Like many people who usually hie off to different places outside Cebu, I had wanted to go on a retreat to Liptong Woodland in Bacong, Negros Oriental for a change of scenery and some quiet time during the Holy Week. I heard a lot about Bacong’s mini-rainforest, home to native trees and lovely flower species that attract both tourists and environment workers. For some reasons, I wasn’t able to actualize my plans but no regrets because I had some interesting short trips around the city that went well with reflections.
First of all, the Holy season felt a bit festive because I think many people decided to stay home and keep tradition rather than go out of town for some adventure. My family and I jostled with local parishioners and other visitors when we went to the national shrine of St. Joseph in Mandaue City as our first stop in our trek to 7 churches for the traditional Visita Iglesia. It was not a casual visit in the sense that the churches we picked held some significance in our personal and family history.
Church number 2 was the Gethsemane parish of barangay Casuntingan, Mandaue City. The captivating, life-size sculpture of Christ in Agony set in a real garden designed by the late Monsignor Virgilio Yap makes me go back to this beautiful church snuggled in a community surrounded by commercial establishments.
On our way back, I happened to touch base with my old friend Betty, the parish secretary who told me that except for regular churchgoers who are native dwellers, many people who attend masses in the main church of Casuntingan are no longer familiar faces. That’s how Betty, in a nutshell, described the changing dynamics of this once laid-back community. Employment and economic opportunities are strong social factors that greatly influence the culture and faith of young people and I wonder if the Cebu Archdiocese has adjusted to the changing times.
Having said that, I needed to adjust my own fondness for traditional church hymns while attending liturgical services in the chapel of St. John Bosco in Lawaan III, Talisay City during the Easter vigil mass.
The young choir belted out songs and psalms with upbeat music that if one were not familiar with the spirituality inspired by the Italian Saint John Bosco, the Eucharistic celebration would come out as rather rowdy. Most churchgoers, aged 17 – 35 sang enthusiastically and participated actively in different activities.
St. John Bosco who lived 200 years ago was able to read the social realities of his times by being in the midst of young people from poor communities. The priest-educator pointed to “the lack of self-confidence of the young, a fear of the future and the increasing divide between the world of adults and the world of the young.”
The Italian saint encouraged the young people of his time to become “protagonists through scholastic and professional formation” even as he called on the older generation “to remain in the midst of the world of the young and become companions in their journey.”
Today, St. John Bosco must be amazed to see that the current social conditions haven’t changed much. It is still the same as many young people walk aimlessly through life, seeking happiness in gadgets and self-centered gimmicks; forced to work because their families can’t afford to give them proper education. I read that in Iloilo City many young women sell their bodies so they can continue going to school.
2015 is the Year of the Poor. If you wish to assist young people from poor families, consider helping them get a Christian formation through the seminaries run by the Salesians of Don Bosco. It would be a worthy cause because 2015 is the bicentenary of St. John Bosco.
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How refreshing to read some real good news on Easter Sunday, through CDN’s banner headline, “Poor Can Triumph.” The story was culled from the reflection of Maria Elena “Ellen” Limocon, general manager of the Lamac Multi-Purpose Cooperative, one of two lay persons who shared their reflections in the Good Friday celebration of the Seven Last Words in the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral.
The classic success story of a self-help organization put up by 70 tenant tillers during the Martial Law era in the rugged mountains of barangay Lamac, in Pinamungajan does not fail to impress because the farmers/founders were very poor and lacked education. As Ellen shared her faith-experiences, the agricultural cooperative had already breached the P1 billion-mark in assets, a milestone that the self-effacing co-op leader did not overly emphasize.
As a co-op advocate, I like to repeat what CDN publisher Eileen Mangubat said about yesterday’s headline, a subtitle that I think was lost in the process of production: Cooperatives are definitely good news!
Happy Easter!
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