03 ALFONSO, Joaquin Lorenzo C.

2D-MT
Reflection Paper THY 3
1). Why is the Catholic Social Teaching considered as the Church’s Best Kept Secret?

The Catholic Church is deeply blessed with more than a century’s worth of exceptional

social justice and peace documents authored by popes, Vatican II, world synods, and national

conferences of bishops. But what’s controversial is that these documents would tend to be kept

on shelves instead of being read and preached across the globe. These teachings possess a

powerful capability to transform our society if every bishop, priest, deacon, religious, and

layperson was driven towards communicating and implementing these teachings, it would turn

our society’s current state upside-down.

In spite of that, revealing these teachings to the mass and urging its full application would

actually cause controversy. Our society has its own ideology of what the Church should do, its

boundaries, and if the Church steps beyond what is expected, it could be attacked and criticized

by conservatives and liberals of the state. The foundational ideology of justice and love found in

these teachings demand that wealth and power should not be hoarded by what is considered the

“upper class” in the society, but instead, be placed at the benefit of all individuals and nations.

Therefore, majority of Catholics have decided to act with caution, resulting to Catholic Social

Teaching being the Church’s “best-kept secret”.

2). How is the Catholic Social Teachings presented in the documentary film? What do the priests

say on human dignity and private property?

Two basic ecclesial communities (BEC) served as an avenue to portray Catholic Social

Teachings in the documentary. The first basic ecclesial community shown was the Parish of Our

Lady of Peñafrancia in Paco, Manila. Dayang, an unemployed migrant from Leyte, shows how

hard life is in the slums of Paco, while Dada, a resident since birth and a street sweeper, slugs it
03 ALFONSO, Joaquin Lorenzo C. 2D-MT
Reflection Paper THY 3
out in the chambers of the city hall to keep her home from being demolished. Lorette, a lay

worker and parish organizer, showed utmost commitment in helping them and telling how and

why the Church takes part in the struggles of Dada and Dayang. The second basic ecclesial

community was the Diocese of Bukidnon, where the church has struggled to sustain the

province’s only remaining forests. Father Mar Chia, initiates rounds using his motorbike,

building communities throughout the day, and impounding trucks filled with illegally-cut logs.

Monsignor Rosales would plant trees on deforested hills left by illegal loggers. Tita, who cooks

herbal medicine with other members of the community, tells how the Church has affected their

lives. Father Albert Alejo emphasized on the two main principles of Catholic Social Teaching:

respect for human dignity (dangal) and living in a community with people who also respect each

other’s dignity. He also emphasized on the principle that one should never keep beyond what is

considered enough. Property is without a doubt considered a right but there is also this aspect

wherein you consider the needs of other people and how you could provide for them. Private

property is never absolute, and it should come to our understanding that it is for the benefit of all.

3). How does the Philippine Church help in transforming the lives of the poor and temporal

order?

The fundamental unit of the Catholic Church in transforming lives of the poor would be

the basic ecclesial communities. These people are immersed in communities which gives them

an idea of how life could be made better and what they could do to alleviate the state of life in

certain impoverished and abandoned sectors of the society. Another example is the Diocese of

San Pablo in Laguna, which has been feeding about 20,000 malnourished children daily for the

past 10 years. They have also maintained an institution called “Bahay Pag-ibig” to care for the

abandoned and neglected elderly in city streets by providing them basic material and spiritual
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Reflection Paper THY 3
needs, decent lives, and a caring environment. There are a lot of examples of how the Philippine

Church has been taking action towards sexual abuse, orphans, and maltreated. For the longest

time, Catholic churches all over the country, imperfect and wounded as the institution may be,

have been taking initiative towards uplifting the plight of the poor and the forgotten.

4). As Thomasians, what will you contribute to alleviate the condition of poor Filipinos?

During our National Service Training Program, I volunteered and chose the Civil Welfare

Training Service, where the students get to immerse in communities, teach young children, feed

them, and get to know them as well. This program, as a Thomasian, has been a great contribution

towards alleviating the living conditions of the poor. Although that was in the past, as of this

very moment what I could do to help them is to donate some of the things I own that I find

unnecessary but would be of help to them, give them food, and hand them some spare change.

This may not seem much and be cliché as an answer but I can promise that I will study and work

really hard so that at some point in time, when I become successful and earn money by myself, I

will be able to provide not just for my family but also for the people who are really in need.