Eucharistic Meal
Fr. Blanco held on to the last piece of the Eucharistic meal. Fr Blanco who was held captive in the Basilan Island in the Philippine Archipelago, the Pearl of the Orient, held on to his source of Spiritual support living with the Muslim captors who forced him to abandon his consecration to the God and priesthood. They forced him even to abandon his vow of chastity and to pray to Allah only. I am trying to write in detail the anguish and the paradigm Fr. Blanco tried to portray. Fr. Blanco turned seventy-five yesterday and before I left the Philippines, we con-celebrated the Holy Mass. We talked for a while and he revealed the struggles he went through as a priest during his captivity. Bed sheet privilege =================== They took me to their home and I planted Camote and Kasava with them(Sweet Potatoes and Tapioca) “After a few days they gave me something like a bed sheet and I put that around me as I washed my clothes. I had only a pair of pants and the shirt that I had on me when they abducted me”. Fr. Blanco found himself to be very blessed and he told me the source of his strength. Fr. Blanco remembers with gratitude one of the Muslim friends for being the link with the Bishop. This man came to Fr Blanco earlier than his abduction and informed him that his name was in the list of the MNLF (Moro Liberation Front), in Mindanao area in the Philippines. This man had no home to live but was! given a home and that was the courtesy of the Bishop. Since then this man who was formerly against the Church became friendly with Fr Blanco. ========================================================================= This friend one day brought him a letter from the MNLF telling him that the MNLF has dropped his name from the list to be abducted. He gave Fr. Blanco the letter signed by the top MNLF people and Fr Blanco had the letter always in his custody. When he was abducted by another group, which was fighting MNLF, Fr Blanco showed then letter but the leader of the group tore the letter and said “we are not MNLF” and took Fr Blanco to their village. Fr Blanco lived in one of the families. I remember Fr. Blanco acknowledging the influence of the Muslim activists from Iran, Pakistan, Libya and some other Muslim countries. They used to come to Mindanao to train and to motivate the innocent Muslims there to hold captives and to ask for ransom. “Bang Bang” idea Fr Blanco wanted to say prayers and the children in the family enjoyed singing with him some of the Church hymns. Fr. Blanco remembers that they were nine years and younger. The children enjoyed playing and praying with him because he spoke their language. Once, one of the children pointed a toy gun at Fr. Blanco and started saying, “ Bang. Bang Bang” (the influence of toys in children!. I think it is a big mistake from the part of the parents to buy toy guns for children. Toy guns might look innocent but the impact on children is very! damaging). Fr. Blanco gradually left an imprint in the heart of the children as he claims. Fr. Blanco put on a smiling and yet a serious face and said to the boy “ Our God, Our Allah doesn’t like this. It is bad to kill people. ” and the boy didn’t point the gun at Fr. Blanco anymore. They used to play and even sing with Fr. Blanco. It was surprising that the children and even the neighbors came and watched Fr. Blanco pray. “ I didn’t want to stay idle inside the house. That was a small house made of bamboo. They allowed me to move around inside the little property around the house. The day they pointed the gun at my head and said that they were going to kill me and as they didn’t shoot at me, I realized that I won their hearts” I think Fr. Blanco analyzed their mind. Fr. Blanco was allowed to go to the near-by river two or three times a week to wash his clothes and to take a bath. He went with the rest of the people in commune with nature. Prayer and Exercise ------------------- “ I have heard from the other priest who was almost paralyzed in his capture because he didn’t do any work. I always did my exercise. Even the children enjoyed doing exercise with me”. And Fr. Blanco smiled And laughed. “You know all the while I was looking around for a way to escape too. My point of reference was always the Mountain. I had the feeling that one day I will jump out of that place.” Fr. Blanco is bald and gray, a very short man and I was tempted to ask him yesterday about his age “At that time I was sixty five. Tomorrow I turn seventy five,” he said. If he didn’t say that I would have assessed him to be in his sixties as I wrote last ti! me. “ I didn’t want to be incapacitated by remaining idle. I planted Camote and Kasava ( sweet potatoe and Tapioca)with them, which they liked. The neighbors always enjoyed seeing me plant and walk around”. The Muslim women kept smiling and giggling seeing a Spanish man in the neighborhood. Another priest executed I asked him about some of his struggles as a priest in his captivity. “ They didn’t hit me like they did to the other priests.” (As I write this account I grieve the death of the Italian priest who was abducted some 27 days back in Basilan island WHERE Fr Blanco was in captivity. The associate parish priest of the Italian Priest identified the body of the Italian priest and the legs were tied to some roots in a marshy place. Animals ate the face and chest. There was a gunshot wound in the armpit. They are trying to confirm the identification. I remember the interview with Fr. Gerry the provincial of this Italian priest (The name escaped my memory )who was found dead in the marshy place. The Abductors are frustrated because the Church refused to pay ransom. Giving ransom is the key for further abduction). Fr. Blanco remembers his Muslim friend who visited him in his captivity and asked him “what can I do for you Father” “ I want to celebrate Holy Mass. Please ask the Bishop to send Hosts and wine and some clothes. I had only the blanket to tie around me”. (I laughed when I heard the word blanket. The Muslims use something like lunki even in the Philippines. I have seen a few Muslims even in Manila in their lunki. When I was in the Philippines, there was a lavandera ( a lady to wash clothes ) and told me one day “ Father your skirt is Washed ” and she laughed What she meant was that my Lunki is ready. When Fr. Blanco mentioned “ I had a blanket to tie around him,” I knew what he meant . “The Bishop send me wine enough for few Masses. I celebrated Holy mass five times in the small bamboo house” (What a great Missionary priest is Fr. Blanco with ardent faith. No wonder Fr. Blanco is now assigned at the Seminary in Quezon City in training the future priests. I wanted to ask Blanco if the Muslims tried to force him to proselytize and or to force him against his vow of chastity. “ I have heard that they send women to the priests to tempt them. Did they do that to you” “ Oh yes. They brought me women”. Fr. Blanco said in soft voice because there were people around. He looked around and later he said, “ Anyway many people know my life story. They brought me two women and tried to force me to give up my consecration” I watched his feelings and emotions. He became serious at times as he shared and at times he laughed and or smiled. “ I didn’t feel the force of temptation. That was a great blessing from God. One day the leader brought me his wife. He was known - Pakistani - ( but he was a Filippino)because he was tall and handsome and he had no children. He brought me his wife with whom he was for more than fifteen years. He forced me.” I wondered why the Pakistani brought his wife to Fr. Blanco. “ It is to seduce us priests so we will leave our religion and join them” Fr. Blanco said. “Poor Pakistani, he had no children. He said to me, if there are children the children will be his”. “ I didn’t pay any attention to that woman. He thought that I didn’t pay any attention to her because she was in her thirty’s. So next time he brought a young and pretty girl, another wife of his. She was around nineteen years old. He lived with her for less than an year and they had no children. She stayed around the house for a while. She even wrote on the wall “ Love”. I told her that it is against my Consecration and she also left me. I have told the Pakistani; this is immoral to bring your wives to me. I am consecrated to my God. If I sin against my consecration that will affect me, him, and his wives. Our Allah will not be happy with us.” Fr. Blanco remembers that the Pakistani became very r! espectful and also the people who lived in the house. “ But there was a bad man in the group. The place where we slept we had only little space. The leader and his wife slept in the kitchen where as the rest of the gang slept in the other room. This bad man started touching me at times and I stood up and the second in command asked why I was standing up at night and I said this bad man doesn’t allow me to sleep and the bad man was removed from there.” I noticed that the group was behaving differently to Fr. Blanco. I asked him why and he said, “ I myself don’t know why. But you know I prayed always. Sometimes the children used to join me. The women used to watch me say the prayers. One day when I said the Lord’s Prayer, some of the Muslims teased me “ how could God be your father” which reminded me the way the Jewish people teased Jesus when he said I am the Son of God”. The Muslim got my Rosary ======================== “ You know I kept the Hosts in my pocket. I could celebrate Holy Mass only five times during my hostage situation. I consecrated the fourty peices of hosts I had and I had Holy Communion daily. I didn’t know how long I would be there. So I started breaking the hosts and I kept the Blessed Sacrament in my right pocket. You know it was a miracle. One day a Muslim put his hand in my left pocket and looked what I had. He got my Rosary and he laughed at the Rosary. But he didn’t touch the right pocket where I kept the Eucharist. I don’t know what he would have done if he discovered the Eucharist”. Fr. Blanco remembered how many hosts he had in his pocket as he ended his captivity. I had still one piece and a half left with me as I walked away from them. “God was with me all the time.” As Fr. Blanco sped away biding me goodbye, I wished I would be able to see him some other time. As I was flying over the Philippines on my way to Taipei, I could feel the sweat of many priests and missionaries nurturing the faith in Jesus in these islands. At times I feel that the intense faith and sacrifices of our missionaries help us keep our faith. God Bless you Fr. Thomas Mathew California, November 20/2001 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com **************************************************************** This mail is generated from JOYnet, a Jesus Youth mailing list. To unsubscribe, send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe to this mailing list, visit http://www.jesusyouth.org/joynet For automatic help, send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] In case of any issue related to the mailing list contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] ****************************************************************
