Miracles have been happening all over the world for centuries now.

Even
before Jesus Christ was born, miracles had already been happeningmay they be in
any form such as sorcery or magic. As we look back to humankinds history, we can
see that there are a lot of events where in miracles are said to have happened. But
the question is, are there still miracles happening today?
In the movie Himala, you would see that the Filipinos are engulfed by their
faith and by the miracles people claim are done by Elsa, the protagonist, played by
Nora Aunor. A lot of people want to be healed and want to Elsas miracles to happen
to them. But the density of the people, who come to Elsa for her miracles, has
caused the residents of Cupang to make a profit out of Elsas visitors. It would seem
as if the Filipinos were religious but the truth is that they have their own hidden
agenda. If they were truly spiritualistic, then in the last part of the film, there would
not be any stampede which has killed some of the disabled people. Thus, I would
agree and say that indeed, the faith of the Filipinos is bordering on fanaticism
because when Elsa was shot and her body was carried to the ambulance, people
were trying to get close to her body just to be able to touch any part of her body or
her clothes which made it seem like she was a saint or something. A scene in the
movie also showed that the residents of Cupang stopped going to mass when if
truly they are religious, then they could not have stopped hearing mass. The people
close to Elsa also started selling Elsas Water and made some profit out of it
because people bought it. Moreover, from those two scenes mentioned earlier
people touching Elsas corpse and the selling of Elsas Water, you can also see that
faith was commodified in the film. In addition, there are also some scenes in the
movie where the residents of Cupang would sell a lot of religious memorabilia such
as rosaries, holy oil, and the like. Hence, Elsas extreme fans would buy these
memorabilia because they think its blessed or religious. As we can see today,
similar memorabilia are still sold in many places such as near the churches like the
Quiapo Church, where a huge variety of religious and exotic memorabilia are sold
along the side streets of the church.
Theres this one like that struck me most, go to hell, the female beggar
would shout at everyone who refuse to give her donations or try to send her away.
Its struck me because she has the courage to say such a thing when her soul could

be the one to go to hell. She is poor and a beggar with a child, and asks people like
Mr. Chua, the rich Chinese man from Manila, to donate to her but when he refused
to give her anything, she would shout Selfish! Go to hell! She could have worked
or have enough faith in God that everything will be provided to her or maybe even
understand that some people just really do not want to give alms to the poor. But
she was not understanding, rather she cursed all the people who refused to do what
she wanted. Another line that struck me was when the priest said, I dont believe in
miracles. The priest did not approve of what has happened to Elsa and what she is
doing. Throughout the movie, the priest, who represents the church, remained there
without attacking or glorifying Elsa. Orly, a director who witnessed the abuse of Elsa
and Chayong, confessed to the priest what he witnessed and the priest still kept his
vow to keep everything confessed to him as secrets even if it was somehow a proof
that Elsas pregnancy was not because of the Virgin Mary but rather because she
was raped. People believed that Elsa was pregnant like how the Virgin Mary
conceived baby Jesus because they could hardly believe that some guy would like
Elsa. So, here, we see how people are close-minded and believe what they want to
believe which is both a religious and a social issue. Apart from Elsas miraculous
healing powers, in the same land, a cabaret was built by Elsas childhood friend,
Nimia, which entertained men using women and this is a social issue because
women are somehow sold to men. Another religious and social issue in the movie is
that the people claim to be religious and God-fearing but when they are in trouble,
they tend to forget and become their true selves like how Elsas followers reacted
during the stampeded when Elsa died. Most of them stepped on the crippled people,
some of which died, and did not care about them. Thus, I think if people were truly
religious then the society will be orderly and peaceful. Spirituality and societal
condition should be parallel with each other. However, in the movie we can see that
the peoples spirituality has brought them to Elsa but they also brought with them
chaos. Hence, the spirituality of the people is not genuine and they are still selfish
and still have not truly applied the religious teachings on to their lives. If only
people were to embrace fully the teachings they learn from their religion and apply
these teachings in their daily lives then there will be peace and order in the society.
Thus, this is why I disagree on the separation between the church and the state.
The Church may be man-made, but I think it is what guides us in knowing what is
right from wrong. It guides us in our daily lives to be able to coexist with others

harmoniously. If we do not know what is right from wrong, and think that what is
wrong is acceptable, then our society will be in utter chaos. For example, a
lawmaker thinks it is not wrong to abort babies and he makes laws allowing
abortion, then society would be in chaos once their population declines and the
health of their people deteriorates. Another example is if killing will be permitted by
law, then I believe no person would be left on this world. Thus, if our lawmakers
apply the teachings of the Church, then we may not have corrupt officials, and the
laws that will be made are will benefit all the people.
I believe in miracles because there had already been records in history.
Today, not much miracles are known but I do know of a story of a Korean nun that
whenever she takes the Holy Communion, the host turns into real flesh and blood
and I can say that is a miracle. Miracles can also be as simple as how each of us are
able to get up and start a brand new day, or perhaps the miracle on how a student,
who was not able to study for the test, got a perfect score on the test. However, in
the film, Elsa claimed at the end that there is no himala, and that the himala
was only in our hearts and we make the miracles. I see two perspectives on this.
First, I think there could possibly be a himala in the movie because at the beginning,
Elsa was praying and her upper arms and hands bled which could be a miracle.
Second, we know for a fact that there is such thing as mind over matter/body,
which means that if you have enough faith and believe in something, then that
something can come true. Thus, if I were to say if there was himala in the film, I
would stand neutral. Hence, the message of the film could be that the Filipinos fall
too easily on things that are claimed to be religious when these could actually be of
natures works, thus, we should be careful in believing things and also apply to our
lives what we learned from the teachings of Christ.
The three childhood friends: Elsa, Chayong, and Nimia symbolize three types
of people, in my opinion. Elsa symbolizes the people who create miracles or ideas;
Chayong symbolizes the blind followers who simply follow or believe in the miracles
or ideas that are being fed to them; and Nimia symbolizes the non-believers or nonconformist who act on their own will and beliefs. Hence, I think the films artistic
elements are universality, immortality, and it is somehow debatable. In addition, the
cliffhanger at the end of the film could keep the audience in question as to who shot
Elsa. Another artistic element I see is the way the movie was made; it was made in
such a way that it is believable or as if it happened in real life and was just

documented. All these things made the film accorded both national and
international recognition.
In conclusion, there are two types of himala, the ones we create and the
ones that occur on its own. If we believe that there is such thing as a miracle, then
miracles can happen. However, if we do not believe in miracles, then we would not
lose anything. At the end of the day, it is still up to us whether to believe or not. At
the end, we still have the choiceor free willthat was miraculously granted to us.