Faith Forward

Let me share about faith this time.

Last night, the Feast Iloilo’s topic for it’s new talk series is about OFWs, Overcoming Family Worries. Bro. Manny, the Feast Iloilo’s Builder, shared how central one’s faith plays when one is settled in a new country. He was also sharing about how, in some countries, Christians find it hard to practice their faith because of religious limitations set by the foreign country. Somehow, I can attest to that sharing because I, for one, had lived in such country. What I’m going to share are all based from my experience and does not reflect all experiences by other people who lived or are living in the country.

Although I was born in the Philippines, I have spent more than half of my life living in the beautiful city of Riyadh. Since returning to the Philippines (almost all kids who grew up in Saudi Arabia return to the Philippines to continue college), I have always missed witnessing the wonderful city lights at night, the chilly weather of winter, the parties held at an esteraha, the smell and taste of authentic Arabian shawarma and kabsa, and Herfy’s garlic sauce. But, if there’s one thing I did not miss at all, it was how we discreetly we practiced our Catholic faith.

Saudi Arabia is known to be the “strictest” country in terms of religious practice. Strictest in the sense that, since Saudi Arabia is a Muslim country, Islam is the only religion allowed to be practiced publicly. That is why one can only see Mosques and not any other church from other religious denominations. Although, a lot of Christians also live there, they can only do their prayers and other religious rituals in private. But, even if Christians do, they must do so in a way that not even their neighbors can hear or sense it. There are also Muttawas, religious police who enforce and uphold the Sharia law, who occasionally patrol areas to check if people are not doing any activities related to other religions.

In this light, it was near impossible for us back there to hear mass, read the bible, have an altar, and worship as a charismatic community. I remember stories being circulated about how a man, who was carrying a guitar on his back, was just walking along the streets, and the religious police picked him up and persecuted him because they accused him of practicing his faith publicly. I am not sure if this story is true, but when I heard this, it painted a picture for me on how Christians are very restricted in expressing and practicing their faith in the country. Although this story made me feel fear, it also made me want to learn about and love my faith more.

Fast forward to my recent past, when my husband and I had the chance to visit Europe, we visited some churches in Rome, Florence, and Paris. We both fell in love with how these churches were constructed, how the interior, exterior, the windows and the ceilings were carefully detailed. But one thing struck us the most — as opposed to the massive structure of the church, only a handful of people attended Sunday mass and most were of age. Since going home from that trip, James and I can’t stop telling ourselves how we wish we could have those churches transported to the Philippines “para masulit ang space sa simbahan”. It also struck us — how come that these countries, which used to be the seat of Catholicism back then, would have lesser and lesser practicing Catholics. I’ve read in some magazine that some churches are being converted to restaurants or hotels because they don’t serve their main purpose anymore. Sad story.

With these stories tucked in my memory, I made it a point to not take my faith for granted. As long as I can, I will always grab the opportunity to hear mass, engage in the holy sacraments, adore Philippine churches, sing in worship as loud or free as i can, and share about my love for Jesus. We, Filipinos, have no idea how blessed and lucky we are that we get to practice our different faiths openly in our country. Indeed, when something we have has been taken away from us, it makes us see how important that thing was in our lives.

#faith #familytravel #insights