Of course we have the distinction of being the only Catholic country in this part of the world. Yet plenty of our customs and practices make that kind of distinction an empty boast as they are exactly opposite of the Gospel teachings on which Catholicism is anchored. As a Catholic country we should not be among the poorest and most corrupt countries in the world. Yet because of personal ambitions, selfishness, greed and lust for power and wealth, there is an unequal distribution of our country’s resources and bounty so that only a few are getting richer and the greater number of people is getting poorer.
But the biggest single asset we have that other countries lack is family solidarity and strength. Poverty may have caused some temporary inconveniences and separation but on the whole we have preserved the sanctity of the family as the basic unit of our society. Families who cannot afford to eat three times a day even become closer precisely because of such predicament. The over all effects of physical separation caused by overseas employment of family members has not actually resulted in a wide spread family break-ups. On the contrary the longer the distance between them the spiritually closer they become. Other countries let institutions take care of their aged and the infirm members but here families take care of their lolos, lolas, up to the nth degree. Hence, most of our immigrants still long to retire and to spend the remaining years of their lives here in their native land. In most of our towns and provinces, elders are still addressed with respect as "Uncles" or "Aunties" while town mates of the same age call each other "cousins" even if they are not actually related. If not for our strong and united family, our nation would have perhaps disintegrated by now due to extreme poverty. But precisely because of the kind of family we have, our country has not only survived but the hope for a bright and prosperous future remains alive and vibrant.
The Filipino family remains strong and solid mainly because the family members themselves have been properly equipped and trained to face the pressures of the secular world and the onslaught of modern technologies. In the formation and preservation of such kind of families, one unique and extraordinary lay organization has been mainly instrumental in assisting the Church. This is the Christian Family Movement (CFM) which was established in the Philippines at the height of the emerging modern world some 50 years ago and to which my own family (wife, our children and myself) has been a member for more than 40 years now. The CFM is unique in that it is the only Catholic lay organization, or the only organization for that matter, not composed of individuals or persons like the Knights of Columbus, Lions or Rotary Clubs, but of Christian families – married couples or singles or solo parents and their sons and daughters. It was founded in America by Pat and Patty Crowley and introduced here in September 1956 by Tony and Teresa Nieva.
In the span of fifty years, the CFM families, particularly in the Philippines, has promoted and strengthened the growth of other Filipino Christian families evangelized them and their communities through its family life programs and in the process also have themselves evangelized. While its charism is on family life and its main focus is on family life programs like the marriage encounter, tipanan, solo parents program and sons and daughters encounter, CFM has also been and continues to be active in social action programs, organizing credit unions, cooperatives, skills training and placement projects. It has also been instrumental or has participated in forming such non-partisan political movement like the Citizen’s League for Good Government, the NAMFREL and the PPCRV).
Last weekend, October 21 and 22, 2006, the CFM celebrated its golden jubilee with about 500 families from all over the country convening in Manila not only to renew old ties and review the past achievements but more importantly to reflect on the continuing challenges facing the Filipino families in the future with the theme Kristo Kapamilya Ko (KKK). In his homily during the Eucharistic Celebration last Saturday, CBCP President Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, D.D. appealed to all the CFM families present to continue with their tasks of: (1) forming a community of persons; (2) serving and educating their off-springs to be both inward and outward looking; (3) participating in the development of society by being politically involved when moral issues are at stake like in the preservation of the unity and indissolubility of marriage or for the enhancement of the common good in general; (4) sharing in the prophetic ministry and church mission of spreading the Gospel of Christ. For this purpose Archbishop Lagdameo asked the families to reflect on what Christian families must be. He said that families must be schools of prayer and faith, of love and of evangelization. As schools of prayer and faith families must be in continuing dialogue with God, happily sharing their meals together, praying the Rosary together and praying with other families to create a better government of justice and solidarity. As schools of love families act as a miniature church that is the creator and heart of the civilization of love, the very reasons why our country has successfully resisted the contraceptive culture or the culture of death and has remained one of the few, if not the only pro life Catholic country where divorce, abortion, artificial contraception and other anti family and anti life measures have not been legalized. As schools of evangelization Filipino families must not be self-contained but their members must share with each other and with others the Gospel and Light of Christ. He reminded parents not to allow media to become "surrogate parents" at home.
CFM is indeed a golden organization entitled to celebrate its golden anniversary not so much because of the golden age of most of its members but because of its golden achievements that serve as inspirations to its members for another fifty, or more, years of existence.
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