Friday the 13th and Filipinos

Filipinos, although predominantly Catholic, have a culture rich with superstition and belief of the paranormal. It is not clear when ghost and evil spirit stories started to thrill us although I believe that some are offshoots of tales before the Christianization of the Philippines and passed orally from generation to generation.

Or it may not!

When I was a boy, there was no electricity yet in our place. Family bonding was after dinner when the table is already cleared. On new moon or while listening the rhythm of the torrential rain smashing our roof, my Dad, a good story-teller finds time to entertain us with his paranormal stories. I exactly remember him saying that his stories were true for some were witnessed by his father who was born during the Spanish regime.

The story goes that in the middle of the day for no apparent reason, a neighbor’s tongue grew large reaching his chest. Another; one’s head face his back although not permanent. Still another story says that after sunset, the road was blocked with white linen all the way but at both sides, there is a space to get through. If one tries to escape on either side, the linen moves to make the road impassable. Unafraid, a pious man, just retired from work, tired of the “game” drew his bolo and drew the sign of the cross on the ground ejaculating “En el Nombre del Padre y del Hijo y del Spirito Santo” (In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Hole Spirit)  then he stabbed the linen which immediately disappeared. There was also an elderly woman going to the church early for the first Sunday Mass when she was met by a hog with a burning mouth and biting eyes. The hog ready to devour followed the woman several meters but could not get close to her because its would-be victim was praying the rosary. The story narrates that the woman was not afraid and the moment she reached the churchyard, the beast disappeared.

My Dad insisted several times that his stories were true. For the skeptics, a cavernous room of doubt is always there --- me, included.

Stories like these and countless superstitious beliefs and practices abound in the country up to now. If there is a solid basis for them to be true, it is only in the mind. If there is truth in them, coincidence is the answer. As Christians, it is about time that these be called “history” and never again confront our faith.

It is Friday the 13th. The general belief, although unfounded, is that; it is a bad or even an evil day as portrayed by movies and tales, concocted or otherwise.

For me, there is nothing wrong with such tales and legends. They are entertaining and of human interests but I don’t believe that God created anything bad. Besides, Christ died on a Friday afternoon. His death, for us Christians, redeemed us from eternal damnation. On the last supper, Christ was the 13th man at the center with his disciples. On that night, He instituted the sacrament of the Eucharist.

If we look around, there are innumerable signs suggesting that we are athirst in knowing the Truth who is the Omnipotent. We can search for the Truth better and perhaps even faster if we set aside beliefs and tales that are un-Christian like Friday the 13th. -30-