Biblical story (Luke 7:36-50) of a sinful woman who wets with her tears, wipes with her hair, and pours expensive perfume on the feet of Jesus who tells her: “Your sins are forgiven; your faith has saved you.”

The intensity of devotion to the Black Nazarene can be attributed to the “Filipino interpretation of imitating Christ, of doing something to avail oneself of His mercy.” Grasping the local term “Awa ng Diyos” helps one understand the reason for our existence, and why blessings come our way at various times in our lives, even when all our sinfulness makes us undeserving.

But many people, especially foreigners amazed at devotees’ communal ecstasy, wonder how such intense display of piety could be reconciled with a nation plagued with rampant criminality, corruption, and other forms of evil despite being the only predominantly-Catholic nation in Asia.

“We need to ask ourselves how we are able to blend so much religious fervor with a culture of corruption, or mix a manifest devotion to the exemplary figure of a selfless Christ with a life of greed, or gospel values with hate, oppression, and selfishness,” sociologist Randy David once said. “I am more inclined to think that these contradictions arise from a failure to understand faith as a philosophy of life, or as a practical and meaningful guide to daily living.”

Lamenting that many devotees “remain fixated with icons, with the physical representations than the meanings behind them,” he said that “we struggle to get the rituals right in order to avoid bad luck, while showing little discipline, if any, in the daily practice of a virtuous life.”

Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle shared the same observation as he warned, in a 2012 homily, that God’s wrath will fall on devotees who seek forgiveness on the day of the Feast of the Black Nazarene, only to return to their sinful ways the very next day.

The lack of discipline described by David was most evident in 2014 after Cardinal Tagle delivered a homily urging people to show their love and devotion to the Black Nazarene by “praying to God and not forgetting to help our fellowmen, following Christ’s teachings, and glorifying God’s greatness and love for mankind through our good deeds.”

But minutes after his homily, the Holy Mass came to an abrupt end before Holy Communion could be administered because devotees surged over barriers and rushed for the Nazareno statue that had yet to be mounted onto its carriage.

Many were aghast at the stark contrast in demeanor – meekly professing deep devotion for the Black Nazarene and then, at the very next moment, tossing aside Christianity’s guiding principles and ignoring concern for others in a wild surge to get near the symbol of Christ’s selflessness.

Seeing some devotees had chosen to ignore liturgy, apparently showing little understanding of catechesis, Fr. Anton Pascual of Radio Veritas then stressed the importance of the Holy Mass.

“The sacrament is more supreme than any form of religious devotion, kaya dapat unahin muna ang misa, magsimba sila, makinig sa homily, mag-communion sila, at saka ituloy ang prusisyon na may disiplina at kaayusan (let’s prioritize the mass, listen to the homily, receive communion, and then go on with the procession in a disciplined and orderly manner),” he said.

There ought to be more to faith and devotion than getting seriously injured or crushed to death underneath a sea of humanity jostling crazily to get near Christ’s statue during Traslacion.

Church leaders evangelize that intense faith ought to be accompanied by action, particularly the so-called corporal works of mercy like feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, sheltering the homeless, among others. The challenge, therefore, is how to utilize the collective spiritual fervor to bring about a better society.

While fulfillment of a “panata” to the Black Nazarene usually concerns the aspirations of one’s family, relatives, and close friends, many hope that the raw manifestation of piety would eventually focus on aspirations for the entire country. Let’s pray that a better Philippines would emerge from our intense devotion to God and our accompanying actions to avail of His mercy.