Malasakit: The Filipino Face of God's Mercy

This paper explores the relationship between the inclusive attitude of Jesus the face of God's mercy in the gospels, and the Filipino cultural value Malasakit. God's mercy is fully revealed and expressed in Jesus ’inclusive love among the outcasts during His time. Malasakit, a Filipino core value, embodies the Filipino's outmost concern for others manifested in the Filipino social and cultural concept of kapwa. Employing Chupungco's Dynamic Equivalence, this paper argues that the inclusive attitude of Jesus in the Gospels, which Pope Francis highlighted in his Apostolic Exhortation on Joy of Love (Amoris Laetitia), finds its dynamic equivalent in the Filipino cultural value Malasakit. It claims further that the Pope's teaching on God's Mercy, and, in particular, the principle of inclusivity is a challenge to the Catholic Church, Filipinos and other nations to become inclusive communities, sharing Malasakit to all and thus becoming God's face of Mercy.