When people gather and live together as a community, they establish rules, morals, constitution in order for people to implement so that they will be able to live in a peaceful and better society. Meanwhile, there is one thing that every society or country have is positive Values., which are some values that are similar to each other society or country, but some are different.
As in 2023 I was sent to the Philippines to study and to be formed in order to be a future missionary and now I have been living in the Philippines for around two years. I was given this book to read which was entitled Positive Filipino Values by my rector in order for me to get to know about Filipino values, deepen my knowledge about the Philippines, and understand the context of positive values of Filipino and especially the value of “PAKIKISAMA”
PAKIKISAMA (an effort to get along with everybody) This word characterizes the uniqueness of Filipinos. According to the book which was written by Thomas D. Andres, the positive Pakikisama made Lapu-Lapu the first Filipino to win a battle against a foreigner or even Andres Bonifacio, who founded the Katipunan, and Dr. Jose Rizal, who gave his life for his country in order for the Filipinos to live with freedom and dignity. The value of PAKIKISAMA plays an essential role in Filipino lives, but unfortunately, some Filipinos still do not practice Pakikisama or only in small groups.
As I was reflecting on this positive value of the Filipinos, I realized my situation here in the Philippines as a foreigner; I need to have Pakikisama in order to get along with my Filipino brothers in the community and at the same time, my Filipino brother need to have Pakikisama as well. However, as I am in a seminary in order to be prepared to be future missionaries, I do not know where we will be sent and whom we will meet. I think this Pakikisama is an essential element for a missionary who will be sent to foreign lands with different cultures, food, languages, etc., in order to get along with people through a good relationship. Furthermore, As the charism of Xavierian missionaries is “to make of the world a single family in Christ” in order to make the world a single family in Christ, we need to keep and practice PAKIKISAMA (an effort to get along with everybody) in order to have good relationship with everyone especially in the community and congregation so that we will be able to fulfill the dream of our founder saint Guido Maria Conforti.
However, Pakikisama is not only for a group of people but for everyone to have a good relationship with others in society. Unfortunately, there are some people who only practice Pakikisama in their family or a small group, and they do not like others who are from different families or communities or even courntries. If the Pakikisama is practiced everywhere from the small community to a big community and even every country worldwide, our world would be better and have peace. Lastly, Pakikisama is key for building good relationships among people in order that they may live together in harmony and peacefully.
