#PopeFrancisPH CBCP Archbishop Soc Villegas on “Mercy & Compassion”, when asked to choose a Bible story, cites: parable of the father of the prodigal son

#PopeFrancisPH CBCP Archbishop Soc Villegas on “Mercy & Compassion”, when asked to choose a Bible story, cites: parable of the father of the prodigal son

      Last January 11, on occasion of Pope Francis’s visit to the Philippines, an audio file of a reading from the Bible, modernized with a Filipino translation (apologies on the way i wrote, translated, and read it 🙂 sorry po) was posted here. Of the thousands of passages in the Bible, this parable was chosen on occasion of the papal visit, and i thought I would leave it at that, not being qualified to explain Bible passages, for not being a theologian.

      Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines head Lingayen Archbishop Socrates Villegas in a conference with Inquirer columnists and editors, as documented by Inquirer columnist Ma. Ceres P. Doyo in her column today Jan. 15, 2015, was asked by columnist Ceres – an inquisitive, hall-of-famer investigative reporter —

     “what story in the Bible was, for him, a good example of compassion”.

     Here’s Ceres’s account:

      “At the holding room before the program began, I mentioned to the archbishop (“Call me ‘Father Soc,’” he said) that I would be asking him a question on the meaning of compassion in the Philippine context. Over coffee I also asked what story in the Bible was, for him, a good example of compassion. The Good Samaritan? The good shepherd looking for the lost sheep?

    “His quick answer stumped me: the father of the prodigal son.
 

     “Aww, I exclaimed in jest, but wasn’t he quite unfair and didn’t he play favorites? Oh, that “prodigal father,” I thought.

     “I reflected on his answer while we were walking to the auditorium and I began to see why—God showing love in an extravagant, lavish, unconditional way…..”

     “At the symposium, Archbishop Soc translated “compassion” as “awa ng Diyos” (the mercy of God) that Filipinos often use. As in “sa awa ng Diyos,” (by the mercy of God) or “may awa ang Diyos” (God has mercy). So while the word “mercy” means awa, “compassion” means awa ng Diyos. Allowing God’s mercy to shine through our actions. xxx”

     So….
     that was the Bible passage posted here last Sunday, January 11. Archbishop Soc is a theologian (he is the head of the CBCP) so he is qualified to elucidate on Bible passages.

     Why did i choose this passage last Sunday?

     It was random; i don’t have any kind of “wisdom” to share on it. (i wish I could regale you, but it would be dishonest). 

      (ON HINDSIGHT, YOU COULD SAY THAT THE PARENT IN THAT PARABLE SHOWED COMPASSION AND JUSTICE, BECAUSE THE PRODIGAL SON WHO HAD WEPT AND ASKED FOR FORGIVENESS, MAY HAVE BEEN “LAVISHLY” WELCOMED – BUT ALL OF THE REMAINING PROPERTIES WOULD STILL BE OWNED BY THE HARDWORKING ELDEST SON, AND NO MORE WOULD BE GIVEN TO THE YOUNGEST WHO had SQUANDERED HIS SHARE –– NO MORE, JUST LOVE AND COMPASSION. … THIS IS TOO LAWYERLY, IT’S THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BRAIN 🙂  )

     Anyway. In case you were wondering, here’s how the process went: 

     Of the thousands of passages in the Bible, the following were lined up to read, basic texts — the most famous and lyrical verses , to be on the “safe” side (because I’m not qualified to do this – just trying my best): 1. The Lord is My Shepherd; 2. The Beatitudes; 3.The Lord’s Prayer.

    And I already had songs for it – these verses have been set to music and are posted in the internet.

     All set.

    So everything had been typed up and was set.

    Then I thought –Wait. Let’s look at references, since this will be an audio file, let’s look at how others rendered it…lemme see…hmmmm…let’s look at …. Robert Powell. Jesus of Nazareth.

    And I looked at his rendition of the scenes. In that scene, he was very animated…And i liked that scene.

    See how random it was on my side?

     And that’s how I came to choose the parable of the father of the prodigal son.

      It was random, wasn’t it? i don’t have any kind of “wisdom” to share on it.

     The next day, I was looking at twitter sites and found out from momblogger’s  (Noemi Lardizabal-Dado) twitter site that the theme of the papal visit was “Mercy and Compassion”.

     Mercy and compassion. I did not know that. (you can look at the links in my traffic data and “History” list).

    I did not know that that was the theme.