Morality

Class Discussion: August 13, 2019

Who is the Filipino Catholic?
 The Word became flesh, and made his dwelling among us, and we have seen
his glory, the glory of an only Son, coming from the Father, filled with
enduring love.
 (Jn 1:14)
 We Filipinos are followers of Christ, his disciples. To trace his footsteps in
our times means to utter his word to others, to love with his love, to live
with his life; . . . To cease following him is to betray our very identity.
 (PCP II 34)
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.
A. 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 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.
 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
(LG 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 (NCDP 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. AMB 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” (AMB 72-73).
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
 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.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
 Who are Christians?
 Christians are men and women who are
baptized in the faith that Jesus Christ is
the Son of God who became man to be
Savior of all. United in the Church as
Christ’s “people of God,” they live out
this faith in personal conviction,
committed witness, and Spirit-inspired
worship of God their Father.
 How can we become more truly Filipino by becoming more truly
Christian?
 By discovering and proclaiming Jesus Christ in our personal and
national Filipino culture, we Filipino Catholics invite Christ to
purify and heal us, and enrich us with fuller life in his Spirit in
the Church.
 How does the Church relate “being Christian” with our Filipino
culture?
 There is a mutual relationship:
• “being Christian” is part of our Filipino identity,
• maturing in Christian Faith comes only from personally
interiorizing
 Jesus’ message in our Filipino ways of thinking, loving and
valuing. The Church teaches that we Filipino Christians must
know our own culture, and by our Christian Faith in Christ,
purify, guard, develop, and perfect it.
 Likewise, we must “inculturate” our Catholic Faith into our
Filipino ways. (Cf. AG 21; PCP II 202-11.)
 What are some of the basic characteristics of the Filipino?
 Filipinos are family-oriented, meal-oriented, patient and
long- suffering, hero-followers, and firm believers in the
spiritual world.
 How does Jesus Christ as presented in Catholic teaching
correspond to Filipino character traits?
 ••••••
 brings us into the family of God our Father;
nourishes us as Eucharist;
redeems us as Suffering Servant;
calls us to personal commitment to Him as our Risen Hero-
King; is experienced in his community, the Church;
 gives us his Mother Mary to be our Mother in grace.
 What is our vocation as Catholic Filipinos in Asia?
 We are called both personally, as individual believers, and
ecclesially, as members of the Church, to share Jesus Christ
with our Asian brethren by word and witness, through
active commitment to truth, justice, freedom and universal
Christian love.
 This means “going forth in-spirited to renew the face of the
world __ the wider world of Asia and beyond, giving of
ourselves unto the renewal and unity of God’s whole
creation” (PCP II 7).
 Our vocation is to move from being truly “Church of the
Poor,” through “Renewed Integral Evangelization,” toward
becoming a real “Community of Disciples of Christ” before
the world (cf. NPP).