Serious Talk

Warning: I'll be talking about faith and beliefs, Catholic specifically. I am not trying to offend anyone, I am usually reticent talking about my faith because I think it is something personal and a subject that calls for utmost respect, but I do want clarity and truth.


Sharkteeth and I were in Laguna since Saturday to tidy up the place a bit. We had a lot of things to clear and clean up (one of which is a DEAD CAT inside the house, WTF, right?!) and decided to stay overnight instead of going home to the parentals. S and I attended the Palm Sunday mass at St. Peregrine in Muntinlupa. Anyhooo, during the homily, the priest was lecturing against people who go on vacations during the Holy Week. Naturally, tinamaan ako kasi pupunta kami sa Baguio and it perked up my waning attention (sorry, but I have a self-diagnosed ADD). And the priest said, "Yung mga pupunta ng beach at magbabakasyon, pag may nangyaring masama sa inyo, don't expect God to help you kasi PATAY ANG DIYOS" [emphasis mine]. "Patay ang Diyos"? What the ...???!!! I so wanted to raise my hand and challenge his statement, but with the church being filled to the rafters and not wanting to mortify S, I timidly stayed my hand.

As far as I know, though admittedly, what I know about matters of faith won't go very far, the Church's dogma on Jesus' death on the cross and resurrection is precisely that -- He died on the cross and resurrected after three days. So where is this priest coming from? Where was it mentioned that Jesus dies during each and every Good Friday, as what the priest's statement implied? It saddens me that these men of faith --  those who are supposed to bring more believers to the fold and "win" back those whose faith are waning -- have a wrong understanding of the Church's belief(s), of the basic foundation of the faith they're supposed to be spreading. Either he doesn't really know what he was saying or he was trying to "scare off" people from doing fun things during the Holy Week, and I don't even know which is worse -- a priest, one whom I might secularly refer to as a professional, who knows nothing about his "profession" or a priest who lies to the believers to further an agenda only known to him.

When the mass was over, as S and I were leaving the church, instead of feeling at peace, as I usually did in my youth, I was just full of questions and confusion.