Dear JOYnetters Following is an article from Fr. Thomas Mathew currently in Manila, Philippines.
sebastian thomas Bahrain ======================== "All who believe in the Son of Man will have eternal life and I will raise them to life again on the Last Day" John 6.10 In the Philippines the First of November, All Saints Day, is celebrated as All Souls day. This has a cultural intonation than an ecclesiastical dimension. The whole of the Philippine Archipelago celebrates the First of November as the day to remember their dead relatives and friends although the Church insists and teaches that the First of November is All saints day. Somehow the Church has cooperated with the traditions and culture of the people. (I am trying to refresh my memories as I am in this wonderful country the pearl of the Oreint.) On the 30th of October Sr. Carmela, the Mother General of a Congregation who was my former parishioner in Manila, asked me to celebrate Mass at the Tomb of her parents. I remember anointing her mom as her Mother was in critical stage. On the 31st eveneing, Sr, Carmela came with a car and her nephew drove us to the cemetery. The traffic in the Philippines, especially in Manila is beyond anyone's imagination. I think there are more cars than the capacity of the roads and the traffic system needs to be revamped. It seems that no one likes to stop at the red light. Jeepneys As we reached the Cemetery at Caloocan City, at the suburb of Manila, we had to drive through narrow roads where children played unmindful of the cars , jeepeneys( jeepneys are special to the Philipines. They are special jeeps and very colorful. The jeepneys are well decorated and this is the common man's transportation. The Jeepneys reminds one of the colorful Island culture of the Philippines. I think the attraction to colors and sound is very common among the Islanders. At times, I have to leave some of the jeepneys because of sound pollution. The drivers keep the speakers full blast and that hurts me so I had to leave two jeepneys even yesterday that pligh along Tandang Sora route, in Quezon City.( I love this land and culture so the comments I make are in no way intended to downgrade the Filipino culture. I am trying to state what I observe.) At one point as we were driving to the cemetry, the driver stopped for a couple of minutes as two young girls sat in the midle of the already crowded street, playing in the mud. One has to be mindful that we were in one of the poorer and crowded sections. I admire the patience of the driver. Although many cars, trucks, and tricyles were sounding horns , the children were not affected and we waited till the children got off the road and then continued the journey. On either side of the street, leading to the cemetry there were flower shops, food stalls, candles for sale, and I enjoyed watching them as I was away for more than a decade from this culture on this particular day. We reached the gate to the cemetry and the cemetry might be more than hundred acres of land. The whole cemetry was filled with tombs. There were even people living on top of the tombs. Some of the squatters found place among the dead. I think people are not mindful of the dead anymore. The children walked unafraid of the cemetery atmosphere and Mother Carmela reflected " I think these children live in this place,because they seem to be quite at peace with this place" We reached the tomb of Motehr Carmela's parents.That was a huge musolium,as big as a house even with two comfort rooms (The CR is for the family members who visit the tomb.) There was a care taker for this tomb. The inside of the musolium was clean and well lit. There was an altar too. We were suposed to start the celebraton of the Holy Mass at 6.30 PM but we were the only people from that family at that time. Mother Carmela recieved a text message in her cell phone. ( The Filipino peole like to send text messages than to speak through the cell phone. To send a text mesage costs only One dollar per transmission) The messsage read that the rest of the family is on their way. We waited. One of her sisters and her husband who is medical doctor appeared at 8.30 P.M. The rest of the family came by 9.45 P.M and we started the Mass near the tomb. The passers by paused for a while and mentioend " They have a priest' which meant that the others were not able to get a priest to go with them to their relatives tombs. In that huge cemetry there are rich and poor and the poor are burried in the ground and the rich have even air conditioned tombs. There is a Chinese cemetry nearer to the one we were in and some of the tombs look like mansions and most of them are Air Conditioned too. I dont say that the tombs are air conditioned rather the musolium is Air Conditioned. By the time we finished the Holy Mass, it was late and I was surprised to see vendors inside the cemetry. There were children sleeping on the tombs and all kinds of vehicles were in the cemetry. The next day in the morning I set out for "Himlayang Filippino",another cemetry situated in my former Parish. I was given a lift by the driver of the parish priest and the Parish priest was saying Mass in the Cemetry Chapel like what I did last night. This time when we went to the cemetry, the people from the parish had food packed. It is customary for the Filippino people to bring along food to the cemetry. They eat and drink including alcohol in the cemetry. People play cards and have their radios and it is like a fiesta ground. I felt that the dead do not feel lonely in the Filippino cemeteries at least once an year. People sit the whole day there telling stories and praying for the dead. I think the dead people are briefed of every development in the family once an year as the whole family comes to the cemetery. There could be grand children and other relatives the deceased have never seen.. It was interesting that as I was walking through the cemetry looking for the graves of the people I have burried, people , many parishioners recognized me and started requesting me to pray for their relaties. I do remmber gratefully visting the tomb of Mr and Mrs Rafael Hizon. They loved me as one of their children. It was Mrs. Hizon who built the Church at Culiat where I was. I was not able to come to her funeral in 1999. In 1999 Mrs Hizon whom I used to Call Mommy Hizon, died at the age of eighty eight. In 1998 she accompanied me to the Manila Air port and she asked me " Will I see you Again" and she cried. She kised me good bye and I still remember her waving at me as i entered the Air Port. Her comment was very prophetical . I didnt get a chance to see her before she died and this is the next chance I got to close the grief as I visited her tomb. I prayed and placed a flower at her tomb. I felt that she came up from the tomb with her usual smile telling me " Son I thank you very muich for coming". I felt emotional at that moment and even as I write this. Many other people's tombs I visited. It was very warm that day. Usually it rained on the first of Novemebr but this year it was exceptionally warm. I returned to my former parish tired but was not hungry because I had to eat with most of the families at the cemetry. For the Filippino people to refuse to partake in their meal is a big offence. Mindful of their culture and spirit, I tasted food as the families offered me . As I was journeying back to my residence, I was wondering when I might get another chance to see this day in the Philippines. It took more than a decade to return on this special day to this land. During the evening Mass, I remembered all my deceased friends from the parish and the verse from St. John was a great consolation. " All who believe in the Son of Man will have eternal life and I will raise them again on the last Day" John 6.10 I celebrated the All soul's day on the First of november in the Philippine Islands, a day to remember fondly. I thank God for this great gift. Fr Thomas Mathew Manila , Philipines. _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp **************************************************************** This mail is generated from JOYnet, a Jesus Youth mailing list. 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