Filipino Catholics from the eyes of a foreigner

(I got this story through my college Yahoo group. This is a positive story about us Filipinos that I would like to share in this blog.)

Here's something very positive written by a foreigner named Steve Ray, about Filipinos. Steve Ray authored many best-selling books, among which are, Crossing The Tiber (his conversion story), Upon This Rock (on the papacy), and just recently John's Gospel (a comprehensive bible study guide and commentary).

STEVE RAY'S OPEN LETTER TO THE FILIPINO CATHOLICS:

We stepped into the church and it was old and a bit dark. Mass had just begun and we sat toward the front. We didn't know what to expect here in Istanbul , Turkey. I guess we expected it to be a somber Mass but quiet and somber it was not - I thought I heard angels joyously singing behind me..

The voices were rich, melodic and beautiful. What I discovered as I spun around to look did not surprise me because I had seen and heard the same thing in other churches around the world. It was not a choir of angels with feathered wings and halos but a group of delightful Filipino Catholics with smiles of delight and joy on their faces as they worshiped God and sang His praises. I had seen this many times before in Rome, in Israel, in the United States and other countries.

Filipinos have special traits and they are beautifully expressed as I gazed at the happy throng giving thanks to God. What are the special traits which characterize these happy people? I will share a few that I have noticed - personal observations - as I have travelled around the world, including visits to the Philippines.

FIRST, there is a sense of community, of family. These Filipino Christians did not sit apart from each other in different aisles. They sat together, closely. They didn't just sing quietly, mumbling, or simply mouthing the words. No, they raised their voices in harmony together as though they enjoyed the sense of unity and communion among them. They are family even if they are not related.

SECOND, they have an inner peace and joy which is rare in the world today. When most of the world's citizens are worried and fretful, I have found Filipinos to have joy and peace - a deep sense of God's love that overshadows them. They have problems too, and many in the Philippines have less material goods than others in the world, yet there is still a sense of happy trust in God and love of neighbour.

THIRD, there is a love for God and for his Son Jesus that is almost synonymous with the word Filipino. There is also something that Filipinos are famous for around the world - their love for the Blessed Mother. Among the many Filipinos I have met, the affectionate title for Mary I always hear from their lips is "Mama Mary." For these gentle folks Mary is not just a theological idea, a historical person, or a statue in a church - Mary is the mother of their Lord and their mother as well, their "mama."

The Philippines is a Catholic nation - the only such nation in Asia - and this wonderful country exports missionaries around the world. They are not hired to be missionaries, not official workers of the church. No, they are workers and educators, doctors, nurses and housekeepers that go to other lands and travel to the far reaches of the earth, and everywhere they go they take the joyous gospel of Jesus with them. They make a somber Mass joyful when they burst into song. They convict the pagan of sin as they always keep the love of Jesus and the Eucharist central in their lives.

My hope and prayer, while I am here in the Philippines sharing my conversion story from Baptist Protestant to Roman Catholic, is that the Filipino people will continue to keep these precious qualities. I pray that they will continue loving their families, loving the Catholic Church, reading the Bible, loving Jesus, His Mother and the Eucharist. As many other religions and sects try to persuade them to leave the Church, may God give them wisdom to defend the Catholic faith. As the world tempts them to sin and seek only money and fame and power, may God grant them the serenity to always remember that obedience to Christ and love for God is far more important than all the riches the world can offer.

May the wonderful Filipino people continue to be a light of the Gospel to the whole world!

Giraffes 3 and 4

I submitted 2 more giraffes for the One Million Giraffes project last Monday morning, making it a total of 4 giraffes we contributed so far.

I've gone primitive on giraffe no. 3, which I made out of pebbles from our garden.


Cean created giraffe no. 4 out of Lego bricks, another of his favourite playthings.


I will talk more on these giraffes on a later post.

Story behind Sunday's giraffes

The two giraffes we submitted for the One Million Giraffes project last Sunday was a family effort by me and my sons.

We brainstormed a bit before we created the giraffes. I wanted them to make some drawings to submit to the project.

But the boys have other ideas. Cean wanted his giraffe created out of his Hot Wheels toy cars. He did not agree to some of my ideas on how it will look like, so the giraffe I submitted last Sunday was all Cean's effort.

Here is a photo of Cean proudly standing beside his obra maestra.


The giraffe I created out of bowling pins was for my younger son. He didn't want to participate as he was busy playing with his bowling pins at that time.

I convinced him to let me borrow the pins for awhile to create a giraffe for him. After I finished and took a photo for the project, JP was eagerly waiting to bowl it. But before that, I took a picture of him beside the giraffe.


It was great fun creating the giraffes with my boys. And we plan to create some more for the project.

One million giraffes

OneMillionGiraffes.com aims to collect one million giraffes by 2011.

It started out as a challenge between two friends, that one of them can collect one million giraffes in two years time. The giraffes can be created in any way except from a computer or store bought objects like stuffed toys.

I knew about this site through BBC Click last Saturday. It seems fun and interesting especially for the kids. This is an opportune time since it's summer where you need to come up with something interesting to occupy their time.

I encourage my older son to draw a giraffe so we can send it. He didn't, instead, created one out of his toy cars. Of course, why didn't I think of that? He's crazy about his toy cars.

Here is the giraffe he made, which we submitted to the site yesterday.



I created a giraffe from my younger son's bowling pins. I asked him to do it himself but would not. He had fun bowling it though, after I took a picture to send to the site.



There are two rules to the One Million Giraffes project:

1. You have to tell your friends about this project (otherwise it won't work)
2. Your giraffe(s) can be created in any way and form, but not on a computer.

I've been faithful to both rules. I have already told my friends in Facebook yesterday. I wrote this post so that you will know; later, I'll post a link to my Friendster account. My high school Yahoo group will be able to read this post later on.

I've submitted two giraffes yesterday. I have just send another two but it was not accepted yet.

Why don't you join and support this project? It's all for fun especially for the children.