On Jenny Arteta II's Accusations against the Baclaran Church: Rector forgives Baclaran Shrine critics

Source: CBCP News

PARAÑAQUE City, March 4, 2016 – The rector of the National Shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Help in Baclaran, Parañaque City has finally spoken out on the malicious post that went viral on social media recently, saying that while it hurt and demoralized him and fellow Redemptorists, they are willing and ready to forgive the offenders.

“We were saddened by the comments. We were also angered by the unfounded remarks hurled against the church, its priests and brothers. These were accusations that were unfair and uncalled for,” said Fr. Joseph O. Echano, C.Ss.R. in an open letter Friday, March 4, lamenting the unverified incident involving a father and his son which had been blown out of proportion online at the expense of the whole Redemptorist community and all Catholic clergy.

Damaging post

The viral story was posted by Facebook user Jenny Arteta II on March 1 in which she called attention to the “plight” of a certain Jesus San Antonio and his son whom she spotted being “insensitively” escorted out of the Baclaran shrine compound by one of the guards on duty the midnight before.

According to Arteta, San Antonio told her they came from Trece Martires City, Cavite, and they were just dropping by the church enroute to the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) in Manila to have the child treated of tuberculosis (TB) when she saw “Kuya Guard” turning them away on order of “Father.”

The post became a trending topic among netizens soon after, prompting many to pity the San Antonios and lash out at the “heartlessness” of the security guard and the clergy in charge of the national shrine, with some even offering to send cash.

‘Hurtful’ comments

Basing only on Arteta’s version of the event, one Facebook user criticized the priests and lay brothers of Baclaran in particular for being “inhumane,” and all Catholic priests in general for being “hypocrites” who “preach compassion but do not practice it themselves.”

Another dragged parties who had nothing to do with what happened like Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio G. Cardinal Tagle, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), and even Pope Francis.

“We had no idea where all these comments were coming from. While we noticed some were sincere in expressing sorry for the San Antonios, many more saw an opportunity to attack the Church and defame the reputation of her priests and brothers,” bemoaned Echano, who was quick to point out Arteta’s good intentions.

Scam?

It turned out, however, that the elder San Antonio was a regular beneficiary of financial aid who had been given employment opportunities many times previously by concerned individuals at the National Shrine of the Sacred Heart and Don Bosco Parish in Makati City.

In a text message to Arteta, he gave a reference number to which donors could send donations, with a reminder that he could not entertain phone calls due to an allegedly damaged earpiece.

Unknown to her, at the time of the incident, San Antonio had already been endorsed to the social mission department of the church.

Just to be sure, a social worker from Baclaran checked whether a record exists proving San Antonio had his son admitted at PGH. There’s none.

‘Tactless, irresponsible’

According to Echano, there was no effort on the part of Arteta and the people who were following her thread to let the Redemptorist community confirm or deny the allegations against them.

“It was tactless and irresponsible of them to be saying those things. We have been given a sentence even before we had a chance to explain our side: my fellow priests, the brothers, and the staff,” he said, commenting on the online backlash.

However, despite the flak the Redemptorists received, Echano went on to extend forgiveness on behalf of those who were hurt… to Arteta and those who jumped on the Facebook bandwagon.

“We were really affected by the comments. But the best thing we can do now is to forgive Ms. Jenny and all who reacted negatively on her post. We forgive them if only because they did not know the whole story. Rest assured that in spite of all these we will continue to help and serve the poor and the needy,” he explained.

Helping poor since Day 1

For the sake of the public, Echano enumerated the programs and services offered at the national shrine, one of few churches in the Philippines open 24/7, as follows:

• St. Gerard Family Life Center gives guidance and counselling to strengthen family life;

• Crisis Intervention Center renders emergency assistance;

• Medical and Dental Services responds to basic health needs;

• Solidarity Assistance Committee provides calamity assistance;

• Redemptorist Education Assistance Program gives scholarship;

• Sarnelli Center for School Children helps street children readjust their lives and become responsible members of their families and communities;

• Redemptorist Skills Training and Livelihood Program gives skills training to the poor to help them improve their economic condition; and

• St. John Neumann Center for Migrants helps migrants and their families cope with the social costs of migration.

• Furthermore, Echano appealed to netizens to be more responsible in exercising their freedom of expression.

“Let us use social media properly. Avoid posting things that can destroy the good name and dignity of one another,” he added.

For the whole text of Echano’s statement, visit: https://www.facebook.com/omphbaclaran/posts/478165085718822. (Raymond A. Sebastián / CBCP News)

CBCP News: Black Nazarene is Bible-based—lay preacher

CBCP News, MANILA, Jan. 11, 2015—Non-Catholics might not buy it, but a lay evangelist asserts that no less than the Bible itself has inspired the popular depiction of the revered Black Nazarene.

Devotees attempt to touch the statue of the
Black Nazarene during last year's procession. (Photo: CBCPNews)

“The iconography of the Black Nazarene is thoroughly Biblical. No matter what the cause for the dark color of the Nazareno, it is here to stay. There are nevertheless Biblical and theological reasons for the black iconographic depiction of the Nazareno,” notes Dominican lawyer-preacher Marwil N. Llasos in a recent post on the top-rating blog site Know The Truth where he reflects on the phenomenal Filipino Catholic devotion.

Black and beautiful

He shares Scripture considers black beautiful, citing a verse from the Song of Songs (Song of Solomon) which reads: “I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon” (Song of Songs 1:5, KJV).

According to him, Christ is the final Davidic King spoken of in prophecy as the “fairest of the sons of men” (Ps. 45:2).

‘Suffering Servant’

Llasos stresses the Nazareno’s dark color aptly portrays Christ’s Passion, underscoring the pain the Lord had to bear for the sins of men, embodying as well His prophetic role as the Suffering Servant of Isaiah: “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed” (Isa. 53:5).

“Even in our modern idiomatic expression, one who suffers much from being severely beaten is said to be ‘black and blue … He was black and blue all over His body because of the torture and unbearable sufferings He endured during His most sorrowful passion. He was one whole wound, from the crown of His head to the soles of His feet,” he says, adding that Syriac only has one word for black and suffering or sorrow.

‘Man of Sorrows’

Related to Isaiah’s description of Christ as Suffering Servant is of Him as a “Man of Sorrows,” Llasos states.

“Black is the color for mourning. It is also the color for sorrow. Black Madonnas are actually depictions of Mary as the Sorrowful Mother. The black images of Christ, like the Black Nazarene, points to Him as the Man of Sorrows

Isaiah 53:3-4 reads: “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.”

Christ saves all

“The Black Nazarene reminds us that Jesus Christ is the savior of all – not just of those with fair complexion. He is also the Savior of people with dark complexion, those who have been traditionally exploited and treated as mere slaves. God in Jesus Christ loves them – and the salvation offered by God in Christ is also for them. The image of the Black Nazarene resonates with the theology of the Incarnation – that the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us (Jn. 1:14),” he explains.

According to the apologist, in Jesus, God “is one of us”, but no single race or culture can exclusively appropriate Him.

“We all can relate to Him. He belongs to us all… The Black Nazarene is a symbol of faith in the Incarnation and Redemption, but one that is an inculturated faith,” he adds.

‘Became sin for us’

While no longer politically correct, Llasos recalls that black used to be associated with sin as suggested by the expression “sin of the blackest hue.”

In the image of the Black Nazarene, a black Jesus carries His cross, driving home the point that “in carrying the cross of our salvation, the Savior bore our own sins”.

1 Peter 2:24 reads: “He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed” (1 Pt. 2:24). It was the sinless Lamb of God who took away the sins of the world (Jn. 1:29).

“Jesus Christ took our place on the cross to save us. He who had no sin became sin for us so that we can be saved. The Pauline teaching is clear: ‘For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him’ (2 Cor. 5:21),” Llasos explains. (Raymond A. Sebastián/CBCP News)

CBCP News: What if Jesus wasn’t born on Dec. 25?

Source: CBCP News

QUEZON City, Dec. 21, 2014—Amid the uncertainty surrounding the real date of Christ’s Nativity, a Catholic lay evangelist highlights the one thing that cannot be denied: “The Savior of the world was born and it was a cause for joy” (cf. Lk. 1:10).

“It is the event that we celebrate, and it is the joy that we relive,” stressed Marwil N. Llasos of the Company of Saint Dominic (CSD), a lawyer by profession and preacher by vocation.

Llasos made the statement in response to criticisms that Catholics and other Christians who have taken up the practice, cannot celebrate Christmas because not a single verse in the Bible supports Dec. 25 as the Lord’s birthdate.

Christmas is traditionally celebrated on December 25, but uncertainties
regarding the accuracy of the date  remain(Photo: CBCP News)

True. But the lawyer-preacher shares the Church sees the significance of Christmas in a different light.

“Jesus Christ may or may not have been born on Dec. 25, but we have more reasons to believe that He was born on, or within the vicinity of Dec. 25. But it really doesn’t matter because what we celebrate is not a date but an event. The choice of Dec. 25 to celebrate the Birth of Christ is not dogmatic or doctrinal, it is liturgical,” Llasos explains.

“Besides, there can never be any apodictic way to determine dates in the Bible. Even the exact year of Christ’s birth is not known. We can only intelligently guess. Why? Because the calendar has changed! The Jews had their own lunar calendar. Then we had the Julian calendar. Now we follow the Gregorian calendar. On the year the Gregorian calendar was promulgated by the Pope, ten days were taken from October,” he says.

In defending Christmas and similar Catholic traditions, Llasos raises the alarm on the danger that may arise in declaring as true what the Church has not dogmatically settled.

“The Church has no dogmatic pronouncement regarding that [Christmas], so we cannot go beyond what the Church affirms. Otherwise, our enemies will take our word and pass it off [as] Church’s official teaching which is not. It’s more prudent not to affirm what the Church does not affirm,” he shares.

It means the Church is the first to point out that Christmas-on-Dec. 25 is not an article of Faith.

But again, it’s The Event, not the date. (Raymond A. Sebastián/CBCP News)