Two Views on the Black Nazarene: False hope and reasons for devotion

Editor's Note: Here are two views on the devotion to the Black Nazarene and the annual traslacion procession that drew millions this year, by musician Zach Lucero and tour guide Carlos P. Celdran.

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Why I go to the Nazareno traslacion

By CARLOS CELDRAN

Why do I go to the Black Nazarene? Because it renews my faith in being Filipino and the Filipino masses. Forbes Park and Greenhills high-haired types don't come to the Nazareno. And some may call it desperation and superstition but I think of it as the collective gesture of a simple people who want to become better people. I was thrilled to meet these folks who were voluntarily picking up garbage in the Luneta. #nazareno 
 

 
Author's Note: Yes, I'm a devotee of the Nazareno but this devotion is not for everyone. I know that. But it works for me.
 

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Despite being an outspoken critic of the Catholic Church, Manila tour guide Carlos P. Celdran is a Nazarene devotee who has been joining the yearly procession for 10 years. He also practices the "Halik sa Taas" behind the Quiapo Church altar. This post originally appeared on his Facebook. We are re-posting it here with his permission.

 

Editor's Note: Here are two views on the devotion to the Black Nazarene and the annual traslacion procession that drew millions this year, by musician Zach Lucero and tour guide Carlos P. Celdran.

By ZACH LUCERO

Dear Pope Francis,

 

You (the Catholic Church) should take it upon yourself to stop this senseless practice of having thousands upon thousands of people scramble to touch this image in exchange for what they hope will be a better life.

 

There is NOTHING miraculous about it, nor (as per Christian doctrine) does God live within it. Exactly why would God have people go through that insane mess just for a miracle? By letting this happen, you are giving false hope to your flock. I would go as far to say that perhaps you are letting this happen to keep your numbers up... to keep them clinging to a belief that is not even at the very least based on the Bible you preach from. 

 

Nazareno. It's a dead tree... and nothing more.

 

Hope is a powerful thing, both to the one banking on it and, in this case, for those who are parading it around in the form of a man made of wood. The church thrives on numbers to survive... and the Catholic Church should spend more time being Biblical rather than mystical.

 

Please stop saying: "Eh, we can't help it if the devotees are like this, eh." You know how this horrid orc scene from “The Two Towers” can stop? Stop taking that statue out. Keep it in church, keep in a glass case, and EDUCATE them that they shouldn't bank on a better life because they touched a statue. Please give your parishioners some dignity; you are making fools of them to the world. You should tell them, if they want to trip out in numbers, they would have a better time at a rock concert.

 

There are actually three ways to get rich in this country: be hardworking, be corrupt, be in the religion business. 

 

There is nothing wrong with being rich of course, it's how you get there that is the question, and I feel this statue is a carrot used to fuel and egg on parishioners while keeping them reigned in. Please put a stop to this nonsense already. 

 

Thank you. 

 

Z.

 

P.S. If the very premise is that you get a better life when your hanky gets in contact with the statue, then how about those people who are right next to it the whole time it is being transported? They must be millionares by the end of the procession. — KDM, GMA News 

 

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Zach Lucero plays guitar for the band Imago and is the Program Director for Radio Republic. This post originally appeared on his Facebook. We are re-posting it here with his permission.