Pope Francis and Lent
This Bystander started writing this report on one of the most significant days in Lent this year, the Solemnity of St. Joseph, husband of Mary, descendant of the Royal House of David. A carpenter by profession, St. Joseph died on March 19th, is considered the patron of a good death, protector of virginity, and is venerated as the Patron of the Universal Church.
Before Pope Francis, elected by the secret Conclave of Cardinals, celebrated his Inaugural Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, he paid tribute to, and prayed at the tomb of First Pope, St. Peter under the main High Altar, accompanied by the attending retinue of cardinals and archbishops. They returned to the upper main church, and walked out of the church to St. Peter’ Square. Pope Francis then boarded and stood in a new white popemobile, a Mercedes-Benz jeep, and made a round-about or “recorrida” among the cheering crowds crammed into the Square about as large as two football fields. He kissed and blessed a couple of babies held out to him and paused to talk to and bless a bedridden yet smiling invalid.
Thanks to media coverage by EWTN, the world viewed the bestowal on him of the pallium, a woolen vestment worn by the Pope and archbishops. It consists of a narrow woolen strap resting on the shoulders with a lappet or loosely hanging part, in front and behind, and the Fisherman’s Ring worn by a Pope durimg his tenure.
God bless Pope Francis of Nuevos Aires, Argentina, the first non-European and Jesuit Pope formally installed as the new leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Roman Catholics. In his investiture homily as reported in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, he explained the Church’s mission. He said it “means respecting each of God’s creatures and the environment in which we live. It means protecting people, showing loving concern for each and every person, especially children, the elderly, those in need, who are often the last we think about.” And he addressed his plea for God’s creation to attending “six sovereigns, US Vice President Joe Biden and other leaders as well as heads of other faiths, who were among 130 delegations on the steps of St. Peter’s Basilica.”
This plea is a challenge which this Bystander believes we could address to our campaigning candidates in the forthcoming mid-term elections in May, some of whose campaigns are regrettably now into mudslinging, name-calling and suing.
March 19th was also significant because it was Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma’s birthday. He turned 63 and officiated at a special Mass at the Cebu Archdiocesan Mass intended for Pope Francis, himself and for other priests named after St. Joseph. I remember when I was still working at radio station dyLA of the Associated Labor Unions – Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU–TUCP), we attended Mass in honor of St. Joseph at ALU’s St. Joseph Chapel adjacent to the station at Pier I, officiated by ten Cebuano priests, all named “Jose.” Among them was Msgr. Jose (“Father Joe”) Tajanlangit, our first parish priest who involved us parishioners in Banawa, Guadalupe in campaigning to help finance and put up our Alliance of Two Hearts Parish Church.
And happy coincidence, too, was noted by Cebu Mayor Michael Rama who attended the Mass for Archbishop Palma: The Pope is 76, and Cebu City is also 76!
Beside the pre-election activities in the country with the current sad, tragic and alarming state that the Sabah affair has come to, we pray God will illuminate contending parties and lead them to an eventual resolution. On the education front, we also pray that the “No late payment policy” in the University of the Philipines Manila will, as recently pledged, be revised before another death like Kristel Tejada’s suicide is repeated.
For more positive local civic events, Saturday afternoon last week, I attended the poster-making activity of 28 Cebu Council Girl Scouts (GSP) at Ayala Business Park. Then Wednesday this week, as member of a board of five judges, we are asked to rate the Girl Scouts’ works: Cebuano artists Melver Mercado, Felix Catarata, and Geraldine Ocampo of the Portrait Artists Society of the Philippines; Inc., and Cebu GSP President Ida Yting and myself as GSP board member.
We were impressed with the girls’ colorful, artistic and relevant posters drawn in crayons on the theme: “Once a Girl Scout, Always a Girl Scout” celebrating 75 years of Service. I shall report Cebu GSP Executive Director Jo Ann Jayme’s consolidation of our ratings in my Bystander report after Holy Week.
Then last Saturday evening, I was privileged to be invited by Zonta Club of Cebu I fellow member and friend Rosita “Chit” Arcenas to a preview screening at the University of San Carlos Cafa theater in Talamban, of “Requieme” directed by her son Loy Arcenas. “Reqieme!” is Obie Awardee Loy’s second indie movie after his highly successful “Nino”. “Requieme!” is a satire of “the circus high jinks” regarding two unrelated and geographically separated deaths portraying “dying the Pinoy way” with penchants for “family burials, funeral fiestas, gossip and secrets, bizarre social events and the sheer mix of scandal and inebriation” to quote a local review. Congratulations, Loy!
This Bystander will report week after next (since Cebu Daily News will not come out on Good Friday) on our Zonta Club of Cebu I meeting, and our Cebu Council GSP Executive Committee meeting this afternoon during which we will know the Girl Scouts whose posters won in their poster-making activity.
Till then, may we all be blessed with a solemn Holy Week observance as we anticipate a joyfully glorious and triumphant Easter Sunday!
