WE were all in shock at seeing on television and social media the historic Notre-Dame De Paris Cathedral engulfed in flames last Monday, April 15. How could this 850-year-old gothic style cathedral, Paris’ symbol of Catholicism, be gone before our eyes? Those of us who have visited and seen this magnificent work of art and place of worship could not hold back our tears especially at witnessing its legendary spire collapse and fall apart.
We thank God that its significant structures and artifacts were spared from the fire and that now prayers and donations from people all over the world are pouring out.
Here in Los Angeles, for example, Archbishop Jose Gomez has urged us to support its rebuilding and to “join our brothers and sisters in Paris and throughout the world in mourning the fire at Notre-Dame Cathedral.” As a symbol of our love, prayers, and solidarity, he asked last Wednesday that the 36 bells in the Carillon and four chimes in the Campanile of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels be rung for more than a minute.
For many Parisians and Catholics, Notre-Dame is more than a symbol of the Mother Church and a magnificent building. It signifies our love for our Catholic faith that beats alive in our hearts and will never be consumed by fire. It speaks of our profound relationship with the Triune God and Mary, no matter how secularism and anti-religious propaganda have tried to destroy and affected it.
Notre-Dame, like other legendary Catholic buildings and places, is God speaking to us, inviting us not to forget who we are. We are children of God whose deep longing for Him will never diminish.
The cries of the French people are our cries. Their prayers are our prayers. Their love for Our Lady is our love for her.
On this Easter Sunday, we worship in solidarity with Catholics and other Christians around the world, to show that no fire, no other disasters, and indeed no shameful and demeaning remarks from a leader of a nation like those of the Philippine President, Rodrigo Duterte, would ever destroy our Catholic faith and our Mother Church.
This Easter Sunday is the opportune time to stand up for our Catholic faith and defend it from its attackers. Absolutely, we have learned from our Church’s mistakes and all her scandals, but from now on we pray that our Catholic leaders and all of us Catholics will do everything possible to resurrect her powerful image and influence throughout the history of the world.
Our love for Jesus and the belief in his words and teachings will always flourish. His Resurrection is a testament to our hope that no death, disaster, or person ever will ever trample down our faith.
Mary, Our Lady, and Mother of God pray for our Church! Amen.
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From a Filipino immigrant family, Reverend Rodel G. Balagtas was ordained to the priesthood from St. John’s Seminary in 1991. He served as Associate Pastor at St. Augustine, Culver City (1991-1993); St. Martha, Valinda (1993-1999); and St. Joseph the Worker, Canoga Park (1991-2001). In 2001, he served as Administrator Pro Tem of St. John Neumann in Santa Maria, CA, until his appointment as pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary, Los Angeles, in 2002, which lasted 12 years. His term as Associate Director of Pastoral Field Education at St. John’s Seminary began in July 2014.
