The Church is the church of the poor; but the San Pedro Cathedral, the seat of the Archdiocese of Davao, is a colony of demons called matapobres. Google translates the Tagalog word matapobre as "blindness" because literally, mata means "eye" and pobre, "poor." Scholars say that the mata part is actually from the Spanish verb matar (meaning, "to kill"). Hence, matapobre means "the poor-killer!" Other translations are as follows: "one who looks down on the poor;" "snob;" elitist."
Who is always seen, often identified with the church building? They are the church workers: sacristans, maintenance, security personnel, office workers, nuns, et cetera. The priest-pastors are last in line. Other than the priests, they are the frontliners of the church. The Cathedral is a colony of these demons taking shelter in the lives of these people; and, through coordinators, they are spreading to religious organizations attached to the church: Divine Mercy In My Soul, Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movement, Catholic Men's Fellowship, to name a few.
Who is responsible for the spread of this "plague" in the Archdiocese of Davao? It is the clergy because of their negligence, lack of discernment, and false mercy.
Most alarmingly, the den, already established and has become a network by itself, is protected by both the "upline" and the "downline" of the church so-called "frontliners." That is to say, the "upline" helping the "downline" and vice versa by trying to outdo the poor in complaining ("sumbong") to the priests when chaos arises out of the mess created by their elitist stance against the homeless. Clerical naivety has no way of knowing the den exists in the Cathedral; the "network" knows how to fool the priests without the priests knowing they are already being fooled.
After the complaints have been lodged, have not the priests wondered why the poor have not lodged any complaints at all? Have not the priests realized those who do anything in their power to cast complaints first are the guilty ones? The reason the guilty party does the complaining is to see to it their bread and butter are protected, thereby holding on to the "network" to stay in place.
Why are the frontline church workers so elitist when they are scarcely getting by in life?
Humans have the "innate" hatred towards self since the Fall of Adam and Eve, the First Parents. That is why we often hear local adage like "Ang magnanakaw ay galit sa kapwa niya magnanakaw" (the thief hates his fellow thief). In the same way, those who are poor in life are vehemently bullying those who exhibit a lifestyle more poorly than theirs! Why so? This is the endpoint when one is devoid of self-acceptance (self-forgiveness), merely trying to exhibit that he is well-off by bullying the less privileged. The poor church workers who have experienced ill-treatment by rich "matapobres" thus take revenge not to the perpetrator rich highbrows but to those who are more beggarly than them, imitating the same ill-treatment of the elitist done to them towards the homeless. That is why the ill-treated poor church workers who do not forgive, thus accept reality, become "matapobres" themselves.
How can the church employees fool the priests? The nursery rhyme, "While the cat's away, the mice will play," answers the question. Similarly, while the priest is around, the church workers are as meek and as tame as lambs; but while the priest is away, they are as wild wolves.
When the problem of the Cathedral was brought to the attention of the clergy by the workers' folly of lodging the complaints first, the solution the clergymen were capable of coming up with was "mercy" for the workers by retaining them to their jobs. This is false mercy! The clergy turn them spoiled brats this way.
Be warned of Luke 11: 24-26: “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first.” Or: are the priests hiding spiritual pride under the guise of false mercy?
Men in cassocks serve God first and foremost before they are to serve man, rather than man first before God. When the church is endangered spiritually because of man, the clergy ought to solve the problem at the expense of man -- not at the expense of the church. Special attachment to man is to be seen nothing in the service of God. That said, the clergy, being the church pastors, should teach the erring workers some lessons to live better lives as persons. How?
Business establishments are no better than church buildings in that the latter deals with higher matters -- spiritual -- while the former, on the financial and physical aspects of life. To avoid pitfalls of being fooled by church workers, the priest-employers can learn schemes from successful business establishments. Sadly, the scenario should be the other way around; but this is a reality nowadays brought about by clerical concerns on vanity and wealth which have made the clerics neglectful of spiritual duties and have clouded the Divine Gifts such as the gift of discernment given to them at the moment of ordination.
"Undercover Boss," an American reality TV series, can teach priests some insights. Yes, that is it, priests should go undercover to see who, among church workers, deserves a promotion, suspension, or termination. That way, priests will be back in charge of the San Pedro Cathedral and not the "network" of "matapobres" that the church so-called frontliners are, to return the Church to Her moniker as the "church of the poor."
Most alarmingly, the den, already established and has become a network by itself, is protected by both the "upline" and the "downline" of the church so-called "frontliners." That is to say, the "upline" helping the "downline" and vice versa by trying to outdo the poor in complaining ("sumbong") to the priests when chaos arises out of the mess created by their elitist stance against the homeless. Clerical naivety has no way of knowing the den exists in the Cathedral; the "network" knows how to fool the priests without the priests knowing they are already being fooled.
After the complaints have been lodged, have not the priests wondered why the poor have not lodged any complaints at all? Have not the priests realized those who do anything in their power to cast complaints first are the guilty ones? The reason the guilty party does the complaining is to see to it their bread and butter are protected, thereby holding on to the "network" to stay in place.
Why are the frontline church workers so elitist when they are scarcely getting by in life?
Humans have the "innate" hatred towards self since the Fall of Adam and Eve, the First Parents. That is why we often hear local adage like "Ang magnanakaw ay galit sa kapwa niya magnanakaw" (the thief hates his fellow thief). In the same way, those who are poor in life are vehemently bullying those who exhibit a lifestyle more poorly than theirs! Why so? This is the endpoint when one is devoid of self-acceptance (self-forgiveness), merely trying to exhibit that he is well-off by bullying the less privileged. The poor church workers who have experienced ill-treatment by rich "matapobres" thus take revenge not to the perpetrator rich highbrows but to those who are more beggarly than them, imitating the same ill-treatment of the elitist done to them towards the homeless. That is why the ill-treated poor church workers who do not forgive, thus accept reality, become "matapobres" themselves.
How can the church employees fool the priests? The nursery rhyme, "While the cat's away, the mice will play," answers the question. Similarly, while the priest is around, the church workers are as meek and as tame as lambs; but while the priest is away, they are as wild wolves.
When the problem of the Cathedral was brought to the attention of the clergy by the workers' folly of lodging the complaints first, the solution the clergymen were capable of coming up with was "mercy" for the workers by retaining them to their jobs. This is false mercy! The clergy turn them spoiled brats this way.
Be warned of Luke 11: 24-26: “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first.” Or: are the priests hiding spiritual pride under the guise of false mercy?
Men in cassocks serve God first and foremost before they are to serve man, rather than man first before God. When the church is endangered spiritually because of man, the clergy ought to solve the problem at the expense of man -- not at the expense of the church. Special attachment to man is to be seen nothing in the service of God. That said, the clergy, being the church pastors, should teach the erring workers some lessons to live better lives as persons. How?
Business establishments are no better than church buildings in that the latter deals with higher matters -- spiritual -- while the former, on the financial and physical aspects of life. To avoid pitfalls of being fooled by church workers, the priest-employers can learn schemes from successful business establishments. Sadly, the scenario should be the other way around; but this is a reality nowadays brought about by clerical concerns on vanity and wealth which have made the clerics neglectful of spiritual duties and have clouded the Divine Gifts such as the gift of discernment given to them at the moment of ordination.
"Undercover Boss," an American reality TV series, can teach priests some insights. Yes, that is it, priests should go undercover to see who, among church workers, deserves a promotion, suspension, or termination. That way, priests will be back in charge of the San Pedro Cathedral and not the "network" of "matapobres" that the church so-called frontliners are, to return the Church to Her moniker as the "church of the poor."
"Our business is to attain heaven, everything else is a sheer waste of time." -St. Vincent de Paul
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