A reader e-mailed to ask me to “cite ordinarily (sic) and living examples of peripheral ritual practices we have in Cebu City especially during Sinulog, and examples we are practicing of the essential acts of love.” I thought it best to share this answer with the rest of my readers.
To recall, I averred in my last column that the Filipino brand of Christianity is failing us. We take to ritual worship more readily than to the essential worship of hardcore Christian living. This dearth of essentially Christian behavior explains to a significant degree why there is widespread corruption and poverty in the country.
Religion is belief in and worship of a God or gods. In any religion, worship is usually of two kinds. One is peripheral and symbolic through ritual, while the other is essential through a life lived according to the values promoted by the religion.
In Catholic Christianity, the principal rituals would be the Eucharist and the rest of the Sacraments. More peripheral than the above rituals would be processions, novenas and dancing and walking on one’s knees in Church on the feast of patron saints but especially of Santo Niño. Most peripheral of these rituals would be walking barefoot in the Black Nazarene procession and self-flagellation and even crucifixion in Lent.
These rituals definitely signify worship of Christianity’s God. Yet, they do not necessarily mean those who do these rituals are living authentic Christian lives. Ritual acts cannot substitute for a life lived according to the precepts of its founder, Jesus Christ who said in Matthew 22:39 “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
As the adult Jesus, not the child, typified in the gospels, the essential act of worship of a Christian is to honor the God that resides in each person by respecting his right to life, to freedom from hunger, ignorance, ill health and any form of exploitation or injustice. An essentially Christian life is one that is lived in sincere imitation of Christ’s way of life, a life of love, justice and compassion for “the least of My brethren.”
(Attending flag-raising ceremonies, for instance, is ritual patriotism. It signifies love of country but does not make you a patriot. The ultimate patriotic act is dying in the defense of one’s country. But on a daily basis, patriotism simply means contributing to the country’s progress and development by doing an honest and productive job as lawyer, doctor, government official, teacher, farmer, laborer, etc.)
In Christian Philippines, ritual worship is in full display; but essential worship is scarce, especially in high places. Many politicians are corrupt and steal money from the people. Many businesses do not give just wages, do not provide health insurance and a safe and secure place to their workers. (Binaliw was not an act of God but of human negligence.) The millions of poor people are deprived by fellow Christians of so many rights.
The Philippine Catholic Church needs to shift emphasis from ritual to the essential worship of genuine acts of justice and compassion to marginalized Filipinos. Only essential worship can help improve the quality of their miserable lives.