ISA Holds 2nd Parish-based Talk on Youth and the Bible

Dr. Carmen Alviar, ISA volunteer Officer for External Affairs, started the session by asking what the participants remember about the first one entitled “Introduction to the Word of God”.

One participant readily replied that the Bible should be read between the lines, and a second recalled its importance to spiritual welfare.

They received tokens from the facilitator, after which she welcomed back the speaker of Session 1, Fr. Cris Pine, OFM.

The speaker specialized in Bible Studies at the Biblicum in Rome as well as in education and on Christian management.  He teaches at his congregation’s Our Lady of the Angels Seminary and at Maryhill School of Theology, Adamson University and Saint Vincent School of Theology. The last two are run by the Congregation of the Missions (Vincentian Fathers).

Session 2: “Scriptures and Young People”

Fr. Pine recalled that he had said that Catholics generally did not read the Bible: “Church authorities feared that people would ask questions after the Reformation, which had used the Letters to the Galatians and to the Romans to tell them not to believe in the Pope, for example.”   

But Vatican II (1962-65) encouraged the reading and study of the Bible, said Fr. Pine “because, as the tarpaulin here says, `Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to our path.’ ”

He then asked the participants to group themselves where two groups would answer the question “What would you do as producers and directors of a film on the Scripture?”

Another two groups were asked to play the role of scriptwriters-editors for the same film while the last two groups were asked what to expect as viewers. 

Workshop results

The `producers-directors’ said they would secure the best scriptwriters, location settings, props, production design, behind-the-scene staff and food caterers to make sure that the film imparts  lessons and also earns at the  box office.

Similarly, the `scriptwriters-editors’ would ensure that the characters and other elements of the film show how one can become closer to God as well as put family and siblings first (“just love”, as they quoted the Christmas slogan-video of a popular television channel).

They would also think of a dramatic film which can have a positive impact on its viewers and then do research on it and listen to the youth. They would have millennials among the characters, and ask the cast to study millennials so that they can give life to (isapuso) their roles.

And for the last two groups who acted as the audiences, the members said that they would check the film for its quality and its moral (“learn from our mistakes and live out these lessons through immersion and other means”) and then give comments through social media and forums.

Processing the group work, Fr. Pine stressed the role of films in imparting values. Here, he  referred to a film that was currently showing  (Quezon’s Game)  on how President Manuel L. Quezon of the Philippine Commonwealth under American rule managed to give visas to Jewish refugees to the Philippines in transit to the United States.

Production aspects

 “The Bible is just like a film which has producers-directors, scriptwriters-editors and lastly, viewers,” said Fr. Pine. “We should focus on its lessons as well as on its writers and editors. We should also check when and where it was written and completed, in what language, how many times it was edited, who edited it last.”

Canonicity or acceptance by the Church is important, Fr. Pine added. For example, for a time people doubted the authorship of the Letter of James because it seemed to be written from the point of view of Saint Paul. But it was later accepted as part of the books of the Faith.

Structure is also important, as in a script. For example, the Lord’s Prayer is incorporated by Matthew in his account on the Sermon on the Mount (the Beatitudes) while a shorter form is in the Gospel of Luke (“One of his disciples said to him, `Lord, teach us how to pray.’ ”).

What is also different is that Luke’s account does not have the petitions “Thy will be done” and “Deliver us from evil” which are found in Matthew’s.

For viewers and readers

Fr. Pine pointed out the importance of the Bible as literature, saying, “The Bible is kuwento na may kuwenta –  a story which has worth. The parables mattered during the time of Jesus as a way of reaching people through simple stories. Today, the Bible can apply to our situation as farmers or as residents of Sitio Veterans without land titles.”

There is a world beyond the text of the Bible, he also pointed out.   

“The Bible was a major enterprise and so, let’s continue to study it for its relevance to our lives. What is the text? What is the story? What is the context? And as this is a lecture series mainly for the youth, I hope the Bible can be presented from the point of view of our millennials.” 

He urged parishioners of Sagrada Familia to look for a pattern in the way the Bible is written.  

Models to understand the Old Testament

Fr. Pine presented a framework on how the people who produced the Bible had lived. He named the theocratic, monarchical, prophetic, sapiential, accommodational and the apocalyptic models.

In the first, the people ultimately accepted God’s rule after being led by his love and protection out of slavery in Egypt, the desert and the Red Sea to the Promised Land through Moses.

In the monarchical model, the people who had been delivered from the Pharaoh questioned why other nations had kings who could impose taxes. The Lord saw that they were rejecting him and so, gave them what they wanted – rulers.

Kings tended to abuse power and so, the Lord sent prophets who did not fear for their lives while telling the truth. All in all, the Old Testament has books by 11 major and four minorprophets.

The fourth model (sapiential) acknowledges that human beings (Homo Sapiens) have wisdom and values which a family can pass on to the next generation and to society itself.

“This was the secret of Israel’s survival,” said Fr. Pine.  “It was said to be a patriarchal society but it cannot be denied that mothers had a major part in teaching the young.”

The accommodational model functioned for the Israelis when power went to the Persian Empire which gave them the opportunity to straighten up their society.  

And lastly, the apocalyptic model showed in the Book of Daniel how God ended the rule of the oppressors (naghaharing-uri) of the Israelites. The other document for this model is Revelation, where John was inspired to write of a new Jerusalem emerging from the heavens.   

According to Fr. Pine, there are 39 books in the Old Testament and seven books which are not accepted by the Jews, having been written in Greek, but are accepted by Catholics. These controversial books are the deuterocanonical books of Tobit, Judith, 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees, Wisdom, Sirach and Baruch (and additions to the Books of Esther and of Daniel).  

“These 46 books can be plotted against the six models we have just discussed,” said Fr. Pine.

The New Testament

As for the New Testament, its 27 books can be classified into three stages, said Fr. Pine.

The first stage is the first 30 years of the life of Jesus. The second is the Apostolic tradition of the forty years after he had ascended to heaven but his words and deeds were still being proclaimed by witnesses, making oral tradition a part of the New Testament.

The third stage is the written tradition, which can be classified into four – the Gospels; History (Acts of the Apostles); Paul’s Epistles (13 in all); General Epistles (eight in all, of which only the Epistle to the Hebrews has no self-identified author but is said to be written by Paul); and the Apocalypse or the Book of Revelation by John when he was exiled in Patmos.

“A very charismatic leader, St. Paul wrote the very first of the letters – 1 Thessalonians ” said Fr. Pine, “and with the Book of Revelation, the written tradition  got to be developed. At one point, he and Peter were fighting with (kalaban) Mark but they got to straight it out.”  

He added that with Luke also writing the Gospel, there is a question of who influenced whom.

“I am sharing these things so that you will also understand them,” Fr. Pine told the parishioners.  

Open Forum

Fr. Pine also introduced the youth and other parishioners of Sagrada Familia to what is called the Inter-testamental Period between the Old Testament and the New Testament.

These so-called 400 years of silence had the Lord sharing nothing prophetic with his people. They span the time from the ministry of Malachi about 420 B.C. to the preaching of John the Baptist in the early 1^st century AD about 25 AD.

During the question and answer portion, Fr. Pine was asked to explain the Inter-testamental  Period. He said that this covered the conquest of the known world by Alexander the Great after defeating Darius of the Persian Empire, as well as conquest by the Roman Empire.

 Around 63 BC, Pompey of Rome conquered Israel and put all of Judea under the Caesars. The empire developed a system for governing the world, including a network of roads which Mary and Joseph traversed under the time of Augustus Caesar.  

“For 200 years the Greek and the Roman Empires intersected the Old and New Testaments,” said Fr. Pine. “God is truly wise. The Prince of Peace was born into a world under a superpower.”

Shifting to the present, Fr. Pine was asked by Sagrada Familia parish priest Fr. Arnel Glodobe, O.Carm. about the disappearance of the hard-earned money of members of the CAPA sect in Mindanao. 

On what appears to be a scam promising the common people a substantial return on their investment, Fr. Pine noted, “This is not about religion but about a racket. It involves a financial strategy. We should check the structures of our times. This is always crucial because in the end, every issue is everybody’s issue. The powerful will act only if they get affected.”

In closing, Fr. Pine asked the participants not to waste the gift of the Bible but to study it.    

“Tuloy-tuloy ang pag-aaral. Huwag tayo titigil. This lecture is only the beginning,” he said.

“In three hours I could provide only the framework for studying the Bible from Genesis to  Revelation. But I hope that you saw the aspirations of the Israelites to be whole again under the Lord after being broken up (nawasak), enslaved and wandering through the desert.

“We also saw the importance of family in the story of Abraham, Jacob and their descendants. Lastly, we discussed the New Testament, its books, and what its promises as the world ends.”

Closing

ISA Executive Director Fr. Rico Ponce, O. Carm. thanked Fr. Glodobe for inviting ISA into the  parish. He also thanked the parishioners for coming despite their week-end tasks.

Fr. Ponce gave an overview about the activities of ISA, including the 19^th Spirituality Forum which will again explore the theme of youth and spirituality.

To much applause he announced that ISA can grant scholarships to the Forum to five formators and youth leaders of Sagrada Familia as chosen by the parish itself.

Lastly, Fr. Ponce handed Fr. Pine a certificate of appreciation for Lecture 2 of the series.

The morning activity closed with a prayer of thanks led by a lay minister of the parish in recognition of the role of the people of God.

Perla Aragon-Choudhury