5th Sunday of Easter

May 2, 2010

Acts 14, 21-27
Rev 21, 1-5
Jn 13, 31-35

Some friends who live abroad tell me that it is not only Filipinos who make up large communities in foreign cities. There are still places where the sight of brown skin would be a Nepalese who just happens to look like a Filipino, or taking it the other way around, where our Filipino countrymen are mistaken to be Chinese or Indonesians. In such areas, Filipinos have once again proven their ingenuity by coming up with almost fool-proof techniques to determine if the person they meet on the street is a kababayan or not. For example, one good indication to spot a Filipina would be the umbrella she holds on a warm sunny day, or even without the umbrella, a Filipina is most likely to walk on the side of the street where the building shadows are so as not to get her skin tanned. Another way of identifying Filipinos would be to see them at Asian shops looking for patis, toyo, and Likas papaya soaps! Of course, there is the classic “Inday!” or “Dudung!” holler. Kapag lumingon, tiyak pinoy yun, regardless of where they come from in the Philippines.
Allow me also to share one (unsuccessful) attempt of mine to spot a kababayan. Once inside the train, I was seated next to a 10 or 12 year old Asian-looking girl. I didn’t try the “Inday” holler thinking that if this girl were born abroad, the pinoy term would not have its usual magic. Still, with almost absolute certainty, I assumed she was Filipina so I casually spoke to her to confirm my hunch. Oops, I was wrong! Surprised, she politely denied being a descendant of Lapu-lapu! She obviously looks more Chinese than Filipina, it would have been more sensible for me to assume that she was Yao Ming’s daughter! What made me think that she could be Filipina with her fair white skin and typical Chinese eyes? Well, the culprit for my rash judgment was not really how she looked. I immediately assumed she was Filipina by what she was holding in her hand…a pack of the classic Skyflakes!
If in the Old Testament, the Lord gave the Israelites manna from heaven, we Filipinos cannot claim to have been given Skyflakes, pambansang pantawid gutom(?) There may be some truth to this but Bible exegetes  might go after me for making that analogy! Instead, the Lord has given his followers (Filipinos included) something else, He gave us the commandment to love one another. By this, we become the Lord’s kababayans. With this commandment, the follower of Christ becomes not just a father but a Christian parent, not just a leader but a suffering servant, not just friends but brothers or sisters willing to offer their lives for one another.
Skyflakes do not necessarily point to a kababayan, the commandment to love however is a sure sign that points to someone headed towards heaven!

Fr. Anthony Ynzon, SVD
Belgium
The Word in Other Words