Happy Faith

Christians worldwide are called to follow Jesus’ example of showing preferential concern for the poor. This means that as Christ’s followers, they are called to respond to the needs of all, especially the marginalized and the most vulnerable. The philosophy of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) is based on cooperation, common good and mutual benefit, and is in many ways consistent with the Catholic Church’s preferential option for the poor.

Option for the poor is rooted in the biblical notion of justice and common good, where God calls us to be advocates for the voiceless and powerless in society. It means that we need to look at the world from the perspective of the poor and to work for justice and equitable sharing in the world community. In the area of computers, it means that we need to break down an oppressive system that forces billions of people to use closed, proprietary formats and subscribe to sky-high licensing fees. It is both a matter of justice and common good that structures and systems be put in place to address the needs of the poor to have access to free software and open formats.

Before kissing Fiyero, Elphaba hesitates for a moment and declares with a smile, “It’s just for the first time, I feel … wicked”. Although at first she appears to be a menacing witch (well, she is called the wicked witch of the west) in the stage musical “Wicked”, Elphaba is anything but wicked. On the other hand, the other characters who seem to be the personification of goodness and perfection are in fact proved to be the ones who are wicked down to their very core.

The musical is filled with such surprising twists and ironies. And that is the reason why I enjoyed the show so much. I watched “Wicked” last Friday night with two MSC confreres in the Oriental Theater (Ford Center for the Performing Arts) in Chicago. I looked around and I did not see any empty seat in the theater and as soon as the cast performed their first number I understood why.

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Tú que eres tan compasivo, fiel, amoroso; Tú eres nuestro Padre. Te pedimos que engrandezcas nuestra fe y nuestro amor hacia ti, y así podamos usar los blogs como instrumentos para cumplir con tus propósitos. Debemos convertirnos en bloggers de verdad y promotores de la paz.

This morning, Fr. Lucho, the formator of the MSC seminarians in Colombia, brought me to the Catedral de Sal de Zipaquirá (Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá). Just the name itself already makes you think it’s a place like no other.

Zipaquirá is about 48 kilometers north of Bogotá. I was so excited to see the sanctuary that it actually felt like the fifty-minute drive took five hours. I chose not to research about it before traveling to Zipaquirá so that I would not have any preconceptions about the place. The entrance ticket to the cathedral costs 12,000 Colombian pesos (about five US dollars). The tour inside the cathedral could be taken in different languages. I chose an English-speaking guide.

The flight from Manila to Bogotá via Los Angeles took 20 hours (13 hours from Manila to L.A., and 7 hours from L.A. to Bogotá). This is not just my first time to be in Colombia but also my very first to be in the South American continent. I am in Bogotá to facilitate a workshop on Web Design using free and open source software. The fifteen workshop participants are all Colombian MSC seminarians.

The Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (MSC) have been in Colombia since the 1960’s and they have established themselves well in the capital city. The main focus of their ministry here is to administer parishes and to help the poor by initiating housing projects for squatters and giving scholarships to deserving students who cannot afford to send themselves to school.