Prior to Vatican II, the
priest said the mass in Latin with the sacristan responding at designated
parts. It was therefore important that a
catechist accompanied the priest in his tasks, including missions. One of those catechists was Pedro Calungsod
who served the Jesuit Mission in Guam with Spanish priest Fr. Diego Luis de San
Vitores in the 1600s.
He and the priest died on
April 2, 1672 when two natives of Tumhon village attacked them with spears and
a cutlass because of baptizing a baby girl. The bodies of the two were never
found, as these were thrown into the sea.
On October 21, 2012, Pope
Benedict XVI canonized the Philippines' second saint Pedro Calungsod together with
6 others, before 80,000 people in St. Peter's Square in Vatican City. In the
Philippines, millions of Filipinos celebrated Calungsod's sainthood in churches,
public places and homes.
Among Filipinos of old, having
a sacristan or a priest in a family gave a sense of pride and a place of honor
in the community. Which reminds us of a
Gospel reading: “James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus and said to
him, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you." He
replied, "What do you wish me to do for you?" They answered him,
"Grant that in your glory we may sit one at your right and the other at
your left." Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking.
Can you drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism with which I
am baptized?" They said to him, "We can." Jesus said to them,
"The cup that I drink, you will drink, and with the baptism with which I
am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right or at my left is not
mine to give but is for those for whom it has been prepared." (Mark
10:35-40)
To be of service to God is to
follow the path of service, sacrifice and suffering. “But it shall not be so among you. Rather,
whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be
first among you will be the slave of all.” (Mark 10:43-44) One should never aim
to be at the pedestal among men, rather to fulfill the mission that each one of
us is called: to serve our fellowmen.
Pedro Calungsod followed the
path of service, sacrifice and suffering. He died a martyr. Now he stands tall
among men, as a saint. His life serves as an example of what God expects of us as
His disciples.
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