ulcer

my side dish for breakfast this morning is the news on tfc regarding the fainting, the fainting and the fainting and even more fainting of many filipinos who waited in queues, drowned in the sea of concocted sweat, tears, spit, hopes and dreams as they wait for father fernando suarez.

father suarez is the light; at least a flicker of light in the dimming consciousness of the hungry people of the philippines. the news speaks of his healing hands and how they have improved the lives of those he “touched.” he is not new in the industry of faith healing. in fact, most barrios in the philippines have people gifted with the healing touch, much like father suarez’s but perhaps not as powerful (as the devotees claim).

people compromising their (limited) comforts and sacrificing their time and effort, travelling from the most far-flung regions of the islands to the most crowded spot in the city to get healed is not a new issue. too many people are sick; sick in many ways and sick in many degrees and sick in many aspects of their lives. the people are sick of hunger. the people are hungry of social stability, the people crave for financial security, and the people starve of the hope of a better tomorrow and will continuously succumb to desperate measures just to get their fill.

no. the minor casualties of father suarez’s healing sessions is not disturbing. (if you’ve seen the devotees of the black nazarene in quiapo, you wouldn’t see the situation quite alarming.) the case of fainting (and even dying) people rallying in search of the cure from the supernatural is a common scenario in the hungry islands of the philippines. what’s alarming is the ever increasing number of people falling for almost every promise of cure from various personalities and institutions that pose to possess the healing hand of god.

in this dire time, the people needs no more gloria. the people needs food- not just for their stomachs but food for their soul, food for their mind and food for their spirit.