JESUS IS IN THOSE WHO DO NOT KNOW GOD BUT CALL HIM, IN BELIEVERS OF OTHER RELIGIONS, AND IN THOSE WHO ARE HONORED WITH THE NAME “CHRISTIAN”

To seek Jesus, what does the Pope indicate in order to see Him?

The Pope asks us to seek Jesus “in those who do not know God but call Him.” Who are these? These are the “pagans” who have not know Christ but live morally good lives and call him.

Jesus also lives in “those who, after knowing Him, have lost Him, though no fault of their own.” These may be those baptized Christians who grew in totalitarian states who tried to eliminate Christianity.

Jesus lives in “those who seek him in sincerity of heart even if they come from different cultural and religious context.” These are the believers of other religions and other cultures, like Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Shintoism, etc. And Jesus also “lives” among the men and women “honored with the name Christian”.

Seeing Jesus in them is an exigency of the command to “love of neighbor” i.e., the love towards all and this includes unbelievers, believers of other religions and our separated brethren who are also called Christians. Jesus lives in even in them. All of us were created under the image and likeness of God and therefore Christ’s redemptive merits is for all. Christ died for all.

 

What does this bring to mind?

This brings to mind the Pope’s message to us in the occasion of WYD ‘96. He said: “Journeying towards the Great Jubilee, may you be accompanied by the Conciliar Constitution Gaudium et Spes, which I mean to entrust to you all, as already I entrusted it to your contemporaries of the continent of Europe, gathered last September at Loreto: It is a valuable and ever youthful document. Reread it attentively. You will find in it light to discern your vocation as men and women called to live in this both marvelous and dramatic era, as artisans of brotherhood and builders of peace (Angelus of 10 September 1995).”

Before this document of Vatican II, the Church adopted the method of evangelization which could be characterized by:

1. Religious isolation. We isolate ourselves as Catholics from the believers of other religion and our Christian brothers for fear of contamination.

2. Disagreement and opposition. We tend to disagree with them in order to defend our faith and beliefs. We oppose them.

3. Conversion, and return in the case of heretics. There is a tendency to proselytize. To “convert” them or win them back to our fold.

After Vatican II however, the approach was quite different. In her document, Gaudium et Spes, (The Pastoral Constitution of the Church on the Modern World) it says that the disciples of Christ “is a community composed of men, of men who, united with Christ and guided by the Holy Spirit, press onwards towards the Kingdom of the Father and are bearers of a message of salvation intended for all.” (GS, 1)

The Church is the universal saving design of God’s will for all. Lumen Gentium (The Dogmatic Constitution on the Church) says:

All men are called to (this) catholic unity which prefigures and promotes universal peace. And in different ways to it belong, or are related: the Catholic faithful, others who believe in Christ, and finally all mankind, called by God’s grace to salvation. (LG. n. 13.)

The Church should not be seen as an exclusive group but it comprises “in different ways” all mankind who are called by God’s grace to salvation.

 

What is even understood in Lumen Gentium is the possibility of salvation for followers of other religions and people of good will.

Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience - those too may achieve eternal salvation. (LG. 16)

And, in other documents of Vatican II, there is acceptance of dialogue and collaboration with followers of other religions.

The Catholic Church rejects nothing of what is true and holy in these religions. . . The Church, therefore, urges her sons to enter with prudence and charity into discussion and collaboration with members of other religions. Let Christians, while witnessing to their own faith and way of life, acknowledge, preserve and encourage the spiritual and moral truths found among non-Christians, also their social life and culture. (Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions (NA), 2).

Here, there is (1) an open recognition of the positive values of other religions while the affirmation of the fullness of truth in Jesus Christ is never neglected. (2) A sincere invitation to dialogue, respect and collaboration with followers of other religions; and (3) the promotion of interreligious dialogue as an essential element of the Church’s missionary vocation.

The Church, “by virtue of its mission to enlighten the entire world by preaching the Gospel and to unify in spirit men of every nation, race and culture, is a sign of that brotherhood which makes sincere dialogue possible and strengthens it.” (LG, 97).

“God desired that all men should form one family and deal with each other in a spirit of brotherhood.” (GS, 24)

The Popes states in his letter on the Missionary Activity of the Church (Redemptoris Missio) that “interreligious dialogue is part of the evangelizing mission of the Church” (RM, 55)

Now, he wants us as disciples and friends of Jesus to “become agents of dialogue and collaboration with those who believe in a God who rules the universe with infinite love; be ambassadors of the Messiah you have found and known in his “dwelling”, the Church, so that many more young people of your age may be able to follow in his footsteps; their way lighted by your fraternal charity and by the joy in your eyes that have contemplated Christ.” (Message of John Paul II, WYD ‘97)

What is dialogue?

Dialogue has been described as an encounter of believers “in order to walk together in projects of common concern.” (Attitude of the Church towards the followers of other religions, n. 13)

It denotes a voyage of mutual discovery, or a common pilgrimage. “Its aim is conversion, not in the sense of bringing about a change of religious allegiance, but rather in the biblical sense of the humble and penitent return of the heart to God in the desire to submit one’s life more generously to Him.” (ibid, n. 37).

What is its Foundation?

Its foundation is the love of God and love of neighbor. God the Father, the source of all goodness, so loved the world that he has revealed himself through Jesus Christ. Through the incarnation the Son of God has, in a certain way, united himself with every member of the human race. Salvation in Jesus Christ is open to all.

This holds good not for Christians only but also for all persons of good will in whose heart grace is active. For since Christ died for all, and since in fact all are called to one and the same destiny, which is divine, we must hold that the Holy Spirit offers to all the possibility of being made partners, in a way known to God, in the Paschal mystery. (GS, 22).The Holy Spirit is at work, not only among Christians but also beyond the visible boundaries of the Church. For this reason recognition is to be given to the good which is found sown not only in the minds and hearts of individuals, but also in the rites and customs of peoples (cf. LG, 17).

There are the “seeds of the Word” which can be discovered in the various religious traditions and which thus allow dialogue to take place.

Now, the Church is called upon to be a sign of the love of God. In as much as it is a “sign and instrument, of communion with God and of unity with all men,” (LG, 1) she has to initiate dialogue and collaboration with all.

What are the three kinds of dialogue?

The Encyclical Ecclesiam Suam speaks of three kinds of groups in dialogue in terms of three concentric circles, of varying sizes:

1. Dialogue with whom who profess no religion. Christ also died for the atheists. We need to love and make dialogue with them. Moreover, dialogue

is demanded nowadays by the prevalent understanding of the relationship between the sacred and the profane. It is demanded by the dynamic course of action which is changing the face of modern society. It is demanded by the pluralism of society, and by the maturity man has reached in this day and age. Be he religious or not, his secular education has enabled him to think and speak, and to conduct a dialogue with dignity. (On Dialogue with Unbelievers, 1; cf. LG ch. 3, 78).

2. Dialogue with believers of other religions is called interreligious dialogue. The Church, “sincerely proclaims to all men, those who believe as well as those who do not, [she] should help to establish right order in this world where all live together.” (GS, 21) Interreligious dialogue can take four forms:

a. Dialogue of Life. This refers to a form of relationship “where people strive to live in an open and neighbourly spirit, sharing this joys and sorrows, their human problems and preoccupations” (Dialogue and Proclamation, 42)

b. Dialogue of Action. This is when believers of diverse religion work together for a common purpose, like to work for victims of justice or calamities or other humanitarian projects.

c. Dialogue of Specialists. This is the dialogue in the level of philosophy, theology or that which regards dogmas and beliefs.

    d. Dialogue of religious experience. This is a deeper dialogue where believers share to one another their experiences of prayer, meditation, or their ways of reaching the Absolute. This is done in the monasteries.

3. Dialogue with other Christians. What did the Pope say in this regard? Jesus also “lives” among the men and women “honored with the name Christian”. These are our Christian brothers and sisters. We are joined in many ways by them. They are the many who hold sacred scripture in honor as a rule of faith and of life, who have a sincere religious zeal, who lovingly believe in God the Father Almighty and in Christ the Son of God, and the Saviour, who are sealed by baptism which unites them to Christ, and who indeed recognize and receive other sacraments in their own Churches or ecclesial communities. (LG, 15) They do not however profess the Catholic faith in its entirety or have nor preserved unity or communion under the successor of Peter, the bishop of Rome. (ibid.)

Jesus lives also in them. They likewise meet Christ and live the Words of Christ in the Scriptures, in prayer and in service of their neighbors. Like all of us. There are more elements that unite us than that which divide us. This dialogue between and among Christians is called Ecumenism. The Church is not a reality closed to itself. Rather, she is permanently open to missionary and ecumenical endeavor, for she is sent to the world to announce and witness, to make present and spread the mystery of communion which is essential to her, and to gather all people and all things in to Christ, so as to be for all an inseparable sacrament of unity.

The Council states that the Church of Christ “subsists in the Catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the Bishops in communion with Him,” and at the same time acknowledges that “many elements of sanctification and of truth can be found outside her visible structure. These elements, however, as gifts properly belonging to the church of Christ, possess an inner dynamism towards Catholic unity.” (LG, 8). There are two points here: (a) the Catholic Church really wants full organic unity with the bishop of Rome as the head, on the other hand, (b) the elements of this unity is also found outside her visible structure.

Ecumenism is not about making non-Churches become churches. The Pope explained in the Encyclical Letter, Ut Unum Sint (That all may be one),

    It is not that beyond the boundaries of the Catholic community there is an ecclesial vacuum. Many elements of great value, which in the Catholic Church are part of the fullness of the means of salvation and of the gifts of grace which make up the church, are also found in the other Christian communities. It is not a matter of adding together all the riches scattered throughout the various Christian communities inorder to arrive at a Church which God has in mind for the future. . . . This reality of unity and fullness is something already given. Consequently we are even now in the last times. The elements of this already-given Church exist, found in their fullness in the Catholic Church and, without this fullness, in the other Communities, where certain features of the Christian mystery have at times been more effectively emphasized. Ecumenism is directed precisely to making the partial communion existing between Christians grow towards full communion in truth and charity. (Ut Unum Sint, 14)

It is about (a) letting God restore to the Church of Christ its full power for self-realization in its mission to the world; and (b) bringing all the churches together in the full recognition and in the fully shared possession of those gifts which all have tried to maintain in fidelity to tradition coming from the apostles, but which separations have fragmented in some churches and left ineffective and inadequately understood in all.

The Pope continued: “On the eve of the third millennium, it is becoming every day a more urgent duty to repair the scandal of the division among Christians, strengthening unity through dialogue, prayer in common and witness.” (Message of John Paul II, WYD ‘97)

What was the advice of the Pope how to do it?

“It is a matter of working - under the guidance of the Holy Spirit - with a view to effective reconciliation, trusting in the efficacy of Jesus’ prayer on the eve of his passion: ‘Father, that they may be one even as we are one’ (cf. Jn 12:22). The more you cling to Jesus the more capable you will become of being close to one another; and insofar as you make concrete gestures of reconciliation you will enter into the intimacy of his love.” (Message of John Paul II, WYD ‘97)

We have then to strengthen our discipleship with Jesus so that we could love more and be near to his other disciples. For this new mode of evangelization, we need to stay with Jesus who “dwells especially in your parishes, in the communities in which you live, in the associations and ecclesial movements to which you belong, as well as in many contemporary forms of grouping and apostolate at the service of the new evangelization.” (Message of John Paul II, WYD ‘97)

Dialogue and the Great Jubilee Year 2000

The Year 2000 will be celebrated as the anniversary of the birth of Christ. It might be thought as being purely Christian event, and therefore not of concern to people belonging to other religions. Yet Pope John Paul II has emphasized that it will be celebrated as the Great Jubilee. (TMA, 16) He thus wishes all people, to be invited to join with the Church in celebrating this Jubilee. He said that “the eve of the year 2000 will provide a great opportunity. . . for interreligious dialogue. . . In this dialogue the Jews and the Muslims ought to have a pre-eminent place.” (TMA, 5) Furthermore, he prays that the

Jubilee will be a promising opportunity for fruitful cooperation in the many areas which unite us; these are unquestionable more numerous than those which divide us. It would thus be quite helpful if, with due respect for the programs of the individual Churches and Communities, ecumenical agreements could be reached with regard to the preparation and celebration of the Jubilee. In this way the Jubilee will bear witness even more forcefully before the world that the disciples of Christ are fully resolved to reach full unity as soon as possible in the certainty that “nothing is impossible with God. (TMA, 16).

The ecumenical and universal character of the Sacred Jubilee can be fittingly reflected by a meeting of all Christians. This would be an event of great significance, and so, in order to avoid misunderstandings, it should be properly presented and carefully prepared, in an attitude of fraternal cooperation with Christians of other denominations and traditions, as well as of grateful openness to those religions whose representatives might wish to acknowledge the joy shared by all the disciples of Christ.” (TMA, 55).

In the locality where I live, are there persons whom I may call “pagans,” “believers of other religions,” or “separated Christians?”

What is my attitude towards them: indifferent or friendly, discursive or attentive?

If given a chance could I initiate a process of “dialogue” with them?

Talk to the Regional Convention of the Daughters of Mary Immaculate

We are all Missionaries

Communion and Mission

The theme that is given to us this hour involves all of us.

As baptized Christians and as member of the DMI, we all can intuit that all of us are missionaries, that we have to do something for the good of our country, for the good of your own family, your organization and also for the good of your own being. This has been suggested by your main theme for these days.

Recently, on the occasion of the 25^th anniversary of my ordination, I am reminded of an old Italian priest who is going to be 84 years old. He said, when I was ordained, at about twenty four years of age, I wanted to change the world and bring it to Christ, 10 years later, when I was 34, I realized that the world was still the same, so I decided to change not the world but my country. After 10 years, when I was 44, my country was still the same, so I decided to change my region. After ten years, when I was 54, my region was still the same, so I just tried to change my province. After ten years, when I was 64, my province is still the same. So I decided to change my town, but after ten years, when I was 74 my town was still the same, so I decided to change my family. After 10 years, when I am now 84 my family is still the same – so now, I just decided to change myself. I think is he has started other way round, he could have achieved something.

The mission of the Church flows from her own nature. Christ has willed according to Lumen Gentium of the Vatican II, that the Church be a “sign and instrument of unity between God and man of all the human race.” (LG, 1) Such a mission has the purposed of making everyone know and live the “new” communion that the Son of God made man introduced into the history of the world. It is in this context, i.e., the nature of the Church, that her mission flows to which the Lord entrusts a great part of the responsibility to the lay faithful, in communion with all other members of the People of God. In a sense, the Church does not have a mission that is something added to it as an appendix, but by her very nature: she is mission! And the more we become church, the sign of unity between God and man, the more we become missionaries!

In fact, the whole of the New Testament affirms that the project of God on the humanity is to recognize that all are and should live as a single family: the universal mission of the church.

Before he died, Jesus prayed: “That all are one: as you, Father, you are in me and me in you that they are also one in us, so that the world believes that you sent me. ” (Jn. 17, 21-23).

To carry out the unity between God and man and man, with one another, has been the reason of the life and death of Jesus:

“Jesus should die… to gather in unity all the children of God that were dispersed” (Jn. 11, 51-52)

“… and there will be a single flock and a single Shepherd” (Jn. l0, 16)

The first Christian had captured the novelty and centrality of the commandment of the love, of which the unity is consequence. For that reason:

“The community of believers was of one heart and mind, and no one claimed any of his possessions was his own, but they had everything in common.” (Acts 4, 32)

At the same time, like in all human coexistence, the conflicts never lacked in the Christendom, Paul reiterately exhorts to the concord, the harmony and the peace:

“Don’t the jealousies and discords among you, maybe prove that you are still in the flesh and do you behave in a purely human way?. ‘ (1 Cor. 3,3)

“Proceed in everything without gossips nor discussions. ‘ (Phil. 2, 14)

“Live in harmony with one other.” (Rom. 12,16)

Finally, brothers, rejoice. Mend your ways, encourage one another, agree with one another, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.” (2 Cor. 12, 20)

‘Love each other, live in harmony and in peace. ‘ (2 Cor. 13, 11)

“Don’t have divisions among you, live in perfect harmony, having the same way of thinking and of feeling… Is Christ divided?” (1 Cor. 1, l0.13)

The necessity of unity has its foundation in the same life of God, and in its project on the Church and on humanity who is called to be a one in Christ:

‘All of you are one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3, 2

“And let the peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which you were also called in one body.” (Col. 3, 15)

“With diverse functions all of us form a single Body in Christ” (Rom. 12, 5)

‘We all have been baptized in one Spirit to form one Body” (1 Cor. 12, 13)

As you see, the permanent tension toward the unity is, for the Christian, a demand of the Will of God. It arises from the center of the Christian message.

In his encyclical, John Paul II wrote: The prayer of Jesus in the Upper Room _ “as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be one in us” (Jn 17:21) _ is both revelation and invocation. It reveals to us the unity of Christ with the Father as the wellspring of the Church’s unity and as the gift which in him she will constantly receive until its mysterious fulfillment the end of time” through our cooperation. If it is a gift, the Pope said that: “Christ’s prayer reminds us that this gift needs to be received and developed ever more profoundly.” (no. 49)

So, what is important in mission is that we should be first what we should be, a community of disciples – to be church. Evangelization is first of all to do something but to be, to be one with God and with one another. From our being, then flows our mission. We cannot give what we do not. We could never bring people closer to God if we are not with God ourselves and with one another. As Cardinal Sin once said when we were seminarians in UST, one cannot talk about God if he is not talking to God. Communion with God gives rise to mission, it is the source of our mission.

So we need to think what Vatican II said: “Communion and mission are profoundly connected with each other, they interpenetrate and mutually imply each other, to the point that communion represents both the source and the fruit of mission: communion gives rise to mission and mission is accomplished in communion.”(AA, 32)

Cardinal Francis Van Thuan when he was imprisoned realized that evangelization and his mission is to be one with God rather than do the works of God. One thing is the work of God, that is, our mission, another thing is to God Himself.

Without this oneness with God and with one another, which is the basic form of evangelization (which is itself the prime form of charity), the proclamation of the Gospel risks being misunderstood or submerged by the ocean of words which daily engulfs us in today’s society of mass communications. ” (Ut unum sint, no. 50). St. Peter said: “Ante omnia mutuam in vosmet ipsos caritatem continuam habentes.” Above everything, love one another earnestly. (1Pe 4:

Situation of the Word Today

If we consider the state of the world today, we will see that it really looks like Pope Benedict XVI – highly qualified to give this analysis – described it while still a Cardinal.

In his homily at the conclave’s opening Mass, he said:

“How many winds of doctrine we have known in recent decades, how many ideological currents, how many ways of thinking. … The small boat of thought of many Christians has often been tossed about by these waves – thrown from one extreme to the other: from Marxism to liberalism, even to libertinism; from collectivism to radical individualism; from atheism to a vague religious mysticism; from agnosticism to syncretism, and so forth. Every day new sects are created and what St. Paul says about human trickery comes true, with cunning which tries to draw people into error (cf. Eph 4:14). Having a clear faith, based on the creed of the Church, is often labeled today as a fundamentalism. Whereas relativism, which is letting oneself be tossed and ‘swept along by every wind of teaching,’ looks like the only attitude acceptable to today’s standards. We are moving toward a dictatorship of relativism which does not recognize anything as for certain and which has as its highest goal one’s own ego and one’s own desires.”[1] This was all Cardinal Ratzinger.

John Paul II, in addition, did not hesitate to draw a parallel between the dark night of John of the Cross and the darkness of our times, which, as a sort of collective night, has progressively fallen over humanity, especially in the West.

In fact, we no longer turn to God to resolve our problems and find answers to our deepest questions. He is no longer part of our daily lives.

We note with concern that Christian values are increasingly losing their hold and that people only rarely declare themselves Christians.

Therefore, we live in a world in which God stands out for his absence and the Gospel is no longer considered the source of ethical standards. In fact, few people view the Church as “mater et magistra”.

The feast days prescribed by the Church continue to be celebrated with the same names, but they are losing their religious significance.

John Paul II observed that our world is becoming increasingly fatherless, considering that many families never had a father figure, or that the father disappeared at a certain point, with consequent insecurities and disorientation in the children.

There is division between the rich and the poor, between politicians, between the north and the south, between political and economic ideologies, there are many dysfunctional families due to migration. But we don’t need to go far, there is division within among Christians, among catholics: between the priests and bishops, between parishioners and parish priests, between lay organizations and movements, and son on.

Moreover, according to the Pope Benedict XVI, today’s advancements in scientific and technological discoveries, so rapid and limitless, are such that ethics can no longer keep up with them, thus creating a dichotomy between common sense and wisdom, the mind and the heart, as in the invention of the atomic bomb or with genetic engineering. Consequently, humanity runs the risk of losing control over them.[2]

Thus the lament of the philosopher Maria Zambrano is still painfully true: we are living “one of the darkest nights ever seen.”[3]

This is a challenge for all of us in the church, priests and lay alike.

Towards a new understanding of our mission

A priest asked Benedict XVI’s last July 24 in a question-and-answer session with priests from the dioceses of Belluno-Feltre and Treviso, Italy, during the Pope’s vacation:

Holy Father, one sentence you wrote in your book made a deep impression on me: “[But] what did Jesus actually bring if not world peace, universal prosperity and a better world? What has he brought? The answer is very simple: “God. He has brought God’” (Jesus of Nazareth, English edition, p. 44); I find the clarity and truth of this citation disarming. . . but what should we do so that this God, the one treasure brought by Jesus and who all too often appears hazy to many, shines forth anew in our homes and becomes the water that quenches even the thirst of the many who seem no longer to be thirsting?

The Pope answered:

I think that we should always be mindful of two things: on the one hand, the Christian proclamation. Christianity is not a highly complicated collection of so many dogmas that it is impossible for anyone to know them all; it is not something exclusively for academicians who can study these things, but it is something simple: God exists and God is close in Jesus Christ. . . . Jesus Christ himself said that the Kingdom of God had arrived. Basically, what we preach is one, simple thing. . . . But in practice what should be done? . . . to continue in this direction, bringing God implies above all, on the one hand, love, and on the other, hope and faith. Thus, the dimension of life lived, bearing the best witness for Christ, the best proclamation, is always the life of true Christians. If we see that families nourished by faith live in joy, that they also experience suffering in profound and fundamental joy, that they help others, loving God and their neighbour, in my opinion this is the most beautiful proclamation today. . . . [by] personalities who are penetrated by faith: the presence of God truly shines out in them and they bring the “living water” . . . . The fundamental proclamation is, therefore, precisely that of the actual life of Christians.” That is how our present Pope explains our mission in proclaiming God.

Yes, Jesus said: “Men will know that you are my disciples, not because we are members of DMI but if we love one another.” This comes from the commandment which is coming from the heart of Jesus and He has called His: “Love one another as I have loved you.” Love makes us one, it builds communion and this communion among the disciples of Jesus is the source of mission. In fact, John Paul II his document Novo Millennio Ineunte said: “To make the Church the home and the school of communion: that is the great challenge facing us in the millennium which is now beginning, if we wish to be faithful to God’s plan and respond to the world’s deepest yearnings.” “. . . We need to promote a spirituality of communion, making it the guiding principle of education wherever individuals and Christians are formed, wherever ministers of the altar, consecrated persons, and pastoral workers are trained. . .” (NMI, 43.)[4] To live communion is to live mutual love.

“A communitarian or collective spirituality”, said the Pope to a group of bishops last Feb. 16, 1996 (…) [is] a constitutive aspect of the Christian vocation. The Lord Jesus, in fact, did not call the disciples to an individual calling, but to one which is inseparably personal and communitarian. If this is true for all the baptized, it is true in particular for those who He has chosen “to be his companions and to be sent out to preach” ( Mk. 3:14-15 ), that is, for the apostles and their successors, the bishops.

“The Church, icon of the Holy Trinity, is the mystery of communion and sacrament of unity ( cf. Lumen Gentium. 1). The communion between its members is the primary and principal sign which it offers so that the world may believe in Christ (cf. Jn. 17:21). To be one in Christ is, so to speak, the first and permanent form of evangelisation which comes from the Christian community.

How do we make ourselves as a community? When Jesus commanded us to love one another as He loved us,

From the greatest commandment of “love of God and love of neighbor” to the “new commandment” there is a step forward in its content and mode of application which can be called new. In the occasion that he gave it, before He died, during the Last Supper, He no longer tells to love God or to love our neighbor; he no longer merely commands us to see him in our neighbor especially the suffering or to treat every stranger and even enemies our neighbor. When it comes to specifying what his love is, and how he wants Christian love to be, he says: “This is my commandment: love one another.”

In the rabbinical schools at that time, every teacher in Israel, gave his own particular theological, ascetical, spiritual and moral synthesis. From these characteristic norm one could distinguish the disciples of the various teachers. It is quite important, therefore, for Jesus’ disciples to know which was the key point of their spiritual and moral life. They needed to know what way of life would make it clear to others that Jesus’ disciples were followers of the one and Triune God who Christ had made known to them.

The new element is that Jesus not only states that love of neighbor is the greatest commandment - as he had declared before - but he says that it is his commandment. Here, other persons are no longer considered only as objects of our love, but as subjects capable of loving in return.

In the Last Supper Jesus makes all this clear to us by giving us his commandment and adding, “By this love you have for one another, everyone will know that you are my disciples.” (Jn. 13:35)

This sentence shed still more light on what Jesus means by love of neighbor. He wants us to love as He loves. It is not enough to be merely loving and polite or pleasantly agreeable, or to show signs of affection. Even a compassionate concern for others which leads to the giving of material goods is not sufficient. Human love, in all its fullness with all humaneness that it takes, is not enough. We must love as Jesus loves, with a heart both human and divine. That is why this is his commandment: because in order to carry it out we have to become God’s children, “fellow citizen” of Christ, we must be taken into the life of the Trinity. It must become mutual, reciprocal.

Bringing it to its last consequence, “to love as Christ loves” means to consider the word “as”. “As” is only a two-letter word but it reveals the fullness of what should our love be towards one another. Christ loves us till the point of death, i.e., He loved us by offering His life for us. Christian love, therefore is no ordinary love. It is called “charity” not in the sense of works of mercy as giving alms, but as the love of God for man made manifest by Jesus who loved us till the end. This is the kind of love that is required in our love for one another - a love without measure, till the point of death. This means that I am willing to offer my life for my neighbor; and the other is also willing to offer his life for me. This is the apex of charity, this is the charity that exists in the trinity. It is also called agape.

Therefore, Jesus’ commandment also contains the idea of reciprocity. Our love for our neighbor will not be full and perfect if it does not become reciprocal with other disciples of Jesus. If the other party who is also a subject of love does not also love which makes your love reciprocal, it would appear that both are not practicing the “new commandment.” When charity becomes mutual, both enter into the real apex of Christian life - truly we become Christ’s disciples and He becomes present in them.

Seen in this perspective, human nature appears in a completely new light. It becomes much clearer that a bond exists between myself and my neighbor, that I need my neighbor, my fellow DMI to become a true witness. Alone I can never carry out this typically Christian commandment. Only in the context of a community or a group can I carry it out fully and completely.

Jesus did not say simply: “Each of you should love the others,” or “Love another one and another one and another” but rather: “Love one another as I have loved you.”

Jesus wants the Church to be a community of persons who love. An individual, personal love for God or for our neighbor is not full and complete until it becomes reciprocal. This reciprocity of our love makes us a community of believers and by this, the world will know that we are Christ’s disciples and this itself becomes our being and the source of our mission. This is true because Jesus said, when two or three are gathered in my name, I am in their midst. There is the presence of the Risen Lord, when there is a community of persons who love one another as Jesus loves. That is why Jesus sent his disciples, two by two so that they could maintain this mutual love.

Chiara Lubich once said: “At times there is a tendency to think that the Gospel cannot solve every human problem and is intended to bring about the Kingdom of God only in a religious sense. But this is not true.

This is done by Jesus in us and amongst us, Jesus in me, Jesus in you…. It is Jesus in a person, in a given person – when his grace lives in that person – who builds a bridge, who opens a way. Jesus is the truest, most profound personality of every person.

Every human being (every Christian) is, in fact, more a child of God (another Jesus) than an offspring of his own father. Every person gives his/her particular contribution in every field as another Christ, as a member of his Mystical Body, whether it is in science, the arts, politics, communications, or other areas. And each one will be more effective if he/she works together with others united in the name of Christ. “

When this Trinitarian communion is established through mutual love, they become a living cell of the Body of Christ, we become Church. This communion which in reality is the presence of Jesus amongst us, then gives rise to our mission with a solid foundation in Christ in transforming the various fields of civil or ecclesial endeavor

“This is the continuation of the incarnation, the complete incarnation which concerns every Jesus of the Mystical Body of Christ. This is precisely your role: to make God again present in the world, various fields of human knowledge and endeavor, such as politics, economics, sociology, the natural sciences, communications, education, philosophy, the arts, healthcare, ecology, law, and still others. “

Some practical applications

In the field of economics, for example, because of the strong presence of God that it brings to people’s lives and the mutual love that grows among all, we could give rise to a communion of goods among those who live it, a communion similar to that practiced by the first Christians about whom it is said that “there was no needy person among them” (Acts 4:34).

The firms and businesses that could adhere to the project seek to apply the principles of Christian social doctrine, but especially to bring about the presence of Jesus in the midst of all those who work in the company.

When Christ takes hold of the reins of the economic world – and this will happen as an always greater number of people wisely place their life at his disposal – we can then hope to see the blossoming of justice and to witness the massive mobilization of goods that the world urgently needs.

“The hungry he has filled with good things; the rich he has sent away empty” (Lk 1:53).

This could be social revolution and bridge the gap between the rich and poor. If the first Christian communities had realized this why not in this contemporary world where the richer becomes richer and the poor poorer?

As for the field of communications, we have always seen the powerful development of the means of social communications today as a sign of God’s providence because they facilitate the unity of the human family.

At the same time, it is obvious – and the facts confirm this – that these means alone cannot unite peoples and individuals, or improve their quality of life. They need to be means at the service of the common good and those who use them need to be inspired by love.

We have much to offer in this regard. The field of communication could nourish true love in people’s hearts, and consequently a real interest for each person and for all that concerns humanity. It teaches people to build lasting, constructive and creative relationships. It especially encourages the art of communicating, which is the art of “not existing,” so as to receive (to welcome the other, to be interested in what concerns him/her, in everything) and also to give (to speak, to write in the most opportune moment and way), by being love.

All of this ensures not only an authentic communication and consequently an appreciation for the means that make it possible, but also and above all for the fruits: sharing, participation and communion.

When an increasing number of professional communicators silence their ego in order to make room for the Spirit of God within them, then the mass media will show their capacity to infinitely multiply good, the voice of God will be more resonate in everyone and communication experts will carry out their vocation to be instruments of unity at the service of all humanity.

And then there is the world of politics. We could shed light on this field as in no other since it appears that it is always plagued by certain darkness.

Isn’t it the task of politics to compose into unity, into one sole harmonious design, the multiplicity, the legitimate aspirations of the different components of society? And given its role as mediator among the various social players, shouldn’t politics excel in the art of dialogue and of becoming one with everyone?

If politicians who make it their own, whatever party they belong to, (I know that there are some politicians among you) choose to put their love for one another before any personal commitment or interest and, because they do so, they are able to establish – not without sacrifice – the presence of Jesus in their midst, perhaps many things could be achieved in this field because of that light that comes from Jesus trough mutual love. In the atmosphere of mutual love which his presence requires and increases, the common good becomes evident.

Jesus who is light for the world enhances the elements of truth that can be present in the different viewpoints; he enlightens them.

But the good that will emerge if many politicians have the courage to put themselves and the powers conferred on them at the service of the ultimate goal, which is God.

Then we can really hope to see the realization of that mutual love among peoples which brings peace and the solution to the many problems that still trouble humanity.

In the field of education, if in every school there would be a community of educators who could witness love, not only mutual love amongst themselves but also towards their pupils and students, then many schools and classrooms would be filled with light of Jesus.

This is true to other fields, even in our ecclesial field. If we only start to truly love another even the members of other lay organizations or movements as our own, then a new springtime will continue to bloom in the church.

Allow me to say another story. This year I have celebrated the 25^th year of my priestly ministry. I recall with special memory a senior priest who told me, father when I was young, I wanted the world will believe and I worked for it. Now after many years, I realized that Jesus prayed “that all may be one so that the world will believe”. It came to me that belief, conversion, transformation of the world is a consequence of unity. To be one: Unity realized through mutual love, is first and prior. It is really the source of “so that the world will believe” and not other way round.

If we continue to journey along these ways with Jesus in our communion, then we will truly be able to say with Lawrence, a Roman deacon of the third century: “My night has no darkness, and all things are full of light to me.[5] In this way, we are really all missionaries! Thank you!

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[1]. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Homily at the Mass pro eligendo romano pontefice, April 18, 2005.

[2]. See John Paul II, Homily on the occasion of the celebration in honor of St. John of the Cross, Segovia, 4 November 1982; Speech to the Carmelite General Chapter, Rome, 29 September 1989.

[3]. Maria Zambrano, Persona e democrazia, vers. It., Milano 2000, p. 2.

[4]. John Paul II, Novo Millennio Ineunte, 43.

[5]. St. Lawrence, Roman deacon, martyred in 258: “Mea nox obscurum non habet, sed omnia in luce clarescunt.”

September 1, 2007
Sampaguita Gardens
New Washington, Aklan

From global to local

Without leaving a global vision, since my transfer to our diocese in Aklan, and since there are limited internet services, I have gone local. Blog time is not easy to find and together with the difficulty to find computers with on line connection, I am contented with local issues and dedicate more real time with people.

I started to write however about local issues that affects our work. I missed blogging but I am enjoying “blogging” face to face. All the best to you my friends in cyberspace. Merry Christmas!

Jesus the Teacher

Homily (Dec. 14, 2007, Sto. Nino Seminary)

Seminary Feast Day

Today is our feast day of the Sto. Nino. Last Sunday was our recollection with the parents. Yesterday was our grace-filled concert preceded with the investiture of our 1^st year college seminarians, after the mass we will have a Christmas party. We have done all this for the Sto. Nino who was born of a virgin. In this seminary, we have not evicted our patron from our celebrations.

In a world where it is now possible to celebrate Christmas without Jesus, we as members, in one way or another, of the SNS community are very much aware that Christmas without Christ, makes Christmas our novena, concert, party, devoid of meaning.

Last Sunday’s recollection made us aware that we are partners in educating your sons, a product of post modernism and therefore have needs and exigencies of their own. Jesus, the God who became man however, is always the same, yesterday today and tomorrow. It is therefore good to have first of all a good, long and loving look at him this Christmas to go ahead educating our seminarians.

There is a statement made by Jesus in the gospel that causes us to stop and think and that can shed light on education in the family. It says: “You have one teacher, and you are all students” (Mt 23:8).

For Jesus there is only one teacher: he himself.

This does not mean that Jesus is denying the authority of parents. He is saying that this role should be carried out as a service and not as means to domineer or exert power. Because in serving, which is the same as loving, it is not only the human being who acts; rather it is Christ, and therefore Christ is truly the first teacher.

If Jesus is the teacher then Christian parents and the teachers have the duty to look to him in order to learn how to educate.

But what kind of teacher was Jesus?

There are several important characteristics that come to mind when looking at Jesus in his role as teacher. Let me offer some:

First of all, Jesus teaches by example. He incarnates his doctrine in his very person. He does not impose burdens on others that he has not carried first: “Woe also to you lawyers! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not lift a finger to ease them” (Lk 11:46). Jesus puts into practice what he then asks of others.

With Jesus as our model we realize that the first method in educating, also for parents, should not simply be setting out to instruct or correct, but to live out one’s Christianity radically. Parents must first put into practice themselves what they ask of their children. Do they ask for sincerity, commitment, loyalty, obedience, charity toward their brothers and sisters, chastity, patience, forgiveness? Then their children should be able to find all these qualities first of all in them.

Mothers and fathers, priests and teachers must be indisputable models that their children can always refer to.

Jesus leaves us free to take responsibility and make decisions. We see this in his encounter with the rich young man (see Mt 19:16 ff.).

We must never impose our ideas, but rather offer them with love, as an expression of love.

Children are first of all sons and daughters of God and not ours. Therefore, they should not be treated as our possessions, but as people who have been entrusted to our care.

When necessary, Jesus does not hesitate to rebuke with firmness and strength. To Peter, who wanted to stop him from facing his passion, he says: “Get behind me, Satan!… You are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things” (Mt 16:23).

Yes, discipline is also necessary. It is an integral part of education. In fact, in the book of Proverbs (13:24) it is written: “Those who love them (their children) are diligent to discipline them.” God, father and teacher, formed the Jewish people and educated them using instruction and discipline.

Woe to those who do not exert discipline! What an omission they will be responsible for!

A statement made by the prophet Ezekiel is quite strong in this regard: “If… you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from their ways, the wicked shall die in their iniquity, but their blood I will require at your hand” (Ez 33:8).

Therefore, it is the our duty to discipline their children. If admonishment is given with peace, calm, and detachment it will make an impression upon the children’s sense of responsibility and they will remember it.

In the marvelous parable of the prodigal son, Jesus shows us the Father’s mercy – and therefore also his – toward those who repent and return to doing good.

Parents should treat their children as God treats us.

In a family, the mercy shown by the mother and father must reach the point of knowing how to forget and to “bear all things” (1 Cor 13:7), in conformity with God’s love.

Jesus, in educating the people around him, does not hesitate in turning the existing value system upside down. This is evident when he announces the Beatitudes (see Mt 5:2 ff.). In fact, he calls blessed those who do not appear to be so. He presents a path that is difficult to travel and that goes against the current of the one offered by the world.

We too must have the courage to proclaim what really matters in life.

We should not fool ourselves into thinking that if we present a feeble Christianity, a Christ that does not exist, our proposals will be more readily accepted. God makes himself known in the hearts of our children. They react positively only to the truth. But it must be presented in a way that is both accessible and acceptable, presented by parents who, before teaching, have made the effort to understand and share the true needs and desires of the new generations.

The gospel shows us a Jesus who speaks “as one having authority” (Mt 7:29).

Parents need to trust in the grace they have been given as parents and should never shrink from their task as educators. Deep down this is what they need and what they asked from us. In fact, it often happens that children will judge their parents, at times mercilessly, for not having had the courage to tell them the truth.

Jesus educates his disciples by passing on to them “his” typical teaching: “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you” (Jn 15:12). By specifying that “as I have loved you,” he indicates that he is the “teacher” of this love.

It is the teaching par excellence, the gospel in a nutshell, which parents must pass on to their sons.

In putting this teaching into practice, priests formators, teachers and parents must imitate Jesus so well that they can repeat to their children that commandment as if it were their own: My little children, love one another as I have loved you.

Therefore, imitate Jesus.

Imitate him as teacher.

Imitate Jesus, or better still, allow him to live in us.

Yes, it would be best that he himself take his place within us.

If he lives in us, our performance as teachers will be irreproachable. If we introduce him as educator into our families, then perhaps this years Christmas would me more meaningful. Again Merry Christmas and I hope you enjoy each other’s presence today.

Youth of Aklan, Unite!

What is happening in our province of Aklan? On the recent election of SK Federation, the value of the sacred vote, respect of the freedom to choose seems to be systematically being eroded. Freedom, which is the very core of the existence of the young, is being intentionally murdered.

Scripted nominations, synchronized “I second the motion’s” “I close the nomination’s” which appear to be earlier instructed and dictated, conspired votes based on partisan affiliations, manipulation of numbers, secret lodging and “housing” of SK chairmen seemed to be the rule of the week-end. It is still early to say that this is also true in the national level, but certainly reports have been arriving that in our beloved province of Aklan that these are happening here and there as modus operandi of our “mature” leaders and make them believe that it is the only way to change our province?

This is very dangerous, not only on the aspect of its objectively evil act - both on the manipulator and the consent of the manipulated - but also because it has become organized, systemic, malicious and is blatantly continuously being performed with arrogance of power and money. Where have we gone?

Did our hearts become calloused by a life which curses powerlessness, poverty and the seeming loss of our dignity? Did we put aside our faith that Christ, the God who became man is journeying with us in our hardships as Aklanons? Are our leaders blinded by power and the lust for money?

We could be imparting to our youth a false value: that the only may to change is to affiliate with the powerful, the moneyed and the strong who trusts more and more their power and defends it with “gifts” or by withdrawing it. This way leads more to injustice and inequality, it a way that leads to more abuses, disrespect of basic human rights and dignity. It is a way that will never make us free! It entertains an idol - the golden calf - and does not adore the true God who saves and liberates us through love, service in freedom and in a sincere gift of self.

Youth of Aklan, unite against this evil that excludes love and powerlessness, humility and service as the way for change. Our Lord has taught us that he who loves, serves in truth and last - the servant of all- is the one who reigns. You could change Aklan not through domination and being associated with these arrogant powerful leaders, but by building among yourselves a culture of love, respect of the freedom of choice and defend it. Christ has given us an example. He loved, He served, He offered, His life. He also suffered, He was poor, but he transformed suffering and poverty into more love, more service, more respect. He did not associate Himself with the powerful, but with those who are lowly. He never manipulated others nor allow Himself to be manipulated but loved each man and woman until the end.

Illusions of power, fame and money in false and “rigged” leadership are simply illusions. They will crumble sooner or later. They only corrupt many and destroy good values of your fellow youth.

Unite with Christ, your Teacher, not with our corrupt leaders who pretend and panicky in defending the right of suffrage (to vote) but at the same time insults the basic freedom of choice dear to the youth.

Remove your chains! Be free! Only the truth of Christ could set you free!

On the SK Federation

Recently, the SK (Sanggunian Kabataan) federation in Aklan would like to choose its leaders. (SK is a part of a govermental body in the Philippines, part the smallest unity of which is called barangays) The voters are elected by the SK chairmen who won in the last barangay elections. A formandee in our institutional formative school is one of them. I came to know of this election of the Federation the night before the election itself. If I could not have asked him, I could have no other way of knowing his intention to vote. (Due to some circumstances, he seemed not to succeed to express it to me).

To vote is a right - right of suffrage and it is constitutional. I am happy that some concerned leaders of the province of Aklan are very conscious of this right. Surely they would say that the vote is sacred and it expresses the dignity of man especially the right of choose. This has to be absolutely respected and defended until the end.

Though suffrage is a right, it is not however an obligation. All citizens of this country have also the right to waive this right if he feels that by doing his very vote would not be respected. This was true when during the time of Marcos this sacred right was out rightly violated since there were rampant switching of ballot boxes, intimidation, violence, etc, so much so that even the CBCP declared it was not credible.

In the last local elections, not only vote buying was a modus operandi of the candidates but also vote selling became a way of life of the voters especially the poor. Any sensible person in our province have noticed this once covert phenomena.

We ask ourselves Do we really defend the right of suffrage and the sanctity of the vote by allowing its manipulation? Do we really respect the freedom of choice when before elections we count the votes according to partisan affiliation and figure who would win and thus diminishing this freedom of choice? This would be a good way of asking ourselves of our intention to respect the right of suffrage.

With our good leaders, we will continue to defend the sanctity of the ballot, on the one hand and we will continue to denounce any manipulation of the vote, on the other, since it is an insult to the right of suffrage which all of us are defending.

We will continue to respect the right of suffrage and the right to waive it if the votes are not respected and are used in a vicious manipulative manner.

We will continue together with men of good will to impart to our youth honesty, freedom to choose, respect for the constitution and the right to expression, integrity, authenticity, love of God and love of country!

A light from the Synod of the Diocese of Kalibo

The Synod of the Diocese of Kalibo decreed that anybody who have responsibility in the church parish structures need to resign when he runs for public office. This is the guiding light when the administration of a formative school in the Diocese of Kalibo recommended to one of its formandees not to run for public office like the SK. (SK is a part of a govermental body in the Philippines, part the smallest unity of which is called barangays) Against its advices, however and beyond of limited knowledge of the administration, he nevertheless ran and won. This shows that there is a leadership capacity and a desire among the youth of his locality for a reform since, accordingly, they choose him because of his affiliation to the said institution. However, his decision was in effect, a disregard to the advices of the administration of this institution, an act which just could come from a miscomprehension of the situation. This is understandable.

To help him better serve the youth of the locality and to make him more free to perform his duties, the institution recommended that he will continue to a school of his choice. Its clear that since he ran for office of service, he needs all the possibility and help to implement that good desire. However, he wanted to stay and continue the formative process which in the light of the Synod necessarily requires resignation from his office. In a sense the synod gave an either-or situation: either to resign from the elected office and continue his role in the church, or to resign from his obligation in the church and continue to serve his elected office. (This was the same light which was used when Fr. Panlilio ran for office - he has to be suspended from his ministry).

It was agreed that he will instead just make a leave of absence after his oath of office so that his formative process will not go uninterrupted by the obligations of his new office. It was nice that the renumeration which he could have received from the same office, (if there is any), would go, as he intended well, to the projects of Missionaries of Charity in the same diocese.

We believe that this is a win-win situation since our formandee is a graduating one and he greatly desires to be with our community. After his graduation, as the case maybe, he could continue to serve the youth in his community who have loved and chosen him.

We will continue to encourage the youth, when they are prepared to serve other youth, in freedom and authenticy for the future of Aklan. We will continue impart good Christian values to these young people who needs good witnesses from the part of our government leaders for good governance. We will continue to do it in the best lights of the Synod of the Diocese of Kalibo while respecting particular situations of the persons involved for the good of all.

Light will win over darkness

I was attending once in our small province of Aklan in the Philippines when the provincial board members were deliberating on the proposal of its mayors (except one) to have the Small Town Lottery (STL). As a third world country, our poor people have been plagued by gambling which neither is helpful for the majority of our people and our local government. Without entering into discussion with its harmful effects, the good people of Aklan and with good will tried to make the local understand about its morality. Finally, after some hearings, the light has finally won.

One sees according to the eyes one has. It was said by my Thai friends that there was a story of a king of who ridiculed a Buddhist monk by saying “You are a pig!” to which the humble Buddhist monk responded, “But you are a ‘buddha’!” Everytime the king insisted bout telling the monk as a pig, the more the monk is convinced in answering that the king is a ‘buddha’; untill the king asked why this kind resp0nse. The monk finally kind responded: “One sees with the eyes he has, if one has the eyes of a pig, he will see persons as a pig.”

I was sad that many of our leaders see the economic side, only how to increase income in their towns because of the “percentage” one receives from STL. If one sees only through the eyes of money and economics, the mind will be clouded and judge things according to the eyes of “money” without seeing the moral damage to the Aklanons. It seems that some leaders wanted immediate effects rather the long term gains.

Love for the country and true patriotism will prevail in this small province as long as the people with good will in Aklan will be vigilant in watching with the yes of true service and love for its people.

How about the youth?

About sixty percent of the population of Aklan are young. The figures could be higher in as much as a twenty eight year old man/woman is considered some years ago by the CBCP as “young”. This is understandable since the development of young persons today, especially the generation X is slower. Age of maturity becomes higher and higher. Consider that Canon Law, about some decades before, considered the age of fourteen as a marriageable age.

The State of the Diocese Address (SODA) of the bishop of Aklan has this to say regarding its youth Apostolate: “The Youth Apostolate is picking up and there had been a number of youth encounters in the diocesan as well as parish level. Like the family the youth of today is very vulnerable to the inroads of mass media and the environment that are not always value-oriented. Our youth need direction and guidance to be able not only to thwart the evils in society but also to sharpen their capacity to be “useful” and value, person and community oriented.”

Outrightly, this “picking up” is due to the efforts of a priest who is himself young: Fr. Glen Magpusao. This this does not mean that it was going down in the past. The sheer number of young people of Aklan makes it almost physically impossible for any Diocesan Youth Director to meet all these young people. Yet, thanks to Fr. Glen, since “there had been a number of youth encounter.” These “encounters” are very good capsulated formation course for three to four days designed by the Episcopal Commission on the Youth Apostolate for our Filipino youth. It is substantial in doctrine, relational in its approach and very actual in its response. But how many of the 60% of almost half a million population of Aklan attended this? Certainly, only a fraction.

Thanks to the youth themselves who retain their ideals in the their hearts and foment their relationship with God through other means: fraternity is one, respect for parents – another, joining advocacy groups is a good sign among others, participating in the liturgical celebrations in the church is a very good help. Another interesting sign among the youth are the involvement in actions for the sake of the common good under the leadership of some by our NGO’s. Volunteerism seems to be on the rise. But the bishop admits they are “very vulnerable to the inroads of mass media and the environment which are not always value oriented.” It is encouraging to note that some youth involved in the media (like the group responsible for this online news) take unto themselves in presenting not only the bad sensational news but those that could be called “good” news.

As a whole the bishop admits “our youth need direction and guidance.” Christianity in the first centuries of growth in Rome, became an agent of change and influenced their pagan society and environment for the better, rather than being influenced by them for the bad. Their faith in Christ urged them to have a vision of society according to the values and principles of their Master, who is the Lord of the universe and at the same time, is continuously going along with them in their desire to build a better world. And they succeeded, not without pains and sacrifices, sometimes, heroism - to the point of martyrdom. We cannot deny, in spite of contradictory signs, the roots of Europe is Christian. Even our Christianity comes from her.

As the he bishop aptly said, they need guidance so that they “be able not only to thwart the evils in society but also to sharpen their capacity to be “useful” and value, person and community oriented.” Social evils in Aklan need social and concerted solutions. The youth have this capacity for a fraternal and group commitment, if guided accordingly. They have the great capacity to be of service through volunteerism, inner capacity and sensibility to human dignity and the common good. So what are the youth waiting for?

The Laity may be well inside the church in Aklan

In continously reading the State of the Diocese Address of Bishop Lazo, it is edifying to note “an increase of lay participation in the liturgical life” in Aklan. And this is not only qualitative but also qualitative.

Thanks to the help of Rev. Fr. Mark Beloso: