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Sunday, April 03, 2005
Cardinal inspires youth, despite sadness
Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal described the youth as the main pilgrims in the archdiocese, as the church celebrated the 333rd year of the martyrdom of Blessed Pedro Calungsod.
The cardinal told the youth, who gathered yesterday morning at the Archdiocesan Shrine in honor of the first Visayan martyr, to reflect on the
conviction and courage of Calungsod.
Calungsod was just a teenager when he was killed.
“There was a young man who was recognized as a Christian, having been with Jesus, and known as a catechist, with a remarkable show of power that nobody could deny. There was a young man who saw it was right in God’s sight for him to obey God rather than men. And to go on speaking the name of Jesus, and teaching about him,” Cardinal Vidal said.
But sadness proved inseparable from the celebration, as the devotees also prayed for Pope John Paul II, who was described as near death in the Vatican.
Calungsod was killed with his mentor Fr. Diego Luis de San Vitores in a village in the Marianas Island. Both were trying to catechize the villagers to believe in God and accept the Christian faith.
They also administered the sacrament of baptism. But this did not sit well with the other natives, and so they were killed. Their bodies were thrown into the ocean and were never found.
There is little documentation on Calungsod, and there is no evidence of where exactly he hailed from, except that he was a Visayan, and that he left for the Marianas in 1668 to become Fr. Diego’s helper and a catechist. He stayed in the island until his death in 1672.
“Each of us must complete the journey, the voyage that he began so well and so wisely. Marianas may be far, far away. April 2, 1672 may be a long, long time ago. But the message of his martyrdom is still loud and clear,” Cardinal Vidal told the youth.
He added, “You may not be gifted with martyrdom. You may not die for the faith of your forefathers. But certainly, as baptized persons, you have the vocation and the mission to live up to the demands of your Catholic faith.” (JGA)
(April 3, 2005 issue)
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