THE LAST VISITA IGLESIA

MY family had only one Visita Iglesia, a Holy Week tradition which literally means church visit, that it joined, and it was our first and surely the last one we had as one complete family. Before this I never attended any of this Catholic tradition of visiting churches during the Lenten season. 

It was Holy Thursday of 2010. I remember the excitement of my wife. She had rarely done this religious event during her younger years, though she had wanted so much to do this every year. And now she was glad that, finally, she would be doing it again with her own family.

It was a perfect timing for the family. A year before, we had a terrific vacation in Ilocos Sur for the Lenten break. We had lots of fun joining family reunions, swimming and picnics in the beach, and we even went as far as Bangui (to see the giant windmills) and Pagudpud, both in Ilocos Norte. So when my wife suggested this religious activity to my kids, she didn’t need to employ any convincing charm for them. My kids in fact were very curious to know how this summer event is carried out. My wife explained to them the significance of this “journey” marked by prayer and sharing, silence and fasting, which is usually done on Holy Thursday. Seven churches are visited with two stations per visit. (Some would visit 14 churches for this activity.) So my wife had really expected that this one, our very first Visita Iglesia, would provide great opportunities for my family to quietly enjoy some kind of vacation or tour and also to have time to perform a religious duty. And she suggested that we could do this every year.

I know that my wife wanted this pilgrimage so badly because of her condition. She had a stage 2 breast cancer, an illness that she didn’t want to disclose to my kids, and even to her friends, because she believed she could still be healed, with her endless hope and deepest prayers to the Lord. She felt the need to visit various miraculous churches to pray for healing, and that she wanted her family to pray with her. 

I planned the route, so days before the Holy Thursday, I got myself busy searching the Internet for the seven churches to visit (see, it was my first time to do this). I have to consider the distance between the churches and the travel time to transfer from one church to another. I even consulted some of my friends for this. Dudoy was more excited to see the churches, especially old or Spanish-era churches that were included in our itinerary. I promised to give him and his siblings some historical and cultural perspective of these churches.

We thought of hiring a van. Another family had agreed to join us and share with the rent, but the driver of the van whom we approached days before was not available for Holy Thursday. So it was just our family that went out that day.

My wife had lived with her family in one of the neighborhoods around the Old Manila area, which is our destination. The places, particularly the churches, were at least familiar to her. 

It was a typical summer with scorching heat of the sun, so we made sure, before we left Bulacan, that we had comfortable clothes, shades, umbrella, hats, drinking water, and hand towels. 

1st Station – Binondo Church     

This church stands majestically inside Manila’s Chinatown in Binondo District. It was named the Minor Basilica of San Lorenzo Ruiz in honor of the first Filipino saint who lived and grew up in Binondo. I always pass this church whenever I go to Divisoria either to hunt for cheap goods or to visit my relatives in Tondo. But it was my first time to enter the church.

2nd Station – Manila Cathedral

The Cathedral, or Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, is located inside the Intramuros district. It is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila. Its imposing facade and huge dome are very visible even from the distance. It also has a grandiose view outside the church.

3rd Station – San Agustin Church

San Agustin Church (Immaculate Conception Parish), despite its modern outlook, is one of the oldest churches still standing in the Philippines. This UNESCO World Heritage Site church is just a walking distance from the cathedral.

  

4th Station – St. Jude

The church was named St. Jude Thaddeus Archdiocesan Shrine. Saint Jude, cousin and apostle of Jesus Christ, is known as the patron of desperate cases. So there are always a number of devotees that flock the church every Thursday, most of them students who go to this church especially before final exams or a very crucial board examination.

5th Station – San Miguel Church

This is the National Shrine of St. Michael and the Archangels. It was our first time to visit the church and the kids were thrilled to know that they were treading this part of Malacañang. Inside the church, you can see the altar mounted with the crucifixion scene with the seven archangels having their own statue one on each post. There is also a big 12-foot bronze statue of St. Michael defeating a serpent, the symbol of Lucifer.

6th Station – San Sebastian Church

My wife was born and raised in Malate, Manila, and it was very strange that she has not been inside San Sebastian Church (Basilica Minore de San Sebastian) before this visit. So she and the kids were very excited to enter this historical church world-renowned for its wonderful architectural design and structure (made of steel). The ceiling inside the church was the highest one that I have ever seen so far.   

7th Station – Quiapo Church

The Quiapo Church (Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene) was an automatic next stop because of its short distance from San Sebastian. It was the church that I frequently passed on my way to school, office or home. But I only attended a mass here once or twice with my wife during our early years of marriage. The church for me is always crowded, and so with the surrounding area, being one of the centers of commerce for lowly folks in the metropolis. Among the seven churches that we visited, this last stop was the hardest to accomplish because of the multitude of people also doing the Visita, and by that time, my wife and kids had become so tired and hungry.

THE year after, or in April 2011, we failed to go on a Visita Iglesia as we had planned because of my wife's worsening condition. In the succeeding months we went on a pilgrimage to the Shrine of the Divine Mercy in our place in Marilao, Bulacan. And it was the last church that we visited. Our visit there in July of the same year was our last as one complete family, because in that same month we rushed her to the hospital, and she died after two weeks because of a complication of her illness.

LEARN MORE ABOUT JOB

AMONG the characters in the Old Testament, I am most fascinated by the story of Job. I haven’t read the whole text in the bible, but thanks to some abridged and comic book stories (I had plenty of them when I was a child), magazine articles and lately, websites, I came to know this guy whose name is synonymous to utmost patience, and his endless series of unfortunate events.

Job can be summed up this way: Satan tells God that Job, his most upright servant, only loves the Lord because he has given him so much wealth. God wagers Satan that Job will remain faithful even in the face of unending series of misfortunes. He tells Satan to do his worst to Job but not to harm him fatally. So Satan inflict Job with the worst beating you could imagine on a man—he loses his entire estate and his children, he suffers very severely with sore boils, and his friends shun him. But Job withstands the onslaughts. In the end, because he endures and never wavers in his faith in the Lord, his wealth, health and even his family are all restored by God.

But while not reading the prose and poetry about Job in the bible, I was befuddled by some issues: Why He lets Satan afflict Job? Or are our troubles really the idea of Satan and that God only concurs with them? Up to what extent God allows us humans to suffer so as to test us?

It was only when I read the book Understanding Job by Lim Kou, that I was enlightened about the meaning of the book of Job. The book was given free by those Christians from M/V Doulos, the floating bookstore which was docked in the port of Manila last December. Because it was free, and sectarian, I can only surmise its preachy contents so I wasn’t tempted to sit down and read it at once. I only retrieved it from my bookshelf, just after I have cited the story of Job in one of my earlier blogs.

True to its title, I was able to understand Job, and my queries were answered, with these insights from the author:

• God allowed Satan put Job to the test because He knew that there was substance in Job’s life; there were genuine, good qualities within him. So God knew too well He had a winner in Job.
• God has dual aims in allowing Satan to test Job: First, it was because of His love for Job and concern for his ultimate well-being. Second, it was related to the establishment of His eternal kingdom.
• Job faltered to some degree during the trials in spite of his moral and spiritual stature. Our hero claimed that God had wronged him and that is tantamount to saying that God is unjust. Such misconception, misunderstanding and an idea affected his confidence in God.
• God in His speeches didn’t directly answer Job’s perplexing questions. How God responded to Job’s situation was very appropriate, meaningful and effective in the context. Like Job, we must learn to trust God fully and without wavering while going through difficult and perplexing situations in life.
• God was satisfied with Job, and with how he went through the ordeal. Job basically remained true to God. Though he faltered, he still loved the Lord and sought to honor God and to abide by His words. With that, Satan was greatly displeased, and he lost the wager.

Let us learn from the story of Job, not so much on God and Satan “conspiracy” but on how Job endures in the midst of misfortunes. This lesson is very useful for someone going through suffering or distress when his or her understanding can easily get twisted.

What most of us have suffered in life is generally far less severe compared to what Job went through. With the Book of Job, and with pastors and theologians who have painstakingly explained its meaning to us, we now have a much fuller revelation and understanding of who God is, the realities in the spiritual realm and how we should live with our lives to the fullest. So it is expected that we are now in a better position to respond well.

One downside of the book though is that it bears the imprints of a pastor who has a whole day to belabor his point. A more rigorous editing could have eliminated some of the repetitions.

But don't let this discourage you to read the book and understand more about Job and learn the proper postures to take amidst life’s trials and tribulations.

A NOTE ON PRAYER

GOD answers prayers. I know and I believe He always does. But there are times in my life that I felt He does not respond to most of my prayers. And when I believe He answers one of my prayers, I wonder if it is really the one that I have been asking from Him, because sometimes the same thing turns out awful later on.

That’s how I felt when I got kicked out from a premier law school due to grade deficiency. I asked then, if having qualified to the college of law was an answered prayer for a better career, a better chance to help other people, and a better life for my family in the future, then why did He allow me to fail? Why did God take back the chance He had given me? It was easy to say that what went wrong was really my fault. I did not study hard, or law school wasn’t my strongest suit, or I did not want enough.

But for every struggle I had then for my class I would always seek God for help and guidance. And during the deliberation of my case by the appeals committee, I prayed hard and even made a covenant with God of a commitment to serve His church, the usual thing I do when I hit dead corners.

But I lost. The committee did not give me another chance. I became the chaff (those who did not meet the standard of excellence) separated from the grains (deserving scholars).

Then I began to wonder how prayer works, and how it makes my relationship with God become stronger with or without the answers I would expect to receive.

It’s easy to say God did not hear my prayers after all. But that’s being unfair to Him. In fact I was the one not being fair to Him, as if I was using Him and saying to this effect: Lord, you gave me this chance, so you should be there for me, I need you, and please help me do this thing. What if I had uttered instead: Lord, here I am, do whatever you want me to do, or Thy will be done, Lord. Would that make a big difference?

Winners or Losers 

Every time I watch a basketball game on television, I see that players doing the sign of the cross before they play or after they made a shot are as common as sounds of whistles for every on-court violations. And players coming from either team are all praying to the same God.

When players from one team prayed “Lord help us win this game,” and those of the other team prayed the same, to whom will God listen? And when a team wins, the players raise their muscular arms saying hallelujahs to the Lord, while the losers contemplate on why they did not get that divine intervention.

I think the world is highly polarized with winners and losers—in every field, in all walks of life. But no one can really say if one had won or lost it all. And looking back, everytime I failed in an undertaking, lost a turn or missed every opportunity that would make me feel good, I would think my prayers were not answered. Maybe because I didn't have a deeper relationship with God. And I could not do anything but wait for another round, and for another. I never considered myself religious, but through it all, I haven’t stop praying.

Lessons from Job 

I don’t believe that any misfortune that happened to us is a form of punishment from an all powerful and benevolent God. Nor is there any application to life the scientific thinking that things react because of a corresponding action, or simply, we suffered because we caused things that make us suffer.

In the bible, Job is not being punished when all his children and material possessions were lost. Job is a righteous man and faithful to his God. This only confirms one point—that the problem, misfortunes and suffering in this world is beyond our understanding. God loves Job but He has to test him.

God isn't under obligation to say “yes” to every prayer. (That's a good thing considering some of the things we request!) He may be testing us all along.

And sometimes God, who has much more wisdom and foresight than we do, says “no” to our most profound requests. But that doesn’t mean we stop from there. If time goes by and we still cannot see that our prayers have been granted, we can ask God why. We can persist on this if we do not agree with, or understand His answer. If we persist, then God will explain in terms that we will totally understand. And this can only be possible through constant prayers.

And when He does, we will know that God did hear us, indeed, and that He did for us much more than what we asked of Him. Had I realized this earlier, I would not have griped at all during those trying times of my life.