“THIS Pope Francis has inspired me to go to Mass again. He has convinced me that I have a place in heaven, even as an atheist. I had gone every Sunday, with my family.”—Gary Villar
Gary (his given name in this piece) jubilantly shared that he found Pope Francis to be an inspiring leader.
He is an inspiring leader himself, constantly seeing the “the better angels of our nature.”
A book he enthusiastically shared with us on a visit was Steven Pinker’s “The Better Angels of Our Nature” and why violence has declined.
It catalogs the history of violence “when solidarity among members of a family, clan, or tribe, in particular their resolve to avenge killings-makes them fair game for someone with a bone to pick with any of them. As Aristotle wrote, ‘The angry man wishes the object of his anger to suffer in return; hatred wishes its object not to exist.’ When one side finds itself with an advantage in numbers or tactics, it may seize the opportunity to impose a final solution.”
Yet, for Gary, his heart filled with affection for his family, Sunday Mass became an act of solidarity with his family members — an act that ensures a more enduring family unity.
“I now have a place in heaven,” Gary said., implying that he would join his family members in that place called heaven, one day.
When Pres. Barack Obama was re-elected, Gary’s wife shared: “He went to Mass, he prayed and thanked all the guardian angels in the heavens, all the Saints, the Blessed Mother and the Holy Trinity.”
Gary said: “ I just knew there was another Higher Power that helped the President win the elections, given all the barriers and all the obstacles in voting in the red states that were engineered. Yet, for all those obstacles and man-made obstructions, the President still won re-election.”
Gary is a middle-aged man. He was imprisoned by Ferdinand Marcos when his oppositionist opinion about greed in power was deemed a threat.
In a democracy, one’s opinions should be protected as First Amendment rights. In a dictatorship, his First Amendment rights were taken away, as what happened to 50,000 others, without due process or trial or evidence presented.
Yet, that has not embittered Gary.
He was impressed that Pope Francis took action against the “Bishop of Bling,” Frantz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, who completed a $40-million home renovation: $20,000 spent for a bathtub, $500,000 for built-in closets, $35,000 for a conference table and a $1.1-million landscaped garden, as reported by Forbes.com on October 2013.
Who would have known that the 9 percent taxes paid by German Catholics and public subsidies given by the German government to Catholic institutions ($680 million a year) would be abused in this manner? This Bishop is now suspended indefinitely.
He was even more impressed when he learned how Pope Francis shared his birthday meal with the homeless, and how he blessed the migrant workers in Rome with prepaid telephone cards and Metro transit passes, so they can visit with their families during the holidays.
Why this conversion?
It was not for fear of going to hell for this former atheist. Gary actively goes to mass to join a leader he respects.
For a long time, he did not find the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) worthy of respect.
Misdeeds and miscreant actions were shared. Bishop Oscar Cruz, who spoke on Boy Abunda’s show, admitted that CBCP opposes reproductive health for women, not on substantive grounds, but out of fear of losing their base of supporters, and I venture to say, the pesos that sustain the institutions.
Our conversation shifted to sexual abuse scandals of Catholic priests in America, Ireland and in other parts of the world. Pope Francis did not hide this problem; instead he created a commission on sexual abuse.
Nicole Winfield of NBC in the Bay Area reported on Jan. 3, 2014: “Pope Francis has warned that priests can become ‘little monsters’ if they aren’t trained properly as seminarians, saying their time studying must be used to mold their hearts as well as their minds. Francis also warned against accepting men for the priesthood who may have been implicated in sexual abuse or other problems, saying the protection of the Catholic faithful is most important. The pontiff made the comments Nov. 29 during a closed-door meeting of 120 superiors of religious orders who gathered at the Vatican for their regular assembly. On Friday, the Jesuit journal La Civilta Cattolica provided a report of the three-hour, informal question and answer session. The Vatican never provided a transcript of the meeting.”
What impressed Gary is the return of Catholicism to simplicity — service to the poor; the support of what is just, right and progressive.
Under the prior pope, the institution was given primacy and the needs of 1.2 billion Catholics were not prominently and adequately addressed.
The meaning of Epiphany
On Jan. 4, 2014, Fr. Randy Odchigue’s homily described the Magis’ gift of wisdom: that Epiphany is the manifestation of Jesus to all the nations of the earth, symbolized by the Three Wise Men, (although we really do not know if there were three, six or eight), he said.
Three reactions happened during Jesus’ birth: Jerusalem was apprehensive, King Herod wanted to kill the child, while the priests wanted to support by waiting on what the king will do.
“This is a beautiful mosaic,” he said, and “we can have our own responses to the birth of Jesus.”
He named three ways in the Gospel: a symbolic way where light has come to darkness; or Magis bringing the light to a place; or chief priests, who are afraid and want to stop the light from shining.
“What is our response when Jesus comes to our life? What would our responses be? Will we be bystanders? Will our weakness destroy the light in the church and hinder the light of Christ from shining? Or will we be Magis who will embrace the light and become instruments of Epiphany?,” Fr. Randy eloquently exhorted us to reflect and examine.
Gary, the self-proclaimed atheist, chose instead to have the light and love in him salute the light and love in you and me.
Namaste. As the saying goes, I salute your divinity inside of you.
When I secretly do that in the space of my mind, something magical happens, as Marianne Williamson wrote: “within the inner space of your mind, bow before every person standing in the line. Within your heart, bless, apologize, and forgive whenever necessary. And complete forgiveness is necessary, if we’re to attract and produce miracles. Thank each person for the blessing he or she gave you, even if the blessing was in the form of a lesson learned.”
Gary wished us all blessings. He feels the world is much better with Pope Francis, who was named TIME Magazine’s Man of the Year. Through the sterling examples and boldness in teachings he imparts daily to us, he teaches us to be God’s love to others. The Pope says, “especially those who are in need: the prisoners, the poor, the vulnerable, the sick, the suffering!” “Love your neighbor AS I have loved you!,” Fr. Miloy said, emphasizing AS, the operative word.
2016 is the Jubilee Year of Mercy and also the Year of the Monkey. God seems to be harvesting a lot and we are going to a lot more funerals, two in one day when we buried my Mom. We believe those departed are now our angels and with eternal life.
From time to time we see butterflies, in pairs and in flight, and we like to believe our parents, my mom and my dad, are in flight, reunited.
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Prosy Abarquez-Delacruz, J.D. writes a weekly column for Asian Journal, called “Rhizomes.” She has been writing for AJ Press for 9 years now. She contributes to Balikbayan Magazine. Her training and experiences are in science, food technology, law and community volunteerism for 4 decades. She holds a B.S. degree from the University of the Philippines, a law degree from Whittier College School of Law in California and a certificate on 21st Century Leadership from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. She has been a participant in NVM Writing Workshops taught by Prof. Peter Bacho for 4 years and Prof. Russell Leong. She has travelled to France, Holland, Belgium, Japan, Mexico and 22 national parks in the US, in pursuit of her love for arts.