San Beda College Alabang THEO1: Introduction to Christian Life Prof.

MarkLouie Cañete, MAT

CAS—Religious Education Dept. and Benedictine Spirituality

Lesson 1
SEARCH FOR THE MEANING OF LIFE
RELIGION VIS-À-VIS FAITH
INTRODUCTION

Who is the Filipino Catholic? The “Good News” is that God has become man in Jesus Christ
our Lord, who came to save us from sin and bring us to fullness of life. This is the Gospel which we
Filipinos have accepted. As PCP II proudly declares: “For us Filipinos, the first century of the coming
millennium will mark the 500th year since we as a people accepted the Faith” (Plenary Council of the
Philippines II 3). It makes us the only Christian nation among our Asian brethren. There are deep
affinities between Christ’s message and the Filipino’s inmost ways of thinking and acting. “Much of
the Gospel has become part of us—compassion, forgiveness, caring, piety—and makes of us a
basically decent people (Plenary Council of the Philippines II 15). Through the past centuries, right up
to our present critical times, growing more mature in the following of Christ has meant becoming
more truly and authentically Filipino.

Vatican II teaches that Catholics “must give expression to this newness of [Christian] life in
their own society and culture and in a manner that is in keeping with the traditions of their own
land.” As addressed to us Filipino Catholics, therefore, the Council declares that we

must be familiar with our culture, we must purify and guard it, develop it in
accordance with present-day conditions. We must perfect it in Christ so that the faith
of Christ and the life of the Church will not be something foreign to the society in
which we live, but will begin to transform and permeate it. (Ad Gentes 21)

Plenary Council of the Philippines II insisted on the mutual interaction between Christian Faith
and Filipino culture. “Hence we must take a closer look at how the values that we have from our
Christian Faith can strengthen the good in our cultural values and correct what is excessive in them
and supply for their deficiencies” (PCP II 22). Likewise,

for Faith to mature in love, it must be interiorized. Church teachings and practices
must be personally appreciated and appropriated by us, as a people with our own
particular culture, with our own ways of thinking and valuing. Faith must take root in
the matrix of our Filipino being so that we may truly believe and love as Filipinos
(Plenary Council of the Philippines II 72).

CONTEXT

We Filipinos have had a long history of very sharp and colorful religious experiences: From
our pre-Christian times, through the centuries of Spanish Christian evangelization, to the American
Protestant influx in the Commonwealth era, and the Japanese occupation during World War II, right
up past Vatican II’s “Second Pentecost,” to “People Power” and today’s “Basic Christian
Communities,” and the 2nd Plenary Council of the Philippines [PCP II]. Our understanding and love of

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San Beda College Alabang THEO1: Introduction to Christian Life Prof. MarkLouie Cañete, MAT
CAS—Religious Education Dept. and Benedictine Spirituality

Jesus Christ has been colored by our personal and national historical experiences of pain and
struggle, of victory and celebration. Our faith in Jesus is marked by our deep devotion to Mary, his
Mother, and our Mother and Model. All these experiences have somehow defined and clarified our
unique identity as persons, as Christians, as Filipinos, as a nation.

PCP II was held “to take stock of where we are; to look where we are going; to reanimate our
life in Christ; to unite all things in Him (PCP II 7). Our Catholic Faith, therefore, must be “inculturated”
within our specific and unique Filipino character which has in part shaped our faith experiences
through the years.

FILIPINOS: RELIGIOUS PEOPLE?

 We Filipinos are “spirit-oriented.” We are noted for our openness to the sacred, the
transcendent dimension of life (CFC 1469).
o We visit churches to pray.
o We go on pilgrimages to ask or thank God for graces.
o We like especially to touch sacred images.
o We travel far away to ask God for special favors.
o We show our devotion through street dancing.
o We like celebrating fiestas.
 Filipino Catholicism has always put great stress on rites and ceremonies. Fiestas,
processions, pilgrimages, novenas, innumerable devotional practices, both individual and
communitarian, mark the concrete religious practice of most Filipino Catholics (CFC 1469;
NCDP [1984] 319).
 How many percent of young people PRAY? According to The National Filipino Catholic Youth
Survey of 2002, More than half of young people PRAY. We Flipinos love to attend the Holy
Mass even in those places outside the church.
 “Subalit kahit napupuno ang ating mga simbahan kapag Linggo, hindi pa rin maitatatwa na
napakarami pa rin sa mga Katolikong Pilipino ang hindi nagsisimba tuwing araw ng Linggo.
…Kung hindi man magagawang magsimba ng Linggo, bigla naman silang sisipot sa simbahan
sa…piyesta ng patron, Pasko, Mahal na Araw, atbp.” (Landas ng Pagpapakabanal, Hulyo
1999, art. 63).
 So, are Filipinos really religious? Some shadows:
o Empty Ritualism
o Religious Syncretism—the blending of two or more religious belief systems into a
new system the incorporation into a religious tradition of beliefs from unrelated
traditions.
o Religious Hypocrisy—Counter Witnessing
 Worship “in the Philippines, has unfortunately been often separated from the totality of life”
(PCP II 167; CFC 1472).
 Perhaps the greatest separation is between our prayer/worship on one side, and our moral
life on the other. Despite notable efforts at integrating prayer and the thrust for justice,
many Filipino Catholics still seem to consider them completely apart. (CFC 1472, par. 2)

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San Beda College Alabang THEO1: Introduction to Christian Life Prof. MarkLouie Cañete, MAT
CAS—Religious Education Dept. and Benedictine Spirituality

EXPOSITION

To identify what it means to be a “Filipino Catholic” we ask: From whom do we naturally

draw our self-identity? Where do we find the deepest meaning in our lives? How do we react to
suffering? How do we commit ourselves to our ideals in life? What is our view of the world in all its
depth and hidden reality? Brief answers to these questions can be sketched by selecting a series of
five predominant Filipino characteristics, together with five essential traits of Jesus Christ, both
assumed within the typical “Filipino way” to Jesus. This will at once define the Filipino Catholic as
well as show that in our country, to become more deeply Christian is to become more truly and
authentically Filipino.

A. Self-identity

First, we Filipinos are family-oriented. The anak-magulang relationship is of primary

importance to us Filipinos. Ama, ina, and anak are culturally and emotionally significant to us Filipinos
who cherish our filial attachment not only to our immediate family, but also to our extended family
(ninongs, ninangs, etc.). This family-centeredness supplies a basic sense of belonging, stability and
security. It is from our families that we Filipinos naturally draw our sense of self-identity.

Jesus as both the Son of God (Anak ng Amang Diyos) and the Son of Man (Anak ng Tao)
endears himself naturally to us family-oriented Filipinos. As Son of Man, Jesus leads us to his Mother
Mary (Ina ng Diyos) whom he shares with us (cf. Jn 19:26-27). He thus welcomes us into his own
household, offers himself as our brother (kapatid), and draws us through the Sacrament of Baptism
to a new identity and into the family life of his heavenly Father (cf. Jn 3:5-7).

What can better remind us Filipinos of our early childhood, or respond more directly to our
traditional love for children, than Jesus, the Sto. Niño? At twelve, Jesus was a discerning and daring
child, who nonetheless remained obedient to his parents (cf. Lk 2:41-51). In his public life, Jesus
embraced little children and admonished his disciples to become child-like in openness and simplicity
(cf. Mt 18:2-4). In our family-orientedness, then, we Filipinos are naturally attracted to Jesus of
Nazareth, Son of God and Son of Man. Thus, PCP II 46-48 stress the exceptional importance of our
Filipino family as both subject and object of evangelization.

B. Meaning in Life

Second, we Filipinos are meal-oriented (salu-salo, kainan). Because Filipinos consider almost
everyone as part of their family (parang pamilya), we are known for being gracious hosts and grateful
guests. Serving our guests with the best we have is an inborn value to Filipinos, rich and poor alike.
We love to celebrate any and all events with a special meal. Even with unexpected guests, we
Filipinos try our best to offer something, meager as it may be, with the traditional greeting: “Come
and eat with us.” (Tuloy po kayo at kumain muna tayo.)

Jesus as Eucharist is not only the host of the new Paschal Meal (cf. 1 Cor 11:23-26), and the
food, the bread of life (cf. Jn 6:48-58), but even the guest in every gathering (cf. Mt 18:20; Rev 3:20).
The New Testament refers more than twenty-five times to eating (kainan). Eating together in table
fellowship with the presence of the risen Christ (cf. 1 Cor 10:17), “Communion,” in other words,
constitutes the core-witness of the early Church as a Eucharistic community. So we Filipinos feel
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San Beda College Alabang THEO1: Introduction to Christian Life Prof. MarkLouie Cañete, MAT
CAS—Religious Education Dept. and Benedictine Spirituality

naturally “at home” in breaking bread together with Jesus. PCP II’s “spirituality of social
transformation finds in the Eucharist not only its full nourishment but also its total prayerful
communion with the Lord of salvation and liberation” (PCP II 281).

C. Sufferings in Life

Third, we Filipinos are kundiman-oriented. The kundiman is a sad Filipino song about
wounded love. Filipinos are naturally attracted to heroes sacrificing everything for love. We are
patient and forgiving to a fault (“magpapaka-alipin ako nang dahil sa iyo”). This acceptance of
suffering manifests a deep, positive spiritual value of Filipinos’ kalooban.

Jesus, the Suffering Servant of the prophet Isaiah, is portrayed through our favorite Filipino
images of Padre Hesus Nazareno, the Santo Entierro or the Sacred Heart. Through these images, Jesus
appears as one of “the least of our brethren”: the hungry and thirsty, the naked, the sick, the lonely
stranger and the prisoner (cf. Mt 25:31-46). Jesus the Suffering Servant can thus reach out to us
Filipinos as a healing and forgiving Savior who understands our weaknesses, our failures, our feelings
of depression, fear and loneliness. He has been through it all himself! To us Filipinos who can even
celebrate the sufferings and hardships of life in song, Jesus Christ calls: “Come to me, all you who are
weary and find life burdensome, and I will refresh you” (Mt 11:28).

D. Life-Commitment

Fourth, we Filipinos are bayani-oriented. A bayani is a hero. We Filipinos are natural hero-
followers. For all our patience and tolerance, we will not accept ultimate failure and defeat. We tend
instinctively to always personalize any good cause in terms of a leader, especially when its object is
to defend the weak and the oppressed. To protect this innate sense of human dignity, Filipinos are
prepared to lay down even their lives.

Jesus as Christ the King (Cristo Rey) responds well to the bayani-oriented Filipino. As born
social critics, organizers and martyrs, we Filipinos see Jesus Christ as the Conqueror of the world by
his mission as prophet, king and priest (cf. PCP II 57-61). Jesus came as one sent by the Father, to do
the Father’s will (cf. Jn 5:30). He was “to bring glad tidings to the poor, to proclaim liberty to
captives, recovery of sight to the blind, and release to prisoners” (Lk 4:18). Although a “sign of
contradiction” himself (Lk 2:34), Jesus made the Kingdom of God present among his people by his
teaching (cf. Mt 7:29) and signs. “The blind recover their sight, cripples walk, lepers are cured, the
deaf hear, dead men are raised to life, and the poor have the good news preached to them” (Lk 7:22).
So as bayani-oriented, we Filipinos enthrone our image of Cristo Rey. He assures us that everything
will be alright in the end. Christ the King has won the ultimate victory over evil.

E. World View

Fifth, we Filipinos are spirit-oriented. We are often said to be naturally psychic. We have a
deep-seated belief in the supernatural and in all kinds of spirits dwelling in individual persons, places
and things. Even in today’s world of science and technology, Filipinos continue to invoke the spirits in
various undertakings, especially in faith-healings and exorcisms.

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San Beda College Alabang THEO1: Introduction to Christian Life Prof. MarkLouie Cañete, MAT
CAS—Religious Education Dept. and Benedictine Spirituality

Jesus the “miracle-worker” who promised to send his Spirit to his disciples to give them new
life (cf. Jn 15:26; 16:7; 13-14), is thus very appealing to us Filipinos. The Holy Spirit, sent by the Father
and the Risen Christ, draws us Filipinos into a community wherein superstition and enslaving magic
are overcome by authentic worship of the Father “in spirit and truth” (cf. Jn 4:23). In Christ’s
community, the Church, “to each person the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common
good” (1 Cor 12:7). This same Spirit, which empowered Jesus the miracle worker, is active in his
disciples, uniting them in the teaching of the apostles, and in community fellowship of the breaking
of bread and prayer through Christ their Lord (Lumen Gentium 13).

F. The Filipino Way

But accepting Jesus Christ as responding to these essential Filipino traits has historically
come about and continued in a typical “Filipino” manner. The outstanding characteristic of the
Church in the Philippines is to be a “pueblo amante de Maria”—a people in love with Mary. Even
before the coming of the Spanish missionaries, there was a small dark image of the Blessed Virgin,
known only as coming “from the sea,” venerated on the shores of Manila Bay. Thus originated the
devotion to Nuestra Señora de Guia, Our Lady, Guide of the Way, the oldest extant image of Mary in
the Philippines (PCP II 153).

The typically “Filipino” approach to Christ, therefore, is with and through Mary. Devotion to
Mary has always been intimately intertwined with Christ. The two central mysteries of our Faith in
Christ: the mystery of the Incarnation celebrated at Christmas, and of Redemption celebrated during
Holy Week, are deeply marked by the veneration of Mary. This is portrayed graphically in the
Simbang Gabi (Misa de Gallo or de Aguinaldo) and the panunuluyan at Christmas time, and the
Salubong in Easter Sunday morning (National Catechetical Directory for the Philippines 242).

Marian devotion and piety seem co-natural to us Filipinos. Mary is deeply involved in each of
the five Filipino characteristics leading us to Christ. The “family altar” in so many Filipino homes
witnesses to Mary as mother of Jesus and our spiritual mother. Thus she is at the center of our family-
orientedness. As celebration and meal-oriented, Mary’s month of May is noted for the fiestas in her
honor and pilgrimages to her shrines. For suffering in life, Mary is venerated as the Mater Dolorosa,
the Sorrowful Mother, whose “Perpetual Help,” compassion and love is sought through popular
novenas and devotions.

As bayani-oriented, we have Mary as our Queen, the loving mother of Christ our King.
Moreover, she is the young maiden whose life commitment: “Be it done to me according to your
word,” is repeated thrice everyday in the Angelus. Finally, as spirit-oriented, Mary is venerated
precisely as the woman upon whom the Holy Spirit came, that her offspring would be called Son of
God (cf. Lk 1:35). The many Lourdes “grottos” throughout our country testify to our Filipino
attraction to her many apparitions.

Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Ang Mahal na Birhen, has greatly helped many simple
Filipinos to remain Catholics. Their deep devotion to the Mother of God has been the strongest force
keeping their faith alive (cf. Ang Mahal na Birhen, CBCP Pastoral Letter, 1975, no. 67). Mary has been
and remains the central inspiring force in bringing about a deeper evangelization of the masses of
our people, “the safeguard for the preservation of our Catholic Faith, and the principle of deeper and
fuller evangelization” (Ang Mahal na Birhen, CBCP Pastoral Letter, 1975, nos. 72-73).
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San Beda College Alabang THEO1: Introduction to Christian Life Prof. MarkLouie Cañete, MAT
CAS—Religious Education Dept. and Benedictine Spirituality

G. The Filipino Catholic

From this Marian approach to the series of five Filipino characteristics inter-related with
essential traits of Jesus Christ, a rough sketch of us Filipino Catholics can be drawn. We are first of all
family-centered Filipinos who can easily talk to God the Father through His only begotten Son-made
man, our Lord Jesus Christ. Our devotion to the Sto. Niño and the Mahal na Birhen reveals
fundamental depths of our own self-identity. Secondly, we find meaning in our lives and learn to face
the hunger and poverty around us in encountering Jesus as Eucharist in our parish community.
“Around the table of the Lord,” we Filipino Catholics are drawn by prayer to share our time, energy
and very lives, for the service of our needy brethren and for the building-up of truly Christian
communities of justice, love and healing.

Third, as Filipino Catholics, because we have met Christ the Suffering Servant in his Passion,
we can pray about sin and forgiveness, about justice and reconciliation, about the suffering and
Passion of our own Filipino people today. We have the strength to offer ourselves as “bread broken
for the world,” together with Jesus, because we believe with unshakeable hope that the Crucified
One is Risen from the dead, victorious over sin, death and the world.

Fourth, we Catholic Filipinos, resilient as the bamboo (kawayan) and sturdy as the narra,
commit ourselves to Christ, our hero-king, in deep gratitude for the gift of faith and for being Filipino.
Lastly, our world vision as Catholic Filipinos is gradually transformed by Christ’s Spirit-in-the-world in
our Church community.

In the depths of the Filipino spirit is a longing for kaayusan, for order out of chaos, a longing
for the life that the creative Spirit of Jesus gives as a gift, a gift which is likewise a challenge (cf. PCP II
257). Through sacramental encounters with the Risen Lord, we experience his Spirit’s healing and
strengthening power. In Christ’s Spirit, we Catholic Filipinos, inspired by Mary, the Holy Virgin, our
Mother, are confirmed in our witness to Jesus by our service of our brethren, and our persevering
prayer for our beloved dead.

Who, then, are Filipino Catholics? We are a people who have experienced in one way or
another that our Filipino identity, meaning, suffering, commitment and world-view are all tied to Jesus
Christ. Like a diamond with a thousand facets, Christ is able to reveal to every person and nation,
their very own unity, truth and value. Thus we Filipino Catholics are people who:

 as baptized into discipleship of Jesus Christ, discover our identity as adopted children of our
Father and as members of Christ’s Body, the Church, inspired by Mary our Mother;
 in the breaking of bread around the table of the Lord, find meaning in sharing ecclesial
fellowship with one another and with Christ, their Priest and Eucharist;
 in meeting the Crucified Savior are sustained in the sufferings and hardships of life, and
receive forgiveness for their sins through his Sacraments;
 commit ourselves to our Risen Lord and his mission through the gift of Faith, celebrated in
great Hope in the Sacraments, and lived out in Love and service of their fellowmen;
 form our world-vision led by the Spirit of the Risen Christ, experienced in the Christian
community, the Church, which sustains us in our pilgrimage of life-in-Christ; and

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San Beda College Alabang THEO1: Introduction to Christian Life Prof. MarkLouie Cañete, MAT
CAS—Religious Education Dept. and Benedictine Spirituality

 approach and live out this Christian life within the powerful inspiring presence of Mary, our
Mother and Model.

INTEGRATION

This “doctrine” about the identity, meaning, suffering, commitment and world view of
Filipino Catholics is lived out according to Christian morality, especially Christ’s basic commandment
of love. We Filipinos are by nature person-centered, spontaneously giving priority to personal
feelings, emotions, relationships, beyond any legal demands or impersonal tasks. Christ’s message
and Spirit continue to purify this natural personalism of undue family-centeredness and elitist
tendencies. For while our natural environment as Filipinos is always the family, the barkada, relatives
and friends, Christian social morality leads us beyond these limited groups to the larger community’s
common good.

Even more striking is our love for celebrating. Our Christian identity as Filipinos is naturally
bound up with Christian worship in our celebration of Christmas, Holy Week, fiestas and Marian
Feasts—each in a very special Filipino manner. Again, Christ’s Spirit works from within to purify the
warm piety of Catholic Filipino devotions from all superstitious practices and magical faith-healers.
Authentic Spirit-inspired Christian prayer helps direct these simple expressions of heartfelt love
through Christ to the Father. Of particular importance are the traditional Filipino Marian devotions
which draw on and express the deep yearnings of the Catholic Filipino.

Assignment #2: What has struck you most in the presentation on Filipino
Religiosity in class. On which points do you agree most? Why? Give your
reasons based on your own personal & experiences? What do you feel is God
calling you to do at present or in the future (regarding this situation)?

That in all things God may be Glorified.

Sources/References:

1. The Life of Man—To Know and Love God (Catechism of the Catholic Church nos. 1-3, 14).
2. Who is the Filipino Catholic? (Catechism for Filipino Catholics, nos. 28-60).
3. Barron, R., “The Catholic Thing,” in Catholicism, New York / London / Toronto / Melbourne / Sydney: Image Books 2011,
pp. 1-8.
4. Episcopal Commission on Youth, Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines. The National Filipino Catholic Youth
Survey 2002. Manila: Episcopal Commission on Youth, Catholics Bishops Conference of the Philippines, 2003.

Further Reading:

1. CATHOLIC BISHOPS CONFERENCE OF THE PHILIPPINES, “Part I: Our World—The Philippines: Light and Shadows,” in Acts and
Decrees of the Second Plenary Council of the Philippines (Pasay City: Paulines Publishing House, 1992, 72015) nos. 8-33.
2. MCBRIEN, R., “What is Catholicism?,” in Catholicism, Great Britain: Geoffrey Chapman 1981, 21984, 31994, 42008, pp. 3-17.