I have this feeling I’m going to get some flak for this, but well, here goes. Am I really the only one who finds the entire Fr. Suarez media circus a tad too uncomfortable?
It’s not that I don’t believe in miracles. The world does defy logic most of the time, so who’s to say a miracle is impossible? Like every other skeptic, however, I have the tendency to veer away from anything resembling sheer madness.
Man needs faith; otherwise, he’d fall apart and float through a godless universe with no soul. We need faith because we need some semblance of order, some comfort in the thought that there’s someone bigger than all of us who’s calling the shots. To think of these things in our lives as pure random coincidences is not only unfathomable — it would drive us completely mental.
But seeing this human being on television, driving the masses into a frenzy with two “healing” hands, well, it’s another thing entirely. I have nothing against the priest, though I sure as hell don’t find him special. Whether he can or can’t heal the people isn’t really the issue for me.
Why would someone who only has the people’s best interest in mind allow these massive crowds to rival the annual Black Nazarene circus? People have died because of his supposedly miraculous hands. Isn’t it enough reason for the priest to rethink his healing strategy?
You can’t really blame the people who fight tooth and nail just to have the priest throw a potentially healing glance at them. Life is hard, made even harder by disease and poverty. I can’t say I don’t understand their penchant for believing in wooden saints and priests of flesh and blood.
It’s difficult to believe in something you can’t see, let alone feel.
God has this tendency to be silent, causing us to think He’s not there. So, we frail humans grasp at straws, give God a body and die just to solidify our faith. We fill our lives with books of prayer, sing endless hymns, look like idiots dancing around with our arms raised, stuff our homes with wooden crosses and images of the pious dead.
It’s the reason Aaron built a golden calf.
It’s the reason people die at the feet of the Black Jesus.
It’s the reason people stared stupidly at the sun for days, waiting for it to dance.
We fill our lives with so much noise, so much religious crap, so much goddamn piety that we’ve sort of dug ourselves into a pit with nothing but the memories of a god we’ve created ourselves.
It’s not that God’s really quiet, though. We’re just too noisy. So if you really want to find God’s presence, try this some time: shut the hell up. God’s right there with you, only you’re too busy looking for him in idols to notice.
February 1st, 2008 at 10:53 am
Agreed. The road to hell is paved with good intentions, sadly.
February 1st, 2008 at 11:57 am
talaga, may namatay na pala sa healing sessions nya? wow wow
i personally think there’s nothing wrong singing hymns and praise songs if it’s really what you feel. an outpouring. so you just can’t help but sing it. it happens to me haha. just going through it for the sake of doing it is another story though.
and true, people have created their own gods and their own rules. whatever suits them and benefits them is goof enough for them. if it incurs harm or sacrifice, they think it’s because they have to suffer first before receiving salvation or redemption. which is so wrong. salvation can’t be bought by sacrifices. it’s free, it’s just there. but many people refuse it because it’s corny and laughable and passe.
February 1st, 2008 at 2:31 pm
I’m not really a song-and-dance person
But you’re right, if it’s your means of praise then good. I just keep conjuring up images of the former praise and worship team in our school.
Yep. Just having a personal relationship with God seems too simple for some people, so they have to flog themselves. Somehow I know the people who get crucified during Holy Week have good intentions and real faith in God. The problem is sometimes they get too carried away with the physical and tangible.