Filipinos often claim that the Philippines is the only Christian country in Asia - which is really no longer true. Papua New Guinea and East Timor are now also predominantly Christian countries. Some Filipinos seem to think that God favors them in some way because they are Christian. Maybe in some profound sense - they may be right.
Ninety two percent of Filipinos are Christians. Eighty one to eighty five percent are Catholics. In a deeply spiritual sense, maybe God favors Filipinos. True Catholic belief sees suffering as a way to heaven. Some of the greatest Catholic saints have gone through incredible sufferings: painful illnesses, persecutions, tortures, disappointments, humiliations, martyrdoms. Catholics are taught that they can offer their sufferings to God which results in many blessings.
Catholics believe that the suffering and death of Jesus Christ is the most important event in the history of mankind. It healed the breach caused by sin between man and God. In Catholic mystical theology, undeserved suffering is connected to Christ's sufferings - which brings forth much good.
The belief is that the acceptance and willingness to undergo sufferings in imitation of Christ bears fruit not only in the life of the individual sufferer but also in the lives of others. As such, it is not only a question of accepting suffering that come's one's way but also deliberately seeking self imposed suffering at times - especially during lent.
Millions of Filipinos suffer so much because of government corruption, ignorance, malnutrition, slum housing, crime infested surroundings and general poverty. An estimated one third of our people goes to bed hungry at night. Perhaps it is this deeply embedded Catholic belief about the virtue of suffering in the Filipino psyche that enables him or her to be so resilient - to endure so much. The Filipino somehow manages to remain smiling no matter how dire his circumstances may be.
This resiliency and gentle toughness are also probably there because of his great faith in a loving God - that somehow, God will see him through all these sufferings and that it will be all right in the end. This simple faith and trust in a God Whose love will make all things right is also deeply installed in the Filipino psyche - unquestionably a beautiful part of Filipino culture.
His relationship with God also provides him (or her) the "bahala na ang diyos" attitude that enables him to brave loneliness and dangers in distant cold or desert lands and strange foreign cultures: to find work that enables him to feed his family back home - or to send his children or younger brothers and sisters to school - so that they may have a decent future.
It's incredible how one sees so many smiling Filipino faces in the midst of devastated drowned houses, cars or crops after a major typhoon. When typhoon Ondoy smashed the Philippines in September 2009, it was fascinating to see on TV news the smiling faces of Filipinos wading their way through deep flood waters with their children and belongings. I saw the same kind of smiles in the face of evacuees fleeing from the wrath of Pinatubo when it exploded. It's as if they're saying: "Its okay - we'll survive this no matter what. God is with us."
In the midst of disasters, even if their houses are damaged, their cars wrecked, their furnitures and household appliance ruined, their crops ruined, their businesses affected - Filipinos still manage to smile.
I have seen similar disasters in the United States and other countries. I had not seen any smiling faces amidst flood waters or tornado or earthquake wreckage. Of course, that's understandable, who can smile in the face of so much pain and sufferings?
The Filipino can.
Note: The California State Bar honors Atty. Laguatan as one of only less than 29 US lawyers officially certified continuously for over 20 years as an Specialist/Expert on US immigration law. He also does business, accident injury and death cases. San Francisco Bay Area info: 455 Hickey Blvd., Ste. 516, Daly City, Ca 94015 tel. 650-991-1154 fax 650-991-1186 Email laguatanlaw@gmail.com
Ninety two percent of Filipinos are Christians. Eighty one to eighty five percent are Catholics. In a deeply spiritual sense, maybe God favors Filipinos. True Catholic belief sees suffering as a way to heaven. Some of the greatest Catholic saints have gone through incredible sufferings: painful illnesses, persecutions, tortures, disappointments, humiliations, martyrdoms. Catholics are taught that they can offer their sufferings to God which results in many blessings.
Catholics believe that the suffering and death of Jesus Christ is the most important event in the history of mankind. It healed the breach caused by sin between man and God. In Catholic mystical theology, undeserved suffering is connected to Christ's sufferings - which brings forth much good.
The belief is that the acceptance and willingness to undergo sufferings in imitation of Christ bears fruit not only in the life of the individual sufferer but also in the lives of others. As such, it is not only a question of accepting suffering that come's one's way but also deliberately seeking self imposed suffering at times - especially during lent.
Millions of Filipinos suffer so much because of government corruption, ignorance, malnutrition, slum housing, crime infested surroundings and general poverty. An estimated one third of our people goes to bed hungry at night. Perhaps it is this deeply embedded Catholic belief about the virtue of suffering in the Filipino psyche that enables him or her to be so resilient - to endure so much. The Filipino somehow manages to remain smiling no matter how dire his circumstances may be.
This resiliency and gentle toughness are also probably there because of his great faith in a loving God - that somehow, God will see him through all these sufferings and that it will be all right in the end. This simple faith and trust in a God Whose love will make all things right is also deeply installed in the Filipino psyche - unquestionably a beautiful part of Filipino culture.
His relationship with God also provides him (or her) the "bahala na ang diyos" attitude that enables him to brave loneliness and dangers in distant cold or desert lands and strange foreign cultures: to find work that enables him to feed his family back home - or to send his children or younger brothers and sisters to school - so that they may have a decent future.
It's incredible how one sees so many smiling Filipino faces in the midst of devastated drowned houses, cars or crops after a major typhoon. When typhoon Ondoy smashed the Philippines in September 2009, it was fascinating to see on TV news the smiling faces of Filipinos wading their way through deep flood waters with their children and belongings. I saw the same kind of smiles in the face of evacuees fleeing from the wrath of Pinatubo when it exploded. It's as if they're saying: "Its okay - we'll survive this no matter what. God is with us."
In the midst of disasters, even if their houses are damaged, their cars wrecked, their furnitures and household appliance ruined, their crops ruined, their businesses affected - Filipinos still manage to smile.
I have seen similar disasters in the United States and other countries. I had not seen any smiling faces amidst flood waters or tornado or earthquake wreckage. Of course, that's understandable, who can smile in the face of so much pain and sufferings?
The Filipino can.
Note: The California State Bar honors Atty. Laguatan as one of only less than 29 US lawyers officially certified continuously for over 20 years as an Specialist/Expert on US immigration law. He also does business, accident injury and death cases. San Francisco Bay Area info: 455 Hickey Blvd., Ste. 516, Daly City, Ca 94015 tel. 650-991-1154 fax 650-991-1186 Email laguatanlaw@gmail.com
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