Monitor
CBCP
JANUARY 7 - 20, 2019 VOL. 23 NO. 01
UGNAYAN
The Newspaper
Supplement of
Couples for Christ
Beware of ‘antiChrists’,
archbishop tells Catholics
By Roy Lagarde
A ranking Catholic leader
has warned of today’s
antiChrists who calls God
stupid and tells people “it
is useless to go to Church
and attend mass.”
In his New Year message,
Archbishop Socrates Villegas of
Lingayen-Dagupan cautioned the
faithful against those who speak ill
of God and the Church.
“Do not listen to him who tells
you it is useless to go to Church
and attend Mass. Whoever teaches
you that is antiChrist and there are
many of them, including those who
look at it is a joke,” he said.
The archbishop did not name
President Rodrigo Duterte but
clearly referred to the latter’s
attacks against the Church.
In an open letter to his godson
named Seth, he said he feared the
child and other kids “might catch
the wrong values”.
“Nothing is easy these days when
it comes to rearing children like
you,” said Villegas.
“You are subjected to so much
vulgarity and violence that I fear…
can ruin your future as a good
Filipino and as a good child of God,”
he lamented.
Duterte is well known for
his outrageous statements and
unfiltered attacks at his critics,
including the Church, of his deadly
drugs crackdown.
These include the “God is stupid”
and “kill bishops” remarks. In the
past, he also criticized Pope Francis
AntiChrists / A7
True devotee loves God and
others, says Cardinal Tagle
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle gives his homily at the midnight Mass for
the feast of the Black Nazarene at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila,
Jan. 9, 2019. NICEFORO BALBEDINA
CARDINAL Luis Antonio
Tagle of Manila has warned
against fanaticism and
appealed for real devotion
that open one’s heart to God
and other people.
Speaking during the
midnight Mass for the feast
of the Black Nazarene at
Manila’s Qurino Grandstand
on Jan 9, he said that piety is
embracing God and others
with true love.
“A real devotee loves. The
essence of devotion is love,”
Tagle said in his homily.
On the other hand, the
cardinal said that fanatics
“only hold to something that
gives value to them”.
“A fanatic, once he does
not get what he wants, will
stop,” he said. “But a devotee
PROTAGONIST OF TRUTH, PROMOTER OF PEACE
A3: NEWS
Abuse expert hopes summit
will include bishops’ accountability
A sea of devotees surrounds the image of the Black Nazarene as it winds through Hidalgo Street in Manila’s Quiapo district during
this year’s “Traslacion” on Wednesday evening, Jan. 9. From the Quirino Grandstand, the image reached Quiapo Church at around
2am the following day or after 21 hours, concluding the traditionally biggest religious procession in the country. ROY LAGARDE
does not share the same
reasoning. You are devoted
because you love him or her.
That’s what Jesus showed
us.”
To love, according to him,
is among the characteristics
of the true devotion to God.
The two other qualities
of a devotee, he added, are
faithfulness and oneness
with God and other people.
“An overflowing love shows
loyalty and service to others,”
said Tagle. “And oneness with
God and those you love is not
an imitation but union.”
Cardinal Tagle also came
to the defense of the devotees
against accusations of
“fanaticism”.
“It seems that every year
Devotee / A7
Pope prays for new year marked by
tenderness, brotherhood, peace
A New Year is a chance
for a new start, a time to
remember that all people
are brothers and sisters
and a time to nurture
amazement that God
became human to save all
people, Pope Francis said.
The Jan. 1 feast of Mary,
Mother of God, also is a
time to remember how
strong maternal love and
care are, and how they
are the secret to making
life more livable, the pope
said during his homily at a
feast day Mass in St. Peter’s
Faithful urged: Be bearers of ‘faith news’, not fake news
IN a homily on the first
day of the new year, the
Solemnity of Mary, Mother
of God, Puerto Princesa
Bishop Socrates Mesiona
reminded faithful to be
bearers of good news and
not fake news.
During the Mass held
at the Puerto Princesa
Cathedral, the prelate
p rop ose d thre e p ossible
new year’s resolutions.
One of these is to “try to
be bearers of good news”
starting 2019.
Mesiona told the faithful
to emulate the shepherds
A6: LOCAL NEWS
Priests urged: Be a newscaster,
writer of ‘God’s News’
Basilica.
The Catholic Church also
marks Jan. 1 at World Peace
Day, an observance the pope
spoke about when, after
Mass, he recited the Angelus
with tens of thousands
of people gathered in St.
Peter’s Square. So many
people were in the sunny
square that Pope Francis
remarked, “It seems like
a canonization,” which
usually is when the square
is full.
Mary shows to the world
her son, the prince of peace,
in the Gospel of today’s
reading. “Like the shepherds
in the Gospel, let us all be
carrier of good news, not
gossip. Faith news and not
false news,” he stressed.
“These days, there’s so
much negativity in this
world, we need more good
news to uplift the spirit of
our brothers and sisters,”
he added.
The Vicar Apostolic also
urged the Mass attendees to
be more prayerful and kinder
as new year’s resolutions
this 2019. (Katya A.
Santos / CBCPNews)
CBCPMONITOR@AREOPAGUSCOMMUNICATIONS.COM
B1: PASTORAL CONCERNS
Message of Pope Francis for the
52nd World Day of Peace
Priest decries
‘greed for
power’ with
upcoming polls
“AS the elections approach,
people are being killed
because of man’s greed for
power,” said Fr. Joel Mozura
in a recent Mass held at
the Mary Mother of Hope
chapel, Trinoma, Quezon
City.
In their quest to stay in
power, some politicians
resort to killing their rivals,
said the priest, who noted
that some of “the victims of
assassinations were innocent
ones.”
According to Mozura,
some leaders seek to install
themselves and perpetuate
themselves in power at the
expense of “innocent lives.”
Massacre of baby boys
He pointed out that
Scriptures mentions how
Herod murdered innocents
in his attempt to keep the
throne.
Mozura recounted how
Herod exploited his authority,
ordering the massacre of all
baby boys aged two years
and below, because of his
fear of the rumored birth of
the Messiah.
Power / A7
he said. “He is the blessing
for every person and the
whole human family. He is
the source of grace, mercy
and peace.”
Pope Francis chose as the
theme for this year’s World
Peace Day: “Good politics
is at the service of peace.”
“We must not think
politics is reserved to those
who govern,” the pope said.
“We are all responsible for
the life of the community, Pope Francis holds his crosier as
he celebrates Mass marking the
of the common good, and
feast of Mary, Mother of God, in
politics is good to the St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican
Tenderness / A3 Jan. 1. PAUL HARING/CNS
Puerto Princesa Bishop Socrates Mesiona suggests three new year’s
resolutions for the faithful, including one on being a bearer of “faith
news.” PHOTO COURTESY OF KATYA SANTOS
A2 WORLD NEWS January 7 - 20, 2019 Vol. 23 No. 01 CBCP Monitor

Vatican Briefing Knights of Columbus: Anti-Catholic

Top officials of Vatican press office resign
Saying they thought Pope Francis should be
bigotry is nothing new
“completely free to assemble a new team” for Vatican NEW HAVEN, Conn.— held that Catholics were unfit
communications “at this time of transition,” the Catholics can be good US for public office,” he added.
director of the Vatican press office announced he and citizens and honest public The Knights of Columbus
the vice director had resigned. Pope Francis accepted servants, the head of the has always adhered to
the resignations of Greg Burke and Paloma Garcia Knights of Columbus wrote Catholic teaching, Anderson
Ovejero, the press office announced Dec. 31. The pope Thursday in a message to said, adding that “our
appointed Alessandro Gisotti, coordinator of social members of the Catholic primary motivation” is
media at the Vatican Dicastery for Communication, to charitable organization. Christ’s commandment “that
serve as interim director of the press office. Neither of “There have been times we love God completely and
the outgoing journalists issued a formal statement, but in our country’s past when our neighbor as ourselves.”
Burke, 59, a former U.S. television news correspondent, uninformed or prejudiced It is this commandment
tweeted the comment about it being the right time people questions whether of love that compels the
for the pope to assemble a new team. Paolo Ruffini, Catholics could be good Knights’ charitable work, he
appointed prefect in July, said in a statement that citizens or honest public noted.
resigning was “their autonomous and free choice.” servants,” Supreme Knight “This love also motivates
(Cindy Wooden/CNS) Carl Anderson wrote in the us to stand with the Church
letter. on the important issues of Knights of Columbus Supreme Knight Carl Anderson. ALAN HOLDREN/CNA
Christian faith is concrete, pope says at Mass “Sadly, it seems that in life and marriage, precisely
The saints were Christians who were “crazy for some quarters, this prejudice because the Church’s teaching regardless of the popularity abortion constituted “the
concreteness,” knowing that faith is not an idea, but remains.” reflects and is based on that of doing so,” Anderson killing of the innocent on
a relationship with Jesus, which leads to actions that Anderson’s Jan. 3 letter love. We stand with our exhorted. a massive scale” and asked
demonstrate love, Pope Francis said. Celebrating w as occasione d by tw o Church because we believe “Let us also remember Buescher if he agreed with
morning Mass Jan. 7 in the chapel of the Domus senators objecting last month that what our faith teaches that, from our founding, we Anderson.
Sanctae Marthae, the pope said the celebration of to a federal judicial nominee’s is consistent with reason, is have embodied the truth Senator Cory Booker (D-
Christmas is the celebration of a faith that is concrete. membership in the Knights. timeless and transcends the that a good Catholic is a good NJ) noted the nominee’s
The first reading at Mass was a passage from the First Senators Mazie Hirono changing sentiments of any citizen who shows civility and previously outspoken
Letter of John, which says Christians are commanded (D-HI) and Kamala Harris particular time or place.” dignity even in the face of opposition to abortion
to believe in the name of Jesus and love one another, (D-CA) asked whether his The Supreme Knight also prejudice.” and asked, “why should a
with “concrete love, not a fantasy love,” the pope said. membership in the Knights noted that in his letter to the Buescher was nominated litigant in your courtroom
“Concreteness. This is the challenge,” he said. “Not ideas of Columbus would prevent Knights’ 2013 convention, to serve on the U.S. District expect to get a fair hearing
and beautiful words.” (Cindy Wooden/CNS) Brian C. Buescher from Pope Francis had asked Court Nov. 3. The Senate from an impartial judge in
hearing cases “fairly and that the organization “bear Judiciary Committee held a case involving abortion
Vatican court convicts Italian of money laundering impartially.” Buescher is witness to the authentic a hearing on Buescher’s rights?”
The Vatican City State court sentenced an Italian an Omaha-based lawyer nature of marriage and the nomination Nov. 28, sending Buescher ran in the
contractor, who had done work for several Vatican nominated to sit on the US family, the sanctity and him written questions Dec. 5. Republican primary for
offices, to 2 1/2 years in jail for using a Vatican bank District Court for the District inviolable dignity of human Hirono had asked Nebraska attorney general in
account for money laundering. The conviction and of Nebraska. life, and the beauty and truth Buescher if he would end 2014. During that campaign
sentencing of Angelo Proietti, 63, was handed down The Supreme Knight noted of human sexuality.” his membership with the he described himself as
Dec. 17 and announced by the Vatican press office Dec. that Buescher’s “fitness Anderson pointed out the no Knights of Columbus if “avidly pro-life” and said
27; his lawyer told the Wall Street Journal he would for the federal bench” was religious test clause of Article confirmed, so as “to avoid opposition to abortion was
appeal. The Vatican court also ordered the confiscation questioned by Hirono and VI of the US Constitution, any appearance of bias,” part of his “moral fabric.”
of the more than 1 million euros ($1.14 million) Proietti Harris “precisely because and the free exercise clause saying the organization “has In his responses to the
had in his account at the Institute for the Works of our Order holds firm to the of the Constitution’s First taken a number of extreme questions from the Senate
Religion, the formal name of the Vatican bank. The Church’s teachings on the Amendment, saying, “any positions.” Judiciary Committee,
conviction is the first concluded under Vatican City sanctity of life and marriage.” suggestion that the Order’s And Harris described Buescher said if confirmed
State laws enacted by now-retired Pope Benedict XVI in Anderson said, “Such adherence to the beliefs of the Knights as “an all- as a federal judge, he
2010 to prevent money laundering and the financing of attacks on the basis of our the Catholic Church makes male society”, and asked if would follow established
terrorism through accounts at the Vatican bank. (Cindy Catholic faith are hardly new. a Brother Knight unfit Buescher was aware that rules regarding conflicts
Wooden/CNS) The Knights of Columbus was for public office blatantly the Knights of Columbus of interest, and that he
formed amid a period of anti- violates those constitutional “opposed a woman’s right would not seek to advance
Vietnam, Vatican agree to upgrade diplomatic Catholic bigotry.” guarantees.” to choose” and were against personal opinions, but would
relations in near future From the founding of the “Let us continue to express “marriage equality” when he make rulings in accord with
Delegations from the Vatican and from Vietnam Knights of Columbus until our love of God and neighbor joined. t h e j u d i c i al p re c e d e nt s
reported continued progress in their discussions, including the presidential election of by helping those in need and Harris raised a statement established by the US
agreeing on “upgrading” relations with a permanent John F. Kennedy, “many still by standing with our Church, from Anderson saying Supreme Court. (CNA)
papal representative “in the near future,” a Vatican press
statement said. “They shared the belief that this step will
help relations between the two sides grow and develop
Argentine archbishop temporarily closes monastery after monks arrested
further,” said the statement, released Dec. 20. The two
official delegations met in Hanoi Dec. 19 for the seventh
meeting of the Vietnam-Holy See joint working group,
which is trying to pave the way for full diplomatic relations
between the Vatican and the communist government. The
last working group meeting was at the Vatican in 2016.
(Carol Glatz/CNS)

Pope Francis: Prayer is about God’s love, not

wordiness
When praying, remember the words of Jesus when he
taught the ‘Our Father,’ Pope Francis said Wednesday,
meeting God as his beloved child and speaking from the
heart. Some think that to pray is to use many words. “I
too think of many Christians who believe that praying is
to talk to God like a parrot, no! Praying is done from the
heart, from inside,” the pope said Jan. 2. “He does not need
anything, our God: in prayer he asks only that we keep open
a channel of communication with him to always discover
ourselves [to be] his beloved children and [that] he loves
us so much.” (Hannah Brockhaus/CNA) BUENOS Aires, Argentina— Archbishop abuse of authority between 2009 and As for the administration and
Marcelo Daniel Colombo of Mendoza, 2015. They allegedly abused a man who management of the monastery,
Pope to diplomats: Remember transcendent Argentina has temporarily closed the tried to enter the monastery. Archbishop Colombo said that it will
dimension of human persons Christ at Prayer Monastery in the Both priests maintain their innocence. be the direct responsibility of the
Upholding the dignity of the human person, and the town of Tupungato, after two of the They will remain in custody while the Archdiocese of Mendoza in the person
rule of law, are essential for good politics, Pope Francis community’s founding monks were facts of the case are being determined. of Fr. Aldo Vallone, who will serve as
said Monday to the diplomatic corps accredited to the arrested on sexual abuse charges. In his statement, Archbishop Colombo Diocesan Moderator of the Christ at
Holy See. Such politics promote the common good “Without pre-judging the guilt of said that the monastery was left with only Prayer Monastery.
and establish and maintain peace between nations, he these priests, which is being evaluated four brothers and authorities. As a result, he “Sharing the pain that these events
said, by considering “the transcendent dimension of by the canonical and state criminal is closing the monastery until further notice. cause us, I ask you to accompany us
the human person, created in the image and likeness justice system, it becomes necessary “The youngest brothers, who very with your prayers,” the archbishop
of God.” The pope made his annual address to the for us, right now, to consider the way recently entered will return to their said. “I know of many people who love
diplomatic corps Jan. 7 in the Vatican’s Sala Regia. to continue this experience of religious family homes and will continue to the Monastery…I ask them to try to
“Respect for the dignity of each human being is thus the life in this context,” the archbishop said be spiritually accompanied in their understand the unprecedented situation
indispensable premise for all truly peaceful coexistence,” in a statement. vocational search,” the archbishop said. this poses and the indispensable
he said, “and law becomes the essential instrument for On December 27, a police delegation The two older members, “one prudential action which is expected of
achieving social justice and nurturing fraternal bonds entered the monastery and arrested Fr. professed and the other a novice, the Church in cases like these.”
between peoples.” (Hannah Brockhaus/CNA) Diego Roque and Fr. Oscar Portillo, two already a priest, will from now on live Colombo asked for prayers for all
priests from Buenos Aires who have led in a parish community to be designated those who have suffered abuse. He
Vatican: Investigation underway of bishop accused the monastery since 1996. and will be able to continue discerning and called on Our Lady of the Rosary
of abuse, misconduct The priests are accused of sexual their vocational call in a climate of to accompany the community. (ACI
A bishop from Argentina who had been working in abuse, including abuse of a minor, and spiritual recollection.” Prensa)
the Vatican’s real estate administration office is the
object of a preliminary diocesan investigation after Mass grave of Christians killed by Islamic State found in Libya
accusations came to light of sexual abuse, abuse of power
and mismanagement in his former Diocese of Oran. The MISRATA, Libya— A mass Islamic State members. The appeared to show the Islamic their bodies was found last
interim director of the Vatican press office, Alessandro grave of 34 Ethiopian grave appears to be located State members shooting and October.
Gisotti, told reporters in a note Jan. 4 that accusations Christians executed by the on a farm near the coastal city beheading the Ethiopian Islamic State and other
of sexual abuse against Bishop Gustavo Zanchetta, 54, so-called Islamic State group of Sirte, 170 miles southeast Christians, who were all wearing terrorist organizations are
emerged in the “autumn” of 2018. “On the basis of in 2015 has reportedly been of Misrata. orange jumpsuits, on a beach. still active in Libya and retain
these accusations and from news appearing recently unearthed in Libya. Islamic State gained The Christians were in Libya to control of parts of the country.
in the media,” Bishop Luis Antonio Scozzina of Oran The bodies have been control of Sirte in 2015, seek work as migrant workers, A suicide bomber attack on
“has already begun to collect some testimony which exhumed and will be but United Nations-backed according to International the Libyan foreign ministry
still needs to get to the Congregation for Bishops” at the eventually repatriated to forces regained control of the Christian Concern. in the capital Tripoli, for
Vatican, Gisotti wrote. The case will be handed over to Ethiopia, the Libyan interior city in December 2016 after The 2015 incident which Islamic State claimed
a special commission for bishops if credible evidence is ministry says. months of deadly fighting. happened just months after responsibility, killed at least
found, he added. “During the preliminary investigation, Libyan government According to the Libyan Islamic State members three people and injured 21
(Bishop) Zanchetta will abstain from working” at the authorities found the mass Express newspaper, a executed a group of nearly on Christmas Day. A senior
Vatican office, Gisotti wrote. (Carol Glatz/CNS) grave Dec. 23 after obtaining propaganda video posted to two dozen Coptic Christians; Libyan diplomat was among
information from arrested social media in April 2015 a mass grave containing those killed. (CNA)
CBCP Monitor January 7 - 20, 2019 Vol. 23 No. 01 NEWS FEATURES A3

Abuse expert hopes summit will This 'pilgrim grandmother'

include bishops’ accountability walked 570 miles to pray
VATICAN—A member of the
committee organizing Pope Francis’
February summit on the sexual
abuse crisis said the meeting should
include discussing ways to hold
bishops accountable for handling
cases correctly.
Addressing members of the
Roman Curia before Christmas,
Pope Francis said the meeting
Feb. 21-24 of the presidents of
the world’s bishops’ conferences,
the heads of the Eastern Catholic
churches and leaders of religious
orders will reaffirm the church’s
“firm resolve to pursue unstintingly
a path of purification.”
In addition, he said, with the
help of experts, the meeting
will examine “how best to
protect children, to avoid these
tragedies, to bring healing and
restoration to the victims, and
to improve the training imparted
in seminaries.”
Jesuit Father Hans Zollner,
a me mb e r o f t h e c o mmi t t e e
organizing the February meeting,
told Vatican News Dec. 27 that in
addition to the goals outlined by the
pope, “we want to see how we also
can put on the table the question
of bishops’ responsibility, so there
would be greater clarity about who
must do something and who checks
if the things the Holy Father and
the church—the dicasteries—have
ordered be done are, in effect,
done.”
Father Zollner, president of
the Center for Child Protection
at Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian
University, said the pope’s
commitment to not undervaluing
Jesuit Father Hans Zollner, a professor of
psychology and president of the Center for
Child Protection at the Pontifical Gregorian
University in Rome, is pictured in a 2015
photo. Father Zollner has been on the
frontlines of advocating for survivors of
clerical sexual abuse and developing
detailed programs to prevent abuse. He
said the crisis unfolding again in the
United States is a summons to a new
way of envisioning the church and taking
responsibility for it. PAUL HARING/CNS
or covering up any case of abuse
will require “a clarification of
procedures, which aren’t so clear,
especially when we are talking about
the co-responsibility of a bishop or
a provincial or head of an Eastern
church with respect to what others
bishops, provincials and superiors
are doing.”
And, second, he said, there
must be a change of attitude. “The
rules, the laws as such, will not
change hearts. We see this not
only in Europe, but throughout
the world. So, we must see how
we can reinforce throughout the
church this attitude of openness
and attention to the protection of
minors because that is the attitude
Jesus teaches us.”
Father Zollner said he hoped
the February meeting would help
everyone in the church, everywhere
in the world, realize “the urgency
of making the protection of minors
and bringing justice to the victims
a priority.”
Vatican Media also spoke to Jesuit
Father Federico Lombardi, former
papal spokesman, who published
an article in mid-December saying
that church leaders who continue
to believe clerical sexual abuse is a
problem only in some countries or
cultures must open their eyes and
take action, otherwise “the church
will continue to find itself facing one
crisis after another.”
People have great expectations for
the February meeting he said, but
they also should take time to look at
all the church has been doing to face
up to the crisis and protect children.
“This isn’t something that began
today or yesterday, but decades
ago,” he said.
Bishops’ conferences in many
countries “have undertaken
important initiatives, have
tried to understand what really
happened, how to help the victims
and how to establish a culture of
prevention,” Father Lombardi
said. And, beginning with Pope
Benedict XVI, the universal church
has strengthened its norms and
procedures for dealing with cases.
“We must understand that the
problem is very serious, very
important for society and for the
church,” he said, and that “there is
a real renewal needed in the church,
there is a long road to travel, but, at
the same time, we are not starting
from zero.” (Cindy Wooden/
CNS)
for families
MEXICO— Emma
Morosini has been
called the “pilgrim
grandmother.” Earlier
this year, at the age
of 94, she earned
that nickname by
concluding a 570-mile
walking pilgrimage in
honor of Our Lady of
Guadalupe.
Her 40-day
pilgrimage took
M o r o s i n i f r o m The Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe. EDUARDO BERDEJO/CNA
Monterrey, in
northeastern Mexico, to Mexico At various points on her way
City, where she prayed at the she was accompanied by medical
Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and civil defense personnel or
before the tilma of Saint Juan Diego. by Mexico’s Federal Police. She
Morosini, a native of Italy who was often housed by municipal
for more than 25 years has made authorities along her route.
pilgrimages to shrines around the During a 2015 pilgrimage in
world, arrived the afternoon of May 12 Argentina, when she was 91,
at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe Morosini told reporters that she
in Mexico City, to pray for families, was praying for “peace in the world,
young people, and “world peace.” for young people, for all these
The “pilgrim grandmother” has families that are divided. Many are
visited shrines in Portugal, Spain, separated, some live together but
Poland, Israel, Brazil and Argentina. aren’t spouses, or they don’t have
During this pilgrimage, Morosini children. It’s very sad.”
began walking each day at 6:30 am, The “pilgrim grandmother” was
carrying a small suitcase and an applauded by fellow pilgrims when
umbrella, and wearing a reflective she arrived at the the Basilica of Our
vest as a safety precaution. Lady of Guadalupe. Before entering
For food, Morosini carried milk, the church, she woman knelt down,
juice, bread, and water, receiving kissed the ground, made the sign of
along the way some donations of the cross and prayed silently for a
fruits and vegetables. few moments. (ACI Prensa)
The pilot bishop of the South Pacific

Hong Kong bishop dies at age 73

HONG KONG— Bishop
Michael Yeung Ming-
cheung of Hong Kong
died in hospital Thursday
at the age of 73, after
suffering liver failure due
to cirrhosis.
He had been admitted
to Canossa (Caritas)
Hospital Dec. 27, and died
the afternoon of Jan. 3.
A board of eight senior
members of Hong Kong’s
Church administration
met Jan. 4 to discuss the
diocese’ future leadership,
and decided to hold off on
choosing an acting bishop
as interim leader of the
diocese until after Yeung’s
funeral, the South China
Morning News reports.
Auxiliary Bishop Joseph
Ha Chi-shing of Hong
Kong reportedly told the
media that the diocese
was particularly saddened
by Bishop Yeung’s death,
because his condition
had been described as
stable only a few hours
before his death, though
he had evidently been
facing health problems for
several years.
The bishop’s funeral
Mass will be said Jan. 11.
Bishop Yeung was born
Dec. 1, 1945 in Shanghai,
and ordained a priest of
the Hong Kong diocese
in 1978 after studying
at a pontifical Roman
university.
Bishop Michael Yeung Ming-cheung of Hong Kong, who died Jan.
3, 2019. GCATHOLIC.ORG
He then earned a
master’s degree in
communications from
Syracuse University in
1982, and later a master’s
degree in education from
Harvard University in
1990.
Since August 2003 he
had served as the head of
Caritas Hong Kong, and
was vicar general from
2009.
He was appointed
auxiliary bishop of Hong
Kong in 2014, and coadjutor
bishop in 2016. He
succeeded Cardinal John
Tong Hon Aug. 1, 2017.
From the very
first homily after his
installation, Bishop
Yeung talked about
serving the poor, the
sick, and t he ne e d y,
because, in his words,
“the well-being of society
requires the fostering
of genuine ecology and
unceasing efforts to bring
about integral human
development,” and
said that “the Chinese
government has generally
encouraged the religious
sector to participate more
in social and charitable
services.”
The Caritas Institute
of Higher Education, of
which Yeung was chair,
held a Requiem Mass for
the bishop’s soul Jan. 4.
The school is seeking to be
recognized as a university
and change its name to “St.
Francis University,” the
organization announced
in 2014.
As a special
administrative region,
Hong Kong has a large
degree of autonomy
from mainland China,
with its own political and
economic system. The
territory was a British
colony from 1842 until
1997.
There are some 581,000
Catholics in Hong Kong,
or about eight percent of
the population.
Bishop Yeung
previously told CNA in an
interview that the Catholic
Church “mustn’t compete
with the communist party
for power and authority in
this world. The Lord Jesus
never told the disciples to
compete with the Roman
empire...the Church has,
however, her role to play.
She is called to have a
good attitude to dialogue,
and at the same time she
is called to tell the truth,
and to speak out against
social injustice, when the
latter happens.”
Yeung’s death comes at
a time of rapprochement
between the Vatican and
the Chinese government.
Last month, two bishops
of the Vatican-approved
underground Catholic
Church in China
agreed to step aside in
favor of bishops of the
communist-supported
Chinese Patriotic Catholic
Association, in the wake
of a September 2018
deal signed between the
Holy See and the Chinese
government. (CNA)
Bishop Luciano Capelli, Bishop of Gizo, aboard his airplane.
GIZO, Solomon Islands— Known
as the “flying bishop” of Solomon
Islands, Bishop Luciano Capelli
visits Catholics across dozens of
islands by piloting a small airplane
he also uses to deliver food and
medicine.
Capelli, an Italian, was a Salesian
missionary in the Philippines for 35
years before coming to the Diocese of
Gizo in October 2007. He arrived six
months after an earthquake destroyed
homes, schools, and churches across
the Solomon Islands, a nation of
nearly 1,000 islands in Oceania.
“My first task was to encourage the
people to rebuild the cathedral, the
seven parishes and the 12 schools,”
he explained in an interview with
the Missioni Don Bosco portal.
The Diocese of Gizo is comprised of
some 40 islands with a total population
of 136,347 inhabitants, 11 percent of
which are Catholics, i.e. about 15,000.
With financial support from the
Italian Bishops’ Conference, Capelli
was able to take flying lessons and
the diocese received an ultralight
small airplane.
In the plane, which he himself
has piloted since 2011, he visits
hospitals, schools and communities,
bringing medicine and basic
necessities.
Capelli said that isolation is a
major challenge for people in his
diocese, adding that this is resolved
“with a presence.”
“Presence is possible only if there is
a means to take you.” Thanks to the
airplane, he can visit each mission
location between three to five times
a year, whereas without it he would
have to use a dangerous and more
costly boat, he told Askanews.
Capelli has been particularly busy
since October 2018, when he decided
to send one of his dioceses’ two
priests to Italy for advanced studies.
Speaking to Missio Italia, the
prelate said that “it’s a sacrifice,
and to no little account, depriving
us of 50 percent of the clergy! But
I trust that the Lord will make new
vocations flourish and there will be
new ones to come for a an effective
and courageous evangelization.”
“We have been working a lot these
years with young people and the
new generations to train catechists
and leaders in the communities. I’m
not afraid!” (ACI Prensa)

Tenderness / A1

degree that everyone does his or
her part in the service of peace.”
After greeting hundreds of
people who participated in a
march for peace, carrying signs
with the names of countries
suffering because of violence,
Pope Francis prayed: “Through
the intercession of the virgin
Mary, may the Lord grant us to be
artisans of peace—and this begins
at home, in the family—every day
of the new year.”
Earlier, in his homily at the
Mass, Pope Francis paid homage
not only to Mary, but also to all
mothers and all those who show
tender care for others, including
in political and economic life.
“A world that looks to the
future without a mother’s gaze
is shortsighted,” he said. “It may
well increase its profits, but it will
no longer see others as children.
It will make money, but not for
everyone. We will all dwell in the
same house, but not as brothers
and sisters.”
Pope Francis prayed that Mary
would help all people learn to look
at the world and each other as
she does, providing for people’s
needs, loving them and leading
them to Jesus.
“In today’s fragmented world,
where we risk losing our bearings,
a mother’s embrace is essential,”
he said. “How much dispersion
and solitude there is all around
us! The world is completely
connected, yet seems increasingly
disjointed. We need to entrust
ourselves to our Mother.”
Too many people, he said,
forget they are beloved children
and instead “live in anger and
indifference to everything!
How many, sad to say, react to
everything and everyone with
bitterness and malice!”
In fact, he said, “showing oneself
to be ‘malicious’ even seems at
times to be a sign of strength. Yet
it is nothing more than weakness.
We need to learn from mothers
that heroism is shown in self-
giving, strength in compassion,
wisdom in meekness.”
For Catholics, he said, Mary “is
not an optional accessory: she
has to be welcomed into our life”
because Jesus entrusted her to his
disciples and his disciples to her
as their mother.
“She is the queen of peace, who
triumphs over evil and leads us
along paths of goodness, who
restores unity to her children,
who teaches us compassion,”
Pope Francis said.
He urged people to begin
the new year holding on to
the “amazement” they should
have experienced at Christmas,
amazement that God was born
a baby, “held in the arms of a
woman who feeds her creator.”
“God has become one with
humanity forever. God and man,
always together, that is the good
news of this new year,” he said.
“God is no distant lord, dwelling
in splendid isolation above the
heavens, but love incarnate, born
like us of a mother, in order to
become a brother to each of us.”
Jesus himself “pours out upon
humanity a new tenderness,” the
pope said, which helps people
“understand more fully God’s
love, which is both paternal and
maternal, like that of a mother
who never stops believing in her
children and never abandons
them.”
“God-with-us, Emmanuel, loves
us despite our mistakes, our
sins and the way we treat our
world,” he said. “God believes in
mankind, because its first and
preeminent member is his own
mother.”
The church, which is called to
be a mother, the pope said, also
must be renewed and filled with
amazement at the fact that it is
“the dwelling place of the living
God” and “a mother who gives
birth to her children.”
Without that awareness, the
church risks turning into “a
beautiful museum of the past,”
he said.
Pope Francis ended his New
Year’s homily praying that Mary
would “take us by the hand.
Clinging to you, we will pass
safely through the straits of
history.” (Cindy Wooden /
Catholic News Service)
A4 opinion
January 7 - 20, 2019 Vol. 23 No. 01 CBCP Monitor

EDITORIAL

Good politics: A way to peace

EVERY year, for 52 years now, the Holy Father gives a
reflection on peace on New Year’s Day as his message for
the celebration of the World Day for Peace. This year the
message of Pope Francis is entitled: GOOD POLITICS IS AT
THE SERVICE OF PEACE.
This is a good reminder for many Christians who think that
the Church should keep off from politics. Jesus has come to
save the world, and this includes the world of politics. All
people of good will agree that politics too need truth, justice,
peace and love. Politics is at the service of common good. This
shows that politics is to be guided by moral norms. Politics
can veer away from the right path either through ignorance,
weakness of the character of leaders, or sheer ill will. Hence it
too should be saved from abuses, weaknesses and ignorance.
It too needs the light of Good News. For this reason no less
than the Pope himself speaks of politics and gives it guidance.
Pope Francis wrote: “Politics is an essential means of
building human community and institutions, but when

ILLUSTRATION BY BLADIMER USI

political life is not seen as a form of service to society as a
whole, it can become a means of oppression, marginalization
and even destruction.” When properly exercised, politics is a
way of loving, which is the core of the message of Christ, and
it can bring well-being to the citizens. But when abused, it can
create a lot of harm. So the Holy Father continues: “Political
office and political responsibility constantly challenge those
called to the service of their country to make every effort to
protect those who live there and to create the conditions for a
worthy and just future. If exercised with basic respect for the
Launching the
life, freedom and dignity of persons, political life can indeed
Living Mission
become an outstanding form of charity.”
When Pope Francis speaks about the virtues that politics Year of the Youth Fr. James H. Kroeger, MM
should have, he quoted from the “Beatitudes of the Politician”
that was proposed by Vietnamese Cardinal François-Xavier
Nguyễn Vãn Thuận, who died in 2002. It is to be recalled
that this Vietnamese Cardinal had been a prisoner of the THE Philippine Church is able to draw upon many once said to the disciples who his 2017 letter Pope Francis
Vietcong for 13 years, yet he bore no grudge against his captors now on the seventh year of insights of Pope Francis asked him: ‘Teacher, … where recalled some events of the
and was even a good influence in the concentration camps its nine-year journey towards and the Synod as it seeks to do you live?’ He replied, 2016 World Youth Day held
where he was imprisoned. When assigned to Rome after his 2021, the 500th anniversary engage the youth and connect ‘Come and see’ (Jn 1:38).” in Krakow, Poland. He
release, he became the head of the Pontifical Commission for of the arrival of Christianity them with the Church. Pope Francis continues: noted: “At the opening of
Justice and Peace, so he did a lot of reflection with the whole in the Philippines. Thus, Pope Francis determined “Jesus looks at you and the last World Youth Day, I
church on the politics that can bring about peace. Here is his 2019 is dedicated to the the theme for the 2018 Synod invites you to go with him. asked you several times: ‘Can
reflection: Youth; 2020 to Ecumenism of Bishops: “Young People, Dear young people, have you we change things?’ And you
“Blessed be the politician with a lofty sense and deep and Interreligious Dialogue; the Faith and Vocational noticed this look towards shouted: ‘Yes’!”
understanding of his role. and 2021 to missio ad gentes Discernment.” In 2017 he you? Have you heard this Francis notes: “A better
Blessed be the politician who personally exemplifies [mission to the nations]. This wrote a letter to the youth voice? Have you felt this world can be built as a result
credibility. nine-year “novena” seeks the of the world, telling them: urge to undertake this of your efforts, your desire to
Blessed be the politician who works for the common good comprehensive renewal of “I wanted you to be the journey? Francis invites change, and your generosity.
and not his or her own interest. our local Philippine Church. center of attention, because young people to “undertake Do not be afraid to listen to
Blessed be the politician who remains consistent. This program of a you are in my heart.” This a journey of discernment to the Spirit.” Thus, taking a
Blessed be the politician who works for unity. spiritual journey to 2021 same perspective motivates discover God’s plan in your cue from Pope Francis, the
Blessed be the politician who works to accomplish radical was promulgated by the the Philippine Church as it life. Even when the journey Philippine Church, during
change. Philippine bishops (CBCP) in celebrates its “Year of the is uncertain and you fall, God, this Year of the Youth,
Blessed be the politician who is capable of listening. 2012. It is pure coincidence Youth.” rich in mercy, will extend eagerly seeks to engage and
Blessed be the politician who is without fear.” that the Philippine “Youth” Come and See. In his hand to pick you up.” accompany the youth in their
How we wish that our politicians would have these virtues Year begins shortly after extending his invitation for Here in the Philippines we idealism and enthusiasm
so that they can be blessed and our people would be happy. the conclusion of the 2018 the youth to become involved clearly perceive the heartfelt to renew both Church and
Finally, Pope Francis reminds us that “peace is based on World Synod of Bishops on in renewing both the Church invitation of Pope Francis to society. We earnestly pray
respect for each person, whatever his or her background, on the Youth. Yet, it is truly a and society, Pope Francis the youth to make this same that the many pastoral efforts
respect for the law and the common good, on respect for the felicitous occurrence! The notes: “I would also remind “faith journey.” of our local Church will prove
environment entrusted to our care and for the richness of the Philippine Church will be you of the words that Jesus Change and Renewal. In genuinely successful!
moral tradition inherited from past generations.” So when
good politics is at the service of peace it respects and promotes
Detox and detach
fundamental human rights. May the year 2019, which for our
country is an election year, bring us politicians who really And That’s The Truth
serve with the common good in mind, and thus bring about
Teresa R. Tunay, OCDS
much needed peace to our people.
`(Guest editorial by Bishop Broderick Pabillo)

Explore, adapt, innovate

WONDER what people normally crave of reunions and homecomings and yearn to take a break from the Christmas
WHILE we may have our own particular niche in life that after Christmas—after the last gift is parties—office party, barangay party, break—irony of ironies! Super-active
is fit to our personal condition and circumstances, we have opened, the last fruitcake is consumed, parish party, senior citizen party, consecrated persons tell me they do
to realize that we are not meant to be imprisoned there, but and the last party guest leaves you in homeowners’ association party, ad crave solitude, long for a real break
should rather have an attitude of openness to the flowing peace? Merriment can be tiring—let’s infinitum. And even when you feel devoid of creature comforts and away,
developments of the times. face it—especially in this country where stupid telling your kids (or their kids) to far faraway, from their communities or
That is why we have to feel the necessity to continually explore people greet you Merry Christmas as be good because Santa Clause is coming parishes. Not to escape, no, but to detox
the things, adapt ourselves to the changing circumstances and early as September, and then it’s eat- to town, you grin and bear it because it’s and detach, to recharge, to reconnect
make the necessary innovations along the way. Of course, we drink-shop-shop-shop and be merry better to be stupid and kind than to be with the divine in them—so they may
should remember that there are things that should be held as until after the last firecracker dies and sensible and cruel. become stronger servant leaders when
permanent, absolute, unchanging. These are the essential things the Christmas tree is laid to rest. Every honest person I know admits they return. And why not? It’s but
that define their nature as designed by God the Creator. In our culture where Christmas Christmas can be wearying—especially human to desire solitude, as English
To guide us in this, we of course can use our sciences and and consumerism are fast becoming for priests who hardly sleep during the poet William Wordsworth says: “When
technologies, but we should give priority to what the Church inseparable BFFs, it’s considered anti- Simbang Gabi stretch and yet, out of from our better selves we have too long
teaches, since the Church has been entrusted by Christ himself social not to ho-ho-ho with the flow. politeness, can’t say No to parties galore. been parted by the hurrying world,
to define what is truly proper to our human nature. Because You’re labeled a Scrooge or a Grinch, (“Oh, but my blood pressure….?” “Don’t and droop. Sick of its business, of its
of this, the Church is dubbed as the ‘expert in humanity.’ But and that’s like a life sentence. Whether worry, Father, me gamut naman eh!”) pleasures tired, how gracious, how
other than these permanent things, there are also many other we enjoy it or not, we have to teach So, after this season of playing along benign is solitude.”
things that can and should change as we cruise through life. ourselves to embrace the endless round with this silly and wonderful world, they And That’s the Truth / A6
These things are earth-and-time bound. They are expected
to vary according to time and place, and other factors, like
culture, age, gender, etc. Let’s beam with hope Candidly Speaking
It cannot be denied that each generation, for example, has its
peculiar characteristics. We have to be as sensitive as possible Fr. Roy Cimagala
to these distinctions. We should not stick to our own usual ways
of understanding and doing things. It’s in these latter things
Editorial / A6
LET’S try our best to be men goal. We should not allow our journey towards our hope. How many people have

Monitor
and women of hope, of real,
CBCP great and abiding hope,
which means that we have a
clear vision of our ultimate
goal in life and are confident
PROTAGONIST OF TRUTH, PROMOTER OF PEACE that with God’s grace and our
effort we can reach it. Let’s
Pedro Quitorio beam with hope and not just
Editor-in-Chief keep it inside, if only to give
our present troubled world
Nirva’ana E. Delacruz Ron Ramos, Sky Ortigas some real glow.
Associate Editor Design Artist We should try to avoid
being tied down by the here
Roy Lagarde Mercedita Juanite and now, though what we
News Editor Circulation Manager
have in the here and now is
Marcelita Dominguez always important and crucial
Christine Paguirigan
Managing Editor Comptroller in our journey of hope in life.
Yes, we have to be immersed
The CBCP Monitor is published fortnightly by the CBCP - in the things of this world,
Media Office with editorial and business offices at 3rd Floor, but clearly knowing that
CBCP Compound, 470 General Luna St., Intramuros, Manila. these things are only means,
Email Address: cbcpmonitor@areopaguscommunications.com,
Business: (632) 404 - 1612. ISSN 1908-2940. materials, occasions and
instruments to reach our
ourselves to be swallowed up
by them.
To be hopeful and mindful
of our ultimate end should
not diminish the seriousness
we have to put into our daily
duties and responsibilities.
We should not say that just
because we are meant for
heaven, for a supernatural
destination, we can take it
easy in our temporal affairs.
Let’s remember what Christ
wanted us to learn from his
parable of talents. (cfr. Mt
25,14-30) We are meant to
be fruitful and productive
out of the many blessings
and endowments God has
given us. How we fare in
our earthly life somehow
determines whether we are
truly progressing or not in
definitive home in
heaven.
So it’s wrong to say that
just because we are meant
for heaven, we should not be
very serious in our business
or politics or in whatever
field of human endeavor. If
our temporal duty is about
making money, for example,
for the glory of God, then we
should not shy away from
making as much money as
possible.
Let us strengthen this hope
everyday, trusting always
in the assured promises of
Christ especially when we
are sharply tested in life. We
cannot deny that the drama
in our life can be such that,
if not handled properly, can
undermine our faith and
been confused and lost in
that way?
That is why we need to
spend time meditating on
the word of God and on the
life of Christ so we don’t get
distracted from what is truly
our path to follow and so
that our faith and hope grow
stronger everyday. When
there is true hope, we can
manage to be at peace and in
joy no matter what situation
we may find ourselves in.
We would just be game with
everything.
Meditating on God’s word
and on Christ’s life will surely
teach us what to do to equip
ourselves properly for our
real pursuit in life. We have
to develop the virtues, we
Candidly Speaking / A6
CBCP Monitor January 7 - 20, 2019 Vol. 23 No. 01
opinion
A5

This thing called being new

Whisper from the Desert
By the Roadside Fr. Amado L. Picardal, CSsR, STD
Fr. Eutiquio ‘Euly’ Belizar, Jr. SThD

“Do not be scared to begin
again. Life is a series of
beginnings, in-betweens and
endings. No one reaches
the last leg without making
the first. By then, the last
becomes the first leg again.”
— Yago the Owl
EACH year it is the same
greeting: “Happy New
Year!” But wait. Is life not
an invisible circle, time’s
inescapably spiraling web or
a veritably repetitious cycle
that brings us where we first
took off? Take, for instance,
the ritual we oblige ourselves
to go through of celebrating
a year’s ending and another
year’s beginning. Every new
year sends most everyone
into misty visions: nostalgia
of the year(s) past, fraught
with a sense of fulfilment
over some achievements
of sorts, or with a measure
of guilt or regret over goals
only half- or partly realized
and resolutions that simply
tapered off even before the
second “whereas”. Then we
find ourselves facing again a
new year to welcome with new
resolutions, some rehashed
out of old ones, or simply
extending our hands in mock
resignation because we are
foreseeing similar outcomes
in the days ahead. Still,
others among us, however
pessimistic and cynical the
world around them has
become, see themselves and
the future with bravely bright
eyes.
Make Christ
But is it right for anyone
to unceremoniously dismiss
the prospect of newness as
simply an ingredient of a
mindless ritual?
I say Nein, No. For us who
strive to follow the Master
who was born in a manger,
we should rather get in touch
with the why behind the
pursuit of newness. And it
soon will dawn on us that it
has its roots in our link to him
through our baptism. We have
become incorporated into his
Body; in effect, newness must
become essential to our very
system of living life. Paul the
Apostle to the Gentiles says to
us point-blank, as he did, to
the Corinthians: “Therefore,
if anyone is in Christ, the new
creation has come: The old
has gone, the new is here” (2
Cor 5:17). The old creation in
us is the old self too that we
must constantly send packing
into our yesterdays because
we refuse to be immersed
endlessly in slavery to sin and
the dark shadows of living
outside of God’s grace.
But that is not enough. We
must also allow the Master
to disabuse us of our fanciful
thinking that newness is
primarily a business of
our making. The book of
Revelation has the Master
reminding us: “‘See, I make
all things new!’ said the
One sitting on the throne.
And he said to me, ‘Write
this down, for these words
are trustworthy and true”
(Rev 21:5). I have wondered
until now if even we in the
Church have allowed the
truth of these words to sink
in, especially in a way that
this becomes palpable in the
way we carry ourselves, our
visions, our missions, our
every effort at evangelization.
The consequences of not
doing so are too blatantly
clear to ignore and they
abound around us:
individual, communal,
political, economic, social,
cultural programs of change
that are stuck in the gridlock
of individual-collective-
institutional selfishness,
pride and arrogance that
do not and cannot arrest
crime, corruption, wars,
widespread famine,
terrorism, displacement and
forced migrations of peoples,
ecological catastrophes in
forms unheard of before, trade
wars, new forms of racism
and bigotry in the name of
national security. We could
go on. The bottom-line for the
believer is unmistakable: The
Author of real change and
renewal is seldom, if ever,
allowed or even considered
in the crafting, processing,
managing and the directing
of change. Like the proverbial
spiral and endless circle,
those who advocate change
find themselves facing the
same evils or even unleashing
alternative evils in their
efforts to actualize their
notions of change. They
conveniently ignore, not to
say forget, who makes all
things new.
On the other hand,
Scripture reminds us what
Duterte’s War Against
happens when the Author
of newness is allowed into
the Church
our life programs. Isaiah
“KILL your bishops, they are useless fools. All they do is
declares: “Even youths grow
criticize.” This is what President Duterte told his audience in
tired and weary, and young
a speech in Malacañang on Dec. 5, 2018. He also said that 90
men stumble and fall. But
percent of priests are gay, and the Church should therefore
those who hope in the Lord
not moralize. Earlier on, he falsely accused Bishop Pablo
will renew their strength.
David of stealing from the Church’s offerings and suspected
They will soar on wings like
him of being an addict. He threatened that if he catches him
eagles; they will run and
involved in drugs, he will behead the bishop. In another
not grow weary, they will
speech, Duterte told Catholics to stop going to church and
walk and not be faint” (Is
to instead, build their own chapels at home. Statements like
40:30-31). Pope Francis in
these are unprecedented which no previous president in
his message for January 1,
the Philippines or elsewhere in the world have ever done.
2019 on the occasion of the
These are statements that one does not expect from any sane
Solemnity of Mary the Mother
government leader, not even in non-Christian countries, how
of God and the World Day of
much more in a great Catholic nation. No amount of spinning
Peace points to Mary as our
can justify this statement as just a joke. After inspiring the
model of someone who, in
police and death squads to commit extrajudicial killings,
receiving and giving Jesus,
Duterte is inciting people to murder bishops. This deserves
has also become a source of
condemnation and should be added to the complaint against
blessing that engineers real
him in the International Criminal Court.
change for us and the whole
It appears that Duterte has stepped up his war on the
world. Real change has come
Catholic Church in the Philippines which he regards as the
upon mankind through God’s
enemy. He already started doing this before being elected
action in and through her
when he called Pope Francis “son of a whore” for the traffic
Son and hers after her Son.
caused during the papal visit in 2015. As president, he
“She blesses the path of every
continued his tirade against the Church, calling her the most
man and every woman in this
hypocritical institution that is “full of shit.” He vowed to
year that is beginning, and
destroy the Church by exposing the abuses of the clergy. At
which will be good precisely
one time, he falsely accused Bishop Teodoro Bacani of having
in the measure in which
two wives. He declared that the Church will be irrelevant
each person welcomes the
within thirty years. In several speeches, he declared that he
goodness of God that Jesus
doesn’t believe in the God of the Catholics—whom he called
came to bring into the world.”
a “stupid God” due to the Bible’s creation story which he
Submitting ourselves to the
considers ridiculous. He has been distributing copies of the
One who makes all things new
book “Altar of Secrets.” His attack on the Church appeared
does not really mean only a
to take a violent turn when three priests were killed one after
passive mode to God’s action
another, while one was wounded. Another priest was able
in us. In Mary we realize it
to evade an assassination attempt. The president’s latest
signifies a hearing of the Word
statement against Bishop David and other bishops indicate
that is inseparable from a doing
that the leaders of the Church, especially those critical against
By the Roadside / A7
him are fair targets for assassination. Being a priest or bishop
will not keep one safe from the death squads.
What has become obvious is that Duterte is waging a war

Duc in Altum against the Church. The question is why is he doing this?

our light in 2019 Atty. Aurora A. Santiago

A Very Happy and Healthy New Year!
I believe that a healthy person is happy
and is at peace with the Lord. The year
2018 may have brought us sorrows and
frustrations, but let them be drowned
by the blessings we received. Let us be
thankful and grateful to our Lord.
Pope Francis’ advice to the priests:
“We are good priests if we go to Jesus
Christ, if we seek the Lord in prayer:
the prayer of intercession, the prayer
of adoration. If instead we distance
ourselves from Jesus Christ, we have to
compensate for this with other worldly
attitudes. But the priest adores Jesus
Christ, the priest speaks with Jesus
Christ, the priest seeks Jesus Christ and
allows himself to be sought by Jesus
Christ. This is the centre of our lives. If
we do not have this, we lose everything!
And then what shall we give to the
people?”
Last year, I visited my siblings in
the U.S. We had Pilgrimage to 5 of
the 21 California Mission Churches
established by St. Junifero Serra—
San Diego de Alcala, San Luis Rey
de Francia, San Juan Capistrano,
San Gabriel Arcangel, San Fernando
Rey de Espaňa. The main goal of
California Mission was to convert Native
Americans into devoted Christians.
Bishop Pablo Virgilio “Ambo” David
told me that these mission churches
are his inspirations in creating mission
stations in his Diocese (Kalookan),
bring the Church to the peripheries
of Society. My siblings and I also had
bonding moments during our road
trip to Las Vegas, Northern California,
Oregon, Washington, Vancouver and
Victoria Island in Canada. I renewed
acquaintance with friends and relatives.
2018 also gifted us with 2 new doctors,
my nephew Eric Imperial and niece Ria
Imperial.
2018 gave three new priests to the
Diocese of Kalookan—Fr. Rene Richard
Bernardo (my godson—I put on his
vestment during the Solemn Ceremony
of Admission to the Sacred Order), Fr.
Jay Arvin De Leon and Fr. Phillippe
Angelo Garcia; and 2 new Deacons—Rev.
Paul Woo and Rev. Randy Leonardo.
In 2018, St. Clare of Assisi in Longos,
Malabon City (also covers North Bay
Boulevard South, Navotas City) became
the 28th parish in Kalookan Diocese,
with Fr. Cesar Malasa, OFM as parish
priest. It was elevated from quasi parish
to parish.
In 2018, Bishop Ambo created 13
mission stations ministered by Diocesan
priests and deacons, religious priests,
nuns and brothers. Of the 13 mission
stations, two were elevated to Quasi
Parish—Nuestra Seňora Delos Remedios
in North Bay Boulevard North, Navotas
City under Fr. Larry Quitain, SDDH, and
Holy Trinity in Tinajeros, Malabon City
under Fr. Richard Omol. More parishes,
quasi parishes and mission stations will
be created.
Let us welcome 2019 with hope
and prayer for unity among Filipinos,
political will and good governance by
our government officials, and have Jesus
Christ the light in our life.
***
Ms. Catriona Gray, a Filipina-
Australian beauty from Bicol, was
crowned Miss Universe 2018. This
beauty and brain lady wowed everyone
with his winning answer to the question:
What is the most important lessons
you’ve learned in your life…? She
answered: “I worked a lot in the slums
of Tondo, Manila and (the) life there
was very poor and very sad. I’ve always
taught myself to look for the beauty in
it, to look for the beauty in the faces of
the children, and to be grateful. I would
bring this aspect as a Miss Universe to
see situations with a silver lining, and
to assess where I could give something,
where I could provide something as a
spokesperson. If I could teach (also)
people to be grateful, we could have an
amazing world where negativity could
not grow and foster, and children would
have smile on their face.”
***
January is the birth and death month
of our father Benito Santiago, Sr. and the
wedding anniversary of Tatay and Inay,
Gloria. Happy Birthday Tatay; Happy
Wedding Anniversary Tatay and Inay!
We know you are happy with our Lord
Jesus Christ. We love you, we miss you!
Please continue to guide us! We thank
the Lord for the gift of parents who
struggled to give the best to each other
and to their children. They gave us, their
7 children, the best education in the best
schools – lawyer, doctor, 2 engineers, 3
CPA’s. We will not attain success were
it not for our parents. Also, please allow
me to greet my sister Flordeliza and
brother-in-law Roberto Imperial Happy
29th Wedding Anniversary!
Many people believe that his controversial statements are
simply a way of diverting the people’s attention from the
real issues raised against him: the failed war on drugs—in
spite of the extrajudicial killings that has reached more than
27,000 victims, the unchecked entry of tons of drugs into
the country and the suspicion of the involvement of his own
family, worsening poverty, rising prices, rampant corruption,
the sell-out to China, the collapse of the peace process with the
NDF, etc. His failure to address these problems has revealed
his gross incompetence, greed, and brutality. Others would
see his behavior and statements as signs of physical and
mental illness worsened by drug abuse. He has admitted to
using fentanyl—an opioid more addictive and powerful than
heroin—and marijuana. Others would say he is just joking.
Others believe that his hatred for the Church stems from
adverse childhood experiences: of allegedly being molested
by a priest and of being physically abused by his mother (who
was very pious and close to priests and nuns).
Duterte’s war on the Church may also be traced to a mixture
of fear and anger vis-a-vis the Church which he believes has
the capacity to resist him and bring him down. This is based
on his awareness that the Catholic Church played a vital role
in bringing down the Marcos dictatorship and also the Estrada
presidency. Since becoming president, the Church - through
the CBCP and various religious groups—has criticized the
culture of death, documented EJKs, provided assistance to
families of victims, given sanctuary to witnesses, and assisted
in the filing of complaints at the International Criminal Court.
The CBCP came out with several statements critical of the
extrajudicial killings and upholding the value of life. The latest
CBCP statement of concern in support of Bishop David could
have led him to urge Catholics to kill their bishops. Instead of
just venting his ire on Bishop David he has widened his target.
The threat of violence is meant to intimidate the leaders of the
Church, to instill fear in their hearts so that they will remain
silent and will not be a threat to his authoritarian rule.
How should the Church leaders and the vast majority of the
faithful respond to these attacks against the Church?
There is no need to be afraid. The Lord has promised
that no power on earth can destroy the Church. For the
last two thousand years the Church has survived crises and
persecutions, outliving kings and emperors who tried to
destroy her.
In no way should this be seen as a struggle between the
Church and State. The Church should not be seen as an
institution defending its interest or asserting its power. It is
not a question of which one is more powerful. The Church

Faith and Culture
Cristina Montes
“A cold coming we had of
it, Just the worst time of the
year For a journey, and such
a long journey:”
THUS begins T.S. Eliot’s
famous poem, “The Journey
of the Magi”, which tells of
the difficulties the Magi had
to endure in their famous
journey to Bethlehem.
The story of the Magi
has always been one of my
favorite Gospel passages.
The journey of wise men
from far-off lands to adore
the Christ Child has fired up
my imagination since I was
young, especially after I’ve
watched that Gospel episode
depicted in Franco Zeferelli’s
Jesus of Nazareth, with its
rich Oriental details, the
background music evoking
exotic cultures, and then-
young James Earl Jones
playing Balthazar. As an
amateur astronomer myself,
I have been fascinated by the
idea of the Magi scanning the
On the trail of the Magi
sky and referring to their star
maps as a guide to what they
were seeing, the way I and my
fellow hobbyists do on dark
nights with clear skies.
The Gospels do not say how
many the Magi really were,
but tradition in the Western
world has it that there were
three, since the Gospels
mention that three gifts were
given to the Christ Child. In
medieval paintings, Melchior
has been depicted as an old
man, Balthazar as a middle-
aged man, and Caspar as a
young man. It has also been
customary to depict one of
them with Arabic features,
the second one as Greek,
and the third one as African.
Thus, the Magi have come to
symbolize all generations and
all peoples.
As expected, the Magi
have, through time, also been
associated with gift-giving—
but not just the gifts they
left to the Christ Child. In
Faith and Culture / A6
must be prepared to become a powerless, persecuted Church.
It is time for Catholics to make a choice: to remain members
of the Church or to obey the president (stop going to church,
build your own chapel, kill your bishops) - in other words,
join the Iglesia ni Duterte. The time for appeasing Duterte
is over. Dialogue with someone who intends to destroy the
Church is futile.
When it comes to cases of clerical abuse, the Church should
not be defensive or engage in cover up. Those who are guilty
of sexual abuse, financial anomalies, and corruption should
be held accountable. The prosecution of these cases will not
weaken the Church but rather purify and strengthen her. The
Church should continue her mission as prophet and humble
servant - speaking truth to power, promoting the Gospel
values of the sacredness of life, of justice and peace and of
compassion. The clergy should inspire the lay faithful to be
actively involved in the defense of life and human rights, in
the peaceful struggle against corruption and injustice, in
the work for the common good and the transformation of
society. The leaders of the Church, especially the bishops
and priests, should be prepared to act as compassionate and
Whisper from the Desert / A6
A6 LOCAL NEWS January 7 - 20, 2019 Vol. 23 No. 01 CBCP Monitor

Priests urged: Be a newscaster, writer of ‘God’s News’

“BE news writers and casters
in the world today.”
THIS is what Cubao Bishop
and Malolos Apostolic
Administrator Honesto
F. Ongtioco encouraged
some 200 priests present
at the Clergy Christmas
Thanksgiving Mass held at
St. Martin of Tours Parish
– Diocesan Shrine of Mahal
na Poon ng Krus sa Wawa in
this town.
“People like watching the
news [on] television because
they want to learn of what is
happening. The same goes for
us. We priests are called to be
like St. John. John was a very
good writer and newscaster.
As chosen by God we do not
only hear the Word being
given to us, we are called to
speak of it,” said the prelate at
the celebration, which was
hosted by the Vicariate of
St. Martin of Tours of the
diocese’s eastern district.
Ongtioco said priests will be
able to become “newscasters
and writers” only if they are
rooted in God. “We can only
become good newswriters
and newscasters for God if we
witness, hear and experience
God in our lives,” he said.
‘Fifth Gospel’
Challenging the priests, the
prelate said: “The way we live
our priesthood is how we are
able to write God’s News in
the hearts of each person we
serve.”
Ongtioco stressed that God
himself will give priests the
necessary grace to do so,
saying: “May God assist us
in writing the ‘fifth Gospel’,
meaning the Word of God
being lived by our own faith,
by our own life.”
He also stressed the harm
caused when priests lack
fidelity to their vocation. “…
If you are unfaithful to the
Gospel and your vocation,
that will affect the faithful.
We have to make them alive
in the faith!”
Trusting God
“Those who do not live
in God’s ways is a liar. We
could be liars even as priests
when we do not live our
commitments,” he added.
The prelate noted, however,
the importance of trusting Cubao Bishop and Malolos Apostolic Administrator Honesto Ongtioco celebrates a clergy Christmas
thanksgiving Mass at St. Martin of Tours Parish – Diocesan Shrine of Mahal na Poon ng Krus sa Wawa,
in God: “Yet what we could Bocaue, Bulacan, Dec. 27, 2018. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
always hold on to is to trust
God. Because despite our Pointing out priests’ role many troubles, violence, in our preaching and in our
failures, our shortcomings, i n t h e w o rl d , O ng t i o c o challenges, fake news, God’s brotherhood.” (Kendrick
whenever we choose God, said, “The world needs word is here. We need to Ivan Panganiban /
God fills us with love.” us. Because amidst the proclaim it with our lives, CBCPNews)

Wanted: 200k youth to save Marikina Watershed

AS part of the celebration of the
Year of the Youth, an ecological
advocate has been going around
dioceses on a mission to have at
least 200,000 young people sign
up to save the Marikina Watershed.
“We need to go beyond the
tarpaulins and formations from
one liturgical year to the next as we
prepare for the 500th anniversary
of Christianity in the country,” said
Fr. Benigno Beltran, SVD in Filipino
during a homily on Dec. 9 at the
Sacred Heart Parish of Kamuning
in this city.
“We need concrete action in
this Year of the Youth by branding
the youth stewards of the earth,”
he stressed, referring to the tree-
planting the youth will spearhead.
‘Go organic’
Drawing insights from the Gospel
that day about the faith of the
paralyzed man’s friends and how
“finding extraordinary means” to
get to Jesus healed him, the priest
said he has been seeking the help of
bishops and priests to “go organic.”
In this process, Beltran said, he is
also getting the bishops to volunteer
400 young people per diocese to
reach his goal.
According to him, Novaliches
Bishop Antonio Tobias and his
clergy have already agreed to
support the project. “Imagine that’s
71 parishes!” he exclaimed, adding
that the diocese will also send 400
youth to join the tree-planting in the
Marikina Watershed.
8k organic farmers
He underlined the need to care
for the Marikina Watershed that
has been neglected over the years.
According to Beltran, Bishop
Honesto Ongtioco has also expressed
support for the project. The Dioceses
of Cubao and Malolos, which he
oversees as its Administrator, will
soon have Sunday markets in the
parishes where people can buy
organic produce. He said Bishop
Francis of Antipolo has also recently
agreed to his proposal.
“Countless women have already
died to breast cancer because of
the food they eat that is laden
with chemicals, so we are doing
something about it through these
efforts,” he explained.
He revealed that he has already
organized the organic farmers in
Ecological advocate Fr. Benigno Beltran,
SVD is calling on young Filipinos to help
heal the Marikina Watershed by joining a
massive tree-planting as part of the Year
of the Youth. FR. BELTRAN’S FB ACCOUNT
the CALABARZON area to provide
the produce for the organic markets
he is proposing. Because of this,
he stressed, the Department of
Agriculture has now reached out
to him to seek his assistance in
organizing 8,000 organic farmers
in Region III. (Minnie Agdeppa
/ CBCPNews)
Faithful reminded: ‘Mary
is sign we can all be holy’
HOW “attainable” is holiness?
If you’ve ever wondered look no
further than Mary.
This was the gist of the
message of Cubao Bishop and
Malolos Apostolic Administrator
Honesto F. Ongtioco during a
recent Marian feast day.
“We must always remember
that our celebration of the
Solemnity of the Immaculate
Conception shows to us how
Mary is the sign of our hope.
She reveals to us how we should
hope for salvation. She gives
us inspiration to become holy
people,” said the prelate on Dec.
8, 2018 during the Immaculate
Conception Parish – Cathedral &
Minor Basilica and Immaculate
Conception Major Seminary
communities’ celebration of the
Solemnity of the Immaculate
Conception.
Malolos Vicar General Pablo
Legaspi, Jr., together with the
Cathedral Team Ministry, priests
from the Malolos Vicariate, and
the seminary fathers celebrated
the Misa Mayor celebration at
6:00 a.m.
“May we live out what Mary
shows to us. She shows to us
how to be like her Son, Our
Lord. May we do the same in
responding to the call of the
Lord for each one of us to be
like him,” said Ongtioco, who
elaborated on the 2018 fiesta
theme “MARIA: Buklod ng
Pagtugon sa Tawag ng Diyos.”
Besides the aforementioned,
the Immaculate Conception
is also the titular patroness
of four archdioceses namely:
Capiz, Ozamiz, Cotabato
and Zamboanga; five
dioceses, namely: Urdaneta,
Antipolo, Boac, Virac, and the
Apostolic Vicariate of Puerto
Princesa. (Kendrick Ivan
Panganiban / CBCPNews)

Candidly Speaking / A4 Editorial / A4

have to learn to have recourse
to spiritual and supernatural
means, like praying, making
sacrifices, learning how to do
ascetical struggle, availing of
the sacraments, etc.
We have to learn how to
be both serious and not too
serious, knowing that in this
life, no matter how much
we try, there will always be
surprises, disappointments,
setbacks, failures, etc. There are
things that are simply beyond
our control. And so we have to
learn how to accept them with
a good sense of humor.
Whisper from the Desert / A5
courageous good shepherds,
ready to offer their lives as
they prevent the slaughter
of the flock, especially the
poor. They must be ready
to embrace martyrdom if
necessary.
Meanwhile, instead of
engaging in a word war,
the Church should just
continue praying for Rodrigo
Duterte—that he will repent
and undergo conversion
after finally listening to
his conscience, that he will
Faith and Culture / A5
some countries, children
expect gifts from the Magi
instead of from Santa Claus.
When I was living in Spain,
I witnessed children and
even adults looking forward
to receiving their regalos de
Reyes, and malls advertising
shopping deals as such. Here
in the Philippines, due to
the influences of both Spain
and the U.S., children, after
having expected gifts from
Santa Claus during Christmas
eve, also expect the Magi to
leave money in their shoes
on the eve of the feast of the
Epiphany.
By the time this article
sees print, the feast of the
Epiphany would have just
been over. But this is no
God is always in full control
of things, no matter how
we and the devil mess up
things. Even in our worst
predicament, he can always
derive something good. As
long as we are at least open to
his will, even if we don’t fully
get it or understand it, there
is always hope, because he is
a Father to us who will always
take care of us, especially in
our weak and bad moments.
Let’s just try our best that
with all the benefits of hope, we
do God’s will as fully, faithfully
and lovingly as possible.
experience inner healing,
that he will reconcile with
the Church into which he
was baptized, that he will
become compassionate, that
he will fulfill his promises,
that he will make amends
for whatever wrongs he has
committed, that he will be
ready to face judgment from
either the International
Criminal Court or the Divine
Judge whom he called stupid.
And when the time comes, let
him rest in peace. Amen.
reason to stop following the
trail of the Magi. This line by
T.S. Eliot which I quoted at
the beginning describes not
only the sacrifices the Magi
made for the journey, but
also that they came back from
the journey changed. Despite
the grave tone with which
the poem ends, there is also
a sense that the change was
for the better.
Indeed, following the trail
of the Magi who searched for
Christ with sincere hearts
and earnest efforts, who were
rewarded in their search,
and who gave Him precious
gifts can only change us for
the better. For God rewards
everyone who sincerely seeks
Him.
that we should try to monitor done again. There is nothing know the happenings there.
as closely as possible and new under the sun.” (1,9) We should have the proper
make the necessary adaptation Just the same, we also attitude regarding this need, and
and innovation. Thus, we know that things vary and start developing the proper skills.
should also do some kind of change from time to time, We have to be guarded though
exploration so that we would producing what may appear from the strong possibility of
know what are happening in as new things. It is in these getting entangled in distractions
the world as we go along. variations and changes that and even temptations that can
We are told that there is we should try our best to appear irresistible.
actually nothing new under cope, to adapt and to make It is reported that many
the sun, since God is in control some innovations as a people are hooked to the social
of everything and things are consequence. Nowadays, media because of “constant
determined by their nature. we are quite privileged since psychological boosts” they
Even in our case, with our we can now avail of the new get from it, and these boosts
power to go against our technologies that are a big are not necessarily motivated
nature, things are still in help in this task of exploration from the proper spirit of love.
God’s control. As the book and monitoring. With Google They appear more animated
of Ecclesiastes would put it, and the social media, we by egoism, vanity, narcissism
“What has been will be again, can easily get in touch with and the like. So it can happen
what has been done will be people in far-away places and that instead of having a good
And That’s the Truth / A4
There’s a place in Tuba, Benguet An author (whose name I forget) once
that perfectly fills that aching need for wrote that silence moves him to talk to
solitude—a “house of prayer” that sits the trees and the sky and they answer
on a one-hectare lot on a hilltop, at the by the “the trembling of the leaves and
end of the only road that cuts through the movement of the clouds.” There,
a minuscule subdivision called “Carmel no one will stop you from talking to the
Heights.” At 5,300 feet above sea level— shrubbery and getting answers from the
higher than Baguio City—the property flowers. As of last count, 23 different
gives you a 360-degree view of the valleys flowering plants grow on the property—a
below and the hills beyond. On a clear day few cultivated, the rest deliciously wild—
you can see La Union Bay, but every day, like the land, which is pretty much left in
rain or shine, for a couple of hours or so, the merciful hands of the Creator.
fog envelops the hilltop and blinds you— When Creator and creation collaborate,
like when you’re on a plane that’s gliding the outcome is wondrously fulfilling.
through the clouds—and that’s how nature In keeping with the spirit of austerity
there pulls you into nothingness. that is the foundation of a rich interior
Out there, silence and solitude engulfs life, nothing luxurious or superfluous is
you gently because the nearest neighbor kept in that retreat house. All pieces of
is about 250 meters down the road, and furniture are donations, and used until
the only man-made structures in that they disintegrate; beds are simple, and so
whole hectare are the house and the are the wooden pews with bare kneelers in
Way of the Cross that winds along the the chapel—and yet they let you experience
periphery and ends at the foot of the better sleep and deeper prayer. Books are
six-meter high cross that’s visible from donations, too, but handpicked to allow
the highway below. Because it was built you acquaintance with the Desert Fathers,
by Secular Discalced Carmelites as a the Saints and Doctors of the Church,
retreat house, it has carefully preserved and of course, the Big Three: Jesus, Mary
its spirit of detachment through the and Joseph. Retreatants claim they are
decades by remaining untouched by amazed they can easily detox and detach
telephone lines, radio, television, and there, realizing they can actually live
internet—something truly appreciated without eat-all-you-can buffets, Facebook
by those seeking liberation from gadgets or Probinsiyano, after all. But how, pray
and alone-time with God. Thus, except tell, could you miss man-made pleasures
for bird calls at sunrise waking you when God-made beauty is opening the
up for Mass, the place is so silent that eyes you never thought you had? It is
you could almost hear the grass grow. sheer wonder to take in the beauty of a
view and monitoring of
developments around the
world, one is only reinforcing
what he wants to see and
know. He becomes more
subjective than objective. He
will surely miss the target.
With this problem at the get-go
of the task, the succeeding stages
of adaptation and innovation
would be gravely compromised.
The only counter-measure for
this is for one to be truly a man
of God. That’s when he can
become more objective, more
discerning, more able to say
no to distractions. Otherwise,
he would just be at the mercy
of his passions, biases and
preferences.
black cross silhouetted against a blazing
red sunset sky and see Jesus rising from
it. The fleecy clouds in the fierce sunlight
morph into menacing shapes in the purple
haze of evening, turning the sky into a
battleground for good and evil. Indeed,
the raw beauty of the place inspires
creativity and fills you with anticipation
for the unknown. Even at night in a raging
storm, when you’re alone there groping
for a candle in pitch darkness, you are
fearless, knowing you are loved by the
Unknowable.
So, what is the name of that place?
The Address? And how do you find it?
It’s odd that we have kept it nameless all
these years, only fondly referring to it as
our “house of prayer”. Nor does it have an
address to help the postman—or Google’s
map makers. But Google can help if you
search for “Carmel of the Most Holy
Trinity Monastery Benguet”, home of our
Discalced Carmelite cloistered nuns, and
where we walk down to for daily Mass.
Trace the road to its hilltop end and there
you’ll find our nameless house of prayer,
glorious in its isolation. If that dot in the
map whispers to you “Meet me, know me,
love me…” just let us know by emailing
teresa.de.manila@gmail.com. Our door is
open to all. A truth is hidden in Aristotle’s
words “Whoever is delighted in solitude is
either a wild beast or a god”—but we hope
that in our house of prayer on Carmel
Heights, the riddle may lead you to your
own mystery. And that’s the truth.
CBCP Monitor January 7 - 20, 2019 Vol. 23 No. 01 DIOCESAN NEWS A7

Mindanao churchmen warn against spreading terror rumors

SOUTH COTABATO— Church
leaders in the southern Philippines
have warned against whipping
up fear by spreading unfounded
rumors of an alleged terror plot
ahead of this month’s plebiscite
on the creation of an autonomous
Muslim region.
Cardinal Orlando Quevedo of
Cotabato appealed for calm on Jan.
8 after rumors spread on social
media about armed men supposedly
planning to attack the city.
An air of uncertainty and fear still
lingers in the city following a New
Year’s Eve bomb explosion outside
a shopping center that killed two
people and wounded more than 30
others.
“Do not allow fear to reign over
us. Let us be calm,” said Cardinal
Quevedo in an address broadcast
on a Catholic radio station to the
region.
The prelate called on those who
received unverified information
to immediately report it to
authorities instead of posting it
on social media.
Father Eliseo Mercado Jr., an
Oblate missionary priest who once
acted as peace negotiator with Moro
rebels, also appealed for sobriety
ahead of the plebiscite.
“Whether we are for or against
inclusion [in the Muslim region],
we must not forget that we are
all united and stakeholders in
the peace and development of
Mindanao,” said the priest.
Mayor Cynthia Guiani-Sayadi
of Cotabato assured that the
authorities were “doing their best
to protect the city.”
“Do not let fear overwhelm us
because the law is on our side,” she
said.
The Commission on Elections
announced on Jan. 7 that the
plebiscite for the ratification of the
Bangsamoro Organic Law would
take place on Jan. 21 in areas under
the Autonomous Region in Muslim
Mindanao, including the cities of
Isabela in Basilan province and
Cotabato.
Those residing in the province of
Lanao del Norte except Iligan City
and six North Cotabato towns will
vote on Feb. 6.
At least 2.8 million voters are
expected to cast their votes in the
plebiscite.
The new autonomous region, if
accepted, will replace the current
Autonomous Region in Muslim
Mindanao.
A Bangsamoro parliament, whose
members will be elected by the
region’s residents, will govern the
new Muslim region. (Bong S.
Sarmiento/UCAN) Cardinal Orlando Quevedo, Apostolic Administrator of Cotabato. FILE PHOTO

Diocese promotes 11 young saints for ‘Year of Youth’ AntiChrists / A1

in crude language. matter. Respect girls and

As part of the celebration of the Year of the Youth, the Malolos Diocesan Commission on Liturgy (DCL) has been promoting eleven youth saints
as examples of Catholic virtue. DOEL PETER PAUL ALVAREZ
MALOLOS CITY, Bulacan— Kicking
off during the Simbang Gabi or the
traditional novena in preparation for
Christmas Day, the Malolos Diocesan
Commission on Liturgy (DCL) has
been promoting eleven youth saints as
examples of Catholic virtue, especially in
line with the Church in the Philippines’
celebration of the Year of the Youth.
Young yet holy
DCL Consultant and Northern District
Episcopal Vicar Msgr. Andres S. Valera
explained that these saints were chosen,
“because of the virtues they exemplified
as young saints, which we want the
youth in our diocese to imbibe.”
According to the St. Augustine parish
priest and “Itanong mo kung Bakit?”
Video Series host, the commission chose
eleven saints to promote starting on
Dec. 15, 2018, which has become a usual
celebration of Simbang Gabi in some
barrio chapels in the parishes. The saints
were also specially highlighted during
the nine succeeding days from Dec. 16
to 23, and two for both the morning and
evening Masses on Dec. 24.
The saints are the following:
• St. Dominic Savio
• Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati
• St. Therese of the Child Jesus
• St. Maria Goretti
• St. Pedro Calungsod
• La Niña Maria
• St. Tarcisius
• St. Jose Luis Sanchez del Rio
• St. Aloysius Gonzaga
• Young St. John the Baptist
• St. Stanislaus Kostka
Not too young to be holy
This list of saints presents a variety
of vocations among young people.
St. Dominic Savio is the patron saint
of choirboys. Savio was an Italian
adolescent student of St. John Bosco.
He was studying to be a priest when he
fell ill and died at the age of 14.
Bl. Pier Giorgo Frassati, patron saint
of youth groups, was an Italian Roman
Catholic social activist and a member
of the Third Order of Saint Dominic
who joined several youth groups such
as Catholic Social Action and other
Catholic charities that helped the poor.
St. Therese of the Child Jesus, patron
saint of missions, was a French Carmelite
nun known as “the Little Flower.” She
comes from a family of saints with her
mother and father, Louis and Zelie
Martin, canonized in 2015. Her sisters
Marie, Pauline, Leonie, and Celine were
all nuns and are on the path to sainthood
as well. She promoted the “little way” or
doing small things with great love as a
path to holiness.
St. Maria Gorretti, patron saint of
teenage girls, was an Italian virgin and
martyr who refused to submit to a young
man’s sexual advances and who forgave
him for killing her.
From catechists to martyrs
St. Pedro Calungsod, the patron saint
of Filipino Catholic youth, migrants
and catechists, was a Visayan migrant,
sacristan, missionary catechist, and aid
to Jesuit Fr. Diego Luis de San Vitores
who was killed in Guam by Chamoros.
La Niña Maria is the young Virgin
Mary, under the care of Sts. Anne and
Joachim, her parents.
St. Tarcisius, patron saint of altar
servers and first communicants, was
an early Christian Church martyr, who
according to Pope St. Damasus I, was
stoned by a crowd while carrying the
Blessed Sacrament, and was beaten to
death.
St. Jose Luis Sanchez del Rio, patron
saint of persecuted Christians, was a
young Mexican Cristero who was put to
death by government officials because
he refused to renounce his faith during
a time of anti-Catholic propaganda and
violence in a Catholic country.
St. Aloysius Gonzaga, patron saint of
the youth and AIDS patients, was an
Italian aristocrat who joined the Jesuits,
giving up his nobility and inheritance to
follow Christ’s path. Despite being sickly,
he continued in his vocation to become a
priest and helped the poor and the sick.
The young St. John the Baptist is
featured in light of his jumping for joy in
the womb of his mother Elizabeth during
her meeting with the Blessed Virgin who
was pregnant with Jesus.
A Filipino tradition
St. Stanislaus Kostka, patron saint
of students, was a Polish Jesuit novice
who despite the refusal of his brother to
enter the congregation, became one of
the most renowned pious Jesuit youth
who helped the needy during his time.
In St. Ildephonse of Toledo Parish
in Guiguinto, Bulacan, they added on
Christmas, Dec. 25, 2018, St. Josephine
Bakhita, a Canossian nun who fought
against racism and slavery in Africa.
The Simbang Gabi tradition has been
a practice of the Catholic Church in the
Philippines since the Spanish period.
Through an indult or special permission
from the Holy See, the Gloria could be
sung in these novena Masses and the
white liturgical color is used over the
violet color of Advent. (Kendrick Ivan
B. Panganiban/CBCP News)
The president also mocked
the concept of original sin.
Most recently, ridiculed the
Christian doctrine of the Holy
Trinity, calling it “silly”.
His outbursts often got
him into trouble but he
has remained unfazed and
continued to attack the
bishops and threaten his
critics.
Duterte, who claimed to
have been molested by a
priest while a teenager, called
on the Catholic hierarchy not
use religion to criticize him.
Villegas told his grandson
to never disrespect the name
of God and always treat
women with respect.
“They who call God stupid
is antiChrist,” he said. “Pray
for these people but do not
imitate them. Respect them
as elders but do not follow
their bad example.”
“Rape is not a joke.
Immodesty is not laughing
Devotee / A1
The Black Nazarene arrives at the doorstep of San Sebastian Church
at around 10:45pm on Wednesday for the traditional “Dungaw”. It
commemorates the Blessed Mother’s encounter with the suffering Christ
on His way to Calvary. RON RAMOS/CBCPNEWS
it is questioned if that is
right and important—being
a devotee,” the cardinal said.
“But only devotees will
understand it. If you’re not
a devotee you’re going to
question it,” he added.
About 2 million devotees
joined this year’s “traslacion”
which commemorates the
transfer of the image from
its old home in Intramuros
to Quiapo Church.
After a 21-hour procession,
the image entered the church
at around 2:21am on Jan. 10.
“This year’s Traslacion
is almost an hour shorter,”
said Quiapo Church Rector
Msgr. Hernando “Ding”
Coronel.
Power / A1
women always. You have
no excuse to abuse women
specially the poor women,”
he added.
While urging his grandson
to avoid illegal drugs, the
prelate urged him not to
believe those who offer killing
as a solution.
“People who kill and
people who coax others to
kill are antiGod. They are
antiChrist. Christ came to
give us new life, eternal life,”
Villegas also said.
Duterte, who claimed to
have been molested by a
priest while a teenager, called
on the Catholic hierarchy not
use religion to criticize him.
Finally, Villegas asked his
godson to respect the pope
and other church leaders and
“be a loyal son of the Church.”
“We are not spotless like
angels but in our weaknesses,
God still uses us for His
mission,” he said.
But Colonel said what is
more important than the
number of crowd and the
length of the procession
is the meaning of the
activity.
“It was orderly, safe,
and meaningful as there
were many testimonies and
discourses of the people’s
experiences about Jesus
Christ the Nazarene,” he
said.
No deaths were reported
but the chaotic crowds led
to more than 700 people
suffering injuries ranging
from having difficulty in
breathing to fainting
spells. (Roy Lagarde /
CBCPNews)

By the Roadside / A5
of the same Word. Again the
Master himself tells us that
the glory of his Mom is not
only that she had given him
birth and nurture, something
you and I can hardly replicate.
Nay, her real commonality
with us, aside from a common
humanity, is her discipleship.
To a woman in the crowd who
praised his mother by saying
“blessed is the womb that bore
you and the breasts that nursed
you”, Jesus replies, “Yes, but,
moreover, blessed are those
who hear the Word of God and
keep it” (Lk 11:27-28). This
allows us a fuller view of the
Mother of Jesus who, Jesus
being God’s Son, is certainly the
Mother of God.
I may be accused of trying
to impose a Christian bias
or mindset, if you will, on
the largely secular project
called newness. Perhaps.
But that precisely reveals
the inherent weakness of
our individual (such as one’s
new year’s resolutions) or
collective (such as political
platforms for change) efforts
at newness—they are largely
secular in orientation,
resources and direction.
The problem is not that we
have had too little human
effort; the problem is that
even the greatest human
effort is never enough. Is
it too surprising that after
thousands of years of human
effort, nations, especially
like ours, have leaders that
hark back to the dark ages
of strongman politics that
does not hesitate to trample
underfoot human dignity
and human rights for the
sake of social change? How
explain the prevalence of
leaders that are reminiscent
of history’s horrific chapters
of hatred, barbaric bigotry
and international narcissism
rather than more enlightened
future civilizations of
understanding, solidarity,
social justice, shared
prosperity and peace? What
kind of newness have we
come into when it translates
into people alienating people
who themselves desire to
belong to one another? Is
civilization being advanced
and security truly promoted
by walls of mistrust rather
than by bridges of dialogue
and collaboration?
The Master does not think
in maxims and methodologies
too complicated for the least
and lost to comprehend. He
has a simple recipe for our
part in the pursuit of newness:
“The time of fulfilment has
come. The kingdom of heaven
is at hand. Repent and believe
in the Good News!” (Mk 1:15).
Has he, in so doing,
unwrapped for us the secret
to “Happy” and “New” in
every year?
“He ordered the slaughter
of children, hoping that one
of them was Jesus,” said the
priest.
‘Earliest victims’
The children who were
killed by Herod were one of
the “earliest victims” of man’s
greed for power, added Mozura.
In his bid to consolidate his
claim on the throne, Herod
also resorted to deception,
he said. He tried to fool the
three wise men by asking
them to inform him of the
whereabouts of the Messiah
so he could also worship him.
But his true intention was to
send his men to kill the baby.
Fake news & murder
Some leaders today also
use deception and violence,
abusing their authority to
keep themselves in power,
a netizen observed.
“Millions of pesos were
spent on fake news during
the 2016 elections campaign
period to deceive voters,”
said Jeston Mercado, an
entrepreneur.
The today’s leaders also
use their power to persecute
people and fellow leaders
who oppose their agenda, he
added.
“Worst, they attack
religion and God to justify
their actions,” Mercado
said. “They even killed
priests who spoke against
abuses and corruptions.”
(Oliver Samson /
CBCPNews)
A8 PEOPLE, FACTS, AND PLACES
Pope appoints new bishop
of San Jose de Antique
POPE Francis has appointed
on Jan. 7 Monsignor Marvyn
Maceda as the new bishop of
the Diocese of San Jose de
Antique.
Maceda, 49, becomes the
first bishop from Naval
which was created a diocese
in 1988.
He succeeds now
Archbishop Jose Romeo Lazo
who was appointed to head
the Archdiocese of Jaro in
February 2018.
The bishop-elect took his
philosophical studies at the
Sacred Heart Seminary in
Palo, Leyte, and his theology
at the San Jose Seminary
in the Ateneo de Manila
University.
He was ordained a priest
for the Naval diocese on May
29, 1996.
Bishop-elect Marvyn Maceda of San Jose de Antique
Among his first
assignments were as financial administrator and
parish priest at Our Lady chancellor.
of Mount Carmel Mission, From 2000 to 2010, he
Diocesan Director for the was priest in charge St. Roch
Youth, while performing Mission Chapel and then of
the functions as diocesan Our Lady of the Immaculate
Filipinos set to attend World Youth Day
Pope Francis passes near to a group of Filipino pilgrims waving a Philippine flag during the 2016 World Youth Day in Poland. ROY LAGARDE
AT least 70 young Filipinos, including
some priests and bishops, are set to
attend this year’s World Youth Day
celebrations in Panama from Jan. 22
to 27.
However, many more are expected
to register before the big event begins
in the Central American country later
this month.
Father Conegundo Garganta,
executive secretary of the Episcopal
Commission on Youth of the bishops’
conference, said at least 70 youth
pilgrims have registered for the event.
Conception Mission Chapel
in Naval.
He also participated in the
diocesan group of formation
of the Basic Ecclesial
Community (BEC), of which
“There are still other groups that have
yet to send the names of their delegates,”
he said.
He estimated that there would be at
least 250 Filipino delegates attending
the international gathering.
This year, World Youth Day coincides
with the Year of the Youth in the
Philippines.
The special year was declared by the
country’s bishops’ conference as part
of preparations to mark the 500th
anniversary of the arrival of Christianity
in the Philippines in 1521.
he was the diocesan director
from 2006 to 2010.
In 2010 to 2011, he went on
sabbatical leave at Our Lady
of the Philippines Trappist
Monastery, in San Miguel,
Jordan, Guimaras.
Back in Naval, from 2011
to 2017, he was moderator
of the group of ordained
ministers at the Our Lady of
the Immaculate Conception
parish and Pastoral Director
of the BEC.
He also served as Vicar
General of Naval and became
member of the Presbyteral
Council and Board of
Consultors.
Upon his appointment,
Maceda has been serving
as Director of the Naval
diocese’s Commission on
Clergy.
With his new assignment,
Maceda becomes the fifth
bishop of San Jose de
Antique with about 54 priests
and more than 80 religious
w o me n in 2 5 p ari s h e s .
(CBCP News)
St. Pope John Paul II, who was from
Poland, established World Youth Day
in 1985.
The first event was held in Rome in
1986. Since then it has been staged in
various cities throughout the world,
typically every three years.
Among the Filipino church leaders
who will be attending the international
gathering this year are Bishops Daniel
Patrick Parcon of Talibon, Patrick
Buzon of Bacolod, Antonio Tobias of
Novaliches, and Cardinal Luis Antonio
Tagle of Manila. (Joe Torres/UCAN)
January 7 - 20, 2019 Vol. 23 No. 01
Pope names new
bishop of Daet
Bishop-elect Rex Andrew Alarcon of Daet
POPE Francis has appointed
Fr. Rex Andrew Alarcon as
the new bishop of the Diocese
of Daet in Camarines Norte.
The appointment was made
at the Vatican on Wednesday,
Jan. 2, at 12 noon (7:00pm,
Manila time).
Alarcon, 47, will be the
fourth bishop of the diocese,
succeeding Archbishop
Gilbert Garcera.
The diocese has been
without a bishop since last
April 2017 when Garcera
was installed as archbishop
of Lipa in Batangas.
Born in Daet, Alarcon took
his philosophy at the Holy
Rosary Major Seminary in
Naga City and his theology
at the University of Santo
Tomas in Manila.
He was ordained a priest for
the Archdiocese of Caceres on
Nov. 9, 1996.
From 1996 to 1997, he was
parish vicar in the parish of
Devotees, bearing the miraculous images of the Sto. Nino de Cebu,
gather at the courtyard of the Basilica Minore del Sto. Nino on Jan.
10 to hear the first novena mass, marking the start of the 454th
Fiesta Señor celebration. PHOTO COURTESY OF DYRF
Pope names administrator for Jolo
POPE Francis has appointed
Fr. Rex Andrew Alarcon as
the new bishop of the Diocese
of Daet in Camarines Norte.
The appointment was made
at the Vatican on Wednesday,
Jan. 2, at 12 noon (7:00pm,
Manila time).
Alarcon, 47, will be the
fourth bishop of the diocese,
succeeding Archbishop
Gilbert Garcera.
The diocese has been
without a bishop since last
April 2017 when Garcera
was installed as archbishop
of Lipa in Batangas.
Born in Daet, Alarcon took
his philosophy at the Holy
Rosary Major Seminary in
Naga City and his theology
at the University of Santo
Tomas in Manila.
He was ordained a priest for
the Archdiocese of Caceres on
Nov. 9, 1996.
From 1996 to 1997, he was
parish vicar in the parish of
Saint John the Evangelist
in Naga and educator at the
minor seminary.
In 1997, he served as private
secretary to the archbishop
until 1999 when he went for
study abroad.
In 2001, he obtained his
licentiate in Church history
CBCP Monitor
Saint John the Evangelist
in Naga and educator at the
minor seminary.
In 1997, he served as private
secretary to the archbishop
until 1999 when he went for
study abroad.
In 2001, he obtained his
licentiate in Church history
at Pontifical Gregorian
University in Rome, Italy.
Returning home from
Rome, he became a lecturer
at the Holy Rosary seminary;
from 2002, director of the
stewardship program of the
Caceres archdioces and,
since 2007, superintendent
of the Naga Parish School
and president of the Catholic
Association of Education.
Since 2013 he has held the
office of superintendent of the
Catholic schools of Caceres,
member of the college of
consultors, and spokesman
for the same archdiocese.
(CBCP News)
Fr. Romeo Saniel, OMI, newly
appointed Apostolic Adminstrator
of Jolo
at Pont i f i c al Gre g o ri an
University in Rome, Italy.
Returning home from
Rome, he became a lecturer
at the Holy Rosary seminary;
from 2002, director of the
stewardship program of the
Caceres archdioces and,
since 2007, superintendent
of the Naga Parish School
and president of the Catholic
Association of Education.
Since 2013 he has held the
office of superintendent of the
Catholic schools of Caceres,
member of the college of
consultors, and spokesman
for the same archdiocese.
(CBCP News)
CBCP Monitor January 7 - 20, 2019 Vol. 23 No. 1
Good politics is at the service of peace
Message of His Holiness Pope Francis for the celebration of the 52nd World Day of Peace, 1 January 2019
Pope Francis leads the Angelus from the window of his studio overlooking St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican Jan. 1, the feast of Mary, Mother of God. PAUL HARING/CNS
1. “Peace be to this house!”
In sending his disciples forth on mission,
Jesus told them: “Whatever house you enter,
first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ And if a
son of peace is there, your peace shall rest
upon him; but if not, it shall return to you”
(Lk 10:5-6).
Bringing peace is central to the mission of
Christ’s disciples. That peace is offered to all
those men and women who long for peace
amid the tragedies and violence that mark
human history.[1]The “house” of which Jesus
speaks is every family, community, country
and continent, in all their diversity and
history. It is first and foremost each individual
person, without distinction or discrimination.
But it is also our “common home”: the world
in which God has placed us and which we are
called to care for and cultivate.
So let this be my greeting at the beginning of
the New Year: “Peace be to this house!”
2. The challenge of good politics
Peace is like the hope which the poet Charles
Péguy celebrated.[2] It is like a delicate flower
struggling to blossom on the stony ground of
violence. We know that the thirst for power
at any price leads to abuses and injustice.
Politics is an essential means of building
human community and institutions, but
when political life is not seen as a form of
service to society as a whole, it can become
a means of oppression, marginalization and
even destruction.
Jesus tells us that, “if anyone would be
first, he must be last of all and servant of all”
(Mk 9:35). In the words of Pope Paul VI, “to
take politics seriously at its different levels—
local, regional, national and worldwide—is
to affirm the duty of each individual to
acknowledge the reality and value of the
freedom offered him to work at one and the
same time for the good of the city, the nation
and all mankind”.[3]
Political office and political responsibility thus
constantly challenge those called to the service
of their country to make every effort to protect
those who live there and to create the conditions
for a worthy and just future. If exercised with
basic respect for the life, freedom and dignity
of persons, political life can indeed become an
outstanding form of charity.
3.  Charity and human virtues: the
basis of politics at the service of human
rights and peace
Pope  Benedict XVI noted that “every
Christian is called to practice charity in a
manner corresponding to his vocation and
according to the degree of influence he wields
in the pólis… When animated by charity,
commitment to the common good has greater
worth than a merely secular and political stand
would have… Man’s earthly activity, when
inspired and sustained by charity, contributes
to the building of the universal city of God,
which is the goal of the history of the human
family”.[4] This is a programme on which all
politicians, whatever their culture or religion,
can agree, if they wish to work together for the
good of the human family and to practise those
human virtues that sustain all sound political
activity: justice, equality, mutual respect,
sincerity, honesty, fidelity.
In this regard, it may be helpful to recall the
“Beatitudes of the Politician”, proposed by
Vietnamese Cardinal François-Xavier Nguyễn
Vãn Thuận, a faithful witness to the Gospel
who died in 2002:
Blessed be the politician with a lofty sense and
deep understanding of his role.
Blessed be the politician who personally
exemplifies credibility.
Blessed be the politician who works for the
common good and not his or her own interest.
Blessed be the politician who remains
consistent.
Blessed be the politician who works for unity.
Blessed be the politician who works to
accomplish radical change.
Blessed be the politician who is capable of
listening.
Blessed be the politician who is without fear.[5]
Every election and re-election, and every
stage of public life, is an opportunity to
return to the original points of reference that
inspire justice and law. One thing is certain:
good politics is at the service of peace. It
respects and promotes fundamental human
rights, which are at the same time mutual
obligations, enabling a bond of trust and
gratitude to be forged between present and
future generations.
4. Political vices
Sadly, together with its virtues, politics also
has its share of vices, whether due to personal
incompetence or to flaws in the system and its
institutions. Clearly, these vices detract from
the credibility of political life overall, as well
as the authority, decisions and actions of those
engaged in it. These vices, which undermine
the ideal of an authentic democracy, bring
disgrace to public life and threaten social
harmony. We think of corruption in its
varied forms: the misappropriation of public
resources, the exploitation of individuals, the
denial of rights, the flouting of community
rules, dishonest gain, the justification of power
by force or the arbitrary appeal to  raison
d’état and the refusal to relinquish power. To
which we can add xenophobia, racism, lack
of concern for the natural environment, the
plundering of natural resources for the sake
of quick profit and contempt for those forced
into exile.
5.  Good politics promotes the
participation of the young and trust
in others
When the exercise of political power
aims only at protecting the interests of a
few privileged individuals, the future is
compromised and young people can be
tempted to lose confidence, since they are
relegated to the margins of society without
the possibility of helping to build the future.
But when politics concretely fosters the talents
of young people and their aspirations, peace
grows in their outlook and on their faces. It
becomes a confident assurance that says, “I
trust you and with you I believe” that we can all
work together for the common good. Politics is
at the service of peace if it finds expression in
the recognition of the gifts and abilities of each
individual. “What could be more beautiful
than an outstretched hand? It was meant by
God to offer and to receive. God did not want
it to kill (cf. Gen 4:1ff) or to inflict suffering,
but to offer care and help in life. Together with
our heart and our intelligence, our hands too
can become a means of dialogue”.[6]
Everyone can contribute his or her stone
to help build the common home. Authentic
political life, grounded in law and in frank and
fair relations between individuals, experiences
renewal whenever we are convinced that
every woman, man and generation brings
the promise of new relational, intellectual,
cultural and spiritual energies. That kind of
trust is never easy to achieve, because human
relations are complex, especially in our own
times, marked by a climate of mistrust rooted
in the fear of others or of strangers, or anxiety
about one’s personal security. Sadly, it is
also seen at the political level, in attitudes
of rejection or forms of nationalism that
call into question the fraternity of which our
globalized world has such great need. Today
more than ever, our societies need “artisans of
peace” who can be messengers and authentic
witnesses of God the Father, who wills the
good and the happiness of the human family.
6. No to war and to the strategy of fear
A hundred years after the end of the
First World War, as we remember the
young people killed in those battles and the
civilian populations torn apart, we are more
conscious than ever of the terrible lesson
taught by fratricidal wars: peace can never
be reduced solely to a balance between
power and fear. To threaten others is to
lower them to the status of objects and to
deny their dignity. This is why we state once
more that an escalation of intimidation, and
the uncontrolled proliferation of arms, is
contrary to morality and the search for true
peace. Terror exerted over those who are
most vulnerable contributes to the exile of
entire populations who seek a place of peace.
Political addresses that tend to blame every
evil on migrants and to deprive the poor of
hope are unacceptable. Rather, there is a need
to reaffirm that peace is based on respect for
each person, whatever his or her background,
on respect for the law and the common good,
on respect for the environment entrusted to
our care and for the richness of the moral
tradition inherited from past generations.
Our thoughts turn in a particular way to
all those children currently living in areas of
conflict, and to all those who work to protect
their lives and defend their rights. One out of
every six children in our world is affected by
PASTORAL CONCERNS B1
the violence of war or its effects, even when
they are not enrolled as child soldiers or held
hostage by armed groups. The witness given
by those who work to defend them and their
dignity is most precious for the future of
humanity.
7. A great project of peace
In these days, we celebrate the seventieth
anniversary of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, adopted in the wake of the
Second World War. In this context, let us
also remember the observation of Pope John
XXIII: “Man’s awareness of his rights must
inevitably lead him to the recognition of his
duties. The possession of rights involves the
duty of implementing those rights, for they
are the expression of a man’s personal dignity.
And the possession of rights also involves their
recognition and respect by others”.[7]
Peace, in effect, is the fruit of a great political
project grounded in the mutual responsibility
and interdependence of human beings. But it
is also a challenge that demands to be taken
up ever anew. It entails a conversion of heart
and soul; it is both interior and communal;
and it has three inseparable aspects:
- peace with oneself, rejecting inflexibility,
anger and impatience; in the words of Saint
Francis de Sales, showing “a bit of sweetness
towards oneself” in order to offer “a bit of
sweetness to others”;
- peace with others: family members,
friends, strangers, the poor and the suffering,
being unafraid to encounter them and listen
to what they have to say;
- peace with all creation, rediscovering the
grandeur of God’s gift and our individual and
shared responsibility as inhabitants of this
world, citizens and builders of the future.
The politics of peace, conscious of and
deeply concerned for every situation of human
vulnerability, can always draw inspiration
from the Magnificat, the hymn that Mary,
the Mother of Christ the Savior and Queen of
Peace, sang in the name of all mankind: “He
has mercy on those who fear him in every
generation. He has shown the strength of
his arm; he has scattered the proud in their
conceit. He has cast down the mighty from
their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly; …for
he has remembered his promise of mercy, the
promise he made to our fathers, to Abraham
and his children for ever” (Lk 1:50-55).
From the Vatican, 8 December 2018
Francis
[1] Cf. Lk 2:14: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth
peace among men with whom he is pleased”.
[2] Cf. Le Porche du mystère de la deuxième vertu,
Paris, 1986.
[3]  Apostolic Letter  Octogesima Adveniens (14 May
1971), 46.
[4] Encyclical Letter Caritas in Veritate (29 June 2009), 7.
[5] Cf. Address at the “Civitas” Exhibition-Convention in
Padua: “30 Giorni”, no. 5, 2002.
[6] BENEDICT XVI, Address to the Authorities of Benin,
Cotonou, 19 November 2011.
[7] Encyclical Letter Pacem in Terris (11 April 1963), ed.
Carlen, 24.
B2 FEATURE January 7 - 20, 2019 Vol. 23 No. 1 CBCP Monitor

Pre-nuptial agreements
By Fr. Jaime B. Achacoso, J.C.D.

I am a Catholic priest. In a recent
marriage that I solemnized
outside Manila, the bride’s father
demanded that the Marriage
Contract contain an annotation
that a Pre-Nuptial Agreement
had been made (regarding real
estate properties that the bride
was inheriting from her parents),
and that such annotation be made
prior to the filing of such Marriage
Contract in the City Hall. Though
taken aback, since it was the first
time I encountered such a request,
I agreed, since it was too late to do
anything else. Did I do right?
THOUGH we had tackled this
matter in the past, enough time has
elapsed for us to need to touch on
it again.
In the case under consideration,
what saved the day for the canonical
marriage is the fact that there
are normally two marriages being
contracted when a so-called Church
wedding takes place: first and
foremost, the canonical marriage
(which is what we can comment
about) and the civil marriage (which
is what the Marriage Contract from
City Hall attests to, and about which
we shall not comment about for lack
of competence). Since the annotation
was made in the Marriage Contract
for the civil marriage—assuming
that such pre-nuptial agreements
are licit in the civil sphere—, then
there was absolutely no problem as
far as the canonical marriage was
concerned.
Nevertheless, it would be good
to comment on the incidence of
such pre-nuptial agreements on
the validity and/or licitude of
the canonical marriage, if such
agreement were really taken
formally by the spouses as part of
their matrimonial consent.
Conditioned matrimonial
consent in Canon Law
This matter is regulated in Canon
Law by c.1102, which states:
Can. 1102 — §1. Marriage based
on a condition concerning the future
cannot be contracted validly.
§2. Marriage based on a condition
concerning the past or the present
is valid or invalid, insofar as the
subject matter of the condition
exists or not.
§3. The condition mentioned in
§2 cannot be placed licitly without
the written permission of the Local
Ordinary.
As we had explained in the past,
matrimonial consent should in
principle not be subjected to any
condition, since by its very nature,
marriage implies a total acceptance
of the other in the actual moment
of the celebration of marriage.
However, under certain conditions,
such conditions may be permitted
by the competent authority.
As far as a condition concerning
the past are concerned, the validity
of the marriage contracted would
depend on whether or not the
condition is met or not—something
which can be verified at the moment
of marriage since the condition is
of the past; nevertheless, the Law
prohibits (under pain of illicitness
but not of invalidity) the placing of
such conditions without the written
permission of the Local Ordinary.
On the other hand, a condition
concerning the future invalidates the
marriage, since the condition—on
which the consent depends—still
does not exist at the moment of
celebrating the marriage.
Pre-nuptial agreements and
Canon Law
The so-called pre-nuptial
agreement, which of late
is becoming popular in some
Western countries, is still relatively
uncommon in the Philippines.
When it occurs—as in the present
case—it normally involves property
settlements—in the case of death of
one of the spouses, or the separation
of the spouses, or the declaration
of nullity of the marriage—and is
an issue exclusively in the sphere
of civil law. However, care should
be taken by the parish priest (or
the solemnizing priest) that such
a pre-nuptial agreement does
not in fact formally enter in the
formation of the consent given
in the celebration of a canonical
marriage:
1st: because if such a condition
involves property settlements
in the future, such a condition
invalidates the consent (and the
marriage), since it involves a
condition that does not yet exist
(c.1102, §1).
2 nd : because even if such a
condition involves something of
the past, it should not be allowed
without written permission of the
Local Ordinary (c.1102, §3), under
pain of illicitness.
Conclusion
From the tenor of the consultation,
it can safely be stated that the
canonical marriage was contracted
validly by the spouses, since the pre-
nuptial agreement was a purely civil A pair of wedding bands symbolizing the sacrament of marriage is depicted in a stained-glass window
instrument. at a church in Florida, USA. GREGORY A. SHEMITZ/CNS

Communion for non-celebrating priests

(Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy and dean of theology at the Regina Apostolorum university, answers the following query:)

PHOTO BY JOHANN MANGUSSAD

Q: May non-concelebrating priests
who are part of the congregation
receive directly from the ciborium
held by a priest distributing
Communion? If they are not allowed,
may I ask which document contains
the guidelines that forbid this?
Also, the GIRM guidelines say that
“a cross with the figure of Christ”
must be on the altar or close to it. If
it’s not on the altar, how close must
it be? If there is a large crucifix on
the back of the sanctuary, does that
count as “close” to the altar? Or what
if there’s a crucifix nearer to the
congregation than to the altar? I’d
appreciate an explanation. — M.S.,
Manila, Philippines
A: Our reader has asked two diverse
questions that might cover details
left out in earlier replies to similar
questions. My answers here are
necessarily approximative as current
liturgical norms do not specify
everything in detail and have to be
deduced from general principles.
The first question seems to be if
a non-concelebrating priest may
take Communion himself from the
ciborium and chalice in the manner
of concelebrants. The answer is
no. A non-concelebrant priest may
receive Communion under both
species but does so in the manner
of the faithful through a minister.
I remember observing Pope St.
John Paul II toward the end of his
pontificate receive Communion
from a deacon at a Mass he attended
but did not celebrate.
The missal foresees this in the
General Instruction of the Roman
Missal (GIRM):
“160. The Priest then takes the
paten or ciborium and approaches
the communicants, who usually
come up in procession. It is not
permitted for the faithful to take
the consecrated Bread or the sacred
chalice by themselves and, still less,
to hand them on from one to another
among themselves ….
“283. In addition to those
cases given in the ritual books,
Communion under both kinds is
permitted for:
“a) Priests who are not able to
celebrate or concelebrate Mass.”
The instruction Redemptionis
Sacramentum says:
“98. The Communion of Priest
concelebrants should proceed
according to the norms prescribed
in the liturgical books, always using
hosts consecrated at the same Mass
and always with Communion under
both kinds being received by all of
the concelebrants. It is to be noted
that if the Priest or Deacon hands
the sacred host or chalice to the
concelebrants, he says nothing; that
is to say, he does not pronounce the
words ‘The Body of Christ’ or ‘The
Blood of Christ.’”
The reason the deacon says
nothing is because the priest is
a concelebrant and therefore
the deacon is not, in this case,
ministering to the priest but fulfilling
a service for the agile communion of
priests in a large concelebration.
However, he would be a minister
in the case of a non-concelebrating
priest who was present at the Mass.
While there are no express norms
as to how close to the altar the
crucifix should be, there are several
norms which would indicate that
it should be clearly in relationship
with the altar.
The first option of having the
crucifix upon the altar is, obviously,
very close indeed and leaves no
doubt. Such a crucifix should,
however, be of sufficient dimensions
so that it can be seen by the faithful
and therefore should not be so small
as to be practically invisible. This
was Pope Benedict XVI’s preferred
solution.
Another valid option is to use
the processional cross as the altar
crucifix. In this case, it is usually
placed very close to one side or at
the center, no more than a few inches
distance from the altar itself.
In both cases above, the figure of
Christ faces the altar and not the
Communion / B7
CBCP Monitor
Praying bodies, dying bodies
By Fr. Daniel Franklin E. Pilario, CM
Devotees flock to the carriage of Black Nazarene during the annual Traslacion in Manila. PHOTO COURTESY OF LLOYD LAGARDE
I HAVE shared this reflection on
Facebook two years ago at the
height of Duterte’s War on Drugs
(January 9, 2017) when we were
helping bury 5 bodies almost every
week. As the Nazareno procession
goes winding along the streets of
Quiapo today (January 9, 2019), I
read the text again and the message
remains painfully the same. The
streets where the images travel are
the same streets where killings did
and continue to happen. Duterte
even in his recent speeches angrily
proclaim: “Papatayin ko talaga
kayo” (I will really kill you!). Just
before Christmas, several men were
gunned down in the streets of Cebu.
After this New Year, another man
fell in Payatas. And the people who
yearly cheer at the Nazareno and
Santo Niño as the images pass by are
mostly the same people who applaud
for Duterte in adulation. This is the
longest and most painful three years
I have ever felt in my life.  going on within the hearts of the
In the Quiapo procession of
the Black Nazarene are bodies—
sweating bodies next to each other,
rushing and pushing bodies—trying
to reach, wipe, wave at the passing
image which is also a body of the
Families of victims of extrajudicial killings join the Walk for Life in Manila. Feb. 24, 2018. FILE PHOTO
January 7 - 20, 2019 Vol. 23 No. 1
Reflection on the Nazareno and Santo Niño
suffering Jesus trying to stand up
from the unjust pain imposed on
him. Next week, at the Cebu or
Kalibo procession of the Santo Niño,
we will also see bodies—dancing
and singing bodies—also waving,
swaying to the drum beat in their
most sincere prayer deep in their
hearts uttering their deepest need
they could not express except in
dance and song to the child Jesus
whom they feel as most sensitive to
their utmost desire.
Beyond Fanaticism and
Opportunism
People from outside could not
understand. On the one side, we
hear voices of condemnation:
fanaticism, superstition, uncritical
devotion. On the other side, we
witness devotional commercialism,
touristic instrumentalism and
political opportunism at its best
seemingly oblivious to what is
participants. But regardless of
what outsiders say, the devotees
continue walking in the procession
rain or shine, from morning to the
next dawn – saying their prayers,
wiping their towels, waving their
handkerchiefs, lighting their candles
hoping that at the day’s end, a
problem will be solved, a sickness
will be cured, a relationship healed.
And even if these do not happen, one
gains some strength to continue to
survive and a hope that life shall be
bearable no matter how.
It is only people who have
experienced this for a long time who
know what this is all about. For these
people, there is no need to explain.
They keep coming here every year
and place their bodies on the line.
They believe. And no matter how
much you prevent them, they will
still come no matter what.
I met an 80-year old lady in
Quaipo who has been coming to
this place since she was 20years
old. She came alone despite the
warnings of her children. She knows
her way here and she feels it is the
safest place to be—despite the bomb
threat! She thinks she will get sick if
she does not come.
I have also talked to old women
gracefully dancing the Sinulog in
front of the Cebu Basilica year in
and year out—candles in hand and a
ready prayer for the one requesting.
If you are there for the first time, you
feel awkward to dance. But these
women can spontaneously utter
a prayer in the sincerest of their
hearts accompanied by graceful
steps because they have been doing
it the whole of their lives. And a
danced prayer is better heard by the
SantoNiño, they say.
Bodies and Habitus
As I was trying to make sense
of these powerful experiences, I
remember a sociologist by the name
of Pierre Bourdieu who talks about
habitus. Habitus are durable bodily
dispositions which we learn as
members of specific societies. We
are identified as members of specific
societies because of our habitus.
Since we are ‘born into the game’ of
our societies, we possess the ‘feel’
for it. We possess that capacity for
endless improvisation of taken for
granted practices which our society
taught us – the wiping, the dancing,
the believing. Only those who are
socialized into them can do and can
understand.
This sociological insight is
important to understand the events
in Quiapo, Sinulog, Ati-atihan,
Baclaran—and almost the whole
FEATURE B3
of Filipino popular Catholicism.
First, the ‘body’ is central, i.e., the
senses, corporeality and physical
presence. There is a need to kiss the
crucifix, to wipe the santo with one’s
handkerchief, to walk through the
procession despite the long route,
to bathe the image of the saint in
a fluvial parade to pray for rain, to
make the Sign of the Cross no matter
how hastily when one passes by a
church building or before one starts
a boxing match in the Las Vegas
arena, to kneel down or prostrate
oneself, to close one’s eyes, to wave
one’s hands and shout ‘Amen’! An
overly ‘mentalist’ or intellectualist
religion, at least in the context of
the many countries in the South,
could never survive. Even in the
West where these practices are long
gone, people still love to light candles
(not necessarily in the church) or
are quite charmed by the repetitious
rhythm of Taizé hymns.
Even the Left knows this: protest
rallies and mass mobilizations also
acknowledge the centrality of bodily
expressions, such as the ‘clenched
fist’, the linked-up arms, the one-
liner chants or the long marches. A
‘sea of protesting bodies’ conveys
the statement of dissent much more
powerfully than an intellectual
debate.
Durability and Improvisation
Second, since practices are
embodied, they are enduring and
stable (i.e., habitus). In fact, it is in
their durability that social agents
feel a sense of order and security
generated by their capacity to master
the game itself. But such permanence
does not connote a sense of stasis.
On the contrary, it is habitus’s
durably structured dispositions
which engender the capacity for
inventiveness and creativity. A ‘new
participant’ in the game is not yet
capable of improvisation. It is the
stable habitus alone which generates
the ‘feel for the game’.
What consequence has this point
for pastoral practice? People love to
go through the same practices year
in and year out: the same rituals, the
same processional routes, the same
meeting places, the same hymns
and gestures, etc. It may even cause
some sense of disorientation if they
are changed too often.
Yet the innovative value of
these regularities could not be
underestimated. A traditional
Marian procession can organically
spill over into a protest march
against Marcos’ martial law; a
repetitious chanting of the Pasyon
Praying / B7
B4 FEATURE January 7 - 20, 2019 Vol. 23 No. 1 CBCP Monitor

“Urbi et Orbi” Message of His Holiness Pope Francis

DEAR Brothers and Sisters, Happy
Christmas!
To you, the faithful of Rome, to
you, the pilgrims, and to all who
are linked to us from every part
of the world, I renew the joyous
proclamation of Bethlehem: “Glory
to God in the highest, and on
earth peace among those whom he
favours” (Lk 2:14).
Like the shepherds who first went
with haste to the stable, let us halt
in wonder before the sign that God
has given us: “A baby wrapped in
swaddling cloths and lying in a
manger” (Lk 2:12). In silence, let us
fall to our knees and worship.
What does that Child, born for us of
the Virgin Mary, have to tell us? What
is the universal message of Christmas?
It is that God is a good Father and we
are all brothers and sisters.
This truth is the basis of the
Christian vision of humanity. Without
the fraternity that Jesus Christ has
bestowed on us, our efforts for a
more just world fall short, and even
our best plans and projects risk being
soulless and empty.
For this reason, my wish for
a happy Christmas is a wish for
fraternity.
Fraternity among individuals of
every nation and culture.
Fraternity among people with
different ideas, yet capable of respecting
and listening to one another.
Fraternity among persons of
different religions. Jesus came to
reveal the face of God to all those
who seek him.
The face of God has been revealed
in a human face. It did not appear
in an angel, but in one man, born
in a specific time and place. By his
incarnation, the Son of God tells
us that salvation comes through
love, acceptance, respect for this
poor humanity of ours, which we
all share in a great variety of races,
languages, and cultures. Yet all
of us are brothers and sisters in
humanity!
Christmas 2018, Central Loggia of the Vatican Basilica, 25 December 2018
Pope Francis delivers his Christmas blessing “urbi et orbi” (to the city and the world) from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican Dec. 25.
VATICAN MEDIA
Our differences, then, are not
a detriment or a danger; they are
a source of richness. As when an
artist is about to make a mosaic: it
is better to have tiles of many colors
available, rather than just a few!
The experience of families teaches
us this: as brothers and sisters, we
are all different from each other.
We do not always agree, but there
is an unbreakable bond uniting us,
and the love of our parents helps
us to love one another. The same
is true for the larger human family,
but here, God is our “parent”, the
foundation and strength of our
fraternity.
May this Christmas help us to
rediscover the bonds of fraternity
linking us together as individuals
and joining all peoples. May it
enable Israelis and Palestinians to
resume dialogue and undertake a
journey of peace that can put an end
to a conflict that for over seventy
years has rent the land chosen by the
Lord to show his face of love.
May the Child Jesus allow the
beloved and beleaguered country
of Syria once again to find fraternity
after these long years of war. May
the international community work
decisively for a political solution that
can put aside divisions and partisan
interests, so that the Syrian people,
especially all those who were forced
to leave their own lands and seek
refuge elsewhere, can return to live
in peace in their own country.
My thoughts turn to Yemen, in
the hope that the truce brokered
by the international community
may finally bring relief to all those
children and people exhausted by
war and famine.
I think too of Africa, where millions
of persons are refugees or displaced
and in need of humanitarian
assistance and food security. May
the Holy Child, the King of Peace,
silence the clash of arms and allow
a new dawn of fraternity to rise
over the entire continent, blessing
the efforts of all those who work to
promote paths of reconciliation in
political and social life.
May Christmas consolidate the
bonds of fraternity uniting the Korean
peninsula and help the path of
rapprochement recently undertaken
to continue and to reach agreed
solutions capable of ensuring the
development and well-being of all.
May this blessed season allow
Venezuela once more to recover
social harmony and enable all
the members of society to work
fraternally for the country’s
development and to aid the most
vulnerable sectors of the population.
May the Newborn Lord bring
relief to the beloved land of Ukraine,
yearning to regain a lasting peace
that is slow to come. Only with
a peace respectful of the rights
of every nation can the country
recover from the sufferings it has
endured and restore dignified living
conditions for its citizens. I am close
to the Christian communities of the
region, and I pray that they may
develop relationships of fraternity
and friendship.
Before the Child Jesus, may the
inhabitants of beloved Nicaragua see
themselves once more as brothers
and sisters, so that divisions and
discord will not prevail, but all may
work to promote reconciliation and
to build together the future of the
country.
I want to mention, too, all those
peoples that experience ideological,
cultural and economic forms of
colonization and see their freedom
and identity compromised, as well
as those suffering from hunger and
the lack of educational and health
care services.
A particular thought goes to our
brothers and sisters who celebrate
the Birth of the Lord in difficult,
if not hostile situations, especially
where the Christian community is
a minority, often vulnerable or not
taken into account. May the Lord
grant that they, and all minorities,
may live in peace and see their rights
recognized, especially the right to
religious freedom.
May the little Child whom we
contemplate today in the manger,
in the cold of the night, watch over
all the children of the world, and
every frail, vulnerable and discarded
person. May all of us receive peace
and consolation from the birth of the
Savior and, in the knowledge that
we are loved by the one heavenly
Father,  realize anew that we are
brothers and sisters and come to
live as such!

Homily of His Holiness Pope Francis on the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God
“ALL who heard were amazed at what the
shepherds told them” (Lk 2:18). To be
amazed: this is what is asked of us today, at
the conclusion of the Octave of Christmas, as
we continue to contemplate the Child born
for us, lacking everything yet abounding in
love. Amazement is what we should feel at
the beginning of each year, for life is a gift
that constantly gives us a chance to make
a new start, even from the most lowly of
circumstances.
Today is also a day to be amazed by the
Mother of God. God appears as a little child,
held in the arms of a woman who feeds her
Creator. The statue before our eyes depicts the
Mother and Child so close as to appear as one.
That is the mystery we celebrate today, which
gives rise to boundless amazement: God has
become one with humanity forever. God and
man, always together, that is the good news of
this new year. God is no distant lord, dwelling
in splendid isolation above the heavens, but
love incarnate, born like us of a mother, in
order to be a brother to each of us, to be close
to us: the God of closeness. He rests on the
lap of his mother, who is also our mother, and
from there he pours out upon humanity a new
tenderness. Thus we come to understand more
fully God’s love, which is both paternal and
maternal, like that of a mother who never stops
believing in her children and never abandons
them. God-with-us, Emmanuel, loves us
despite our mistakes, our sins, and the way
we treat our world. God believes in mankind,
because its first and preeminent member is
his own Mother.
At the beginning of the year, let us implore
from Mary the grace to be amazed at the God
of surprises. Let us renew the amazement we
felt when faith was first born in us. The Mother
of God helps us: the Mother who gave birth to
the Lord, now presents us, reborn, to the Lord.
She is a mother who generates in her children
the amazement of faith, because faith is an
encounter, not a religion. Without amazement,
life becomes dull and routine, and so it is with
faith. The Church too needs to renew her
amazement at being the dwelling place of the
living God, the Bride of the Lord, a Mother
who gives birth to her children. Otherwise, she
risks turning into a beautiful museum of the
past. A “Church museum”. Our Lady instead
gives the Church the feel of a home, a home
in which the God of newness dwells. Let us
receive with amazement the mystery of the
Mother of God, as the inhabitants of Ephesus
did at the time of the Council. Like them, let us
acclaim her “Holy Mother of God”. From her,
let us allow ourselves to be gazed upon, to be
embraced, to be taken by the hand.
Let us allow ourselves to be gazed upon.
52nd World Day of Peace, Vatican Basilica, 1 January 2019
Especially in times of need, when we are
entangled in life’s knots, we rightly lift our
eyes to Our Lady, to Our Mother. Yet first,
we should let ourselves be gazed upon by Our
Lady. When she gazes upon us, she does not
see sinners but children. It is said that the eyes
are the mirror of the soul; the eyes of Mary,
full of grace, reflect the beauty of God, they
show us a reflection of heaven. Jesus himself
said that the eye is “the lamp of the body”
(Mt 6:22): the eyes of Our Lady are able to
bring light to every dark corner; everywhere
they rekindle hope. As she gazes upon us, she
says: “Take heart, dear children; here I am,
your Mother!”
This maternal gaze, which instills confidence
and trust, helps us to grow in faith. Faith is a
bond with God that engages the whole person;
to be preserved, it needs the Mother of God.
Her maternal gaze helps us see ourselves as
beloved children in God’s faithful people, and
to love one another regardless of our individual
limitations and approaches. Our Lady keeps us
rooted in the Church, where unity counts more
than diversity; she encourages us to care for
one another. Mary’s gaze reminds us that faith
demands a tenderness that can save us from
becoming lukewarm. Tenderness: the Church
of tenderness. Tenderness is a word that today
Children dressed as the Three Kings attend Pope Francis’ celebration of Mass marking the feast of Mary, Mother of God, in St. Peter’s
many want to remove from the dictionary. Basilica at the Vatican Jan. 1. PAUL HARING/CNS
When faith makes a place for the Mother of
God, we never lose sight of the centre: the In today’s fragmented world, where we risk thinking they are free, they become slaves.
Lord, for Mary never points to herself but to losing our bearings, a Mother’s embrace is How many, forgetting a mother’s affection,
Jesus; and our brothers and sisters, for Mary essential. How much dispersion and solitude live in anger with themselves and indifference
is mother. there is all around us! The world is completely to everything! How many, sad to say, react
The gaze of the Mother, and the gaze of connected, yet seems increasingly disjointed. to everything and everyone with bitterness
every mother. A world that looks to the future We need to entrust ourselves to our Mother. and malice! Life is such. Showing oneself
without a mother’s gaze is shortsighted. It may In the Scriptures, Our Lady embraces any “malicious” even seems at times to be a sign of
well increase its profits, but it will no longer number of concrete situations; she is present strength. Yet it is nothing more than weakness.
see others as children. It will make money, but wherever she is needed. She visits her We need to learn from mothers that heroism is
not for everyone. We will all dwell in the same cousin Elizabeth; she comes to the aid of shown in self-giving, strength in compassion,
house, but not as brothers and sisters. The the newlyweds in Cana; she encourages the wisdom in meekness.
human family is built upon mothers. A world disciples in the Upper Room… Mary is a cure God himself needed a Mother: how much
in which maternal tenderness is dismissed as for solitude and dispersion. She is the Mother more so do we! Jesus himself gave her to us,
mere sentiment may be rich materially, but of con-solation: she stands “with” those who from the cross: “Behold your mother!” (Jn
poor where the future is concerned. Mother of are “alone”. She knows that words are not 19:27). He said this to the beloved disciple and
God, teach us to see life as you do. Turn your enough to console; presence is needed, and to every disciple. Our Lady is not an optional
gaze upon us, upon our misery, our poverty. she is present as a mother. Let us allow her to accessory: she has to be welcomed into our life.
Turn to us thine eyes of mercy. embrace our lives. In the Salve Regina, we call She is the Queen of peace, who triumphs over
Let us allow ourselves to be embraced. her “our life”. This may seem exaggerated, for evil and leads us along paths of goodness, who
From Mary’s gaze, we now turn to her heart, Christ himself is “life” (cf. Jn 14:6), yet Mary restores unity to her children, who teaches us
in which, as today’s Gospel recounts, she is so closely united to him, and so close to us, compassion.
“treasured all these things and pondered that we can do no better than to put our hands Mary, take us by the hand. Clinging to
them” (Lk 2:19). Our Lady, in other words, in hers and to acknowledge her as “our life, our you, we will pass safely through the straits of
took everything to heart; she embraced sweetness and our hope.” history. Lead us by the hand to rediscover the
everything, events both good and bad. And she And in the journey of life, let us allow bonds that unite us. Gather us beneath your
pondered all these things; she brought them ourselves to be taken by the hand. Mothers mantle, in the tenderness of true love, where
before God. This was her secret. In the same take their children by the hand and lovingly the human family is reborn: “We fly to thy
way, she now takes to heart the life of each of introduce them to life. But how many children protection, O Holy Mother of God”. Let us
us: she wants to embrace our every situation today wander off on their own and lose their together pray these words to Our Lady: “We
and to present it to God. way. Thinking they are strong, they get lost; fly to thy protection, O Holy Mother of God”.
CBCP Monitor January 7 - 20, 2019 Vol. 23 No. 1
Be careful
against many
antiChrists
An open letter to Seth my godson
on New Year’s Eve
DEAR Seth,  Today we say that at the forefront of the
Nothing is easy these days when it
comes to rearing children like
you. You are subjected to so much
vulgarity and violence that I fear
you might catch the wrong values
which can ruin your future as a good
Filipino and as a good child of God.  in the parishes, schools and families. This
My first advice to you is pray constantly
and go to Mass as frequently as you can,
if possible even daily. Do not listen to
him who tells you it is useless to go
to Church and attend Mass. Whoever
teaches you that is antiChrist and there
are many of them, including those
who look at it is a joke. They are not
for Christ. They are against Christ.   slow, domineering and dragging pastoral
  
Inaanak, the name of God is sacred.
Promise me never ever to disrespect the
name of God. You might not be able to
understand God always. Our minds are
too limited. Do not force the infinite God
to fit into our limited minds. They who
call God stupid is antiChrist. Pray for
these people but do not imitate them.
Respect them as elders but do not follow
their bad example.  
You have a godly father who respects
your titas and your Mama. Treat all
women and girls with respect, in fact,
even with reverence. Do not laugh when
older men make fun of women. That is
vulgar and if you laugh or imitate them,
you become vulgar yourself. Rape is
not a joke. Immodesty is not laughing
matter. Respect girls and women
always. You have no excuse to abuse
women specially the poor women.  
Never call people names nor use
cuss words even as expressions. Dirty
words that come out of your mouth—
foul language, lies, gossips, slander,
malicious jokes—make you crass and
ungentlemanly. Shameless crass people
use such dirty words. Do not imitate.
They are antiGod; they cannot be
honorable. God wants you to be refined
and honorable. I have great dreams for
you. 
Do not ever try drugs. Say no to
friends who might offer you drugs. You
kill yourself slowly by doing that. Drug
users and drug addicts are sick. They
need treatment and help in order to be
well again. Do not believe those who
offer killing as a solution. People who
kill and people who coax others to kill
are antiGod. They are antiChrist. Christ
came to give us new life, eternal life.   Cathedral post-war, Dec. 8, 2018. PHOTO FROM RCAM-AOC
Finally Seth, respect the Pope and
my fellow priests and bishops because
we are signs of God’s love for you. We
are not spotless like angels but in our
weaknesses, God still uses us for His
mission.  Walang silbi? Yes we are but
if we are able to do anything good at
all, all is because of God’s mercy. In
mocking priests and bishops, you do
what antiChrists do. Be a loyal son of
the Catholic Church.   hope and love. For this reason, His Holiness
Keep the rosary in your pocket each
time you leave the house; your mother’s
name is Mary. Carry a handkerchief in
your other pocket. That is a mark of
good manners.   Holy Father Pope Francis for gracing the feast
Don’t play with firecrackers tonight.
Keep safe. Happy new year!  Your Eminence, last April 12, 2018, I welcomed
NINONG FATHER SOC   connected to Blessed Justo Ukon Takayama,
December 31, 2018
Young Jesus with the young
Pastoral Letter for the 2019 Year of the Youth in the Archdiocese of Lingayen Dagupan looking forward to
the 100thanniversary of the Diocese of Lingayen in 2028
MY dear people of God:
We all need companions all the time. In
infancy and childhood, from puberty to
adulthood, in our career paths and life choices,
in sickness unto our deathbed--we all need to
be accompanied. Life would be impossible if
we went through it alone. The Year 2019 is
TABIN Year for the Archdiocese of Lingayen
Dagupan. As Catholic Philippines observes
2019 as Year of the Youth looking forward
to the five hundredth anniversary of the first
baptism and first Mass in the Philippines, we
in Lingayen Dagupan offer to our youth the
Church as companion, kalakbay. TABIN.   against evil, then we have started the journey
Walking TOGETHER  youth are our teachers. They teach us new zeal
It happened that while they were conversing
and debating, Jesus himself drew near and
walked with the m b ut their eyes were prevented
from recognizing him.  (Luke 24:15-16) 
   In this walking together with the youth,
it is important to renew our appreciation for
three very important interlinked institutions—
the family, the school and the parish. The
youth must be given avenues to participate in
the mission of evangelization in the parish. It
has been said that the face of God is mercy.
Church of mercy are the faces of the young.
Let us give the Church a young face. Let us
give the youth a space to be heard because true
love listens. The first step to walking with the
youth is listening to them.   promote socio-political engagement according
There is a healthy kind of restlessness
among the youth which we cannot just dismiss
restlessness can inject greater dynamism to
our parishes that oftentimes favor the  status
quo more than the missionary passion. I
encourage our priests and educators, parents
and guardians to allow the youth to express
this creative restlessness with an encouraging
welcome and a respectful accompaniment.
Oftentimes, we Church elders engender
impatience among the youth because of our
approaches.   The compass of youth ministry is a
Rising of the Manila Cathedral
from the rubble of war
Message of Eminence Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle to welcome Papal Envoy Thomas Aquinas Cardinal
Maeda, on December 8, 2018
Papal Legate Cardinal Thomas Aquinas of Osaka and Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle lead the Mass to celebrate the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception and the 60th anniversary of the Manila
AT the outset I would like to greet all of
you a blessed Solemnity of the Immaculate
Conception of our Blessed Mother. Welcome to
the Manila Cathedral and Minor Basilica of the
Immaculate Conception as we commemorate
the dedication of the post-war reconstructed
cathedral in 1958.
The “rising of the Manila Cathedral from the
rubble of war” 60 years ago is recognized by
Pope Francis as an important event of faith,
sent someone to represent him and his love for
the Church in the Philippines. We welcome the
Papal Legate, His Eminence Cardinal Thomas
Aquinas Manyo Maeda, Archbishop of Osaka,
Japan. The Archdiocese of Manila thanks the
through you. We also thank you for accepting
the mission the Pope has entrusted you.
you here in Manila Cathedral. You came with
Japanese pilgrims who were tracing the sites
a Japanese martyr who died in Manila in
1615. A month later, Pope Francis announced
that you were being elevated to the College of
In 2019, we dream of the Church in Lingayen
Dagupan as young Jesus among the young.   of  young Jesus with the young telling the
Learning TOGETHER  confined to a handful of youth in the parish
Then beginning with Moses and all the
prophets, he interpreted to them what
referred to him in all the scriptures.  (Luke
24:27)  Let us be reminded that people turn to the
In 2018, I invite my fellow pastors and
parents to adopt an attitude of learning WITH
the youth and FROM the youth. When the
educated and the academically titled start
to recognize that Jesus is the only lesson we
need to learn and the only weapon we have
of renewal. Some youth are students but all
and missionary passion. The questions that
young people ask us priests challenge us to
be better. When the young criticize us priests,
I encourage you my brother priests to listen
to their young voices as the voice of Christ
himself calling us to conversion and renewal.
All young people are in God’s heart even if
some of them do not share our visions of life.
An attitude of humility and willingness to
listen will open new avenues of renewal for us.   2019 Year of the Lord
Our youth need to teach us the power of
the cyberspace digital world while we their
elders in turn must accompany them in this
daily reality of their young lives. The youth can
be at the forefront of using the power of the
worldwide web to spread true information, to
to the Gospel values and to be good citizens
of the nation. In entering cyberspace with
the young, we their elders can protect them
from the dark web of isolation, manipulation,
exploitation, cyber bullying and pornography.    guide to see Him more clearly, to love Him
Young Jesus with the young teaching the
teachers!   Amen.
Proclaiming TOGETHER  From the Cathedral of Saint John the
Then the two recounted what had taken
place on the way and how he was made
known to them in the breaking of the bread.
(Luke 24: 35)   Archbishop of Lingayen Dagupan
Cardinals. I would like to think that Manila
Cathedral prepared you for a new mission.
Now, we welcome you again not only as the
Cardinal-Archbishop of Osaka but as the Papal
Legate. We could not think of a better choice.
Cardinal Maeda’s ancestors belonged to
the hidden Christians in the Japan where
Christianity was banned. Families passed
on the faith from generation to generation
with creativity and courage. Christianity
was hidden but not absent. Hiddenness has
its own dynamic power. Your Eminence,
you carry the un-assuming, humble heritage
of hidden but authentic Christians. Here in
Manila Cathedral, the longings, cries and
thanksgiving of generous of Filipino Catholics
have been lifted to God in hidden but real
ways. Their hidden faces and voices continue
to strengthen us in faith.
Cardinal Maeda has been an advocate for
peace. Growing up in Nagasaki, he saw the
scars of war. His own mother has been exposed
to the light and radiation of the atomic bomb
that fell on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. The
cry for peace screams from his veins. Your
Eminence, Manila Cathedral was ravaged to
STATEMENTS B5
missionary spirit. We envision 2019 as year
world of His love. Youth ministry cannot be
hall or the campus ministry office. We must
serve and teach those who do not feel welcome
in the Church.  
Lord not because of eloquent preaching but
through inspiring life examples. Saint Paul VI
put it most eloquently “Modern man listens
more willingly to witnesses than to teachers,
and if he does listen to teachers, it is because
they are witnesses. It is primarily by her
conduct and by her life that the Church will
evangelize the world (EV, 41).  
The Church has been severely hurt and
wounded by the sins of her priests against
the youth and against the Church. Despite the
limitations of us their elders in the Church,
we have not been lacking in heroic young
leaders in our parishes and schools who serve
without pay or recognition. We their spiritual
shepherds are humbled by the sterling
enthusiastic love of our youth.  
 
Every day is the Lord’s. All ages and seasons
belong to Him. Every year is year of the Lord.
In celebrating 2019 as   Tabin Year of the
Youth, may we recognize in the youth the face
of the Lord.  
To the parents, teachers and priests: The
young Jesus is among the young. Let the young
teach us as we teach them. Let the young show
us the face of Jesus as we keep on trying to love
them like Jesus. 
To the young: Show us Jesus and be our
more dearly, to follow Him more nearly.  
 
Evangelist, Dagupan City, January 1, 2019 
+SOCRATES B. VILLEGAS 
 
December 30, 2018
the ground during the war of liberation in
1945. Like you, this reconstructed Cathedral
is a testament to the power of peace over
violence. We will always rise again after every
storm, earthquake, fire and war, because we
believe in peace.
Cardinal Maeda is a poet. He almost
spontaneously composes the Japanese poetic
form called haiku, even in his homilies. I heard
him recite haikus in Rome last June after the
consistory for new cardinals. When I attended
the beatification of Blessed Ukon Takayama
in Osaka last year, he brought me to a small
Japanese eating place where he made me
taste simple Japanese fish, squid, shrimps,
vegetables and of course sake. Simplicity,
closeness to nature, brokenness, and silence—
these are the ingredients that make one a poet.
Your Eminence, the Manila Cathedral is a
poem to God offered by the Filipino people.
Please join your haiku to our tula.
Your Eminence, thank you once again. Please
convey to Pope Francis our love. And now
please lead us in the Eucharist, the eternal
Poem of Jesus, the Mystery Hidden but now
revealed as the Prince of Peace!
B6 REFLECTIONS
One with sinners to save them The powerful God in a
Baptism of the Lord, Year C, (Luke 3:15-16, 21-22)
January 13, 2019
By Fr. Sal Putzu, SDB
WE say that people make a
“prophetic gesture” when they
do something striking that is also
a sign of greater things to come.
Those gestures reveal the depth
of their passion or commitment;
they are meant to shake people and
somehow force them to make a
choice, either for or against certain
vital issues.
In his lifetime, Jesus made
many “prophetic gestures,” such
as his driving the traders out of
the Temple, the healing of the
paralytic, and many other miracles
he performed. All those gestures
were “spectacular” in their own way.
They attracted the attention of the
crowds, which wondered what their
“meaning” could be.
There was, in the life of Jesus, a
“gesture” which was not spectacular
at all and which went unnoticed by
almost everybody, except his cousin
John: his baptism in the River
Jordan. That gesture was absolutely
“common” and “ordinary” for it was
something that almost everybody
was doing in those days, in response
to the exhortation of John the
Challenged to grow in
wisdom and grace
Feast of the Sto. Niño, Year C, (Luke 2:41-52)
January 20, 2019
By Fr. Sal Putzu, SDB
THE news must have spread like
fire in a forest of pine trees: there
was in the Temple a wonder boy
who kept amazing the teachers of
the Law not only with his answers,
but also with his questions.
The audience of “experts” had
been increasing steadily. By the
third day, it had swollen to a
sizable crowd of Scripture scholars
all wondering at what the boy
from Nazareth was saying and the
questions he was asking.
No doubt, the Boy knew the
Scriptures in all their details and
nuances. He knew more than
what the text said. He knew its
“message,” the “substance” of it all.
His words were deep insights into
events and statements, presented
with mastery and authority.
And he was just a boy of twelve,
coming from a remote village in the
countryside! The learned teachers
just did not know what to make of
it . . . .
But Jesus was not just a “wonder
boy.” He was, above all, a “wonder-
faithful,” and an exemplary one at
that. Having gone to Jerusalem with
Baptist.
But Jesus’ baptism at the Jordan,
lost in the crowd of sinners who
were seeking forgiveness, had a
depth of meaning that made it one
of his most dramatic “prophetic
gestures.” It was Jesus’ baptism,
in fact, which revealed the essence
of his mission and became the
occasion for the revelation of his
concealed divine identity.
The “prophetic dimension” of
Jesus’ action was not so much
in his entering the waters of the
Jordan, as his immersing himself
in the crowd of sinners. That
was something unthinkable and
unbelievable. Only God’s incredible
love for every human being and
all mankind could have conceived
such an “immersion” which was so
complete and involving as to be a
total “identification.” That was the
reason why the eternal and all-holy
Son of God had come down from
heaven and had undergone the
fullest “immersion” in the ocean
of mankind’s misery and in human
history. Jesus’ baptism is a clear
manifestation of God’s mercy toward
Mary and Joseph for the Passover
pilgrimage and the fulfillment of
all other duties connected with
that feast, he showed that he
appreciated and was actively
involved in keeping the religious
traditions and observances of his
people, just as he was at home with
the Scriptures. He had been taught
to value those traditions, and felt
that they were part of his life.
One often wonders whether our
children and our youth could not
be more like Jesus as he progressed
in knowledge and maturity with
the passing of the years. Jesus had
grown in his appreciation of the
precious traditions of his people.
He knew them thoroughly, and
kept them with the enthusiasm that
characterizes this age. This is what
our children and pre-adolescents
would need to have and which
many lack . . .
Most of our youths are bright.
Some are exceptionally bright. They
are very familiar with the names
and characteristics of movie and TV
personalities, sports champions,
war heroes . . . .Yet, when it comes
mankind. The Word, the eternal Son
of the Father, clad in human flesh
in Jesus of Nazareth, becomes one
with sinful mankind not to be its
judge but its Savior. And the Holy
Spirit, appearing in the form of a
dove, a symbol of peace, reminds
us of God’s mercy on the “remnant”
of mankind as the purifying flood
subsided. (See Gn 8:10-11.) Jesus’
baptism was a further manifestation
of the meaning and purpose of the
Incarnation.
Through that “immersion/
identification,” the totally sinless
Jesus became a part not only
of the relatively small group of
sinners gathered by the banks of
the Jordan, but also of the immense
crowd of sinners that is the whole
of humankind. And just as his
immersion: in the waters of the river
sanctified them, so did his presence
among the crowd of sinners bring
them the possibility of receiving
purification from sin.
That was exactly Jesus’
mission. Isaiah the prophet had
already foreseen this when he
Sinners/ B7
to religious knowledge, many
hardly know more than what they
learned when they were in kinder
and grade school . . . . When it
comes to our religious traditions,
many show coldness and boredom.
When it comes to making some
commitment in their parish or
religious association, they become
over-cautious and unreliable . . . .
The feast of the Sto. Niño should
offer them an opportunity to
reflect on why things are so. Many
parents and educators, likewise,
should ask themselves at what
point they may have gone wrong
in the way they have brought
up their children and how the
situation can be remedied in
order to see our youth “progress
steadily in wisdom and grace,
before God and men” (Lk 2:52),
as Jesus did. The observance of
the “Year of the Youth,” and Pope
Francis’ exhortation to discover (or
re-discover) the mission of young
people in the Church and society,
can be a wonderful opportunity to
appreciate the young’s “giftedness”
and to duty empower them.
January 7 - 20, 2019 Vol. 23 No. 1
powerless little boy
An exegetical reflection on the Gospel of the
Feast of Santo Niño, Year C (Luke 2:41-52)
January 20, 2013
By Msgr. Lope C. Robredillo, SThD
IN RECENT YEARS, there has been
a proliferation of various images
of the Holy Child: in some, he is
dressed like a soldier or a doctor, in
others, a fisherman or a pilot. I am
not sure why the Infant Jesus was
made to take these countenances,
but the real image remains that of a
child who wears the garb of a king,
with crown on his head, scepter on
one hand, and the universe on the
other. The reason partly comes
from the First Reading (Isa 9:1-7),
which is the most famous messianic
prophecy. God will liberate his
people from oppression, through the
agency of a child, who is a prince of
peace. If the image has any meaning
at all, it is meant to convey that this
child, helpless and innocent though
he is, is the king of peace, who is so
powerful that he holds the world in
his hand, and the liberator of the
human race.
When we think of a liberator, we
associate him with Genghis Khan,
Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar,
or Napoleon Bonaparte. They are
mighty warriors, who defeated their
enemies and established empires
over which they ruled. Through
wars, power, and oppression, they
subjugated nations and put their
enemies under their feet. That is
how worldly power works. But in
the ways of the divine, one conquers
the world not through power,
but through weakness. If Jesus
conquered world, sin and death, and
now sits at the right of God, it was not
through violence, but by submitting
himself to the powers of this world.
He showed his weakness by allowing
himself to be humiliated, crucified
and killed. It was in his frailty that
he was recognized, especially in the
Johannine theology, as king: “Jesus
of Nazareth, King of the Jews” (John
19:19).
If in his adulthood where he
manifested his weakness, Jesus
was recognized as king, so also in
his childhood, helpless and feeble
though he was, he was already
known as king of the universe
and its savior. The child, in other
words, despite his ordinariness, is
not an ordinary one. He is really a
king—and more than a king, he is
God among us, the Emmanuel (Matt
1:23). Which is why, although the
image of a Santo Niño might appear
absurd—for how can a mere child
place the whole world in his hand,
yet its meaning is entirely correct:
God has deigned to show himself in
this child of Bethlehem . Frail and
lowly though he is, yet he is worthy
of praise and worship. Small and
CBCP Monitor
voiceless though he is, he is really
the revelation of God.
How did God manifest himself in
this small boy? In today’s Gospel
reading (Luke 2:41-52), he is
portrayed as one who was devoted
to the things of God. Early in his
childhood, he was already concerned
about his Father’s affairs: “Why did
you search for me? Didn’t you know
I had to be in my Father’s house?”
(Luke 2:49). His first allegiance
was to his Father. And it is not a
simple allegiance. Luke uses the
word “must” or “had to be” which,
in Luke’s Gospel, characterizes
Jesus’ life: “The son of man must
suffer…” (9:22); “But first he must
suffer many things...” (17:25}, “I
must stay in your house…” (19:5),
“Everything must be fulfilled...”
(26:44). In the conflict of human
and divine obligations, the Father’s
will must prevail. No wonder,
Hebrews characterizes the life of
Jesus as doing the Father’s will:
“Then I said, here I am—it is written
about me in the scroll—I have come
to do your will, O God (Heb 10:7).
Doing the Father’s will culminates
in his death, in weakness, in what
appears, from the human point of
view, as a defeat.
Of course, if from the beginning
until his death, Jesus’ life was all
about doing the will of his Father,
it was not simply because he is
God’s Son. As the Gospel today
emphasizes, he progressed steadily
in wisdom and age and grace (Luke
2:52), and that growth is to be
attributed to his upbringing as well.
An evidence of that upbringing is
that “his parents used to go every
year to Jerusalem for the feast of
the Passover” (Luke 2:41). Surely,
as can be seen from the rest of the
Gospel of Luke, Mary and Joseph
were deeply religious parents. If
God was able to manifest himself in
a child, in a boy who not only was
deeply religious, but whose whole
concern was to do the will of his
Father, it is in no small measure due
to what he received from his parents.
Which reminds us of a rhyme:
“Before your child has come to
seven, Teach him well the way to
heaven. Better still the truth will
thrive, If he knows it when he is five;
Best of all if at your knee, He learns
it when he’s only three.” That is the
meaning of the figure of Sto Niño:
the all powerful God who is king of
the universe, deigned to manifest
himself in a powerless little boy,
who is chiefly concerned about the
things of God, partly because of how
his parents brought him up.
CBCP Monitor January 7 - 20, 2019 Vol. 23 No. 1
What the future holds for us
By Fr. Shay Cullen, MSSC
A SMALL group of students were
meeting over Christmas. Inevitably
the question of New Year resolutions
arose. The agreed to be totally honest
and share their New Year resolutions
with each other and share how they
would better their lives in 2019.
Roberto began and said, “I resolve
to change my eating habits, I know I
am overweight, I eat too much junk
foods, fast foods, instant food, but
they slow me down and I feel hungry
all the time. One day, I will get obese
and then have diabetes so I resolve
to stop it and eat healthy foods, fish,
vegetables, fruit and low on rice. And
I promise to walk more.” Everyone on
the group nodded in agreement and
congratulated Robert and promised
to help him as if they too needed to
change their life style.
Ella was next. “I resolve to fight my
addiction to social media, junk news,
Facebook and non-stop chatting. It’s
taking over my life, it distracts me
from my studies and I am getting
low grades. When I wake up in the
morning the first thing I do is not to
thank the creator for the gift of life
and another day to live and learn but
I reach for my smart phone. I have to
see what message came in, and they
are all so unimportant, trivial, and
nonsensical. Then I get so irritated
and angry when I have “low batt.”
I am wasting my life for nothing to
show for it, time that will never come
back, hours wasted everyday and my
studies are affected too. I have to get
off it but I don’t know how.”
Robert told her, “I promise I will
never text or message you again,
so there.” They all laughed and
sympathized with Ella, the others
shared her problem to some degree.
Some other members of the group
felt guilty of the same addiction and
looked at floor in frustration. Others
turned off their smart phones.
Then it was the turn of Benzie. He
confessed that he had to change his
spending habits. Besides being a non-
stop messenger user himself, he said
he had a compulsion to buy things.
For the New Year, I swear I will never
go to the mall, every time I go there I
Communion / B2
people.
Another common option is to
have a large crucifix either directly
above the altar or behind it. The
distance will depend on the size
of the chapel and the crucifix, but
they should combine so as to show
the clear relationship of crucifix
and altar. The norms for incensing
offer the possibility of incensing
this cross not at the beginning but
when passing by the cross in front
of the altar.
The norms indicate that there
should be only one altar cross.
Other crosses, even if they are
in the sanctuary area, but which
are closer to the assembly than the
altar and face away from the altar,
would not be suitable for use as an
altar cross even though they may be
an object of devotion.
The relevant norms from the
GIRM would be the following:
“117. The altar is to be covered
with at least one white cloth. In
addition, on or next to the altar
are to be placed candlesticks with
lighted candles: at least two in
any celebration, or even four or
six, especially for a Sunday Mass
or a holy day of obligation. If the
diocesan Bishop celebrates, then
seven candles should be used.
Also on or close to the altar,
there is to be a cross with a figure
of Christ crucified. The candles
and the cross adorned with a
figure of Christ crucified may
also be carried in the Entrance
Procession. On the altar, itself
may be placed the Book of the
Gospels, distinct from the book of
Sinners/ B6
announced that the mission of the
“Servant of the Lord” was to bring
“justice” (that is, holiness) to the
nations. Of him the Lord God said,
“I formed you and set you as a
covenant of the people, a light for
the nations, to open the eyes of the
blind, to bring out prisoners from
confinement, and from the dungeon
those who live in darkness.” (See
today’s First Reading.)
In his life, Jesus “actualized”
such a liberating and sanctifying
“immersion” by associating with
sinners and even seeking their
A boy rides his bike in the streets of Tacloban, Philippines, in this 2014 file photo. The World Day of the Poor -- to be marked each year on the 33rd Sunday of ordinary time -- will be celebrated Nov. 18. TYLER
ORSBURN/CNS
have to spend and buy something no
matter how trivial it is. Sometimes, it
is just a small gadget, an accessory,
a new t-shirt and I have so many
already. I am always begging my
parents for more money and have
some debt because I am a captive
consumer. So no more malling and
spending for me,” he said.
Miriam was slow to share. She sat in
the group silent, nervous and afraid.
Ella encouraged her. “Whatever it is
you have to give up it can’t be all that
bad. Tell us what your resolution is
going to be.” The group laughed.
“Well,” she said slowly but with
conviction, “I have been reading
lot about feeling inadequate and
insecure. I think it is because of what
I see on television and how they
tell us that we should all look like a
celebrity. I feel I am not myself and
other readings, unless it is carried
in the Entrance Procession.
“122. On reaching the altar,
the priest and ministers make a
profound bow. The cross adorned
with a figure of Christ crucified
and perhaps carried in procession
may be placed next to the altar to
serve as the altar cross, in which
case it ought to be the only cross
used; otherwise, it is put away in
a dignified place. In addition, the
candlesticks are placed on the
altar or near it. It is a praiseworthy
practice that the Book of the
Gospels be placed upon the altar.
“123. The priest goes up to the
altar and venerates it with a kiss.
Then, as the occasion suggests, he
incenses the cross and the altar,
walking around the latter.
“188. In the procession to
the altar, the acolyte may carry
the cross, walking between two
ministers with lighted candles.
Upon reaching the altar, the
acolyte places the cross upright
near the altar so that it may serve
as the altar cross; otherwise, he
puts it in a worthy place. Then he
takes his place in the sanctuary.
“277. The priest, having put
incense into the thurible, blesses it
with the Sign of the Cross, without
saying anything. Before and after
an incensation, a profound bow is
made to the person or object that is
incensed, except for the incensation
of the altar and the offerings for the
Sacrifice of the Mass.
“The following are incensed with
three swings of the thurible: the
Most Blessed Sacrament, a relic of
company—something that shocked
the “holy” people of his time. His
association with “public sinners”
was bound to tarnish his reputation
as his opponents pointed out on
several occasions. Jesus did not
mind that criticism and continued
like before, for—as he himself said—
it is sick people who need a doctor.
(See Mt 9:12.) But his immersing
himself in the crowd of sinful
mankind cost Jesus much more—it
cost him his very life, for he was put
to death to atone for the sins of all!
Jesus’ vicarious self-offering was
am trying to be another imaginary
person. I was advised to forget myself
by being involved with other people
and helping them. So my New Year
resolution is to join the youth social
action group and get involved with
helping poor people. I am too much
into taking selfies and sharing them
over my smart phone and all day I
am looking at myself in a mirror
and checking my hair and makeup.”
“I really am too selfish and I am
going to find my real self and stop
trying to change how I look. I am
also resolving this New Year to
stop using skin whitening cream.
I know it can damage me and I am
not happy with my life and I have
to change. I think forgetting how
I look and stop worrying about
how others see me is what I need
to do. I am going to forget me and
the Holy Cross and images of the
Lord exposed for public veneration,
the offerings for the Sacrifice of the
Mass, the altar cross, the Book of
the Gospels, the Paschal Candle,
the priest, and the people.
“The following are incensed with
two swings of the thurible: relics
and images of the Saints exposed
for public veneration, which should
be done, however, only at the
beginning of the celebration, after
the incensation of the altar.
“The altar is incensed with single
swings of the thurible in this way:
“a. if the altar is freestanding
with respect to the wall, the priest
incenses walking around it;
“b. if the altar is not freestanding,
the priest incenses it while walking
first to the right-hand side, then to
the left.
“The cross, if situated on or
near the altar, is incensed by the
priest before he incenses the altar;
otherwise, he incenses it when he
passes in front of it.
“The priest incenses the offerings
with three swings of the thurible
or by making the sign of the cross
over the offerings with the thurible
before going on to incense the cross
and the altar.
“308. There is also to be a cross,
with the figure of Christ crucified
upon it, either on the altar or near
it, where it is clearly visible to
the assembled congregation. It
is appropriate that such a cross,
which calls to mind for the faithful
the saving Passion of the Lord,
remain near the altar even outside
of liturgical celebrations.”
so powerful in its effect because he
was God’s beloved Son, on whom
the Father’s favor rested! Such
a solemn proclamation of Jesus’
divine identity soon after his baptism
balanced, so to speak, his associating
himself with the crowd of sinners at
the Jordan River. It also completed
the “prophetic nature” of what
happened on that day—God’s very
Son coming to save all mankind by
sharing fully its predicament of moral
misery, in order to transform it from
within, through the superabundant
holiness that only God is.
get involved in other people’s lives.
That’s my New Year resolution.
It will be a challenge but I have to
do it,” she told the group. They all
applauded. “Yes we can all change
if we work up the will power, we can
do it.”
“Well, why don’t we all join the action
group and do a project together, then
we help each other be faithful to our
resolutions and change our life style,
together we might all be faithful to
our resolutions,” said Ella.
Those confessions and resolutions
could inspire many others to change
their lifestyle too. As we go into the
New Year 2019, we ought to think
and act on how we could have a
more meaningful life. Can we find
greater personal freedom and have
the self- discipline to control our
own lives and our environment?
Praying / B3
can provide a language to articulate
a social upheaval against colonial
oppression; an ancient practice
of communal meditation can
become a threat to the status quo
(e.g., Falun Gong); or, an antique
voodoo ritual can transform itself
into, and be perceived as, an act of
resistance. This does not take away
the necessity of creative planning
and real organizing since habitus
can also be a very conservative
force. But such introduction of
new transformative elements into
practice can only be successful when
change agents are sensitive to the
potentials of these durable cultural
elements so as to tap their innate
creative resources.
Incarnation
Third, spirituality can only be bodily.
Our bodies are the only ways we have
to God. This incarnational approach
to the divine runs counter to the
intellectualist Western tradition
which privileges the inner mental
state, the esoteric experience,
the internal consciousness. The
Platonic disdain for the material
dismisses the bodily, the sensuous
and the ordinary as quite base and
lowly. Yet we can only think of God
through these sensuous realities. It
is thus imperative that all pastors
and church ministers immerse
themselves and get involved in the
tempo of people’s practices. Anyone
who ministers from the armchair
or who issues pastoral directives
from their isolated convents risks
of becoming useless and irrelevant.
Moreover, if the Church is to help
mediate and channel God’s salvation
into the human community, these
practices should be considered
as the way in which the Church
must walk and think for it is here
that people articulate the acts of
God experienced in their everyday
life. For ordinary people, these
everyday practices which are deeply
intertwined with one’s cultural
memories and religious histories are
the only wells from which they can
draw the strength needed in their
daily struggle for survival.
Dead Bodies
Yet, in our times, almost every
morning we also see bodies lying
SOCIAL CONCERNS B7
Can people shake off the power of
consumerism that stimulates our
greed? The masters of manipulation
want us to be selfish and to spend and
to accumulate things.
The economy and those who control
it does not to see us as people but
consumers, not citizens but cogs in
a great wheel that churns out profits
and accumulates vast amounts of
money for them. Several million
tons of perfectly good, surplus
food is thrown away daily in the
developed countries while the poor
starve. Consider this: “Runaway
inequality has created a world where
62 people own as much wealth
as the poorest half of the world’s
population,” Oxfam says in a report.
Our resolution for 2019 could be to
change that by working for social
justice and equality.
on the streets—already more than
six thousands of dead bodies, some
with cardboards and letters written
on them which goes: “drug pusher,
huwag tularan.” Bodies just the
same and sprawling on the same
streets where our processions pass.
And yet, we seldom hear a voice of
protest for desecrating the same
hallowed bodies that people use to
honor their God. The voices who
jubilantly shout “Viva!” (to the
Nazareno and the Santo Niño) also
disdainfully say “May’ra!” (Maayo
rang namatay kay addict man.
Linisin natin ang lipunan!)
The official political machine
of course tyrannically extols the
success of the project. And, sadly,
we seldom hear cries of protest from
official ecclesiastical bodies. The
only cries we hear are the wailing
of widows, mothers and children as
they see the bodies of their beloved
now bloodied, lifeless, and being
carried away by armed men they do
not know—be they in uniforms or
not. And their cries should not be
as loud to avoid added violence or
retaliation. No one comes to their
wakes because of fear. So, the poor
painfully suffer in silence because
the political machine uses all its
“eyes and ears” to coerce them to
submission. Ironically, in some
sections of Payatas at the side
of the dumpsite, CCTV cameras
abound to monitor movements
- when hardly functioning ones
are found in some sections of the
airport.
What has become of human lives?
What has become of human dignity?
What has become of the embodied
God in our human bodies?
Can our praying bodies, moving
bodies, dancing bodies place
themselves on the line and stand
up to protect the thousands of dying
bodies around us? Or, shall we keep
waving handkerchiefs or dancing
in front of our santos and leave the
many others more to continue to die
on our streets?
(Daniel Franklin E. Pilario, C.M.,
is Professor and Dean of St.
Vincent School of Theology, in
Tandang Sora Avenue, Quezon
City. Comments maybe emailed to:
danielfranklinpilario@yahoo.com)
B8 ENTERTAINMENT January 7 - 20, 2019 Vol. 23 No. 1 CBCP Monitor

Buhay San Miguel Brothers Matias

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms Lolo Kiko Bladimer Usi
DIRECTOR: Lasee Hallstrom
STARRING: Keira Knightley.
Mackenzie Foy, Eugenio Derbez,
Matthew Macfadyen, Jayden
Fowora-Knight, Helen Mirren
SCREENPLAY BY: Ashleigh Powell
STORY BY: E.T.A. Hoffmann’s The
Nutcracker
PRODUCER: Mark Gordon, Larry
Franco
GENRE(S): Fantasy, Adventure
MUSIC BY: James Newton Howard
EDITED BY: Stuart Levy
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Linus
Sandgren
PRODUCTION COMPANY: Walt
Disney Pictures, Walt Disney
Animation Studios
DISTRIBUTED BY: Walt Disney

Studios Motion Pictures
COUNTRY: England
RUNNING TIME: 99 minutes
Technical assessment: 3.0
Moral assessment: 3.5
CINEMA rating: VA
MTRCB rating: G
The Nutcracker and the
Four Realms is a visually
appealing adaptation of the
19th century story and ballet.
It appeals to the imagination
of little girls who love to
dress up as princesses and
probably their mothers who
remember the ballet. The
screen is always filled with
so much dazzle and sparkles
that it becomes necessary to
blink and stare into a blank
space just to refresh the eyes.
Every scene looks like a cut out
from a European Christmas
card, the costumes and set
are outstandingly intricate
and the mid-film ballet is a
special treat for the audience.
However, there is just too
much talk and too much plot
to be absorbed alongside the
production extravaganza.
Those who are unfamiliar (and
uninterested) with the original
narrative will be confused with
characters showing up one
minute and disappearing the
other. The emotional layer
was very thin and unreal. It
Buhay Parokya
FIND 3 MISSING THINGS:
was hard to sympathize with 1. BLACK NAZARENE
any character. This is a family 2. STO. NINO
movie not meant for the entire 3. CHALICE
family.
There are strong redemptive
and moral values presented in
the movie. First, the value of
believing in one’s self and
being of service to others.
After Clara realizes the gift
she received pointed to herself
as the only thing she will ever
need, she bravely rallies the
realms to retrieve the key
to defend what her mother
loved most. Second, the value
of looking beyond superficial
beauty. Sugar Plum is sweet,
soft spoken, friendly and
almost perfect while Mother
Ginger is the exact opposite.
However, it turns out that real
beauty and goodness lies in
the heart of the latter. Third,
the value of forgiveness — both
Mother Ginger and Clara’s
father found it in their hearts
to let go of the hurt and start
over for the sake of keeping
the relationship strong. Also,
forgiveness would not have
been possible if Clara did not
ask for it. Clara also delivers
the most powerful statement
about being selfless and
doing things for others as the
purpose of life.

Fantastica: the Princess, the Prince,

and the Perya

DIRECTOR: Barry Gonzales
LEAD CAST: Vice Ganda,
Dingdong Dantes, Richard
Gutierrez, Jacklyn Jose, Bela
Padilla
SCREENWRITER: Enrico
Santos, Daisy Cayanan,
Jonathan Albano
PRODUCER: Vic Del Rosario
Jr., Olivia Lamasan
EDITOR: Joyce Bernal, Noah
Tonga
MUSICAL DIRECTOR:
Emerson Texon
GENRE: Fantasy Comedy
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Anne
Monzon
DISTRIBUTOR: Star Cinema,
Viva Films
LOCATION: Philippines
RUNNING TIME: 115 minutes
Technical assessment: 2.5
Moral assessment: 2.5
CINEMA rating: V14
MTRCB rating: PG
Sa kabila ng madalas nilang
di pagkakaunawan, buhay na
buhay pa rin ang negosyong
perya (na “Perya Wurtzbach”
ang tawag) ng mag-inang
Belat (Vice Ganda) at
Aling Fec (Jacklyn Jose);
umaani ito ng maraming “
palakhak” — pinagsamang
palakpak at halakhak. Pero
merong lagusan ang perya
sa daigdig ng Fantastica na
magsasara dahil sa isang
sumpa. Para magbukas ulit
ang lagusan at magpatuloy
ang ugnayan sa pagitan ng
mundo ng Fantastica at
mundo ng tao, kakailanganin
ang sampung libong
“palakhak”. Magtutulungan
si Belat at si Prince Pryce
(Richard Gutierrez) upang
mabuksan ulit ang lagusan at
pabalikin ang sigla ng perya.
Komedyang nakaugat sa
pantasiya ang “Fantastica:
the Princess, the Prince, and
the Perya”, at dahil sa ang
bida dito ay si Ganda, alam
na marahil ninyo na tulad ng
peryang tampok sa pelikula,
ninais lamang nitong umani
ng palakpak at halakhak
mula sa mga manonood.
Hindi makapalakpak ang
CINEMA sa natunghayan
nitong napakababang uri
ng komedya, sa gasgas na
banghay (plot), sa dayalogong
paikot-ikot na parang
tsobibong nasira ang preno.
At ang kuwento, pantasiya
na nga, pasikut-sikot pa, kaya
lalong napalabo ng palabok
ni Ganda. Sablay din ang
casting: ang mga batikang
actor na Dantes at Gutierrez ay
hindi bagay sa kanilang mga
papel —  h indi nakakatawa, ang maraming manunuod
bagkus ay katawa-tawa sa mga kabaklaan ni Ganda.
ang kinalabasan nila. Isang Paano mo ipapaliwanag
bagay lang ang nakita naming sa mga musmos ang mga
nakakatawa: ang boses ng pantasiya ng isang bakla na
lalaki na namumutawi sa ipinagdidiinan ng pelikula?
bawa’t pagbuka ng bibig ng Bagama’t ginustong
marikit na si Bella Padilla. itampok ng pelikula ang
Subali’t kahit na ulanin pa kahalagahan ng pamilya
siguro ang “ Fantastica” ng at pag-aaruga ng hindi mo
mga pintas ng mga kritiko, kadugo, hindi ito lumutang
kapag pumapalakpak ang dahil nasapawan ito ng
manunuod, ang huling walang humpay at walang
halakhak ay sa mga gumawa saysay na pagpapatawa at
ng pelikula dahil sa tubong- kabastusan. Paalala lang
nilugaw na papasok sa p o n g C I N E M A  —  k u n g
kanilang mga bulsa. limitado ang badyet ninyo,
Ganito na nga ang nangyari: makabubuti pa sigurong
sa simula pa lang ng MFF, ibili na lamang ng mga
nanguna na ang Fantastica makabuluhang babasahin
sa takilya. Nang manood nito para sa mga bata iyon kaysa
ang CINEMA sa ika-anim na lustayin sa dalawang oras na
araw, puno pa rin ang sinehan, halakhakan at kapalpakang
at humahagalpak ng tawa dulot ng Fantastica.
 Ugnayan
THE NEWS SUPPLEMENT OF COUPLES FOR CHRIST
CBCP Monitor Vol. 23 No. 1 January 7 - 20, 2019 C1

CFC Celebrates Epiphany Sunday

with First Fruits Offering
By CFC Global Comm
AS A fitting beginning to the New
Year, the Mission Core of Metro
Manila assembled at the Ynares
Sports Arena in Pasig City on
the Solemnity of the Epiphany.
Fitting because they were there to
offer their first fruit, their gift of
their resources, to the One from
whom all these gifts came.
The first fruit offering, a community
tradition since 2004, is a sacred occa-
sion that involves the consecration of
each and every member of CFC on the
first gathering of the year.
Fr. Ruper Solis, SVD, celebrated the
Mass. After the Eucharistic celebra-
tion, Pastoral Formation Director
Rouquel Ponte exhorted the congre-
gation on the significance of offering
the first fruit.
“I believe the virtue that the Lord
wants us to develop on the Solemnity
of the Epiphany is the virtue of gen-
erosity,” Ponte began. “As the Lord
reveals himself to us as Lord and King,
let us allow Him to truly transform us
to deepen our generosity,” he added.
The tradition of offering the first
fruit was born from a prophecy spoken
during the yearly discernment and
retreat of the International Council
and their spouses in November 2003.
While steeped in prayer and worship,
with much time devoted to listening
to God, discernment of God’s messages,
and giving prophetic utterances, one of
the participants spoke the following
message from God quite clearly:
“I want to start a TRADITION … a
TRADITION of ‘FIRST FRUITS’. At
the start of each year, the very first
ECG gathering, and the subsequent
first gatherings of every group down
to the line of every member… should
be consecrated to Me. It must be a most
solemn and sacred occasion… worthy
of my Holiness. This is how the conse-
cration must be done:
“You are to prepare an altar. On the
altar you are to put an appropriate ves-
sel or container to hold the offerings.
Place a crucifix in front of the vessel.
Light candles. Adorn with flowers. I
WILL BE PRESENT ON THAT SPE- ‘God reveals Himself to those who seek Him’
CIAL OCCASION. MAKE THE SET-
TING WORTHY OF MY MAJESTY. BELOW are excerpts from the hom- Him. Our primary vocation is to seek searched, looked for Jesus, and they who searches for and loves
Worship Me. Sing solemn songs. ily given by Fr. Ruper Solis, SVD, God, and the person who seeks Him encountered Him. Allow me to share God always comes bearing
Then one by one, everyone present during the Mass at the Metro Ma- finds Him.) three points—qualities or attributes gifts—time, talents, treasure,
including children, without exception, nila Mission Core Assembly on the Ang pagpapakita ng Diyos ay of those who seek, or constantly love, sacrifice, service.
should stand in line. And one by one, Solemnity of the Epiphany. ang Kanyang pagtingin sa taong behold God. 3. Transformation - our mis-
each should approach the altar with Today we celebrate the Epiphany tinitingnan, sa ating lahat. Ang sion is to become a better
great reverence. Then offer your FIRST of the Lord. Epiphania, ang pagpa- pagtingin ng Diyos sa atin ay ang 1. Worship - worship is a rela- person today than we were
FRUITS, a symbolic amount of money, pakita ng Diyos. Mga kapatid, ang pagmamahal ng Diyos sa atin. At tionship, not an obligation. yesterday. This is also the
equivalent to how much of your heart Diyos ay nagpapakita sa mga taong ang mga nagmamahalan ay may When we worship, our desire challenge of Epiphany.
you offer to Me. Your money is of no naghahanap sa Diyos. Ang tunay pagtitinginan sa isa’t-isa. (The is to have a deeper, more in-
consequence to Me. But I delight in the na hanapbuhay ay ang paghahanap Epiphany of the Lord to all men is timate connection with God. I believe that the reason we are all
amount of love that you will offer to sa Diyos. At ang taong naghahanap a manifestation of His love. And He We open up our lives in order here is because we regard the Lord
me through that money.” sa Diyos ay ang syang natatagpuan who loves us cherishes and regards for God to enter. with much love and affection. And
This prophecy is affirmed by the ng Diyos. (Brethren, God manifests us as His beloved.) 2. Offering - the Magi went to as we continue to seek Him, let us be
following verse from Deuteronomy: Himself to those who always seek In today’s gospel, the Magi Jesus bearing gifts. A person assured that He will find us.
FIRST FRUITS, p2

Young Ministries Respond to LAIKO

CFC 2019 Schedule of Events Call to Love for Country
JAN 6 Metro Manila Mission Core Assembly
& First Fruits Offering APR 5-7 Youth for Christ 26th YFC
International Conference (ICON)

12 CFC International
Leaders Conference 26-28 CFC Handmaids of the Lord (HOLD)
International Conference

25-27 CFC Mission Core Weekend Retreat 26-28 CFC Kids for Christ
Family Conference (Visayas)

FEB 15-17 Singles for Christ 26th

SFC International Conference 26-28 CFC Kids for Christ
Family Conference (Mindanao) ATTY. Alex Lacson, other SFC leaders in the ing population.
President of the Pilipino Philippine Missions (via The gathering, which
Movement for Trans- online stream); Youth sprang from an earlier
CFC Servants of the Lord (SOLD) formational Leadership for Christ; and Kids for assembly of member or-

MAR 29-31 CFC International Catholic Men`s

Conference 2019
MAY 17-19 CFC Kids for Christ Family
Conference (Southern Luzon)
(PMTL), a coalition of
various faith-based orga-
nizations from Catholic,
Christ at the CFC Global
Mission Center on Janu-
ary 8, 2019.
ganizations of the CBCP
Sangguniang Laiko ng
Pilipinas (LAIKO) over
Evangelical and Protes- His talk, titled “Un- the weekend, discussed

22
tant communities, spoke derstanding Federalism what young people can

JUN CFC 38th Anniversary Celebration 17-19 CFC Kids for Christ Family
Conference (Northern Luzon)
before leaders of CFC’s
younger ministries—
Singles for Christ Metro
and Charter Change”
is designed for young
people, who comprise
do to show their love for
country, and how they,
like the young heroes
Manila (onsite), and 67% of the Filipino vot- YOUNG MINISTRIES, p4
C2 January 7 - 20, 2019 Vol. 23 No. 1 CBCP Monitor

THE PRESIDENT'S CHAIR

Michael “Shok” Ariola

Missionary Journey: The Great Adventure

EVERY journey has a be-
ginning and an end. But
as someone once said, “It’s
the ups and downs of the
journey that counts.”
We are all missionar-
ies—those who actually go
out to far flung places as
well as those who labor at
home to make sure the mis-
sion moves forward. And
as missionaries, we began
our journey with answering
the call. The fulfillment of
that call may be said to be
the end, the achievement
of our metanoia. But that
is not the whole story. It is
not the complete journey.
The initial answer to the
call and the satisfaction of
seeing the mission fulfilled
can only be complete if the
journey is done with Jesus,
our ultimate goal.
For the longest time, I
have had this longing and
desire to stand on the sacred
soil of the Holy Land to-
gether with my co-mission-
aries. It hasn’t happened
yet but I know it will. And I
know that once it happens (I
hope it is soon), I will never
be the same. My life will
be completely changed, just
like the three wise men who,
after meeting the infant
Jesus in the manger in Beth-
lehem, were transformed by
the entire experience. The
Bible tells us that, having
been warned in a dream of
Herod’s evil designs on the
Child Jesus, they returned
to their homes via another
route. Here, “another route”
can mean another life, an-
other vocation, a new per-
spective, a new approach
to life.
The story of Jesus’ resur-
rection tells us of the same
transformation experience.
While everyone who saw
and came to believe that
Jesus had indeed risen from
the dead as the prophets
foretold, were never the
same thenceforth, it is the
the two men journeying to
Emmaus who must have
been most changed. The
Gospel says that when their
“eyes were opened,” mean-
ing they finally realized it
was Jesus breaking bread
with them, they changed
their plans and went back to
Jerusalem. They were osten-
sibly escaping from the cha-
otic situation in Jerusalem
and in fear for their future,
but meeting Jesus gave them
the courage to walk back
and confront whatever dif-
ficulties their faith in Jesus
would bring them.
The Gospel says they
also went back to Jerusa-
lem because they felt the
urge to tell the disciples
what had transpired.
This desire to tell the
world about Jesus is our
journey. Our journey as
missionaries is all about
experiencing Christ and
watching our transformed
lives unfold before us.
As we begin this new year,
our theme calls for us to go
into another year of rekin-
dling our gift and fulfilling
the ministry we have com-
mitted our lives to. This
renewed mandate requires
that we be deliberate in all
our actions—deliberate in
meeting Christ especially in
others, in situations, even in
impossible situations, and
in unlovable people.
Christ is in every person
and in every situation.
Our mission is to delib-
erately look for him. And
why should we do that?
Simple. Because we do not
want to be the same person
we were before.
Have you ever wondered
how much you have changed
just by attempting to follow
Christ?
Every time we pray, we
are changed. Every time
we receive the Holy Eucha-
rist, we receive the capac-
ity to be different. Every
time we come together as
husband and wife, to talk
about God’s great plan for
our marriage and family,
we are never left the same.
Every time we gather as a
family with our children,
if we meet Christ through
them, we become a differ-
ent father or mother. Just
by following Jesus, we be-
come completely changed.
Let us ask ourselves—Am
I the same as I was five min-
utes, five months or five
years ago? For those of us in
their senior years, am I the
same person I was fifty years
ago? If we say, and some
would even be proud of this,
that we haven’t changed,
then perhaps you need a
deeper encounter with Jesus.
The year 2019 has just
begun. In just over eleven
months from now, it will
be 2020. Will we be able to
say, as we look back at our
year, that we have indeed
encountered Jesus? Can we
start counting down the
weeks today, but always
mindful that every day, Je-
sus gives us the opportunity
to change even the smallest
aspects of our personality,
our perspectives, our lives?
I look forward to saying
Yes to that. I hope you are
as excited as I am about the
wonderful things our re-
newed desire to encounter
Jesus in ourselves, in our
families, in others, will un-
fold in our lives.
Happy New Year!

FROM A PASTORAL PERSPECTIVE

Rouquel Ponte

Our Journey of Faith

OUR travels take us from place
to place and for various reasons
—work, leisure, homecoming,
mission, etc. But we also have
another travel—our own journey
of faith.
Allow me to focus on our jour-
ney of faith in life and propose
some key points for our reflec-
tion. Let us view this journey
from the biblical perspective of
Luke 24:13-35—on the road to
Emmaus.
The journey of the two Emmaus
disciples may be described as a
walk of despair as they travelled
the road from Jerusalem to Em-
maus. There was a sense of confu-
sion and even hopelessness. We
may be experiencing the same in
our life—moments of light and
moments of darkness. This is the
reality we find ourselves in.
But the good news is that we are
never alone in these moments of
distress and confusion. The Risen
Lord meets us, listens to us and
speaks to us. As He listens, we be-
gan to understand that someone
understands our present situa-
tion. When our Lord appeared to
the two disciples, he walked with
them, listened and also encour-
aged them to express what was
deep inside them—their hopes
and disappointments. This is
what happens to us when we al-
low our encounter with the Lord
to deepen into greater intimacy.
This prayerful listening of Je-
sus to us teaches us to listen to
others as well. Listening is the
first step in our journey together.
We then become a listening
Church, a listening community.
This is especially true as we relate
with the young people of today—
they need to be heard and under-
stood. But this also applies to all
of our pastoral life: like Jesus, we
are sent into the world to listen
to the cry of humanity, which is
often a silent cry, at times even
suppressed.
Journeying and listening
should lead us to the third im-
portant point— discernment.
This requires accompaniment,
the same accompaniment that
Jesus did to the two disciples and
also to His twelve Apostles. He
accompanied them with patience
and wisdom, teaching them to
follow the ways of truth and even
helping them discern what was in
their hearts. He helped them in
their confusion and doubt. In the
end, Jesus assured them that He
will be with them until the end
of age through the Holy Spirit.
The mystery of our pastoral
vocation and discernment must
always be under the power of
Jesus’ Spirit which requires the
cooperation of the one called and
the one who accompanies.
Jesus taught His disciples two
important lessons: He opened
their minds to Scripture and He
opened their eyes to His Presence
in the Eucharist. He opened not
only their minds and eyes but
most especially their hearts, di-
rected to focus only on Him.
In our present reality, these les-
sons are taught again and again
in our full participation in the
Mass and in receiving Jesus in
the Liturgy of the Word and the
Liturgy of the Eucharist.
The final word is mission—the
travelling together to meet oth-
ers especially in their need.
The two disciples hurriedly
went back to Jerusalem and
joined their apostolic community
which by the power of the Holy
Spirit became wholly missionary.
Here are some practical points
to help us remember the lessons
in our journey of faith in life.
This will also illustrate the stages
of our growth and maturity as
disciples of Jesus.
1. I n i t i a t i o n – W e n e e d t o
realize that our first call to
be Christ’s disciples is to be
with Him always. This will
require that we spend more
time being with Him than do-
ing many things that occupy
our day. Prayerful listening;
contemplating His Word in
Scriptures; a strong devotion
to the Blessed Sacrament are
some things we can do for us
to deepen our intimacy and
personal relationship with
the Lord. This will lead us to
be in full communion with
Him and we will be initiated
and received into the family
of God.
2. Accompaniment – Let us be
like the two disciples from
Emmaus, who encountered
the Lord, listened to Him
speak; allowed their hearts to
be touched and invited Him
to break bread with them at
table. Let us also be willing
instruments to accompany
others in need of God’s pres-
ence in their lives. This may
take much of our time and we
may have to go through some
inconvenience or even re-
quire our financial resources
but like Jesus, like the great
men and women of our faith,
let us pray for the grace to be
willing to go the extra mile in
our journey of faith.
3. Mission – As our first call is
to be with Jesus, what comes
next is to imitate Him and
follow Him all the way. This
will mean the readiness and
willingness to: :
• Choose what Jesus chooses
—a life of sacrifice, sim-
plicity and obedience to
God’s will, to the point of
even foregoing some com-
fort and pleasures in life,
• Let go of any self-entitle-
ment and be content with
whatever role is assigned
to us; and
• Be willing to go all the way,
even to the ultimate suffer-
ing on the cross.
After giving the mission to the
twelve apostles, Jesus laid down
the conditions to discipleship, “If
anyone wishes to come after me,
he must deny himself and take
up his cross daily and follow me.”
(Luke 9:23)
Let us now together reflect:
1. W h e r e a m I n o w i n m y
journey of faith?
2. What two commitments
will I pursue so I can con-
tinue being with Jesus and
the people He sends me to
be with?

FIRST FRUITS, C1

THE CFC HISTORY

BOOK

“…You shall take some first fruits of the
various products of the soil which you harvest
from the land which the Lord, your God, gives
you, and putting them in a basket, you shall go
to the place which the Lord, your God, chooses
for the dwelling place of His name. There you
shall go to the priest in office at that time
and say to him, ‘Today I acknowledge to the
Lord, my God that I have indeed come into
the land which He swore to our fathers He
would give us.’
The priest shall then receive the basket from
you and shall set it in front of the altar of the
Lord, your God.
Then you shall declare before the Lord, your
God, ‘He gave this land flowing with milk and
honey. Therefore, I have now brought you the
first fruits of the products of the soil which you, O
Lord, have given me.’ And having set them before
the Lord, your God, you shall bow down in His
presence. Then you and your family… shall make
merry over all these good things which the Lord,
your God, has given you.” ~Deuteronomy 26: 2-11
A solemn promise
This offering of First Fruits is a symbolic
act—individually and as a community. This is
a symbolic act of bringing back to God—and
thanking Him—for the many blessings He has
given each person, each family, and the entire
community. The prophecy further said:
“My arms are raised to bless. My hands are
poised to give. Honor Me with your FIRST
FRUITS solemnly, joyfully, and willingly.
Dedicate yourselves to Me through your FIRST
FRUITS OFFERING—not because you are just
interested in the good results you expect Me to
give you—but because you really love me and
you delight in honoring Me. Then you will see…
if I don’t open the windows of heaven and pour
down upon you in abundance all kinds of good
things.” The Lord has spoken.
Offering one’s firsts fruits is not about the
amount being offered but the state of one’s
heart as he or she utters a prayer of gratitude
for the blessings of the years past, and for bless-
ings God is ready to pour out to each one in the
coming year.
Aside from CFC Metro Manila, CFC Laguna,
CFC Guam and some chapters conducted their
own first fruits offering on the first Sunday of
the year. The rest of the provinces and countries,
from the big assemblies down to the chapter and
household level, are expected to hold their first AVAILABLE AT
fruits offering on their first assembly/gathering/
household prayer meeting.
The first fruits offering are earmarked for the
development of the global mission.
CBCP Monitor January 7 - 20, 2019 Vol. 23 No. 1 C3

AQUILA AND PRISCILLA REFLECTIONS FROM THE VATICAN

Joe Tale

He cured them (Matthew 4:24) Our Own Special Moment

HIS name was Juan Jose Bar-
ragan Silva. He lived in Mexico
City. He was a drug addict.
On 6 May 1990, under the
drug’s influence, in his mother’s
presence, he stabbed himself,
went to the balcony of their
apartment and jumped out.
His mother held on to his legs
but she was not strong enough
and Barragan managed to free
himself. He plunged head first
to the ground.
Barragan was rushed to the
hospital. But to everyone’s sur-
prise, three days later, he was
completely healed. He should
have died from the fall or at the
very least become handicapped
for the rest of his life. But no,
in only three days, he was com-
pletely whole with no broken
bones or physical impairment.
The doctors all agreed that it
was scientifically and medically
inexplicable.
But the mystery would be
solved when Barragan’s mother
revealed that, as soon as she lost
her grip and her son was falling
off the balcony, she invoked
the intercession of Juan Diego.
In bold words full of faith, she
prayed, “Give me proof. Save
this son of mine. And you, my
Mother, listen to Juan Diego.”
This event happened at exactly
the same time that Juan Diego
was being beatified by Pope
John Paul II at the Basilica of
Our Lady of Guadalupe not
too far from where Barragan
lived in Mexico City. This mi-
raculous healing, after a long
and exhaustive investigation,
was the miracle that led to the
canonization of St. Juan Diego
on 31 July 2002 also by Pope
John Paul II.
Juan Diego was born in 1474
as Cuauhtlatohuac, which
means “he who talks like an
eagle”. Following the early
death of his parents, he was
taken to live with his uncle. He
was raised from birth in the
Aztec pagan religion. When
the Franciscan missionaries
arrived in Mexico, Cuauhtla-
tohuac, his wife, Malintzin,
and his uncle were converted
to Catholicism and baptized in
1525. He took the name Juan
Diego while his wife became
Maria Lucia and his uncle be-
came Juan Bernardino. They
were among the first natives
to be baptized. After baptism,
Juan Diego became very com-
mitted to his new religion. Even
after his wife died, he would
walk long distances to receive
further religious instruction at
the Franciscan mission station
at Tlatelolco.
After the events of 9-12 De-
cember 1531 during which the
image of the Blessed Virgin was
miraculously imprinted on his
tilma, Juan Diego moved into
a little hermitage on Tepeyac
Hill. He lived a life of prayer,
recounting to countless pil-
grims visiting the miraculous
image of the Lady of Tepeyac
the events that forever changed
his life. He remained in the
same hermitage until his death
on 9 December 1548, exactly 17
years after the first apparition.
He is now considered as the pa-
tron saint of indigenous people.
However, he should also be
the patron saint of people who
would like to be cured of drug
addiction as well as those who
have serious and terminal ill-
nesses for it was to him that our
Lady of Guadalupe said, “Do
not be worried about his illness,
or any other pain or anxiety.
Am I not here, who am your
mother? Are you not under my
shadow and protection?”
December 8 is the Feast of
the Immaculate Conception,
December 9 the Feast of St. Juan
Diego, and December 12 is the
Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
While everyone was looking
forward to our CFC household’s
Christmas Party on December
14, several members of the
household sent messages that
they were not feeling well, one
with flu, another with body
aches, and still another with se-
vere cough. Another fell down
from a two-step ladder, and a
few weeks earlier a member of
the household fell flat on his
face after momentarily losing
consciousness. We prayed for
them, invoking the interces-
sion of the Blessed Mother.
We recited for them the old-
est complete prayer to Mary
that dates back to 250 A.D.,
Sub Tuum Praesidium (Under
Your Protection), which Pope
Francis had also encouraged
all Catholics to pray daily for
protection from physical and
spiritual harm.
Sub Tuum Praesidium
We fly to your protection,
O holy Mother of God.
Despise not our petitions
In our necessities,
But deliver us from all
dangers,
O ever glorious and blessed
Virgin.
Amen.
The Blessed Mother must
have listened to St. Juan Diego
for the miraculous cure of Bar-
ragan. At the hill of Tepeyac,
the Virgin of Guadalupe as-
sured Juan Diego on 12 Decem-
ber 1531, when she appeared to
him for the fourth time, that his
seriously ill and dying uncle,
Juan Bernardino, was, at that
very same moment, already
completely healed. At Lourdes,
where she identified herself in
1858 as the Immaculate Con-
ception, thousands of pilgrims
have since experienced mi-
raculous healing. Lourdes has
become a leading shrine for the
sick, the lame, and the blind.
All these healings remind
us of what Matthew wrote at
the very beginning of Jesus’
ministry in Galilee: Jesus went
around all of Galilee, teaching
in their synagogues, proclaim-
ing the gospel of the kingdom,
and curing every disease and
illness among the people. His
fame spread to all of Syria,
and they brought him all who
were sick with various diseases
and racked in pain, those who
were possessed, lunatics, and
paralytics, and he cured them
(Mt 4:23-24).
Indeed, Jesus is the Great
Healer. St. Juan Diego, the Vir-
gin of Guadalupe, the Lady of
Lourdes, draw from Jesus their
power to heal.
A long list of miracles, cures,
and intercessions are attributed
to Our Lady of Guadalupe. Ev-
ery year, over 10 million people
visit the Basilica of Our Lady of
Guadalupe. It is the most popu-
lar Marian shrine and the most
visited Catholic church in the
world after St. Peter’s Basilica
in the Vatican.
More than 20 popes have
officially honored Our Lady
of Guadalupe. St. John Paul II
visited the Basilica four times
- on his first apostolic trip out-
side Rome as Pope in 1979, and
again in 1990, 1999 and 2002.
During his visit in 1999, Pope
John Paul II entrusted the cause
of life to her loving protection
and placed under her motherly
care the innocent lives of chil-
dren, especially those who are
in danger of not being born.
God has chosen Mary from
the beginning of time to be
the Daughter of the Father,
the Mother of the Son, and
the Spouse of the Spirit. And
Mary has chosen Juan Diego to
declare to the world that she is
“our mother” because she wants
to lead us to her Son who draws
multitudes toward him (as
he, through Mary, is now also
drawing us).
FORTY-four years ago, the Lord blessed
Babylou and me with our own special
moment. The date was December 23,
1974. The place was St. Alphonsus Mary
de Liguori Church, Magallanes Village,
Makati, Metro Manila.
I thank the Lord for that moment, for
the blessing of God through the sacra-
ment of holy matrimony. I thank Him
for Fr Ruben Tanseco, S.J., my college
theology professor, who officiated the
liturgy and wedding rites. I remember
with gratitude my family, and my friends
who supported our audacity to marry at
the young age of 23 and 22. Very young
by today's standards.
Many in CFC already know our love
story, how Babylou and I first met when
we were still in elementary school. Of
course, no relationship yet at that stage
(just wanted to make that clear). We honor
our Grade 4 teacher, Miss Felicidad Buling,
for starting it all.
I was one year ahead of Babylou, and
we did not know each other then. Miss
Buling unknowingly "introduced" me
to Babylou. I must have impressed Miss
Buling, during the time I was her student,
that she kept referring to me as her ideal
student in the next class she handled, i.e.,
Babylou's class.
Babylou became curious as to who this
ideal student was. Well, in those days, one
did not really get to be formally introduced
to one another. It just happened. And so
it did, in that corner of the world we call
Valencia Elementary School. I remember
being so attracted to Babylou when I first
got to know her, much like when Michael
Corleone first saw Apolonia in Italy in the
Mario Puzo book, The Godfather. I am kid-
ding of course, but what I really want to say
is that the Lord brings people together in
different ways and circumstances, and this
was how He introduced us to one another.
And so, while belated and posthumous, we
still thank and honor Miss Buling for the
“introduction".
We also thank and honor The Ambiva-
lent Crowd for singing during our own
special moment, with Ryan Cayabyab and
the late Willie Cruz on the keyboards.
The heavenly strains of Fill the World
with Love , Invocation , One Love , Sunrise
Sunset, The Lord's Prayer, and Ang Tangi
Kong Pagibig , continue to play in our
minds. This they did out of pure friend-
ship. I was a newbie in the Crowd, and so
thankful for their support. Babylou and I
are forever grateful.
I also honor my parents-in-law, Rodolfo
and Lydia Gonzalez, though both have
passed on to the next life, for loving us
and believing in us. Mommy Lyd was my
supporter, who with her motherly instinct,
gently affirmed Babylou's decision to go
for me (Yehey!). Daddy Odol, who we took
out to dinner in Kowloon House as our ver-
sion of pamanhikan was also supportive,
even with his serious mien at the start.
(My own father had passed away at this
time, and I didn't have paternal relatives
in Manila except for my Jesuit Brother
uncle. So I was alone.)
When I still could not muster up the
courage to ask for Babylou's hand in mar-
riage, even after we were done with dessert,
Daddy Odol, sensitive enough about my
predicament, ordered beer, and that gave
me the signal, and the courage, to go for
it. Honestly, I don't remember a word of
what I said, but I must have said the right
things, as my father-in-law agreed, and the
wedding came to be.
I reserve the most important honoring
for my bride of 44 years—my girl, my
woman, my friend, all rolled into one, as in
the song of Jose Mari Chan. I might add—
my chef, carpenter, plumber, painter, and
gardener, and many more. Thank you for
loving me. Thank you for choosing me
from all the rest. I love you then, I love
you even more now. To you I pledge my
love forever.
“One love, in my young life
Took me somewhere I have never been
And I want to live again, breathe again,
In the shelter of this brightly woven
love song…”
And to our family and friends, especially
those who shared our own special mo-
ments then and now, thank you!

YOUNG MINISTRIES, C1
of long ago, can safeguard the
sovereignty of this nation.
“A good Christian must also
be a good citizen,” Atty. Lacson
began. Quoting Bishop Broder-
ick Pabillo, LAIKO Chairman,
he added, “A good citizen gets
involved in the issues that affect
people’s lives, and our Christian-
ity compels us to participate in
the issues and act on them.”
What are these issues? Atty.
Lacson presented six big issues
for 2019: Elections 2019; the
shift to a federal form of gov-
ernment; extrajudicial killings
or EJKs; anti-opposition/Com-
munist campaign; martial law
declaration; and the conflict
between China and the US in
the West Philippine Sea.
Atty. Lacson emphasized
that “We need to vigilantly
watch five of these issues this
year. Of course there are many
other issues like the attacks on
the clergy, the vice-presidential
post-election contention be-
tween Bongbong Marcos and
VP Leni Robredo.” He added,
“But these issues could happen
this year.”
which have gone through the
shift.
Atty. Lacson also discussed
the “12 Dangerous Provisions
of GMA’s Federal Charter”.
He explained the difference
between GMA’s (Speaker Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo) and the
Bayanihan Federal Constitution
drafted by the Constitutional
Commission (ConCom) headed
by Justice Reynaldo Puno.
“After the completion of Puno
et al’s “Bayanihan Federal Con-
stitution”, the group submitted
it to President Duterte, who in
turn submitted it to Congress
under Speaker of the House Glo-
ria Macapagal-Arroyo during
the State of the Nation Address
(SONA). However, Arroyo com-
pletely disregarded the Bayani-
han Federal Constitution, and
drafted the House’s own version,
which the Lower House has ap-
proved last December 11, 2018.
Hence, the one that is on the
table now is the GMA Federal
Charter.”
A study made of the provi-
sions of the GMA Charter by the
group of Atty. Lacson showed
qualification of presidential
and vice-presidential candidates
from 40 to 45); and anti-Filipino
(opening ownership of mass
media outfits, and other busi-
ness wholly or substantially to
foreigners).
Atty. Lacson likewise noted
that the obstacles to the shift
to a Federal government are
crumbling, and it is up to the
young to do something about
the situation. He noted that
this “something” may not only
mean that the youth get into the
political arena or march in the
streets. For a start, he suggested
that the youth learn more about
the issues and talk about these
issues with their peers and their
families .
Noli Manuel, Singles for
Christ International Coordina-
tor, in wrapping up the discus-
sions, exhorted the youth, now
armed with information about
the issues, to allow the Spirit to
lead them to being good Chris-
tians and good citizens. He
stated that as future parents, the
youth must now ponder on what
kind of Philippines they would

Ugnayan
Among the six, Atty. Lacson that the said Charter would be want to leave to their children.
gave great importance and ur- anti-poor; pro-political dynasty The discussions pointed out
gency on the proposed shift of (because of the deletion of anti- one important fact—that there
THE NEWS SUPPLEMENT OF COUPLES FOR CHRIST
the Philippine form of govern- political dynasty provisions, should not be any dichotomy
Michael C. Ariola ment to federalism. He said, removal of term limits in office, in how Christians conduct
IC Oversight “The issue on federalism is more increase in the number of dis- themselves in the “real world”.
important than the 2019 elec- tricts and party-list representa- The youth’s mission must not
Zenaida A. Gimenez Alma M. Alvarez tions,” because federalism has tives); anti-people (because it stop at being evangelizers, but
Editor-in-Chief Associate Editor more long-term repercussions removes the State's policy to they must venture beyond their
Deomar P. Oliveria Evangeline C. Mecedilla that favor sitting lawmakers encourage non-governmental, immediate spheres of influ-
Layout Artist Circulation Staff than the elections. He noted that community-based, or sectoral ence. They could be numerous
once the country shifts to this organizations that promote the sparks of light, but when lit at
The Ugnayan News Supplement is published by the Couples for Christ Global Mission Foundation, Inc., with editorial offices at 156 20th
Avenue, 1109 Cubao, Quezon City. Editorial trunk line: (+63 2) 709-4868 local 31 Direct line : (+63 2) 709-4856 new form of government, there welfare of the nation, thus giv- the same time, can illumine
www.couplesforchristglobal.org cfcglobalcommunications@gmail.com will be no turning back, based ing more power to Congress); the darkness that shrouds the
on the experience of countries anti-youth (increasing the age world. (A. Alvarez)
C4 January 7 - 20, 2019 Vol. 23 No. 1 CBCP Monitor

FAITH IN ACTION: CANADIAN HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS GO ON PHILIPPINE SERVICE TRIP

FOR the past seven years, the To-
ronto Catholic District School Board
(TCDSB) has partnered with CFC AN-
COP in sponsoring a trip to the Phil-
ippines for high school student lead-
ers from different Catholic schools
around Toronto.
This school year 2018-2019, from
December 27, 2018 to January 9, 2019,
23 students and three teachers flew all
the way to Manila to put their faith
into action as they visited and built
relationships with the people from the
different ANCOP communities they
visited. The students also helped build
houses in an on-going construction at
Parañaque City.
This trip was spearheaded by Mi-
chael Consul, together with his co-
teachers Merle Gonsalves, Celia Ieradi,
Pauline Flanagan. Michael’s father is
Bernie Consul, a CFC volunteer at AN-
COP Canada. Through the program,
Consul hopes that the students may
have a heart for the poor, and will be
transformed, not just in the way they
see the lives of these people, but their
own lives as well.
In the two weeks of their visit, the
students built an extraordinary bond
with the people in the following
ANCOP sites—Our Lady of Banneux
(San Mateo, Rizal); Masagana Vil-
lage (Quezon City); AVANAI Village
(Quezon City); ANCOP Vancouver
Homes (Paniqui, Tarlac); Starville
IV Homes (Baliwag, Bulacan); and
PAR 2 Homes (Parañaque City). They
also got the chance to visit Smokey
Mountain in Tondo, Manila and
the orphaned kids from Bethlehem
House of Bread in Baliwag, Bulacan.
One activity during this service trip
was participating, for three whole
days, in the construction of an on-
going site in PAR 2 Homes.
This trip was definitely memorable
for both the participants and the
families they visited. Hazel Orea, a
Grade 12 student, realized during the
trip how blessed she is, and why she
should not take things for granted.
The willingness with which the
people in the village, especially the
kids, opened their homes and their
lives to them amazed Jayzelle Ponce,
a Grade 11 student.
Putting faith into action may sound
ambiguous for some, but this trip is a
reminder that even the young can do
their share in helping the poor and
marginalized, not just with gifts and
financial assistance, but more so with
the simplest things—by listening and
letting them feel that they are loved.
(Patria Balilla)

Adventure Learning with TCDSB Student Leaders

MICHAEL Consul, facilitator during the latest Catholic Student and later the visitors engaged the youth DAY 7 - Tagaytay to visit a Canossian nun, plus a little sight-
Leadership activity called Philippines Service Trip, posted the in a mock-soccer game. seeing
day-to-day activities of the students and teachers on https://catho-
licstudentleadership.com, to highlight what 23 student leaders DAY 4 - PAR 2 Community, DAY 8, 10 & 11 - Building houses in PAR 2
under the Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB) did Parañaque The students put on their gloves and hard hats to help build
during their “faith into action” immersion. As it was still raining, team some of the houses in the community. They sifted sand, laid
December 26 - Group left via Toronto Airport. When asked to Canada and the children of bricks, did some paint jobs, mixed cement manually. They were
describe their thoughts or feelings about the trip, the kids (and PAR 2 Community played in- tired, but soon were revived in spirit as they rode a jeepney, drank
teachers) agreed that they were grateful, anxious, awesome, adven- doors. And then, it was endless soda in plastic, ate local ice cream (sorbetes), and played with the
turous, excited, thrilled, exhilarated, aware, nervous. singing and picture-taking. kids (again).
DAY 1 - Visit to Sitio Masagana
The student leaders were wel-
comed with high fives by the DAY 5 - The slums of Tondo, plus
children of Masagana. Basically a New Year's party
day of fellowship, the older kids Ms. Universe 2018 Catriona
from the community played a Gray put Tondo in the world
friendly game of basketball with map when she mentioned the
the Canada group, followed by work that she does there. The
dancing, games, gift-giving and kids from Canada experienced
Filipino food. Tondo first hand, seeing Smokey
Mountain, and the mounds of
garbage collected and sorted in
all the shops as they walked the
DAY 2 - Visit to Our Lady of Ban- streets. They also visited the tenement
neux Community housing where the former residents of
Despite the rains, the group Smokey Mountain lived. Fr. Jhonatan Letada, SVD, one of the CFC
visited the Our Lady of Banneux GMC regular priests, graciously welcomed the Canadian students
ANCOP Community in San and the 150 street children in his parish in Balut, Tondo As it was
Mateo, Rizal. More music and New Year’s Day, they celebrated together with the kids of Tondo
dancing, more games, more fel- with Jollibee meals and gifts, of course!
lowship with the home partners, DAY 9 - Bethlehem House of
more gifts, more food! The wom- DAY 6 - Live morning TV show Bread Orphanage in Bulacan
en also taught the students how to guesting The Canadians played with
sew rags, which is one of the sources The group appeared in Bagong the 98 children, including 12
of livelihood of the residents there. Pilipinas, a live morning show at infants, in the orphanage,
PTV 4, to talk about what they danced with them and made
DAY 3 - Visit to Paniqui, Tarlac were doing, about ANCOP, and instant friends. Though there
After a four-hour bus ride, the their experiences during the wasn’t much physical activ-
student leaders reached Tarlac, last trip. In the afternoon, Consul ity (unlike the build), some of
year’s immersion build site. Being took the group to Greenbelt Cha- the girls admitted to feeling
a Sunday, the Canadian delagates pel in Makati to pray. The group “drained” because they just wanted
stopped by the St. Rose of Lima also visited the American Memori to give the children `their all.
parish for a Tagalog Mass. It al Cemetery. They used the solitude The group also gave a donation of
was a reunion of sorts for the of the cemetery to discuss the contrast $250 and gifts for the children.
ANCOP families and the Consuls between Tondo and Makati and to write in their journals their The students flew back to Toronto on January 9, bringing with
(everyone was calling Mike “Tito thoughts on gratitude. them not only memories, but hearts full of gratitude for the unique
Mike”). The children in the ANCOP experience of putting their faith in action. (A. Alvarez)
community performed a folk dance,

Catholic Mission, CFC ANCOP Partner for an

Immersion Program at Bantayan Island

CATHOLIC Mission-Australia
visited the Philippines for a
week-long immersion program,
made possible via a partner-
ship with CFC ANCOP. The
immersion was held at CFC
ANCOP Malbago Community
at Bantayan Island, Cebu from
December 9-15, 2018. The
Catholic Mission contingent
was composed of 17 missionar-
ies, all of them college students
from St. Francis Xavier College
and Mount St. Joseph High
School in Australia, and four
teacher-chaperones.
The participants experienced
a different kind of adventure
as they engaged with the home
partners of the ANCOP site.
They were welcomed with
typical Pinoy hospitality on
their first day as the villag-
ers prepared festive dances,
bringing warm smiles to the
missionaries’ faces. Their week-
long schedule also gave them
a chance for more engage-
ment with the villagers, sharing
meals with them, helping in
paving pathways, and mak-
ing do-it-yourself Christmas
decorations for the community
common area.
The participants also learned
something new as they at-
tended the ANCOP orientation
and Child Protection Policy
Orientation. It wasn’t all work
as their hosts made sure that
they toured Bantayan Island,
famous for its beautiful white
sand beaches. The delegates
heard Mass at the Immacu-
late Concepcion Parish at the
Municipality of Madridejos,
and visited Sts. Peter and Paul
Church in downtown Bantayan,
the oldest church in Cebu and
the second oldest in the Philip-
pines. They also had an amaz-
ing race team-building activity
at the beautiful beach of Lawis.
The memories and friend-
ships formed during the im-
mersion left a lasting mark,
not only in the participants,
but the village residents as well.
The experience was clearly an
encounter with Jesus.
This was the first immersion
program partnership between
CFC ANCOP and Catholic Mis-
sion, and both are looking for-
ward to more mission trips in
the future. (Tria Balilla)