On Msgr. Cris Garcia Masters in Urban and Regional Planning

What kind of a man or priest, Msgr. Chris E. Garcia truly is? How does one know the heart of a man immersed in several controversies in his life. Since no man is perfect, do we judge a man by the many times he falls, or by the many times he rises in as many falls and what he has achieved after these trying events?

In Matthew 7: 15-20, Jesus, whose pristine innocence did not spare him from false accusations and humiliating death on the cross, like a man guilty of some heinous crime, offers a foolproof criteria of discerning the heart of a man: “Be on guard against prophet who comes to you in sheep’s clothing but underneath are wolves on the prowl. You will know them by their deeds. Do you ever pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from prickly plant? Never! Any sound tree bears good fruit, while a decayed tree bears bad fruit. A sound tree cannot bear bad fruit, anymore than a decayed tree bears good fruit. Every tree that does bear bad good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. You can tell a tree by its fruit.”

If we are to judge St. Paul by his deeds against the Christians, before his fall from the horse and his conversion on the way to Damscus, we would likely call him a criminal, whose acts caused the persecution and deaths to the first believers of Jesus. It was what he has done after the fall, that as an inspired convert made him achieve more than the original apostles of Christ by bringing the good news of salvation to the Gentiles and his death for that earned him his sainthood.

I have known Msgr. Chris for over 20 years, first as a critic of a be-mustached priest who ought to be clean-shaven to celebrate the Mass at the Metropolitan Cathedral, then as member and as the former District Steward for Pastorial Apostolate of the Bukas Loob sa Diyos Covenant Community that the good prelate nurtured for 20 years since its establishments in 1991. The charismatic community is one of the few, if not the only charismatic congregation that develops disciples and prayer warriors out of its couples, singles and singles parents members, through its 2-year Discipleship Formation Program. Since its establishment BLD, through the dedicated guidance of Msgr. Chris, has reached out and served 7 parishes all over the province of Cebu and the cities of Tagbilaran, Dumaguete, and Ormoc in the Visayas, as well as, the city of Cagayan de Oro and the town of Molave in Mindanao.

Msgr. Chris, in spite of being a scion of a well-to-do family could not have all the money to spend and buy all the ivory icons of the Sto. Niño and the Virgin Mary of whom he is a passionate devotee that he can lay his hand on, much less to engage in high finance ivory smuggling. A greater portion of his share of the wealth and the income of the family is utilized to support a seminary and a religious order, he single handedly established with the blessings of the archdiocese of Cebu, for the poor young men and women, and free medical services every time his savings and the donations he received are enough to finance such activities for the poorest of the poor in his parishioners. He became a collector of the much publicized icons that were donated to him to support the operations of his seminary and a religious congregation for women, and in thanksgiving for the intercessory prayers of his religious men and women that somehow healed their loved ones, because he did not have the heart sell these religious antique icons.

The long years of close and spirit-filled association I have with him, to my mind is not enough qualifications of license for me to judge what kind of a man he is. I can only witness that I have seen more of the better side of him, than what others say he is. Even if granting without admitting, he is guilty as they say he is, I would rather that his accusers and those who believed their accusations who have no sin in them, cast the first stones.