June 29th: Davao City Fiesta!

One of the most beautiful church traditions is the yearly fiesta of the patron saint of a barrio, municipio, ciudad or GKK capilla. Sometimes, the name of a town tells us where the first settlers came from. For example, the original settlers of Compostela, Davao de Oro, came from the town of Santiago de Compostela, Cebu; while the immigrant settlers of Carmen, Davao del Norte, were originally from Carmen, Bohol. The rule is one place, one patron saint to avoid the exorbitant costs of having to celebrate two separate fiestas.

However, Davao City honors two (2) of the Church’s greatest saints in one fiesta, St. Peter and St. Paul. They both have something in common. They were the only saints personally called by Jesus Christ for specific missions. Peter (meaning “small” in Latin) was the first to be called. “And so I tell you Peter, you are the rock and on the rock I will build my church.” (Matt. 16, V. 8). Peter’s Jewish name was Simon but Christ changed to Cephas/Peter which means “rock” in Greek. Peter was the only saint given great powers which he passed on to his successors. “I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven; what you will prohibit on earth will be prohibited in Heaven and what you will permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.” (Matt. 16, V. 19) His mission was to build the church. The job of St. Peter was so difficult that Christ had to ask him thrice: ”Do you love me Peter?”; “Feed my flock.”; and “Can you build my Church?” Today, 2,000 years later, the Roman Catholic Church is the world’s biggest.

On the other hand, Paul (formerly Saul, meaning “borrowed” in Hebrew) persecuted Christians and had something to do with the stoning to death of the Church’s first martyr, St. Stephen. Going to Damascus to persecute Christians, he encountered Christ who asked him “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Bewildered, Saul replied, “Who are you sir?” Jesus answered back, “I am Jesus, the Nazarene you are persecuting. Get up and go to the city where you will be told what you must do.” (Acts of the Apostles, Chp. 9 V. 3-6). Christ gave St. Paul the mission to convert all the gentiles all over the world (anyone not Jewish) into Christians. St. Paul’s obligation was also awesome. One of the results of his mission is the 500th Anniversary celebration of the Philippine Catholic Church. Only St. Peter and St. Paul were given such missions and powers. Paradoxically, it is important to note that St. Peter was a plain fisherman while St. Paul was an ordinary Jew.

The Earth’s population is about 8 billion of which 1.4 billion are Christians. About 1 billion are Catholics (including Coptic Christians, Greek, Russian, Armenian Orthodox) while the rest are Lutherans, Methodists, Adventists, Pentecostals, Baptists, Anglicans, etc. With the grace of God, St. Peter and St. Paul fulfilled their extraordinary missions of bringing Christian love, faith, value and spirituality to the world beyond anyone’s wildest dreams.

Both were murdered during Emperor Nero’s reign on the same day, June 29, but it is not clear if it was on the same year. Tradition has it that like what happened in the sinking boat and in Gethsemane, St. Peter, while evangelizing in Rome, wanted out. He escaped along the Appian Way and met Christ carrying a big, heavy cross slowly going to Rome. Peter asked Jesus, “Quo vadis, Domine?” (Where are you going, Lord?). To which Jesus replied, “I am going to Rome.” St. Peter realized his mistake and returned to Rome. He was crucified upside down and was buried in a place which is now part of the Vatican. St. Paul was beheaded in Tre Fontane and buried where the Basilica of St. Paul now stands. The Catholic Church is what it is today because of them.

VIVA SAN PEDRO!
VIVA SAN PABLO!
HAPPY FIESTA, DAVAO!!!