Best Kept Secrets

One of the prominent news agencies in the land has this opening line for a sports story last Friday: “It’s now Drian Francisco’s turn to prove that he is indeed Philippine boxing’s best kept secret.” I,- being a church worker, know something considered as Catholic church's “best kept secret”. But we will talk about it later.

Drian Francisco, the 26-year old boxer from Occidental Mindoro, the main event underdog defeated the former two-time world champion Roberto Vasquez of Panama and won the vacant World Boxing Association (WBA) international super flyweight crown last Saturday at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City, Philippines.

Francisco turned skeptics into fanatics when he scored a sensational 10th round technical knockout (TKO) victory over his opponent from Panama. My province mate Francisco connected with his left against Vasquez during their 12 round title fight. The “Gintong Kamao” (Golden Fist) twice sent Vasquez down on the ring with the second knockdown, late in the 10th round, forcing the Panamanian’s corner to throw in the white flag,- err.. the towel. With this very convincing win, Drian had the big chance to challenge reigning champion Noubo Nashiro of Japan for his WBA super flyweight title in the first quarter of 2010. Nashiro successfully won over Fidel Hugo Cazares last September 30 at Osaka, Japan via split decision to defend his title.

Prior to the fight, Elmer Anuran of the Saved by the Bell promotion and Francisco’s manager, said in an interview, “He is the modified version of Luisito Espinosa and is Philippine boxing’s best kept secret. Vasquez came overweight and the plan is to try to make him work in the early rounds and go for the kill in the late rounds." It was Francisco's 14th win by way of knockout earning him his 18th career victory in 19 fights. A draw against compatriot Nino Suelo on Oct. 16, 2007 was the only dark spot in his almost clean record.

Now, regarding the “best kept secret” of the Catholic church…

Catholic Social Teaching (CST) has been called "our best kept secret," even before Drian Francisco is still a toddler in Sablayan while in the arms of his father, Diomedes “Joe” Francisco who is a former boxer himself. Indeed the CST has been our "our buried treasure," and "an essential part of Catholic faith." To borrow the words of the U.S. Catholic bishops: "Far too many Catholics are not familiar with the basic content of Catholic Social Teaching. More fundamentally, many Catholics do not adequately understand that the social teaching of the Church is an essential part of Catholic faith. This poses a serious challenge for all Catholics, since it weakens our capacity to be a Church that is true to the demands of the Gospel. We need to do more to share the social mission and message of our Church."

To reiterate, the CST has been referred to as the Catholic Church's "best kept secret". It is Church teaching that is rarely preached about, rarely written about and rarely spoken about in Church circles. Consequently, it rarely informs decision making and action - at least explicitly. Now is a good time to reclaim this tradition and to allow it to become a benchmark for the living out of faith in today's world. To my Catholic readers, let us be shovels,- or instruments, in unearthing this hidden and secret treasure known as CST.

Like how Drian "Jong" Francisco shoved his way to the crown last Saturday…

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(Photo by Jeff Venancio of GMA News)