Gift of Peace

One of the wonderful things that happened during the Holy Week was the presence of so many people desiring to come for confessions. In the Archdiocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes, the long queuing began since Holy Tuesday evening, the whole day of Holy Wednesday until Good Friday. Penitents kept coming non-stop until midnight. Although it is not something unusual since there is daily confession in this Shrine from 4:30 – 7:00 pm, yet the Holy Week drew an added attraction for people to make their Lenten Obligation.

I was in the confessional during these days perhaps between 10-12 hours listening to people from all walks of life. The experience was really tiring and exhausting. So much negative energies were transferred on me; so many sad stories of failures; so many spiritual garbage were dumped. At the end of the day I felt “drunk” of so much catharsis heaped on me. I became like a shock absorber of remorseful hearts.

But the amazing thing was, I witnessed so much miracle and change that happened in silence. When I gazed upon queuing penitents waiting for their turn, I saw “dead people” walking. They looked melancholic but hopeful. Some came frightened and even disturbed. Some have lost contact of this sacrament for 10 years or more. All of them entered into their tomb in sincerity and surrender. They came out brand new. They have experienced resurrection! Peace and forgiveness are powerful forces only God can give.

One of the apostles of the confessional is St. John Vianney, patron of parish priests. It is said that he was listening in confession daily for 16-18 hours. When he started as the Cure of Ars, that out of the way forsaken parish in France he was sent, he was not immediately that zealous in sitting for confessions for hours. It was an act of grace that brought him to this realization.

While praying before the Blessed Sacrament, God gave him the grace to see himself as he really was. For the very first time he saw how pitiable and miserable he was that brought him to tears. He was filled with such horror and abhorrence for sin that grieved him deeply.  For him, it was God’s inspiration not to shame him but in order that he may trust in his mercy. He realized that he could give so much service to people who come to confession offering them a privilege to experience God’s strength and consolation. It is God’s divine mercy and unlimited compassion that one experiences at the confessional.

When John Paul II canonized St. Faustina Kowalska on 30 April 2000, he surprised the entire world by also establishing on that same day Divine Mercy Sunday. This feast falls on the Second Sunday of the Easter Season. In his writings, he described Divine Mercy as the answer to the world’s problems and the uplifting message people need to hear for the third millennium. This was also the reason he canonized this mystic nun associated with the message in Rome not in Poland to emphasize that Divine Mercy is for the whole world.

The gospel tells us that the first act the risen Jesus did was to announce to his disciples his gift of peace. It was now evening of the first Easter Sunday. The doors were locked and the disciples were huddled together in the Upper Room out of fear. Suddenly, Jesus stood in their midst proclaiming: “Peace be with you!” It was such a surprisingly pleasant reunion. They were amazed to see him alive still with fresh wounds on his hands and on his side. His presence also filled them with fear and shame.

But instead of haunting them with their boastings and betrayals, he graced them with peace and joy! He breathed on them the Holy Spirit making them brand new persons with a future and with a mission. They have seen a magnanimous, forgiving risen Messiah with a noble heart oozing with Divine Mercy. With this experience they were never the same. Indeed the fruit of mercy is peace.

The message of the Divine Mercy shows us that God’s love is greater than our sins. His mercy is greater than our fears. The experience of God’s love brings peace the world does not know. Such peace comes from a conviction that only God can fill up our lives.

In Memoriam

On top of Mt. Samat in Bataan, looms a large, steel cross measuring 92 meters high. Known as the Shrine of Valor, it is visible even from afar.  It serves as a memorial of the heroic struggle and sacrifices of Filipino and American soldiers who fought and died during the Battle of Bataan in1942. On the two lateral walls of the colonnade is the narrative of the “Battle of Bataan” etched in marble. It ends with the phrase: “Our Mission is to Remember.”

Bataan was the site of the vicious battle against the invading Japanese Imperial Army during World War II. The Filipino and American soldiers retreated to the Bataan Peninsula for a last valiant but futile stand. Sick, starving, exhausted and short in ammunition after three months of fighting, Major General Edward King surrendered to the Japanese on April 9, 1942. This led to the Bataan Death March with about 80,000 soldiers forcibly made to walk 130 km for five days under the heat of the sun, without food or water.

It was my first time to visit its museum underneath and read war stories that recount the courage and bravery of our soldiers. I was touched by their memory whose blood soaked every stone and pavement of the mountain. Pictures of brave war heroes embellish its corridors whose names today are just for history books. I realize they were flesh and blood people whose honors deserve to be enshrined and remembered. In my heart, I felt the tag to tell and re-tell their stories.

We need to recognize our great past. Telling their stories is for connection. Not so much for them but for us and the generation after us. I wonder when our young people hear names such as Leon Kilat, Natalio Bacalso, Florencio Llamas or Tres de Abril? Will it ring a bell in their heart? Maybe they will recognize these names simply as streets of our metropolis. Like many of our heroic stories, they have slipped out of memory. Without this connection with our past, we contribute to their historical poverty. So become a people without a historical sense.

November is a month of remembrance. We are invited to remember our saints and the souls of the faithful departed. The souls of the faithful departed deserve our memory because they are part of our family. Our connection with them does not end in death. We treasure their memory because we love them. We appreciate their legacy because honoring them with flowers and candles express our gratitude. But most of all, our love for them is made concrete through our prayers especially offering the Eucharist for them.

The saints deserve our focus because they are our heroes of the faith. While the souls of the faithful departed are still purified and prepared for eternity, the saints have reached the heavenly Jerusalem. The book of Revelation speaks of a great multitude that no one can count wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hand. We realize that in our journey of life, we are not alone. So many friends are cheering for us and praying for us. We are always in communion with them.

One of the newest saints we have is the 15-year old martyr Jose Sanchez del Rio. Pope Francis canonized him on October 16, 2016. He joined the Mexican freedom fighters known as the “Cristero” that fought against the Maxist government. Though his mother refused his entry because he was too young, he reasoned: “Mama, do not let me loose the opportunity to gain heaven so easily and so soon.” Captured during a fight, he was imprisoned and tortured brutally. He found strength in praying the rosary daily. In prison, he wrote an emotional letter to his mother declaring that he was ready to fulfill the will of God.

Finally, on the day of his death on February 10, 1928, the soldiers cut the soles of his feet and forced him to walk to the cemetery. They enticed him: “If you shout ‘Death to Christ the King’, we will spare your life. All the more Jose would shout: “Viva Cristo Rey!” When he reached the place of execution, his captors stabbed him with bayonets. Then the commander pulled out his pistol and shot him in the head. As he was dying, he drew a cross in the dirt and kissed it with fervor.”

Stories like this bring out the desire for greatness. Their examples inspire us to be steadfast in the faith. We realize we have a great tradition of holiness. Hence, it is our duty to remember.

                     (Appeared in the Faith Section of Cebu Daily News, November 06, 2016)