Plea to the Catholics
Posted on September 5, 2009, 9:25 AM under Street Stories
By writing this post, I know that I will be accused of blasphemy.
It’s past 9 AM as I write this. I barely slept for five hours. I normally sleep for seven hours. Why? A group of people are holding a vigil in our barangay, singing songs of praise and praying the rosary, with loudspeakers turned on for the whole night and I suppose, for the whole day.
Do not get me wrong. I am a Catholic. I am not religious, but I am God-fearing. I go to mass whenever time permits me. But I think that whenever people who also belong to my religion profess their faith in a “loud-speaking manner,” something isn’t right. There is a legal doctrine that says “The right to swing my fist ends at the point of another person’s nose.” I know that those people in the vigil want to encourage other Catholics to go their place and join the prayer. But what about those who do not belong to the same religion and don’t want to be inconvenienced? What about those who want to get as much as sleep as possible after a long work week?
Take out the religious aspect of the vigil, and you can compare it to your neighbor next door singing in a videoke. You know that your neighbor is having fun but they also have to realize that everybody needs peace and quietness specially during the night. Or compare it to smoking. Most of my office mates smoke while I don’t. I could understand why you are smoking but do not expect me to go with you in the smoking area, or be near to you whenever you do it in a public place.
This is the same thing during Holy Week. Owners of religious images always rent sound systems to broadcast their pabasa. When I was young my lola would always bring me to basahan and I have yet to see a pabasa where there are no loudspeakers. The question is, why do they have to use loudspeakers? Is it to encourage the mambabasas to go their place? Remember, these owners have a schedule pattern that they follow every year, so if you are a veteran mambabasa, it is unlikely to forget the date. Also, mambabasas see each other in previous basahan, so they would know where they will read the pasyon on the next day. I am more convinced that using loudspeakers is a form of bragging.
In philosophy, there is a maxim held by Immanuel Kant. He said “Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.” If I would do a loud broadcast of songs that I like near the houses of those people in the vigil, they should not stop me from doing so. If they have the right to inconvenience people by their loud prayers, I could do the same thing with songs.
Again, do not get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with praying and professing one’s faith. But if it comes to the point where there is utter disrespect to other beliefs, something must be done.
September 5th, 2009 at 11:27 am
you call yourself a catholic? punta k s evangelista sa tapat ng loria hardware every sunday morning me service ng born again. dun p nga lng sa elem rinig mo hampas ng drums kaskas ng electric guitar na kung iicipin mo me tao dun sa loob ng up and down na bahay every sunday yun ha… eh ikaw isang beses k lng nbulabog. you speak of things about faith but you yourself do not understand what u r explaining. cguro gngcng lng tau ng loudspeaker kc d tau tumutupad sa obligasyon naten sa simbahang katoliko…
September 5th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
Respect everyones opinion and also everyones faith.
Herbert,I know where you are coming from. But dont expect everyone specially the oldies to respect and understand this kind of blog. Kaugalian na yang gusto mong baguhin, mahirap ng baliin yan.
I am a christian but I dont do all the catholic practices that mostly all of them are not biblical rather just traditions.
Dont hate me because I have an opinion.
September 5th, 2009 at 5:26 pm
ang pananampalataya ay personal di ito nasusukat sa dami ng beses na nagsimba ka o nakilahok ka sa aktibidad ng simbahan o nagbigay ka ng abuloy sa iyong relihiyon dahil ang dapat na panukatan ng pananampalataya ay ang pagtulong mo sa kapwa sabi nga sa bibliya kung ano ginawa mo sa iyong kapwa ay ginawa mo na rin sa panginoon tuwing mahal na araw nagiging status symbol ang pagkakaroon ng poon na ginagastusan ng libo libo para sa bulaklak at sa pasyon samantalang ang daming hindi kumakain o naghihirap siguro mas mamahalin kayo ng diyos kung ibabahagi nyo ang inyong salapi sa pagtulong sa mga wala kesa sa pagpapagarbo ng mahal na araw
September 5th, 2009 at 6:24 pm
hey mas nakikinig ang Diyos sa taimtim at tahimik na panalangin..ung sa born again ..,tingin ko its praising…and its biblical…
September 5th, 2009 at 6:44 pm
di ka ba pede mag sacrifice ng 1 gavi para sa vigil?siguro iba nga iba ung way ng faith mo di ka kasi laki ar nag aral sa cathoic school and maybe di ka masyado napalaki ng parent mo ng devotion tulad ng pagno2vena,sa dami ng tao d2 sa baras kaw lang nag comment ng ganyan, maybe di ka nga catholic, siguro saksi ka…. saksi ni BATMAN. or iglesia ni SUPERMAN. MAYBE TSUPERMAN KA… OR X-MEN MEMBER MGA DATING MEN.
September 6th, 2009 at 12:52 am
pag kinwestyon mo ang gawa ng iba, kukwestyunin ka rin nila. kaya nga ang mahalaga at dapat matutunan ng bawat isa sa atin, maging katoliko man o hindi, matuto tayong gumalang sa paniniwala o kultura ng iba. hindi naman siguro araw-araw tayong binubulahaw ng ating kapwa, at kung alam mo namang spiritwal ang kanilang ginagawa sa kanilang paniniwala, yun ang pakinggan mo at wag ang isipan mong ang nakikita lang ay ang perwisyong idinudulot nito sa sarili mo. hindi natin alam, malay mo, may maganda ring naidudulot ito sa ibang tao, di ba?
September 16th, 2009 at 4:48 am
laki ako sa Baras,nag-aral sa catholic school, at naging sakristan din. ngayon na sa states ako at dahil sa daming trabaho ay di ako madalas makasimba pero taimtim akong magdasal kahit nag-iisa lang. Paniwala ko pa rin na mas powerful ang public prayer meron man o walang loud speaker. Noong na sa Saudi ako ay mas malakas din ang mga loud speaker kapag prayer time ng mga arabyano-dahil kaugalian din nila ito. Kaya igalang na lang natin ang vigil prayer natin sa Baras. (sacripisyo na lang ang mag-puyat)
October 4th, 2009 at 5:16 pm
Casting Crowns lyrics – Who Am I
Who am I, that the Lord of all the earth
Would care to know my name
Would care to feel my hurt
Who am I, that the Bright and Morning Star
Would choose to light the way
For my ever wandering heart
Not because of who I am
But because of what You’ve done
Not because of what I’ve done
But because of who You are
I am a flower quickly fading
Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean
Vapor in the wind
Still You hear me when I’m calling
Lord, You catch me when I’m falling
And You’ve told me who I am
I am Yours, I am Yours
Who am I, that the eyes that see my sin
Would look on me with love and watch me rise again
Who am I, that the voice that calmed the sea
Would call out through the rain
And calm the storm in me
Not because of who I am
But because of what You’ve done
Not because of what I’ve done
But because of who You are
I am a flower quickly fading
Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean
Vapor in the wind
Still You hear me when I’m calling
Lord, You catch me when I’m falling
And You’ve told me who I am
I am Yours
Not because of who I am
But because of what You’ve done
Not because of what I’ve done
But because of who You are
I am a flower quickly fading
Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean
Vapor in the wind
Still You hear me when I’m calling
Lord, You catch me when I’m falling
And You’ve told me who I am
I am Yours
I am Yours
Whom shall I fear
Whom shall I fear
‘Cause I am Yours
I am Yours
October 5th, 2009 at 3:00 pm
bossing jhafpogi, hinay lang sa paghusga. The guy is just expressing his observation so you don’t have to be rude. I think hindi mo dapat kwestunin ang pagiging catholic niya dahil halos lahat ng news and activities sa site na ito ay puro catholic related at hindi niya ikino-cover ang ibang sekta. You are questioning how his parents brought him up pero sarili mo kaya hindi kaya questionable dahil nag-ne-name calling ka pa sa ibang religion. sir, tumingin ka muna sa salamin before judging others. Thank you and peace be with you