The Most Precious Gift: Christian Faith

Every once in a while, I find myself visiting the shelves of photobooks my mother keeps at home for a long time. Just recently, as I was flipping through the pages, I stumbled upon an old photograph that was taken on my 11th birthday. A photo of when I was writing an entry in my very first journal that was gifted to me by my parents. Ever since then, I began carrying this unflinching desire inside my heart of becoming a writer and my fingers never ran out of words to express. At that very moment, a dreamer was born and that is something that I will celebrate and cherish forever. Magical, isn’t it? How a simple present that seems so trivial at first can have a significant impact on a person’s life.

Like an old photograph that reflects the things that happened in the past, the celebration of 500 years of Christianity reminds us of a wonderful present Filipinos have received; and that is the Christian faith. It was 1521 when Ferdinand Magellan and his people set foot on the southern part of the Philippine archipelago as part of the colonial race. Upon meeting Magellan, Rajah Humabon, the ruler of the island of Cebu, and his subjects received the Gospel and eventually became Christians.

In those first baptisms, the seed of the Christian faith has been sewn into the hearts of the Filipinos and they welcomed it as a gift. Today, eight out of ten Filipinos profess Catholicism as their faith, and the Philippines is considered as the third largest number of Catholics after Brazil and Mexico according to Catholic Review.

Since 2012, the Catholic Church in the Philippines has been on a 9-year preparation for the 500 years of the arrival of Christianity in the country with each year assigned a specific theme. For the year 2021 to 2022, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines chose the theme, “Gifted to Give” which started in March 2020 and has ended last April 2022.

Moreover, the theme was inspired by the Gospel of Matthew, which says: “without cost, you have received; without cost, you are to give” (Mt 10:8). Filipinos give thanks and rejoice as they have been given the gift of faith that moves people to be loving, hopeful, and grateful for the daily bread they receive, and to serve as bread broken for others.

Amid the unprecedented events brought by COVID-19, this does not stop the churchgoers from commemorating the said event. Most churches have lined up different activities, however with observance of the minimum public health standards of wearing face masks, washing hands, keeping distance, and scanning QR codes.

The celebration of 500 years of Christianity is a great reminder to acknowledge our gifts and share them with others— be it the gift of hospitality, mercy, prophecy, administration, generosity, and evangelism. Now, more than ever it is imperative for us to stir up our gifts, especially in this trying time of the pandemic. Who knows? A simple present that may seem so trivial to us at first might have a significant impact on people’s lives.

As we celebrate and remember the arrival of Christianity in our country, may we be reminded that we have a clean slate and a clean page in our photobook, to display the rest of the story; A story of helping, saving, and changing others. We have the rest of our lives before us and a thousand photo albums to fill. So, make each moment count! One day, you’ll find yourself delving through the photographs of your faith like how I always find myself visiting the shelves of photobooks my mother keeps. (Erecka Lyn C. Masing | Winner – Feature Writing)