Proud to be a Cebuano!

It's All Saints Day today and All Souls Day tomorrow, which has now become part and parcel of Filipino culture. But before I discuss the relevance of these holidays of obligation for Catholics…allow me first to thank our fellow Filipinos, especially Cebuanos for their unselfishness, generosity and kind hearts in helping our next-door neighbor Bohol in its time of helplessness. While I was still in Israel, my son, Capt. JV Avila told me that he went to Sagbayan twice just to help distribute relief goods to the townsfolk there.

I know that Cebuanos went out of their way to help Ormoc City in 1991 during the devastating flashfloods and we also helped Guihulngan, Negros Oriental during the February 6, 2012 earthquake a year ago. When I attended the meeting of my Rotary Club of Cebu yesterday, I also learned that our fellow Rotarians and also the other Rotarians from the other Clubs in Metro Cebu had contributed close to P2 million in relief goods.

I also saw in my Facebook photos of our President Robin Ong and Rotarian Toto Cupin of District 3860 working feverishly for Operation Tabang, together with the Armed Forces of the Philippines to bring those relief goods to those that needed it badly. This includes not only all the Rotary Clubs in Metro Cebu, but also from Ormoc, Butuan, Surigao, Leyte Gulf, Metro Dadiangas, General Santos and Makati West. I'm sure there are many other Rotary Clubs from all over the Philippines whose names I have not come across, but knowing that heart of a Rotarian…I know that they have come out of their way to help their fellowmen in their time of need.

Again, these are times that we can always count on the Cebuanos' indomitable spirit. Best of all, we did not find the need to have a leader tell us what we ought to do after we saw the devastation that the earthquake has brought not just here in Cebu, but also in Bohol. This is proof that the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ "To love one another as I have loved you" and "If you do this to the lest of your brethren, you have done it for Me" has truly been embedded in our Christian hearts. For this, allow me to say thank you Cebu for what you have done for the downtrodden. You make me proud to be a Cebuano...Bangon Sugbohol!

So now back to our celebration of All Saints and All Souls Day. Tradition tells us that in the first century, there were so may Christian martyrs who died in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, but they were too numerous to be recorded and later beatified by the Catholic Church, so a day of remembrance was instituted to remember those who died for Christ and even today, we celebrate these martyrs for Saints who are known and unknown. San Pedro Calungsod for many centuries remained one of the unknown saints until the Vatican learned about his martyrdom and today he has become the second Filipino saint.

Just imagine that this feast started from the 4th century and celebrated first in Antioch, where St. Ephrem the Syrian mentioned it in his sermon in the year 373 AD. The final date of November 1 was instituted during the reign of Pope Gregory III (731-741) when he consecrated a chapel to all the martyrs in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome and ordered its annual celebration. While it was first ordered only for the Diocese of Rome, Pope Gregory IV (827-844) extended the holding of this feast to the entire Catholic Church.

It is unfortunate that Oct.31st or the "visperas" of All Saint's Day has become Halloween even here in Cebu. It is actually All Hallows Eve, which traces its roots to a pagan origin, notably in Ireland before it became Christian. Catholics say that it is no big deal as it is merely for fun…but then the witches are extremely happy that they have a day all for themselves.

But I don't really mind how we celebrate Halloween, it is how a great majority of Catholics have used or should I say misused these holy days of All Saints Day and All Souls Day. While I agree that we must continue to mourn those of our friends and family who have gone ahead of us and to remember the times when they were still alive…it is equally important for us to remember too that our dearly departed are not really dead. What we have are their remains…but their souls are either in purgatory or in heaven…and we pray that they are not in hell because if they are there, then we can no longer do anything for them.

I just read an Internet report about the Fatima apparitions where our Blessed Virgin Mary showed the three children a vision of hell. I also recently read the story of St. Faustina Kowalska who was allowed to see purgatory where she asked the question what do you want the most? The common answer was to see God! Indeed I have read articles about this fact and the only way that the poor souls in Purgatory can see God is through our constant and unceasing prayers…so that one Saturday, the Blessed Virgin Mary would come to them and bring them to finally see God, face to face.

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