The concept of 'God' and all the things in between...

Chapter 7: World Religions (Intro to Christianity of Roman Catholic)

Chapter 7: World Religions (Intro to Christianity of Roman Catholic)

Be warned!: This chapter contains ideas that might appear as disparaging to Catholic beliefs and if you are a Catholic and you feel that reading this might just offend you or your faith, please skip this chapter. Let's free ourselves of online hatred. (Labyu! Lol). I don't intend to move you from what you believe in, or worst, hurt your feelings by narrating nasty realities from our church (Yes! I was born Catholic too) but I felt these scenarios are worth writing about. These are the truths behind the faith we were born on. If you think you can handle the truth, please read on..

***Jeff's POV***

It's been a tough night. As I awake, i wiped my forehead with my trembling hands, wet with all the warmth of the hellish evening I triumphed, glamoured with a 41 Degree Celsius heat index. It's 6: AM but the sun's rage acts as if it is already 12: noon. Its rays are already fuming with anger.

It's a Sunday. When everyone else happily goes with their families to malls and splurge on tempting sale, here I am, packing up all these bundles of fresh smiling "kangkong" (swamp cabbage/ Water spinach), wet from the murky water of our nearby bay. These little sweeties have been saving me from famine, giving me the extra Peso I need to quench the inevitable needs our humanly body daily requires.

I walked out of the shanty that I so called home. Moved my bare feet, studded with signs of long tireless walks. I held the sack of kangkong on my back, hoping that the mob from the church could appreciate and consider a green leafy soup for lunch.

As I watch people come in and out of the Quiapo Church, I realized that we have Thousands of Christians and religious individuals and families occupying this little piece of Philippine ground our tired feet walk on. We have thousands of supposed good Samaritans who believe in God and profess God's teachings, raised their hands with closed eyes and shouted 'Amen' with full emotions as if they were being heard by the 'entity' and statues they were offering their sincere prayers to.

"Bata Tabi! Ano ba't nagkalat lagi ang mga pulubi rito! Siksikan na nga, mga nakikisiksik pa!"

"Oo, nga Pa! Sabi na sa'yo, 'wag na tayo rito magsimba! Ambaho na, sobrang dumi pa! Dapat doon na lang tayo sa Makati!"

"Sandali, iho! Alalayan mo yung lolo mo at baka madukutan!"

"Opo, Ma! Andami nga po ritong magnanakaw. Oh, tita 'wag mong tabihan yang pulubi at baka hablutin yung kwintas mo!"

I got dragged back to reality as an old man with a shining iron cain moved me from the peaceful area I was standing on. I hurriedly moved my kangkong sack into the corner and had these elite group of mob enter the huge church doors and savor the holy air that would embrace their bodies accessorized with heavy jewelry and possessed an apparent ambiance of being on top of the food chain.

The grumpy old man, along with his family, threw a distasteful stare at me and at the rest of the other dispensable creatures found at the bottom of the food chain; those that are at the grass root level of the society (Yung mga taong sinasabi ni Leny Robredo na nasa laylayan ng lipunan. Lol). Those who beg for a penny from the Thousands of supposed good Samaritans that go in and out of this holy place.