God’s blessing or His “gaba”
In the hinterlands of Cavite lies a town where the people keep high-powered firearms in their homes and proudly brandish them in the plaza during fiesta time. They even fire some rounds into the air in pure bravado at the height of their festivities. For many years the municipality did not have a resident priest. No vocations to either the priesthood or the religious life came from the many Catholic families in the place. The reason given by the old residents of that place was the horrible massacre of the Spanish officials and administrators at the height of the Philippine revolution for independence from Spain.
Among the victims of the rebellion was the local parish priest. The death of the man of God was seen by the people not only as a sin against God but also interpreted as a curse or “gaba” on the local population. Their place saw several instances of violent deaths. Moreover, not a single young man or woman received the gift of vocation to be a priest, brother or nun. All this because of the crime: the sin of taking the life of a man of God whose only “crime” was to be a member of a race seen and hated as oppressing the country. This act of violence took place towards the end of the 19th century.
The taking away of an innocent life is always considered a crime against God. A grave sin for that matter. Since sin, any sin for that matter is, in the final analysis, an offense against God, any sin is always a matter of grave importance. For this reason a sin, being an offense against the divine majesty, deserves punishment. God, being God, always has the prerogative of exercising divine retribution. If this principle of punishment for sins which are offenses committed against God were to be followed always, then punishment coming from the offended party, God, should not come as a surprise.
Yet, God does not rush towards punishment. He does not wish the death of a sinner but that he be converted and live. For this reason the grace of repentance and conversion is always offered to the sinner. Magnanimous in His power and generous in pardoning God always gives the chance to a sinner to repent and change his ways. But repentance is a must.
Taking note of the sudden and violent death of a number of Galileans Jesus pointed out that these died violently not because they were more sinful than the rest in Israel. Furthermore, the need to repent is of utmost importance in order to be saved. Finally, repentance or a turning back to God is a necessary condition for grace to flow into one’s life. More than a hundred years have passed since that awful crime committed in the hinterlands of Cavite. Not too many remember that sinful action against God’s sons one of whom was a servant of God.
Today, however, after several generations have confessed and atoned for the sins committed in the name of revolutionary passion, the “gaba” has apparently disappeared. God has given the town of Alfonso the blessing of religious and priestly vocations. The best gift of all is the calling from among the people of the area of a brilliant yet humble and prayerful man of God to the cardinalate. If God wills so, Luis Antonio Cardinal “Chito” Tagle might occupy the vacant Chair of Peter.