Congratulations to the holding of a successful Sinulog Grand Parade and the Sto. Niño solemn foot procession last weekend.
From the reports I gathered, Sunday’s Sinulog parade had a much larger crowd with more contingents participating. Crowd control was handled well by the organizers and the people cooperated to make the events memorable though there were isolated incidents that marred what would have otherwise been a peaceful celebration. There were revelers on the streets who got rowdy from excessive alcoholic drinking sprees but authorities anticipated this and were prepared. On the whole, everyone enjoyed the festivities and activities leading to the Sinulog and the day itself.
Thanks to the Sto. Niño for being with us all throughout the week of the Sinulog. Congratulations to the organizers of the parade and the procession especially all the volunteers. Admittedly, many of us failed to watch the televised Sinulog parade because we were also following the activities of Pope Francis in Manila.
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Allow me to share with you my observation of the visit of Pope Francis to our country. He arrived last Thursday in Manila and was met by President Aquino and government officials and Catholic church leaders headed by Luis Cardinal Tagle, archbishop of Manila. It was heartwarming to see all government officials, except for one, pay their respects to the pope by kissing the papal ring.
What surprised me was the unprecedented number of people who came out to welcome the pope at Villamor Air Base and on the streets of Manila. One could see the outpouring of love and admiration for the pope.
The people shouted out their love to welcome the pope with some shedding tears of joy. The pope struck me with his simplicity, humility and compassion for people. This could be seen as he approached those who were sick. He embraced and kissed them just like a loving father.
The pope’s appearance in the Manila Cathedral with all the bishops, priests and religious was overwhelming. In his homily he reminded them of their commitment to serve God through the people, especially the poor.
The meeting with families at the SM Arena was very touching. The pope highlighted the importance of the family and the need to protect this institution. We then heard some families share their difficult life experiences which so moved the pope that he approached all of them, embracing and kissing some of them.
On Saturday, the pope travelled to Tacloban City where he was met by a storm but the rain and strong winds of “Amang” didn’t stop the people from welcoming the pope.
The mass at the Tacloban Airport moved me to tears when he gave the homily. Francis assured the victims of supertyphoon Yolanda that God never left them even at the height of the 2013 storm.
Many in the crowd cried when the pope recounted how, upon hearing about the devastation of Yolanda, he immediately wanted to come.
Unfortunately, what would have been a whole-day visit to Tacloban and Palo was cut short because they had to leave at 1 p.m. before the typhoon worsened.
Back in Manila, Sunday’s morning activity was basically a mass at the University of Santo Tomas for the youths. Pope Francis, faced with a little girl’s tearful question about why God allows people to suffer, talked about the importance of crying.
“Certain realities in life we only see through eyes that are cleansed with tears. I invite each one here to ask yourselves, have I learned how to weep, to cry?” the Pope said.
“If you don’t learn how to cry, you cannot be a good Christian,” he said.
It was there that the pope told the crowd about the death of a volunteer in Tacloban City who was accidentally hit by steel scaffolding near the stage where he held Mass. He asked the crowd for a minute of silence to pray for the fallen volunteer’s repose. On Sunday afternoon, the pope celebrated Holy Mass at the Quirino grandstand attended by an estimated 6 million people.
The pope’s spirits were visibly high as he went around the crowd before proceeding to the stage for the Mass. I was amazed by the outpouring of love and admiration of people from all walks of life for Francis. The crowd showed this in being disciplined and cooperative. They followed the boundary lines set up to ensure the pope’s smooth trek to the grandstand. We didn’t see this conduct in the crowd of the feast of the Black Nazarene in Quiapo.
Now that the pope has returned to Rome, I pray to God that his visit touched the hearts of people to allow a change for the better, that we may truly show we are God’s children who care for the poor and the less privileged.