As we await the sainthood of Pedro Calungsod

On October 21, a Cebuano named Pedro Calungsod will be canonized in Rome. When this happens he will be the second Filipino saint, the first being Saint Lorenzo Ruiz.

How significant is this event? Very – not only for the entire country but especially for Cebu. Christianity first took root in this province in 1521 when the first Christians accepted the faith. From that time to the present approximately 500 years had lapsed. So it took the Church that long before gifting this country with its second haloed faithful. Needless to say, this is a great gift. Secular Philippines may just take this happening in a stride. It may mean nothing more than a temporal celebration of a country’s pride.

But to the Filipino Christians, at least the true blooded ones, Pedro Calungsod’s ascension into the realm of God’s chosen ones is a monumental event. It is a vindication of the Filipinos’ faith in God which for centuries has been assaulted by negative forces.

The first assault came from the bearers of the gift themselves – the Spaniards who used the Cross to enslave a docile populace. They dispossessed the natives of their land, and claimed ownership of their mind and heart. How Christianity survived despite the ruler’s unchristian ways is a tribute to the strength of the Filipinos’ faith.

The second assault came with the Americans after Commodore Dewey pulverized the Castilian fleet in 1898. But it was an assault on ignorance carried out through public education, and the country started its march towards a democratic state. Politically and economically it was an auspicious development. We learned governance. We learned trade. Most of all we learned self-rule. But alas, the culture of pragmatism and materialism we also learned. And this eroded the very faith we inherited from our forebears.

Even after Independence, the world view of the West has become a dominant element in our psyche. Unknowingly, we have become little brown Americans in words, thoughts and actions, but sans a sense of propriety and integrity. The result is a warped idea of democracy which gives premium to wealth and power and a little regard to love, service and humanity. Corruption of course is the consequence.

And this is the third and most damaging assault to our Christian faith. Corruption destroys a country’s future because resources are wasted and progress is impeded. The poor proliferate since paucity of development keeps millions out of work. Blessed are the poor, is a misquote from the Lord. I came to give you life and have it abundantly, is what he says. Poverty therefore is anathema to Christianity. And the leaders that cause it can be the scandals, who according to the Lord, deserve to be thrown into the depth with a millstone by their necks. But who can tell this to our leaders? The Church of course has been perorating this for decades and our leaders have been listening for decades too. But its import has gone with the wind.

With Pedro Calungsod’s canonization, will this message finally sink deep into the conscience of those who command? We hope it will because Blessed Pedro’s lesson is a lesson in love and self-denial. He loved so much the Lord that was why he dedicated his life to spreading the Gospel among unbelievers. Without doubt he knew the peril of working among violent infidels. Yet he persevered despite the danger. At the moment of the attack he could have run away and save his life. But he had to stand by and defend Father San Vitores and in the process was himself killed. What force made him yield his life in behalf of his faith? The spirit of the Lord no doubt was that force.

As we reflect on the forthcoming sainthood of our brother Cebuano, may we open our mind and heart to the truth that our salvation, secular and spiritual, can only be attained if we have the spirit of the Lord in us.