Hope springs on Easter Day

Amidst the rubble and what is left of Notre Dame church, the cross remained intact, unharmed by the massive blaze that destroyed large parts of the 850-year-old church. But the Cross continues to stand tall shrouded with a beam of light during the daytime and a silver spark highlighted by the evening moon. And yes, in hindsight, illuminating the sad state of the church today.

Was the fire an accident? Or did it bring a divine message from God? This ancient faith dating back from 4 B.C. has gone through a series of rebirths. From the time of Saint Peter who was appointed by Jesus to head the church in the 1st century, a series of struggles have come and gone in different epochs. Emperor Constantine set up laws to stop the conflicts between Christians and pagans. The Seven Ecumenical Councils were established after the Fall of Constantinople to unify the Christian world. The Fourth Crusade shook the Christians as it paved the way for Muslim conquests. The Counter-Reformation, the Age of Enlightenment, the Council of Trent and the Second Vatican Council introduced signifiant changes in Catholicism.

Last week during a Holy Thursday recollection in the Pink Sisters Convent in Quezon City, Father Jerry Orbos, SVD opened the session with a prayer. In his powerful prayer, he asked God to forgive the Catholic priests who have shortcomings, who are weak and who have hurt the faith. This gesture of his was very humbling. It made me hopeful. It appeased my troubled spirit.

Societies change over time. A sort of revolution happens in the hearts and minds of men as each epoch begins and ends. This modern, hi-tech generation has definitely posed challenges in our lives. There is so much suffering going on around the world. Crimes dominate the streets even in homes, people’s greed for power and wealth is given more priority than public service, cheating has become a norm, the youth’s obsession with technology has caused senseless deaths and broken families, poverty has become a fixture in society. The struggle over goodness and evil is heightened by such societal problems.

What makes the Church? It is the people and the community that makes it. Our spiritual leaders must step up and help us return to the fold. The burning down of the Notre Dame church is very significant. It is a wake up call that we have abondoned the church, taken it for granted and just used it for superficial fixes – baptismal celebrations, wedding ceremonies and photo opportunities. Billions of tourist flock to the grand ole churches like the Vatican, Notre Dame and the Sagrada Familia. Unfortunately, not so many of them pray. Despite the billions and trillions of guests, the church continues to be half empty… it needs to build more spirit. It needs to help lead us all to spiritual renewal. We need our Churches to step up and help us find inner peace.

Yesterday, we celebrated Easter Sunday in various ways. I went to Mt. Pinatubo Hidden Temple Shrine in Palan, a 60-foot high hill and 21.2 km. from Mt. Pinatubo surrounded by lahar in San Marcelino, Zambales. For almost 30 years, since the erruption of Mt. Pinatubo, my family and friends have been pilgrims to this shrine. What makes this a special feat is that the community is made up of Filipino indigenous people – aetas: the “kulots” (or the curly-haired ones) and the “unats” (or straight haired ones). They were displaced from their natural enivronments during the volcanic eruption and up to this day continue to be nomads. A thousand of them join us in prayer for the Easter celebration as we celebrate new life. I am always happy to see them and be with them during Easter and Christmas. It strengthens my heart knowing that I have celebrated Easter and Christmas masses with people who are our country’s ‘forgotten citizens’. Little do we realize that they are our national treasures.

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My father, the late Max Soliven used to say that Easter morning always brings with it memories of our golden yesterday, when all the world was young and heartbreak not even a cloud on the horizon. He would often recount how they used to celebrate Easter Sunday in his hometown of Sto. Domingo, in Ilocos sur. He said that Easter Sunday was an even bigger celebration than Christmas.

As we all know the highlight of the Easter celebration is the “salubong”, when the statue of the Blessed Mother – carried on her carosa – meets the statue of the Risen Jesus under a gaily decorated arch. The arch was decorateded with flowers, but the crowning act was for an “angel”, naturally a cherubic-looking little girl chosen from one of the town’s best families, would pop from concealment above in a contraption fashioned to appear like a huge flower fastened to the arch above, whose large petals were still closed. When the “petals” opened, the cherub would be lowered downwards, bestowing rosebuds on the Blessed Virgin’s head.

My dad would tell us the story of one of life’s most embarrassing moments that occurred when a young cousin of theirs was supposed to be the rosebud-throwing little angel. When Our Lady’s carosa halted immediately underneath her petal-like “prison”, to the horror of everybody the “petals” stuck. The “flower” refused to open so as to release their increasingly frantic little cousin to descend as an “angel” to do her appointed task. She began crying, her moans and sobs quite audible to everyone on the ground. The viewing Aglipayans in the crowd began to snigger. He together with his Manong Pepit, a more agile male cousin were hastily dispatched to clamber up the scaffold and “free” the trapped girl-angel. His Manong Pepit, after frantic minutes, managed the feat of swinging himself over the rope which suspended the “flower,” and pried it open with his bare hands. Whereupon, the little girl, regaining her composure, started dropping her roses on the ground – but Our Lady had moved on during the interval and the rosebuds missed their mark. Of course, they were indeed very embarrassed at that time, but many years later managed a good laugh at the incident.

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My grandfather, the late Assemblyman Benito Soliven once wrote, “There are men so blinded by ignorance or pride who do not appreciate the immense power of prayer. But it is a fact that, as Tennyson said, “More things are wrought by prayer than this world thinks of.” Even science has begun to recognize this fact, and it has shown that what was considered by the incredulous as superstitious belief in the efficacy of science is not so, for strange as it may sound, it has been recently demonstrated by science that “prayer is power.”

At the age of 4, my father delivered one of his first short speeches where he was taught by my Grandpa Benito to say, “Saluyot and bagoong make the Ilocano nation strong!” Partly true, my father said. But in retrospect, he added, “what makes the Ilocano nation, and, indeed, our entire Filipino nation “strong” is a strong belief in God’s goodness and love and the power of prayer.”

Happy Easter everyone!