MY dear friend, Prosy Delacruz, pleaded that I respond to Rodel Rodis’ column, Pope Francis’ View of God on Inquirer.net. My tukayo’s column reflected on Filipinos’ perception of God in the light of a study conducted by sociologists from Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion on people’s various images of God: authoritarian, benevolent, critical, and distant.
While “Filipino Catholics believe in a dysfunctional Holy Spirit, believing in an Authoritarian God the Father, in a Benevolent God the Son, and in a somewhat Critical or Distant God the Holy Spirit,” Rodel contends, “Filipinos share the Pope Francis’ view of a Benevolent God.” “This image of God,” Rodel writes, quoting the Baylor Report, “is a more powerful predictor of social and political views than the usual markers of church attendance or belief in the Bible.” Rodel makes this conclusion based on what it means to believe in a benevolent God: to have a view of a forgiving God and a belief that caring for the sick and needy ranks the highest on the list of what it means to be a good person.
Do I agree with Rodel Rodis’ contention?
Being a practical theologian, the best way that I can answer this question and respond to Rodel’s column is by sharing an experience of theological reflection that that I had several years ago with about thirty leaders and members of the Filipino community of my former parish, Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Los Angeles.
In this exercise, my aim was to find out if we, Filipinos and Filipino Americans, can engage ourselves in issues affecting the common good through visible actions and witness. In other words, I wanted to know if we could commit ourselves to being a public church, truly interested in being politically involved in the society to fight against injustice and to show concern for the poor and the marginalized even here in America.
In the process, we read Matthew 25:3-46, which speaks about the Son of Man coming in glory to judge nations if they are worthy to enter His Kingdom based on the criteria of feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, welcoming strangers, clothing the naked, and caring for the sick and imprisoned. We also invited a religious sister, a Filipina from the Sisters of the Good Shepherd to speak about her community’s involvement in the Philippines in fighting against exploitation of women and children. Then, we reflected on the highlights of the US Bishops Pastoral Letter, Faithful Citizenship, A Catholic Call to Political Responsibility and on the Church encyclical, Rerum Novarum, which argues for the dignity of men and women in the workplace.
After engaging in mutual conversations in small groups to examine our concrete experiences of being a public church in the Philippines and in the US and our fidelity to the mandate of the Gospel, we became strongly aware of our identity as Filipino Catholics. We realized that we’re not merely a people who come to Church to attend Mass and to pray our novenas. We’re greatly concerned about the needs of others especially the poor and our willingness to promote justice, peace, and the common good in our society!
This became evident when we retrieved memories of the Catholic Church’s involvement in social justice in the Philippines. The Philippine Catholic Church, through the works of bishops, priests, religious, and lay people, has a rich tradition of working to fight unjust structures. One historic part of this tradition was the EDSA revolution when Filipino people were able to overthrow the Marcos regime. During this momentous event, the world witnessed nuns carrying rosaries, seminarians and priests forming chain likes in demonstrations, and the archbishop of Manila, Cardinal Sin, giving his peaceful support to the revolution called the People’s Power.
Indeed, as we remembered our history, we became aware that we, Filipinos, are not a people that do not care about the works of social justice. Absolutely, we see ourselves as a worshipping community, but the rich tradition of the Catholic Church’s involvement in social justice in the Philippines where many of us grew up gave us a sense of the great possibilities for us to grow in this important ministry of the church anywhere we are in the world.
And so, yes! It is in Filipinos’ spiritual DNA and in those of our two Filipino Saints, Lorenzo Ruiz and Pedro Calungsod, to share Pope Francis’ view of a Benevolent God. Our challenge is to provoke, nurture, and sustain it!
* * *
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 (1999-2001). 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.
