Woven Dreams

July 11, 2014, Friday.

Opening of the T’nalak Festival.

Thematic Parade overseen in front of NDMU main gate.

It was class hours but our teacher was somehow late so we grabbed the opportunity to watch the parade. It was already half way when we arrived in front of NDMU main gate. Though it was already that late, it is still worth watching for. The costumes of the participants were so very colorful. The music overpowering the area were so electrifying that I could really feel the spirit of festivity. The floats were extraordinary that you really see how well the participants really prepared themselves for the said event. And these only show how Filipinos, how South Cotabateños really express their pride of Timog Cotabato.

Just by watching the parade, somehow I could already grasped how very rich the culture of each town here in South Cotabato, with the various tribes that settled here, there is no doubt that South Cotabato has one of the richest culture here in the Philippines. Not only that, but we could also cultivate and harvest here  rich natural resources and fascinating sceneries from the serenity of Mt. Matutum down to the captivating Seven Falls of Lake Sebu.

South Cotabato really progresses a lot. This year, I could really see the big improvements of the province. It is on this parade that each town here in South Cotabato could show how well they have been through for the past year. It is on this parade that we could amazingly feel the already existing unity among people here in South Cotabato. And in this festival, it highlights the famous t’nalak fabric that symbolizes the culture of South Cotabato.

“The traditional t'nalak cloth is meticulously handwoven by the T'bolis, in a laborious, steady process of dyeing, heating, and beating. Intense and unique striking colors are produced in its material as are the patterns, which come from the weavers' dreams. This symbolic woven dreams is an integral part of the South Cotabato heritage, whose dynamic progress weaves a harmonic yet intricate tapestry of peoples, culture and traditions.” – Jojie Alcantara, Sun Star Davao

            It is good to have this thematic parade that concretely shows how diverse our culture is yet united with that very same dream symbolically woven harmoniously like in the fabric of t’nalak. 

A Reflection Paper on the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium of the Holy Father Francis to the Bishops, Clergy Consecrated Persons and the Lay Faithful on the Proclamation of the Gospel in Today’s World.

Joyful Evangelizer

“A person who is not convinced, enthusiastic, certain and in love, will convince nobody.”

I was baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. And was deepened when I received the Sacrament of Confirmation. But… is this enough to be called real and true Christian?

I was bothered of how I live my life as a Catholic. I even seek my stand of what I believed in. Yes I received my baptism when I was a baby, and received my Confirmation when I was in high school but something is lacking. What is it for me that I now received these sacraments?

In Pope Francis Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, he is urging us to be joyful, to love one another, to be eager to share God’s love. For the past years, I was caught in that situation of a typical teenager that don’t know and don’t even give any importance of the teachings of the Church and even the Grace of the Sacraments. And I was also that typical youngster who just attends masses and go directly at home after. No participation in the Church at all. Nothing to brag and make pride of in front of St. Peter during interrogations.

And just recently I began to understand my task as a Catholic. To share God’s Love. To be a Joyful Evangelizer.

“In virtue of their baptism, all the members of the People of God have become missionary disciples (cf. Mt 28:19).”[1] All the baptized (persons) are challenged by the Church for an active personal involvement in the church. It is our responsibility as a Christian. As Christians we follow Jesus. Jesus, in His ministry here on earth, loved us. And His love is His sacrifices, like on the cross. If like Him, sent by his father as we also sent we too then must have the capacity to make out God’s love for the world. And this God’s love must be proclaimed, “Woe to me if I do not proclaim the Gospel” (1 Cor 9:16).[2] 

It is our encounter with Jesus and the grace of the Holy Spirit that makes us witnesses of the Gospel. Kuya Ree once said on our sharing “it is our encounter with Jesus that makes us to go forward and energizes us in our chosen vocation, if you failed to encounter Him, then you will have a big problem, so seek.” Then there I asked myself, what will I proclaim to the people if I myself do not have that strong encounter with Jesus?

We are a “missionary disciple.”[3] We need to go out, explore, and learn in order to “grow in our interpretation of the revealed word in our understanding of truth.”[4] The Gospel is embedded with an inexhaustible richness of meanings. That human mind cannot grasp the whole of its richness. And this incapacity does not stop our desire to know more but in fact it gives us more reasons to desire for wisdom. And the more we witness Christ the more we are in awe of His greatness and His profundity of His love. And the more we have to share this overflowing greatness and love. Sharing it to those who are in need. “Every authentic experience of truth and goodness seeks by its very nature to grow within us, and any person who has experienced a profound liberation becomes more sensitive to the needs of others.”[5] 

Our humble acceptance to the call of God starts in our baptism. And the commitment matures when we receive the sacrament of confirmation wherein we are called to actively participate in the Church activity. Active participation in the Church is a task not just for the good of the church as an institution but as on our own good as well as People of God. By participating we become closer to God, we become more witnesses to the greatness and love of Christ. And the Church as an assembly and as an institution helps us to nurture our faith and to become fully Human; “when we let God bring us beyond ourselves in order to attain the fullest truth of our being[6].” 

Become a Joyful Evangelizer!

As witnesses, the Church is asking from us to build the world Jesus had started in our own special way. God revealed Himself to us in a different and special way. This unique encounter with Him is very essential to the establishment of the Kingdom of God. With different authentic realizations and encounter of God when gathered by love will build harmony for the establishment of the Kingdom of God. That is why we evangelize.

“A true missionary, who never ceases to be a disciple, knows that Jesus walks with him, speaks to him, breathes with him, works with him. He senses Jesus alive with him in the midst of the missionary enterprise. Unless we see him present at the heart of our missionary commitment, our enthusiasm soon wanes and we are no longer sure of what it is that we are handing on; we lack vigour and passion. A person who is not convinced, enthusiastic, certain and in love, will convince nobody.”[7]

[1] Evangelii Gaudium no. 120

[2] Evangelii Gaudium no. 9

[3] Ibid no. 40

[4] ibid

[5] Ibid no. 9

[6] Ibid no. 8

[7] Ibid no. 266