A Chapel Corrupted

Being a pre-dominantly Catholic country, most schools in the Philippines dedicate areas for religious purposes, be it a chapel or a small grotto. AU-PHINMA is one of the many non-sectarian academes with this feature: the Holy Family Chapel was a project of the Pamantasan ng Araullo Faculty and Employees Association 1983-1984. However, the gymnasium is currently the preferred venue for the Holy Mass since it can accommodate more people. Celebrating the Eucharist in the chapel is now a rare occasion; it has become a mere structure just like the rest of its concrete neighbors.

Ultimately, it has completely lost its essence with the students’ lack of discipline and respect for the place. They eat, gossip, and even date inside a supposedly place for prayer and reflection. Food wrappers, paper cups, and dusty shoe prints left on the pews are evidence of manifest irresponsibility and disrespect. Is the idea of caring for our second home, our alma mater, not reiterated enough? Paying tuition fees does not give us the license to litter, vandalize, and destroy. It should instead give us a sense of responsible stewardship for whatever we are paying for. The chapel deserves this kind of respect, as much as the rest of the campus does.

The photo of a child praying inside our chapel recently posted on Facebook gained comments from tagged student leaders, professors, and alumni. They shared sentiments regarding its misuse, and they all hoped that Araullians will soon realize that it is more than a hang-out place where one can kill time. Some of them also stressed that being a Catholic is never a determining factor of how an Araullian should treat the chapel. The wall post sparked a more important issue and absolutely drove the point home: regardless of spiritual belief, the chapel should be given utmost respect because it is still a house of worship, just like any other house of worship of any other religion. The logic behind this is another no-brainer: a Muslim would not want his mosque scattered with trash, and a Buddhist would frown upon anyone who would act intimately inside his temple. Simply put, a person would not be happy if somebody else is disrespecting his church in any way. Sadly, the possibility of Catholic Araullians defiling their own church cannot be ignored.  In fact, it might be a greater possibility than non-Catholics doing the aforementioned activities in the chapel.

When asked what he was doing, the child in the photo said he was praying for his sick mother. He definitely knew what the chapel is for, and he is not an Araullian to begin with. While everyone else satiates hunger and boredom in the chapel, someone had enough sense to seek refuge and guidance from his Divine Being. This incident does not call for any major spiritual transformation on our part. This just reminds us to shed the devil-may-care attitude and start giving the respect we want to gain in the first place. Ma. Gladys Repollo