'Unusual' Palm Sunday Mass in Quiapo church stuns worshippers

MANILA, Philippines - It was pretty much like your every year Palm Sunday Mass at the historic Quiapo Church. There were custom-made coconut leaves that were constantly being fluttered into the air. There was the priest dramatizing Jesus Christ's entry into Jerusalem as worshippers greeted him with their palaspas (palm leaves). But there was one thing that made it different from other Palm Sunday Masses, if not all Masses regardless of occasions. That particular day, one very important component of a traditional Roman Catholic Mass was missing. The priest, for reasons he would only later reveal halfway to the religious ceremony, did not say the homily. "Hindi po muna tayo mag-hohomilya sa araw na ito upang magbigay daan sa pagbasa ng pastoral letter mula sa Metropolitan Ecclesiastical Province of Manila (I would skip saying the homily and instead read out the pastoral letter prepared by the Metropolitan Ecclesiastical Province of Manila)," the priest said. Before delving into the contents of the letter, the story of how people chose criminal Barabas over Jesus and how he was crucified on the cross right beside two other criminals were narrated. This obviously set the tone of the pastoral letter. The man of the cloth then went on to read the bishops' letter that started proliferating on the Internet days ahead of Palm Sunday supposedly to address the current national situation when "social and political mess" abound in the country. In the letter, the bishops reminded Filipinos to ward off corruption by strictly observing the Seventh Commandment, "Thou shall not steal," saying that leaders should take the first step in cleansing themselves of sins and become role models of honesty to the public. This is especially significant because the current administration under President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has been embroiled in supposed irregularities in several government contracts such as the supposed overpriced $329.48-million national broadband network deal, whose price was allegedly jacked up by massive commissions. The reading of the letter, which also included asking that money stripped off taxpayer's pockets be returned through “restitution," took a good 20 minutes. Although the reading was previously announced through media, not a few people, including Aling Pat, who heard the Sunday Mass in Quiapo were surprised by the sudden departure from the basic elements of their Sunday Mass. Earning money as a "mandarasal" who receives fees in exchange for praying for someone, Aling Pat has been slouching on her mono-block seat in the far corner of the Quiapo Church for some five hours already since the series of Palm Sunday Masses began at 5 a.m. Relentlessly waving her hand out to prospective customers, Aling Pat called out to every churchgoer that passed her way, inviting, "Tara, padasal kayo?" She would utter this exact same line repeatedly until the early evening. But that specific day, more than the redundant punch lines that she bellowed as required by her job, Aling Pat was getting more uneasy with the repetitious utterance of the pastoral letter. "Kanina pa paulit-ulit iyang tungkol sa pagnanakaw, pagnanakaw na iyan (All the priest was talking about since early morning was about that stealing stuff)," said Aling Pat, hinting however of her unusually slight amusement at the observed pattern. While she voiced her opinion that the pastoral letter could be particularly directed at erring government officials, Aling Pat would not say whether she was pro-administration. "Mahirap nang magsalita at magtuturu-turo. Basta ako tuloy ang buhay at ang pagtatrabaho," said Aling Pat, who confessed to having voted for Mrs Arroyo in the 2004 presidential election. The 10 a.m. Mass ended and people in the church thawed out. But then another set of Catholic worshipers started trickling in and it was not long before the place was jam-packed anew. It was the sixth Mass of the day. The hordes of worshipers did not only pack the church's interior but bled out even to the sidewalks. For instance, clusters of people were also gathered just outside the left portion of the church.

Just like in the inside, the people there were intently listening to the Mass. Their heads, however, were glued to the talking image of the priest that was being projected on a huge liquid-crystal display (LCD) screen erected just outside. Similar to the five previous Masses, the priest once again broke the news that they would be hearing the bishops' call of 'renewal' in place of the homily. Mingling with the group just outside the church, while the pastoral letter was being read out, was another woman who had been there all day and was noticing the "unusual" occurrence. Aling Zenaida, or Zeny, also took notice of the slight deviation from the usual Palm Sunday Mass that she would use to hear since 1985. For more than two decades now, Zeny never missed a single Palm Sunday Mass, perhaps also because of the nature of her job. She sells religious memorabilia from handkerchiefs printed with Christ's image to amulets and rosaries. "Sinasabi nila (priests) ngayon iyan (pastoral letter) siguro para sabihin sa atin na huwag natin tularan iyong dalawang magnanakaw na katabi ni Jesus sa krus," she said. Unlike "prayer lady" Aling Pat, Aling Zeny publicly proclaimed her distaste of the current administration. "Kung sapat yung ginagawa niya hindi naman siguro siya aanuhin ng mga tao. Sa pamamalakad niya, ang jeep drivers at mga magsasaka, lahat apektado na. Eh di hindi na maganda ang pamamalakad niya. Biro mo, ilan ang pinagrally diyan para siya bumaba, pero hindi siya bumaba," she said, noting the soaring prices of basic commodities like rice and meat. However, asked why she thought the Church, after everything that's been recently erupting on the political stratosphere of the state, has remained adamant in not calling for the President's ouster unlike in the past, Zeny could only surmise. "Kung malawak lang ang pag-iisip ng pinagsabihan mo ng ganoon, alam naman niya kung ano ang ibig sabihin noon (pastoral letter). Kaya sa ganoong paraan na lang nila sinasabi. Pero hindi nila direktang masabing, 'Gloria resign!'" she said. This seemed to be the call of the majority, she said, as evidenced by the fact that all churches in the Philippines were simultaneously reading out the copy of the pastoral letter that Sunday. From the well-known dome-shaped church at the University of the Philippines in Diliman in Quezon City to the humble parish church of Saint Concepcion in Marikina City, only one version of the homily echoed through their walls: that which spoke of a rather definitive call to heed God's warning against defying that important Commandment. This was the case for most of the churches in the entire country save for some, where priests defy the Church order and delivered homilies and leave out the reading of the pastoral letter. Teresa Prado, a 40-something mother of three living in Marikina City, said she was expecting their priest to narrate the contents of the letter but was instead treated to the usual homily. "Hinihintay ko nga iyong pastoral letter kasi sabi nga sa TV iyon daw ang babasahin pero hindi, nag-homily si Father," she recounted. Prado could only guess that the Church could probably have been divided as to where to stand on the recent political issues and some just opted not to heed the request to read the letter. Interestingly, Zeny had an inkling as to why the Catholic Church in the Philippines this year has chosen to have a "different" homily. "Ngayon lang nangyari iyan dito ah. Siguro kasi ganyan naman talaga kapag magulo na ang Pilipinas (It was the first time they did that. Well, that is always the case when the country is in troubled times)," she said. And perhaps Aling Zeny was right when she said deviations such as this only sprout when "national disasters" transpire. The controversies that hound the government, affecting almost every sector of society, must really be something of massive urgency and relevance to warrant an excuse of disrupting the usual order of ever so sacred occasions such as the Catholic Mass. And Zeny said she wouldn't be surprised if next year, she still won't get to hear Palm Sunday's homily. - Mark Merueñas, GMANews.TV