WINDHOVER JESUIT MAGAZINE
EDITORIAL: March 2009
We have seen the Lord?!
by Frank Savadera, SJ
A few weeks ago, the Philippine Daily Inquirer featured a story about “Priority Number 556.” What exactly is Priority Number 556? The number stands for an 84 year-old war veteran, Tatay Benito Dumaguit who lined up to be interviewed by U.S. Embassy officials in Camp Lapu-lapu in Cebu, hoping that he may avail of the long awaited $9,000 pension which was approved recently by the U.S. Congress for Filipinos who fought side-by-side the Americans during the last war. Given the projected 18,000 veterans around the country who are expected to apply for the pension, Tatay Benito seemed lucky enough to have been given an “earlier” slot, a stub that says: Priority Number 556. Tatay Benito’s long-awaited reward was coming close to full realization. He must have been very excited. Before he could claim his reward, however, Tatay Benito’s life expired, his wrinkled hands still clasping a piece of paper, a stub – Priority Number 556.
Stories like these truly make us sad and sometimes even angry, knowing how life could have been better for Tatay Benito and his family. Priority Number 556 must have given the old man renewed hope for a much deserved reward. His pension could have assured him of ample health care during his twilight years. It could have meant scholarships for his grandchildren or physical improvements in his small Lapu-lapu city shack. But death has overtaken events. What could have been a happy and ideal ending turned out sad and tragic for Tatay Benito. Or so we may believe?
Tatay Benito’s story brings us to deeper reflections about our Easter celebration. After some time of fasting and abstinence, commemorating the gloomy events of Christ’s passion and death, we eventually come to proclaim: “The Lord is risen. He is risen indeed!” Christ stuck true to his promise. After succumbing to a violent death, on the third day, as promised, he has risen. During the Easter Vigil, we redecorate the altar. We bring in the flowers. We light the candles and ring aloud the church bells. Our Easter celebration has become our biggest feast and necessarily so since through his resurrection, Christ lovingly tells us that death no longer has power over our lives. We, who carry our crosses, journey with Christ to Calvary and bravely face our many situations of death, are promised life in glory.
Easter thus reminds us of that renewed life in and with Christ. Describing the early Christians’ experience of Jesus, the evangelist John wrote: “Life was made visible. We have seen it and testify to it and proclaim it to you, the eternal life that was with the Father and was made visible to us …” (1 John1:2). The words of John, written decades after the death and resurrection of the Lord, can sound much like mere great poetry. What does it mean for something ineffable and abstract -- “eternal life” -- to appear before the early apostles? Was the evangelist merely talking in terms of metaphors? What does it mean to come so close to eternal life which the apostles described as a reality that they themselves have heard, seen and touched with their own hands? What does it mean for us to encounter and hope for this same life which Easter promises?
Easter and the story of Tatay Benito can indeed be quite an amusing mix. In faith, we claim that death no longer has power over us, that our reward shall soon come in our own promised resurrection. We make these reflections extra real, as we remember Tatay Benito and those who most recently have gone ahead of us. We remember Frs. Joey Fermin, Adrian Mestdag, Rey Ocampo, Tom Green and Miguel Bernad whose passing over to the next life, convince us ever more that our lives and struggles today are not for naught. Something greater, than we can ever imagine, must have indeed been prepared for us in the Kingdom. We thus celebrate Easter by sharing the joy of the apostles who have encountered the resurrected Christ. We make the apostles’ proclamation, our proclamation as well: “We have seen the Lord!” And may our collective refrain assure us of eternal life, so promised as our reward.
