Super Typhoon, Spirits and Scriptures: Exploring Post-Traumatic and Ecological Challenges and Responses in a Post-Haiyan Context

This paper posits that a continued critical biblical hermeneutics that incorporates trauma theory and ecological hermeneutics is needed for the evaluation and enrichment of how select passages from Matthew 27 and 28 were recontextualized and used in ministry in the context of post-disaster settings like the aftermath of the 2013 super typhoon Haiyan, known as Yolanda in the Philippines. Since the nation lacks professional psychologists to aid in stress debriefing, this gap is usually fulfilled by volunteers like the religious and lay people from the Roman Catholic church. Focusing on the examples found in the book "Desperately Seeking God's Saving Action: Yolanda Survivors' Hope Beyond Heartbreaking Lamentations" (Gaspar, 2014), this paper analyzes the ways in which the biblical texts he used in the book, particularly Mt 27:45-61 and Mt 28:1-10, were employed two months after the disaster by the missionaries in order to help in the stress-debriefing and to promote coping strategies for the survivors in the island of Leyte. The paper examines the hermeneutical issues in need of critical attention for a better recontextualization of the Bible in a post-disaster setting: (a) the post-traumatic and ecologically devastated setting; (b) indigenous strategies to deal with the spirits and the culture of the people; (c) the various contexts in which the Bible was used (Bible sharing, prayers, and rituals for the restless spirits of the victims); (d) the choice of biblical texts to be employed; (e) the hermeneutical methods used; and (f) the influence of the liturgical context of Lent. At the end, it offers some suggestions on how to enrich the use of the Bible in Gaspar's book which can be employed as a potential resource in post-environmental trauma or stress-debriefing ministry in the future.status: publishe