A BETTER HOMELAND
I used to wonder why old people back then were so much given in to
reminiscing. Now that the tables have turned, I wonder why young people are so
focused on the here and now. Those who reminisce do so because they miss the
good old days. They would extol the virtues of their forebears, make much of
what they said and did, and would generally tend to idealize everything about
them and their supposed golden era.
The Church, too, is an expert
at remembering. We Christians, people of “the Book,” are good, not necessarily
at reminiscing but remembering in a special way. We are a people of the
memorial, and we hold on to memories of events past, for they impinge on the
present, and they give grounding to our desired future. What better record of
memories do we have than Scripture itself? What better mode of memorial keeping
is there than the liturgy where we engage in the act of “doing” Eucharist “in
memory of Him” who died, who rose, and who will come again?
The letter-writer to the
Hebrews today does his memorial act — and how! He frames his writing on the
virtues of faith and hope, and proceeds to trace how the fathers of old, from
Abraham onwards, lived — and died — by the same faith and hope. “By faith,
Abraham obeyed… By faith, he sojourned in the promised land… By faith, he
received power to generate…” “All these died in faith… and acknowledged
themselves to be strangers and aliens on earth, for those who speak thus show
that they are seeking a homeland.”
I would like to think that,
like the first migrants in the Bible, Abraham and company, most Filipinos who
leave the country and go abroad to work are people of faith and hope. I know. I
saw them in Europe. They are those who revive otherwise empty churches there.
The ultimate goal of the people of faith and hope is not to live here nor
there. They are in search for a better homeland — heaven, our only true home! Fr. Chito Dimaranan, SDB
REFLECTION QUESTIONS: What about your faith journey stands out in
your memory? Why?
Make me remember and make me celebrate always what You have done
for us — through daily Eucharist.
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