‘Follow Pedro’s faith, forgive sinners like whale shark rider’

The life of Pedro Calungsod, the renewal of Christian faith, and the maltreatment of a whale shark in Boljoon town mingled with  issues of poverty and the church’s objection to the Reproductive Health bill in Good Friday’s reflections by priests on the Seven Last Words of Jesus Christ.

Archbishop Emeritus Ricardo J. Cardinal Vidal led the service at the Metropolitan Cathedral  for the traditional Siete Palabras aired live on radio.

The theme  this year was “Kinabuhing Giula, Pagtuong Gimantala” (Life that is given, Faith that is revealed).

Cardinal Vidal, who opened the service, called on the people to listen carefully and relate the messages to  their lives.

Vidal said that every Christian should be living testaments of Jesus and to influence others who didn’t know Christ.

He  encouraged the faithful to look up to Pedro Calungsod, a beatified martyr from the Visayas,  who used his youth to go on a mission and fight for his faith.

“Bisan sa kabatan-on ni Pedro, naay kaisog alang sa Diyos ug sa simbahan (Despite his youth, Pedro had the courage to stand up for God and for the church),” said Vidal.

He said Pedro was the perfect example of a person giving his life to   God.

Fr. Wendell Balbuena—who reflected on Christ’s first lines,  “Father, forgive them for they don’t know what they’re doing”—mentioned the furor over an 18-year-old girl who was photographed standing on a stranded whale shark  in Boljoon town last week.

He urged people to use forgiveness as a tool to call for positive change, to forgive each one’s imperfections and to never get tired of practicing forgiveness as Christ did.

Balbuena, the parish priest of Banawa, Cebu City, reprimanded youths who stay up until the wee hours at disco bars and yet complain as they listen to long prayers.

Msgr. Achilles Dakay, who reflected on the second last words, “I tell you this, today you will be with me in Paradise,” challenged the faithful to be like Jesus in showing compassion to a thief.

Msgr. Antonio Medida called for stronger families in  his reflection of the third last words, “Woman, behold your Son. Son, behold your mother.”

He asked families to  put Christ in the center of their  relationships.

Fr. Glenn Therese Guanzon invited everyone to rediscover  faith with the words “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” instead of only remembering Jesus Christ  when the going gets tough.

Fr. Pat Ornopia talked about trusting God and his love for us in explaining Christ’s fifth words, “I thirst.”

Fr. Joseph de Aquino discussed the lasting love of Jesus Christ in his  sixth last words, “It is finished.”

He said that every Christian should accept God’s love first before one could share  it with others.

“Father, into your hands I commend my spirit” showed Jesus’ great faith in God,  said Fr. Sherwin Ferrer, who said  proponents of the RH bill were hiding the truth from  people.

“There is the absence of trust because the truth is hidden before us. Only the truth builds trust and it makes us secure,” he said.

Msgr. Julito Cortes, in his closing prayer, asked God to help Cebuanos emulate Pedro Calungsod as he embodied the life and values of a good Christian.

“Like Pedro Calungsod, make us witness and apostles of love,” he said as final prayers were offered at 3 p.m., the symbolic time of  the death of Christ. /UP Intern Sean Timothy Salvador with Correspondent Tweeny M. Malinao