Legacy of Faith

Pope Francis, during a mass in celebration of the Baptism of Jesus, baptized 32 babies in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel last January. It caused a stir and was highlighted by the media because among them was 7-month old baby Giulia whose parents were “unmarried” in catholic rites.

Ivan Scardia and Nicoletta Franco, though married in a civil ceremony, had asked the Pope if he would baptize their second child at a General Audience in September 25, and he said yes. The Pope agreed because he believes that the children of parents in an irregular situation should not be made to feel like a second-class Christian. This move again reveals the Pope’s pastoral heart. Through this act, he would like to focus on the importance of passing on the faith to the future generation.

In his homily, he challenged the parents of the babies: “Today, carry this thought home with you. We must be transmitter of the faith.  Think of this, think always of how to hand on the faith to your children. These children are links in a chain. You parents have a baby son or daughter to be baptized, but in several years, it will be they that have a baby to baptize, or a grandchild and so, the chain of faith! Above all, I want to tell you this: you are the persons who hand on the faith, the transmitter; you have the duty to pass on the faith to these babies. It’s the most beautiful legacy that you can leave to them: the faith.”

These words make me remember my parents with gratefulness. Checking on my baptismal certificate, I found out that my dad and mom had me baptized 22 days after I was born on June 21, 1968 at the Immaculate Conception Parish in Madridejos, Cebu. That day, they became the transmitter of the faith. Perhaps it was more of a social convention that motivated them. Little did they know how far it could get me. The door of the faith opened up many other doors. I did not even expect it would lead me to the doors of the seminary. But the greatest door I am delightfully expecting to open is the door to heaven!

One of the greatest gifts I have received in baptism is sanctifying grace. This supernatural gift is free but with wonderful consequences. In his great love, God shared his very life to me. Since that day, I shared in the very heartbeat of God; I breathe his very breath. In a very mysterious way, I have become a child of God. He has given me a dignity and a destiny. He has raised me up to be more than dust. Though created out of clay, he has given me a sublime vocation to share in his divine nature. Moreover, his Spirit lives in me as in a temple. These thoughts give me more reason to believe that we, as persons, are born for greater things!

Believing in the supernatural dimension of our life has tremendous effect. Personally, it gives me a lot of optimism about the future. I know I am not alone in my life’s journey. My faith gives me the power to be resilient. I also observe this in people who keep God in their lives. Once, a nursing student asked me to pray for her because she was preparing for her board exam. I told her to study and pray as I assured her of my prayers. Unfortunately, she did not make it. She was devastated by the result. Yet she was able to rise up from the loss and moved forward. She was able to see beyond the sad experience and learned from it.

Parents may be the transmitter of the faith, but in the end, faith requires a very personal assent. No one can truly inherit faith. Hence, faith is a personal decision when one decides to accept the person of Christ and his message. To foster this personal decision for Christ to those “born Catholics” becomes really challenging. It requires conversion of heart and a deep experience of Jesus who demands from every baptized: “be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Rector Major Interviewed

Rome, February 12, 2014 (Zenit.org) H. Sergio Mora |

A series of upcoming events such as the exposition of the Holy Shroud of Turin were presented Feb. 6, marking the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Saint John Bosco.
At a conference for the presentation of the events, ZENIT interviewed the Major Rector of the Salesians, Father Pascual Chavez, who commented on Pope Francis’ Salesian background and made a small evaluation of his own two six-year mandates as Superior General of the Salesians. We offer our readers his considerations as well as one of the answers of the Superior and of Monsignor Mario Toso, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.
* * *
ZENIT: After two six-year mandates as Superior of the Salesians, what evaluation can you make?
Father Chavez: I always say that I was given a lovely task, that of embodying Don Bosco, which implies a great dignity because he is a very fascinating figure. It's enough to give a biography of him to a young man to see how he is delighted with his likeableness and his very natural way of being, almost congenital in his relation with the boys. However, at the same time it is a great responsibility to be able to hand over the Congregation in a good state of health after 12 years. And I hope to be able to do this.

ZENIT: What is the situation of the Congregation in the world? Is it still growing?
Father Chavez: We have grown because now we are in 132 countries, although in Europe there is a decrease because of a problem of the society: there are no children for families, there are no children for the Church, there is a profound demographic problem which has its repercussion in social life, and from that point of view there is a contraction. Instead, the great vocational flowering today is to be found in Asia. In India alone we have 2,600 vocations, and we have Provinces, such as Vietnam, with more than 350. In Latin America, instead, I am more preoccupied by the situation, because it is identifying more with the European model, even more than with the North American model, and although the seminaries are full, this is not true of the Houses of Religious, and there is something here that we must study.

ZENIT: And now, with a Pope like Francis, who is also somewhat Salesian?
Father Chavez: The Pope is Latin American; he knows everything well. About his being somewhat of a Salesian, it is said that he is a Pope who has a Franciscan name, a habit like the Dominicans (because it is all white) and he is a Jesuit, and although we don’t dare to say he is Salesian, he himself has said that he was greatly influenced by us.
***
During the conference, ZENIT asked Father Pascual if it is just a coincidence to have a Pope like Francis on the second centenary of Don Bosco’s birth.
The Major Rector pointed out that “the 200 years of Don Bosco’s birth coincide happily with this pontificate. As you know, Francis was a pupil of ours. What is interesting is that he wasn’t only a pupil. His parents lived on the road that leads to Baldocco, near Turin. Then, when they emigrated to Argentina they arrived at a center of ours  -- Mary Help of Christians -- in the neighborhood of Almagro, where a Salesian founded the San Lorenzo de Almagro Club, and he was there not only with the school of Bernal.”

“It is a happy coincidence," said Father Pascual, "but above all he has come to give a breath of fresh air, not only to the Church but also to society. Because his is a new vision of the world, in which we must see the many elements of good that there are to put them in synergy to resolve the world’s problems, in order not to have only a myopic vision of some problems of a dogmatic or pastoral nature.

"Like Don Bosco who said that one must begin with the satisfaction of essential needs -- of food and housing. It is no use to talk to them about God when they have empty stomachs, because it is also cynical to say that God is Father when things are this way. He has come to change the concept of Church, which he presented not as a transatlantic ship but as a fishermen’s boat in which there is a very warm welcome. It is a new way of understanding the exercise of priority.

"And that is why I say that he is a gift, not only for the Church but also for society. It makes sense that he is now one of the leaders. Even the Rolling Stones have put him on their cover. It is a happy coincidence but above all it is a gift of God.”
On replying to ZENIT, Monsignor Toso, who is also a Salesian, pointed out that “there is an attunement between the Salesian charism and Pope Francis’ sensibility,” as he says in his testimony which was published in L’Osservatore Romano, “in which he gives witness that he so imbibed the Salesian spirit that when he engaged in the apostolate in San Miguel, on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, he was accused of Salesianizing the work of the Jesuits. There were neighborhoods without pastoral care and he was worried about the young people and about being a crypto-Salesian."
“And it is interesting to see in this letter that he took up what is essential of the Salesian charism. He says that the Salesians welcomed him affectionately. And he commented in some parts of the letter, that with the Salesians he also learned to study systematically, and that these things configured a Catholic culture,” he concluded.

(February 12, 2014) © Innovative Media Inc.

Salt and Light

I read the news that Eric Lawson has died of lung cancer at 72 years old. He was the famous actor who portrayed the rugged Marlboro man in cigarette ads during the late 1970s. Because of him, the Marlboro brand became well-known throughout the world. In fact, it became the most powerful brand image of the century and stands worldwide as the ultimate American cowboy and masculine trademark that helped establish Marlboro as the best-selling cigarette in the world.

He was perfect for the ads with his ruggedly handsome features, filmed in stunning, picturesque setting in the West. He represented a true American icon and became the most iconic figures in both advertising and popular culture.

A smoker since he was 14, he was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2006. Later, he also became a perfect role model who made a difference in the lives of the people he kept from smoking simply by pointing out what it did to him, said John Seffrin, chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society.

Appearing in anti-smoking commercials, he also joined TV forums and discussions on the dangers and negative effects of smoking. He realized that as an actor, he had great influence on people’s lives. He can be an influence of good or evil.

In today’s Gospel (Mt. 5:13-16), Jesus reminds us that we are salt and light of the world. We are presented with 3 Challenges by God’s Word this Sunday:

1.   We have the responsibility to Shine.

We have the responsibility to give light. This is our identity as Christians. This is who we are! We cannot but give light. If we fail in doing so, we are “good for nothing.” We are not being who we are!

After super typhoon Yolanda hit Bantayan Island, I went home to visit my hometown. I brought with me volunteers and relief goods to be distributed from many generous people. I saw how devastated the island was. Most houses were without roofs, no signal and all power lines were down.

I requested Fr. Bobby Paraguya, the parish priest of San Vicente Ferrer in Kampinganon if we could stay for the night in his convent. We were not only accommodated well, he also went out of his way to make our stay pleasant. He even put on the parish generator. While most of the island was dark, we had light from the generator until 10 PM. The generator has the ability to give light. That’s what we are. We generate light!

2.   We have the power to give the world a different flavor.

Once, I was invited to a birthday dinner. I was asked to bless the food at the start of the meal. Then everybody joined in the singing of “Happy Birthday” to the birthday celebrant. Then somebody said: “Blow the candles!” But there were no candles to blow! There was no birthday cake because the person assigned forgot about it.

If you go to Goldilocks or Leona’s, you can choose different kinds of cake, different flavors: ube, chocolate, mango, strawberry..

Now, each of us metaphorically, needs to bake our own cake to offer to the world. You choose the flavor you want. Its your contribution to the world. That’s how we become salt of the earth.

3.   Finally, in all these, we need to purify our motives in shining or giving flavor to the world.

We shine or we give the world a different flavor not just for the sake of doing it; its not even for ourselves. The deepest reason is given by Jesus in today’s Gospel. We do it for God’s greater glory. 

As we shine and show our good deeds, God is glorified. it gives people the opportunity to say: “Praise the Lord!” Thus we need to purify our motives every time we do good. 

A Consecrated Life

Alexandrina da Costa was born on March 30, 1904 in Balasar, Portugal. When she was about 14 years of, three men wanted to abuse her sexually. To preserve her purity, she jumped from the window falling 13 feet to the ground. After this incident she suffered an irreversible paralysis. At 19, she was bedridden and completely paralyzed.

At first, she asked Jesus and Mary for a cure. She even made several promises if God would grant her request – she would be a missionary, give everything, dress in mourning all her life or cut off her hair – but no miracle came.

Slowly, God helped her to see that suffering was her vocation; that she had a special call to be the Lord’s victim. She was to suffer for the conversion of sinners. This was her mission for the salvation of the world. And having realized this, she began to long for a life of union with Jesus. This union could only be realized by bearing her pain and illness for love of Him!

She offered her life of paralysis as a “victim soul.” Worst, her pain intensified. It became almost unendurable. Every night she would be in fever; she couldn’t sleep. Even prayer was a struggle. Every slightest movement caused her pain.

Despite the pain, she would clasp her rosary and repeat in prayer: “this is for you.. for the conversion of sinners and in reparation for the offenses against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.” The more painful her situation, the more prayerful she became; the more courageous to be a victim.

For three and a half years, she would experience each Friday the pains of Christ on the cross for three hours of agonizing pain. For the last 13 years, she was imbued with the mystical phenomenon of being nourished only with the Eucharist. On October 13, 1955 at 51 years old, she breath her last. Her final words were: “I’m happy because I’m going to heaven.” Alexandrina dedicated her life to God.

Today, we celebrate the feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple. Luke Chapter 2 narrates the events showing Joseph and Mary as pious and responsible Jewish couple following their Traditions. Forty days after Jesus’ Birth, he was taken to the Temple to be consecrated to the service of God. This was required for every Firstborn male because God “owns” it in remembrance of the Passover. His parents had to pay “5 shekels of silver” (Numb 18:16) to ransom him back. Luke, however, omits any mention of the ransom payment because he wants to signify that the whole life of Jesus was consecrated to God.

His parents also had to offer two young pigeons as thanksgiving offering for the gift of a child. Finally, the character of Simeon was presented as one who recognized Jesus as the Savior of the world. This man spent his time studying scripture and praying.

We can learn 3 lessons from this feast:

1.     As Christians, we have been consecrated to God

To the Parents: your task is to consecrate your homes and your children to God. See to it that your homes are blest and your children are baptized. By having your home blest, it signifies that you are consecrating your family to God. Your family truly “belongs” to God. It means that you are welcoming God to reign in your home.

Though baptism is a common ritual in many homes, let it not just be a cultural experience. Make it a spiritual and God-filled event. By having your children baptized, you are giving them a legacy of faith. When they grow-up, tell them what it means. Make them conscious of the day of their baptism for it was the time when they have become a “child of God.”

I checked my baptismal records and learned that I was baptized 22 days after my birth on June 21, 1968! Remind your children, too, of the date of their baptism and allow them to own their promises and personalize their consecration. In this way, God will truly reign in their lives.

2.     Let us be sensitive to God’s coming to our lives

Jesus comes to us in many ways, most of it in ordinary circumstances. Let’s learn to recognize Him. Simeon recognized Jesus as a child. Alexandrina recognized Jesus in her sufferings. For us, in the Eucharist. Let us be sensitive to God presence so that our every heartbeat will be for God.

3.     Like Jesus, we are to give glory to God and be a light for others.

The purpose of Jesus’ life was to give glory to God. This is the challenge for us in each Eucharist we participate: we unite ourselves to Jesus to give glory to God. Furthermore, one symbol used during our baptism is the candle. The candle gives light. Like the candle, our vocation is to shine and brighten people’s lives.

Let us ask from Jesus the grace of personalizing our consecration; be more sensitive to God’s coming to us and strive to always give glory to God and shine for Him!