St. Joseph, Pope Francis, and my Mother

What do the foster father of Christ, a ground-breaking Vicar of Christ and an 83-year-old lady  have in common? Well, for one, today, March 19 marks a milestone for each of them. 

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Today is the Feast of St. Joseph. 

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It is also the Inauguration day of Pope Francis, the first Jesuit and the first Latin American elected to fill the fisherman’s shoes and lead the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics.  

Photo by Katzi

And today is the birthday of that very special lady, my Mother.

Beyond this, they share an unflagging faith in God. St. Joseph, Mary’s betrothed must have been in crisis when he found out that his teen-age bride-to-be was pregnant, when they had not had intimate relations. Yet, on the strength of a message from an angel in a dream saying that Mary was carrying in her womb the Savior conceived the Holy Spirit, he kept quiet and married her. I would also like to believe that Joseph was an honorable man, and that he had not wanted Mary to be stoned to death, if her condition was found out.

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The newly elected Pope Francis now widely known as champion of the poor, also displayed remarkable faith early on. Of course, we all know that that faith with a capital F is one of the minimum qualification requirements for his job. But he underscored this by saying during his first mass that, “The Lord never tires of forgiving us.” Added to that is the fact that he accepted such a big job at a late stage in his life, and at a tumultuous period in the Catholic church. Imagine being past retirement age and taking over an organization reeling from sexual abuse scandals and rumors of corruption and infighting. Pope Francis must have an unshakeable faith that God will help him and the Church.

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My Mother, who we call Mamang retired at age 65 from a male-dominated organization where she managed to rise to the upper level. Now, she devotes her time to the going to church, taking care of Papang who is a triple bypass survivor, and participating in Church activities. She is someone that any child would be proud of. One of my earliest recollections is of her going to Sunday mass in a green dress belted with a cord of golden yellow and green. Mamang always wore the same outfit, like a Sunday Mass uniform of sorts. She explained that she did this because she was a devotee of St. Joseph, as she was born on his feast day. Mamang also said that she prayed to him so that our Papang will continue to be a good father like himself.  She also prayed that my sisters and I will have good husbands. I am not sure if she was just making up the devotion for a good husband. J  St. Joseph is more widely known as the Patron Saint of Workers. That is why I myself pray to him for career related matters.  But back to my mother, who, to me is the epitome of faith in God. Though all of life’s tribulations, my mother kept steadfast in her faith that God knows what is best for us. She would say in Ilocano, “Ni Apo Dios ti maka ammon” 

Photo by Dada

Even when confronted with situations that are too complex and depressing to think about, Mamang firmly believes that God will pull her through. She is no Pollyanna, though. She believes that all prayers are answered, sometimes not in the way that we anticipated, and that prayers will help us accept things as they come.  As she journeys through life, she finds time to stop and smell the flowers,  always focusing on the blooms instead of the thorns.

Photo by Katzi

When I was a child, I thought that being a Mom meant being invincible. Even when all of us had the measles and had to be quarantined, she tended to us and never got sick!  Even when we had the mumps and other assorted illnesses, she stayed healthy. Adding to her larger-than-life aura was that she was fearless. She talked with dignity to Mother Superiors and Principals, when she thought school rules were unfair to her children. She even contradicted her superiors at work when she knew she was right. She remains as fearless as ever. But now, I think her fearlessness is based on the knowledge that God is with her. She has aged gracefully and I am sure that one of her secrets is her unwavering faith in God. It is this faith that is seeing her through the vagaries of failing eyesight, weakened bones, and all the other weaknesses brought on by age, such as no longer being able to wear high heels. 

Photo by Katzi

Happy Birthday, Mamang. May you have many more blessed birthdays to come.  We love you.

Mexico City: Miracles, Mysteries, and Laughing Skeletons

Mexico City pulsates with the throbbing energy of a modern megalopolis. Yet at the same time, it is home to numerous ancient sites of miracles and mysteries.

The Miracle at Tepeyac Hill

For most of us Filipinos, a trip to Mexico would not be complete without a visit to the sacred Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The olive-skinned Lady of Guadalupe is the city’s Patron Saint. It is also the Secondary Patroness of the Philippines. 

Basilica Complex. New Basilica on the left, Old Basilica, center.

The Basilica Complex sits atop Tepeyac Hill in the city’s La Villa District, and is the most visited Catholic shrine in the world.

As the now- familiar story goes, the Blessed Mother appeared to the native peasant Juan Diego on Tepeyac Hill in 1531 and instructed him to tell the Bishop to build a church in her name. The Bishop was skeptical. Then one day, Juan Diego brought him unseasonal Castillian roses that were not even native to Mexico. Juan Diego carried the roses in his apron-like cloak called a Tilma. When he spread it out, the Bishop saw the miraculously imprinted image of the Blessed Mother on the Tilma, olive skinned and radiant, just as Juan Diego had described her. The Bishop relented and ordered the construction of a chapel, the Capilla del Cerrito, on the apparition site. Numerous healings have been credited to the Tilma.

I went to the Basilica Complex at midday, and although it teemed with people, I felt a certain spiritual serenity there. Aside from the Capilla del Cerrito, the Complex contains two basilicas, a visitor’s center, and a garden. The original Basilica which dates back to the 16^th Century is now a museum of religious art, notably paintings of Marian miracles. 

Religious painting inside the Old Basilica

I heard mass at the stadium-like Basilica Nuevo which was built between 1974 and 1976 to accommodate a growing congregation. There, Juan Diego’s indestructible Tilma hung above the altar for everybody in the circular church to see. I am not a particularly religious person, but I felt a soothing calm as I gazed at the image of the Blessed Mother.  Even the oppressive afternoon heat was not bothersome anymore.

View of Tilma from walkalator

For a closer look, I went down one of the ramps on either side of the altar to the viewing area. A pair of walkalators like the ones in airports transported visitors, preventing bottlenecks in front of the relic. Like other visitors, I cued up several times to go back and forth, somewhat addicted to gazing up the miraculous tilma. It is now enclosed in bullet-proof glass, after a bomb attack in 1920. Prior to that, it was exposed to the elements for a long time. What a marvel that it remained well preserved even after almost 500 year.

A framed replica of the Tilma stands at the door of a religious articles store located near the walkalators, where visitors like me pose for pictures. After every mass, a priest blesses religious items right outside the Basilica Nuevo.

Priest Blessing religious items

The Mystery of Teotihuacan

Some 40 kilometers northeast of Mexico City lies the abandoned city of Teotihuacan, a UNESCO Heritage Site with a history shrouded in mystery. It was established around 100 BC and was the largest city in Pre Columbian Americas. But then it suddenly and violently collapsed for reasons that remain enigmatic. Even the identity of the builders is still under debate.

Pyramid of the Sun

The Aztecs who arrived in Mexico in the 13^th Century long after Teotihuacan’s collapse, perhaps struck by its grandeur, believed it to be the site where the gods created the universe. So, they called the city the Birthplace of the Gods ("Teotihuacan" in their native language).

The Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon loom large over the ruins of Teotihuacan. The Pyramid of the Sun measures 210 feet high, as tall as the 55-storey One Rockwell West Tower. Shorter but no less impressive, the Pyramid of the Moon stands at 150 feet, roughly as tall as a 45-storey building. I was awed by the skill of the ancient builders. How could those ancient craftsmen have constructed those humongous monuments hundreds of years before the invention of modern tools? We asked our guide if perhaps there were extra terrestials who helped. She gave us an enigmatic smile in reply.

Unlike Egyptian Pyramids with pointed tops, the pyramids of Teotihuacan have flat tops. Our guide said that the ancient inhabitants performed human sacrifice there. Recent excavations found evidence of such rituals.

An actual archeological dig at Teotihuacan.

Spanning the city is the Calzada delos Muertos (Avenue of the Dead), so called because of the tomb-like mounds lining both sides. On the afternoon of our visit, the sun soaked the avenue with a reddish tinge.  Our guide told us that people who were offered as human sacrifice walked that path on the way to their deaths. Even in the warm air, the hair on my arms prickled.

Avenue of the Dead: is the red tinge from ancient blood?

Laughing Skeletons

All around the city, I saw bejeweled, merry-making skeletons. I was not hallucinating. These stylized skeletons called La Calavera Catrina (the Elegant Skull) are displayed all year-round, some dressed in gowns and suits embellished with bursts of aqua, fuschia, and green.

Skeletons displayed all year round

Catrina Dolls form part of the collection of the Museum of Popular Arts. They smile from vignettes such as a wedding party, a singing trio, and a cavalry. Even in the Plaza San Jacinto, an art district south of the City, those dolls were everywhere.

How do you beat a cavalry of skeletons?

My Mexican friend told me that during the day of the Dead (November 1-2), the dolls really come out in full force, appearing not only in shop windows but also in private altars. Sugar candies and cakes  shaped like skulls and skeletons are handed out to children during the Holiday. Larger-than-life Catrinas dominate Day of the Dead Parades.

The Holiday is a joyous one, held to celebrate family members who have passed away. In homes, they erect shrines with offerings of gifts and favorite food of the departed, not to appease them, but to lure them to visit!

The Mayan Calendar and Others

Other interesting places abound in the City. Foremost is the famed National Museum of Anthropology with its wide collection of artifacts notably the Mayan Calendar, which has lost none of its grandeur despite some miscalculations regarding the end of the world. Perhaps the error lay in modern man’s interpretation of the calendar.

Local Artists sell their work in Plaza San Jacinto at the  San Angelo District south of the city

The Zona Rosa boasts of shops and bars, including gay bars. It ends at the Monument to Independence, known for the statue of the winged Goddess of Liberty. The San Angelo district where the air is suffused with the scent of corn tortillas and the beat of marimba, is a pleasant place to dine and shop in the old countryside way.

Street Music- Dying art of the organ grinder

Indeed, Mexico is more than just drug cartels, sunswept beaches and Marimar.  Hasta luego, Mexico!

Note: This article was published in the Lifestyle Section of the Business Mirror, March 7, 2013. 

Everlasting Love

The greatest emotions- love, lust, hatred, revenge, all have at their core, love. Man searches for love throughout his life. Love has sold millions if not billions of songs, novels, consumer items. Perfumes sell because of the promise of allure. Make up sells because of the promise of attraction. Even exercise equipment sell because of the promise of sexier, more desirable bodies. Sure, there are health benefits, but study the ads closely and what do you see? Bodies sculpted to perfection. Money spent in search of love. Some are lucky in their search, unfortunately some are not.

My parents belong to the lucky group. Last month, the love month, they celebrated their 57th wedding anniversary. If their marriage were a person, it would get its senior citizen card in three years and enjoy free movies and discounts.

57 Years of Marriage: Long and Lasting Love

The enduring length of their union is all the more remarkable today, when some celebrated marriages last for 72 days. Yes, Kim Kardashian, I am talking about you. 

My parents have loved one another through thick and thin, weathering storms that beset ordinary families.

So what is the secret of their staying power? How did their love withstand the test of time? 

Love is in the air

Of course, their success is not based purely on luck. They said that they truly love each other. But aside from love, they said, there should be respect. Both husband and wife should respect one another because that is one way of showing how you value the other person. My mother said that they focused on the good in each other. After all, nobody is perfect. Even those named "Perfecto". :)

I think aside from those two crucial ingredients, there should also be trust. Once trust is lost, living together will be very difficult. Once trust is lost, respect will be elusive, and once those are gone, so will love wither and fade.

Love, trust and goof around together!

Having said that, I wish you all a belated happy love month. If you have comments on how to attain everlasting love, I would like to hear from you.

By the way, since Lent is here, I would also like to share with you my experience at the Lady of Guadalupe Shrine in Mexico in the next post.