Netizens think that viral Filipino priest Ferdinand Santos should have a fan club because of his popularity on social media.
But Santos said he's not excited about it. "Only Christ deserves to have a ‘fan club’."
A portion of his post on Facebook read:
"People will naturally find us ‘attractive’ in many different ways. Many priests and seminarians after all are kind, gentle, and caring. Many of us are good speakers, and not a few are actually good-looking. People like those qualities.
"The thing is, while there’s nothing wrong in receiving their praise and admiration (and we should learn to say “thank you” sincerely, by the way, whenever we are appreciated), we also shouldn’t forget that those words of praise do not primarily belong to us. They are first and foremost directed to Christ, not to ourselves. Granted that doesn’t always happen, it still doesn’t change the equation.
"They’re Jesus’ fans, not ours. And we shouldn’t be going around trying to form our own groupies. One who does so completely misses the point of the whole situation.
"We are meant to be ‘attractive’ to people, that is true. Adrian Van Kaam the author of “Religion and Personality” suggests that there’s absolutely nothing wrong with being “a little vain”, meaning keeping oneself well kempt so as not to turn people off. But neither should we forget that looking good, speaking and acting well, are not meant to draw people to ourselves.
"That will naturally happen. What we’re really supposed to do is to lead them—when they do come to us—to Christ. He is the chief shepherd, remember. We aren’t the point. He is."
On Friday, Santos shared an eight-minute video where he talked about his viral photos on social media and getting infected with COVID-19 despite getting double jabbed in the US in April.
Santos also promotes healthy body among netizens by sharing photos of his gym equipment.
On Facebook, Santos wrote: "Gym is coming along nicely. She's up and running and ready for her initial use tomorrow morning (this section at least). Can't wait! Shout out to the excellent people at JMR Sporting Goods for great delivery and assembly.
"Plates and dumbbells also arrive tomorrow. Next week, squat rack / hack squat, power tower and curl bars. Thanks again to Fr. Rey Hector Paglinawan and Bishop Honesto F. Ongtioco for letting me use the space while I'm here. My photo blurred for purposes of modesty.] Stay healthy everybody. Stay safe. GET VACCINATED!"
