Ang Vatican at Pilipinas…Ngayon

Ang Vatican at Pilipinas…Ngayon

Ni Apolinario Villalobos

 

Ang Vatican ay merong Santo Papang mapagpakumbaba, piniling tumira sa apartment sa halip na sa marangyang “palasyo” ng Vatican, at ang mga kasabay na kumain ay ang mga ordinaryong pari na bumibisita sa Vatican. Hindi maganda ang mga kuwento tungkol sa kanyang nakaraan, kasama na diyan ang pagtrabaho niya bilang bouncer sa isang bahay-aliwan. Marami din siyang nakabanggang nakatataas sa kanya nang siya ay naging pari hanggang sa maging Obispo. Sa simula pa lang ng pag-upo niya bilang Santo Papa, nagbanta na siyang lilinisin niya ang simbahang Katoliko na ang korapsyon at iba pang eskandalo ay pilit na itinago sa mahabang panahon. Hanggang ngayon ay tinutuligsa niya ang mga animo ay demonyo na nakasuot ng sotana at nagpapanggap na mga “ama” ng komunidad, ganoong mayroon palang mga minumulestiya. Nanawagan siya sa mga ito na lisanin na ang simbahan upang hindi madamay ang mga matitino, subalit matitigas ang ulo nila dahil siguro hindi nila maiwanan ang karangyaang INI-ENJOY nila.

 

Ang Pilipinas ay mayroon ngayong Rodrigo Duterte na umaming madilim ang kanyang kahapon bilang estudyante dahil pumapasok siya sa klase maski nakainom. Wala sa mga naging classmate niya ang nakaalala na nagpakita siya ng katalinuhan. Pati ang isang propesor niya noon na ininterbyu ay umaming hindi niya maalalang naging estudyante niya si Duterte, ganoong nababanggit siya nito (Duterte) sa mga talumpati. Nang maging mayor ng Davao city, ang lunsod ay biglang tumino dahil nawala ang mga NPA at drug dealers na nakatira sa mga depressed areas lalo na sa Agdao kaya tinawag ito noon na “Nicaragdao”. Matindi ang pagbatikos ni Duterte sa mga tiwali sa gobyerno na bahagi ng mga dahilan kung bakit namayagpag ang problema sa droga.

 

Ang dalawang lider ay parehong binabatikos ng mga ayaw magbago o tumanggap ng pagkakamali. Pareho rin silang nagpahayag ng pagtanggap ng kanilang kapalaran nila kung sakaling hindi sila umabot sa itinakdang panahon. Si pope Francis ay nagpahayag noon na baka mag-retire siya ng maaga upang mabigyan ng pagkakataon ang ibang Obispo na maging lider ng simbahang Katoliko, at si Duterte naman ay nagsabing handang bumaba kung magawa agad ang bagong porma ng gobyerno na Pederalismo. Sa madaling salita, pareho silang hindi ganid o sakim sa kapangyarihan.

 

Ang Vatican ay isang maliit na lunsod sa loob ng Italya pero nirerespeto ng mga makapangyarihang bansa. Ang Pilipinas naman ay isang maliit ding bansa, watak-watak pa dahil ang kabuuhan nito ay kinabibilangan ng mga isla, subalit dahil kay Duterte, kahit papaano ay nasapawan ng imahe niya ang nakasanayang pagtukoy dito na bansang korap. Kung noon ang Vatican at Pilipinas ay nilibak dahil sa mga katiwalian, ngayon sila ay nirerespeto ng buong mundo!

The “Personal God” in the Bible and the “Personal Saints” of Today

The “Personal God” in the Bible

And the “Personal Saints” of Today

By Apolinario Villalobos

 

Passages in the Bible mention about personalities who “walked with their personal God”. The Israelites of the Bible are said to be “Chosen People”… by whom?…of course, their “personal God” who hated the rest of the peoples at the time so that “He” commanded the Israelites to eradicate them from the face of the earth, so that they could occupy their land. (That for me was the first case of LAND GRABBING to the highest level!). Of course, I will be contradicted by some viewers by saying that those people that the Israelites must exterminate were pagans, heathens, who did sodomy, etc…..fine. But if the “God” of Israel was really the “God” of all, being the “creator” of everything in the universe, why must “He” command the early Israelites to do the killing when all that “He” could have done was sweep them off with a strong and blinding desert sandstorm or torrential rain of fire? (SOME Filipino Catholic Church leaders and Christian human life advocates kuno must have missed the message of this legendary story – eradication of the heathen, the bad people…because they keep on attacking instead, the guy who wants to eradicate them….the guy is Duterte who wants to eradicate the bad drug personalities!)

 

The above-mentioned story is a clear indication of the ET (extra-terrestial) characteristics of what the Israelites of the Bible referred to as their “Lord”.  For me, the Israelites’ “Lord” could be the “messenger” of the true God. There are passages in the Bible about what some prophets allude to what we call today as space ships. I believe nothing is wrong with that if those “Lords” of the Bible were really the early missionaries of the true God, and who came to Earth… did several experiments using what they found when they landed, such as the uprightly walking apes and their (ET) own genes, until they succeeded in producing intelligent humans in their own image. The passage of the legend says “THEIR”, and not “HIS”, a reference in plural form….indication that the creation legend involves a group, not an individual. It is said that legends are basis of traditions that are oftentimes proved later on, to be credible. That is the reason why continued archaeological diggings have been proving the truthfulness in the passages of the Bible…and more are being done to show more truths.

 

Still on the “personal” thing…. if all saints are Godly and of course, good, why classify them according to “what they can do or heal?”. Why not just view all of them as “models” of what man should be, aside from helping him connect with God in times of his need? Why must a certain saint be good for a certain ailment, for instance? Why must some be treated as the “most effective” “go between” with God for some wishes? Why must there be personal saints? Are these saints expected to choose who to help among the living? If this practice among the Catholics is wrong, why is the Church tolerating it?

 

My personal view is that there is a massive misinformation about how man should “truly” live his life accordingly. The responsible guys just want to increase the number of their “flock” for the money that is involved. Everybody knows that for a dead to be blessed there are standard fees depending on where it is done – at home or house of worship, as do are baptizing and marrying couples. A fee is a fee as it involves money regardless of the amount and denomination. I do not view this as wrong if only the concerned guys are not hypocrite in denying the glaring facts. They need the money for subsistence, too, but for their God’s sake, they should be frank about it!

 

I appreciate the mushrooming of the new Christian Ministries to which the enlightened run to seek spiritual solace – to the Ministers who are honest about the tithes that they receive which are sincerely given for their support, tithes that are not necessarily  “love offering to the Lord”…but tokens of appreciations for their sacrifice.  I also appreciate the honesty of these Ministers regarding their status in life, such as being happily married and having children.

 

On the other hand, what I question is the breaking of promises made by the so-called “shepherds of the Lord” who prostrated themselves in front of the altar where they mumbled “vows” not to get married, but later molested innocent teenagers and unsuspecting widows…vowed not to amass wealth, but are driving cars. There is one guy at the Vatican who keeps on calling for the repentance of SOME of his “colleagues” who are very obvious in their wrongdoing. His voice must be hoarse by now and still, nobody among the CONCERNED listens to him!…poor Francis!

 

My calling the pope by his first name is not a sign of disrespect, but fondness as he himself expressed that does not want to be treated “royally” , but just like anybody else….unlike SOME of his colleagues who do not deserve even a teeny-weeny pinch of respect, yet, wanted to be addressed as REVEREND!