WHO IS

THE
FILIPINO
CATHOLIC
?
According to PCP
II
“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
THE GOSPEL WHICH WE FILIPINOS
HAVE ACCEPTED

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.
• It means fulfilling
our physical, FULLNESS OF
material, emotional, LIFE
aesthetic and
spiritual needs. To
live the fullness of
life is more than just
acquiring wealth,
status and power. It
means to live a
meaningful and
purposeful life.
 (PCP II
Much of the
Gospel has 15)
become part of
us __
compassion,
forgiveness,
caring, piety __
and makes of us
a basically
decent people
HINDI TAYO MGA…
PCP 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”
 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, to “People Power” and
today’s “Basic Christian
Communities,” and the 2nd
Plenary Council of the
Philippines [PCP II].
Our understanding
and love of 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
 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
First, we A. SELF-IDENTITY
Filipinos are
family-
oriented. The
anak-
magulang
relationship is
of primary
importance to
• 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,
• 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
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,
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
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.
 C. SUFFERINGS IN LIFE

Third, we Filipinos
are kundiman-
oriented.

The kundiman is a
sad Filipino song
about wounded
• Filipinos
are
naturally
attracted
to heroes
sacrificing
everything
for love.
We are
patient and
forgiving to a
fault. This
acceptance of
suffering
manifests a
deep, positive
spiritual
value of
Filipinos’
Jesus, the Suffering
Servant of the prophet
Isaiah, is portrayed
through our favorite
Filipino images of
Padre Hesus Nazareno,
the Santo Entierro or
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,
 D. LIFE-COMMITMENT
Fourth,
we
Filipinos
are
bayani-
oriented
We Filipinos are
natural hero-
followers. For all
our patience and
tolerance, we will
not accept
ultimate failure
and defeat…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. We Filipinos
see Jesus Christ as the
Conqueror of the
world by his mission
as prophet, king and
priest (cf. PCP II 57-
“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”
 THE FILIPINO
The outstanding
WAY
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
 SCHEDULE OF
RECOLLECTION
February

26 (Monday) BSA !,!!,!!! & BSN

I,II,III
27 (Tuesday) BSBA I
28 (Wednesday) BSBA II
March
1 (Thursday) BSED I & II
19 (Monday) BSBA III (1/2)
20 (Tuesday) BSBA III (1/2)
21 (Wednesday) BSED III
(1/2)
22 (Thursday) BSED III
 CONTRIBUTIONS
Place - 50.00
Transpo 50.00
Food
(Lunch and 2snacks) 160.00
Token 10.00
TOTAL 270.00
From Tuition Fee 150.00

Additional 120.00
Due date (February 19)
Thank you for
listening!!!

God Bless