Pope Francis encouraged Christians to reflect on how they live out their baptismal calling to be prophets in their daily lives

ANGELUS
Saint Peter’s Square
Sunday, 2 July 2023
______________________________________

Dear brothers and sisters, buongiorno!

In today’s Gospel, Jesus says, “The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward” (Mt 10:41). The word “prophet” appears three times. But what type of prophet? There are some who imagine a prophet to be some type of magician who foretells the future. But this is a superstitious idea and a Christian does not believe in superstitions, such as magic, tarot cards, horoscopes and other similar things. In parentheses, many, many Christians go to have the palms read… Please… Others depict a prophet as a character from the past only, who existed before Christ to foretell his coming. And yet, Jesus himself speaks today of the need to welcome prophets. Therefore, they still exist. But who are they? What is a prophet?

Each one of us, brothers and sisters, is a prophet. In fact, with Baptism, all of us received the gift of the prophetic mission (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1268). A prophet is the one who, by virtue of Baptism, helps others read the present under the action of the Holy Spirit. This is very important: to read the present not like news, no… to read it as enlightened and under the action of the Holy Spirit, who helps to understand God’s plans and correspond to them. In other words, the prophet is the one who points Jesus out to others, who bears witness to him, who helps live today and to build the future according to his designs. So we are all prophets, witnesses of Jesus, so “that the power of the Gospel might shine forth in daily social and family life” (Lumen Gentium, 35). A prophet is a living sign who points God out to others. A prophet is a reflection of Christ’s light on the path of the brothers and sisters. And so, we can ask ourselves: Do I, – each one of us – Do I, who am “a prophet by election” through Baptism, do I speak, and above all, do I live as a witness of Jesus? Do I bring a little bit of his light into the life of another person? Do I evaluate myself on this? I ask myself: What is my bearing witness like, what is my prophecy like?

In the Gospel, the Lord also asks to welcome the prophets. So it is important to welcome each other as such, as bearers of God’s message, each one according to his state and vocation, and to do it right where we live – that is, in the family, in the parish, in the religious community, in other places in the Church and in society. The Spirit has distributed gifts of prophecy in the holy People of God. This is why it is good to listen to everyone. For example, when an important decision needs to be made – let us think about this – it is good to pray first of all, to call on the Spirit, but then to listen and dialogue trusting that each person, even the littlest, because they have something important to say, a prophetic gift to share. Thus, the truth is sought and the climate is spread of listening to God and our brothers and sisters where people do not feel welcome because they say what I like, but they feel accepted and valued as the gifts they are.

Let us reflect on how many conflicts could be avoided and resolved in this way, listening to others with the sincere desire to understand each other! So, finally, let us ask ourselves: Do I know how to welcome my brothers and sisters as prophetic gifts? Do I believe that I need them? Do I listen to them respectfully, with the desire to learn? Because each of us needs to learn from others. Each of us needs to learn from others.

May Mary, Queen of Prophets, help us see and welcome the good that the Spirit has sown in others.

The Church is preparing to celebrate the 3rd World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly, on Sunday, 23 July 2023, near the Feast of Sts Joachim and Anne, with the motto ‘His mercy is from age to age” (Lk 1:50).

By Deborah Castellano Lubov

The Church is preparing to celebrate the third World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly on Sunday, 23 July, announced the Vatican’s Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, in a statement on Thursday.

The Church observes the World Day each year on the fourth Sunday in July, close to the feast of Jesus’ grandparents, Saints Joachim and Anne.

Pope Francis instituted this Day in 2021 since, he believes, grandparents are often forgotten, yet they “are the link between generations, passing on the experience of life and faith to the young.”

‘His mercy is from age to age’

Pope Francis chose as this year’s theme “His mercy is from age to age” (Lk 1:50), which expresses the link with World Youth Day, 1-6 August 2023, which will take place shortly thereafter in Lisbon, Portugal.

The World Youth Day’s theme “Mary arose and went with haste” (Lk 1:39) shows us, the Dicastery’s statement noted, the young Mary who sets out to go and find her elderly cousin Elizabeth and who loudly proclaims, in the Magnificat, the strength of the alliance between young and old.

On the occasion of the Day, the Holy Father will preside over a Eucharistic liturgy in St. Peter’s Basilica and invites parishes, dioceses, associations and ecclesial communities from all over the world to celebrate the Day in their own pastoral context.

CBCP News
June 19, 2023

Celebrating the 25th anniversary of his ordination to the episcopate, Bishop Honesto Ongtioco of Cubao said the blessings bestowed on him are because of God’s forgiveness and mercy.

Standing before a packed Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception on Sunday, June 18, he gave thanks for the occasion as he reflected on the graces he’s shared with the faithful.

“I pray in gratitude for the love and mercy of God, which allowed me to survive and continue serving him,” Ongtioco said in an emotional homily.

“And it is this love and mercy that endures forever which I invited you all to celebrate with me today,” he said.

Twenty five years ago, Ongtioco was ordained bishop for the Diocese of Balanga in the northern province of Bataan.

On August 28, 2003, St. John Paul II appointed him as the first bishop of the Diocese of Cubao.

Among those celebrating with the bishop were many who have known him for a long time, including his family and friends.

In one part of his homily, he also paid tribute to the clergy, the religious, and the laity— “the three solid legs on which our diocese stands”.

“There have been so many wonderful things that happened because of the engagement and collaboration of these three pillars of the diocese,” the bishop added.

Ordained priest for the Archdiocese of San Fernando, Ongtioco celebrated his 50th priesthood anniversary on December 8, 2022.

Also joining him in the celebration were about 10 bishops, including Cardinal Jose Advincula of Manila and Archbishop Charles Brown, Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines.

Bishop Pablo Virgilio David of Kalookan and Bishop Mylo Hubert Vergara of Pasig, current president and vice president, respectively, of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, also graced the occasion.

Ongtioco will turn 75 on October 17 this year, which is the age when bishops must offer their resignation to the pope.

June 13, 2023
By Sr. Edita C. Eslopor, OSB/RMP

I have belonged to the Congregation of the Missionary Benedictine Sisters of Tutzing for 40 years, and since I am assigned to the remotest of the rural areas — serving those on the margins of society (the lost, the least and the last living) — I also work with the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines.

I have found my niche interacting with the sisters and lay mission partners from different congregations in the Philippines, and with parishes whose visions and missions share our common commitment to helping people in poverty. It is here that I genuinely appreciated the charism of our congregation. I am indeed grateful for God’s grace to persevere in my call to be a missionary in the Philippines.

From my experience, I could compare the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines, as an organization, to a nutshell.

A nutshell is a hard covering in which the edible kernel of a nut is enclosed; it is sturdy and impenetrable and cannot be broken easily. If you strike it incorrectly, it will bounce back and be unchanged. The term in a nutshell is also used in writing or speaking to say something briefly, using a few words.

I was reflecting on this when the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines commemorated its 54th anniversary last August 2022. It had struggled through the pandemic; relentless “red-tagging” as terrorist or communist under the Anti-Terrorism Law; ongoing vilifications; killings; and freezing the group’s funds through the government’s Anti-Money Laundering Council. These funds should have been spent to help the rural people in poverty, especially peasants, Indigenous peoples, fisherfolk, and their people’s organizations.

Founded on Aug. 15, 1969, the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines is the oldest mission partner of the Conference of the Major Superiors in the Philippines. In a nutshell — Rural Missionaries of the Philippines is resilient and can weather storm after storm, for it is well-designed to serve the poorest of the poor in the rural areas in the Philippines.

Seasoned religious women, men and lay partners who espouse the vision, mission and goals of Rural Missionaries of the Philippines are at the helm of the organization. They have accomplished much and made a name here and abroad for more than five decades now.

They are a paragon of service to the rural poor. Hence, the group is closely watched and vilified by the powers that be, and red-tagged by the military because the missionaries are so down-to-earth. They remind me of what Pope Francis said when he instructed priests: “Be shepherds with the smell of the sheep.”

And how relevant is what Bishop Dom Hélder Câmara said: “When I give food to the poor they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist.”

As the military unjustly attacked the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines by red-tagging them and freezing the funds intended for the peasants’ organizations, the missioners bounced back and continued to perform their missionary undertakings according to the saying: The mission is not ours; the mission is God’s.

The Rural Missionaries of the Philippines is home to different sisters, priests and lay mission partners from different congregations. They took to heart their mission and seriously looked at the signs of the times — not as an ordinary event but as a call and a challenge that needed a response.

What made these followers of Christ read the signs of the times with the eyes and ears of their hearts? The sisters who have led the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines through the years are visionary and extraordinary women at the forefront of contextualizing their faith. Their feat is amazing and worth emulating.

To celebrate how the group has enfleshed its God-given mission, I tried to itemize it:

Five decades — of grateful and consistent journeying with the rural poor, partner organizations and funding agencies, to give birth to an organization of missionary doctors and health professionals (the Council for Health and Development);

600 months — of meeting, assessing, planning to research, and attending rallies in solidarity with the people and other cause-oriented groups;

2,607 weeks — of breathing in the “smell of their sheep,” working with farmers, fisherfolk and Indigenous people, stressing the need to ally with the people’s organizations;

18,263 days — of talking the talk, facilitating fact-finding missions, medical missions, scholarship, and the like; of walking the walk with back-breaking responsibilities to help the people help themselves through their projects, thus empowering them;

18,438,312 hours — of home visiting, contact building, providing/facilitating task reflections/assemblies/exposure, sharing and praying the Bible in the context of the lived experiences of the poor people they serve;

26,298,720 minutes — of parrying the impact of the red-tagging and vilifying attacks from the military, of defending their God-given mission and congregational mandates, and of praying most earnestly for God’s guidance and protection.

As I lived my missionary life and when I looked to the lifelong members with their lean figures and malformed bodies, and dearly beloved departed missionaries, they always energized me beyond words. They mirrored the long years of great service and unwavering belief in the God of the poor and the giftedness of the people they served; their sacrifices for a cause they believed in; and their efforts without counting the cost that made their lives relevant and meaningful.

Continue reading

13 June 2023

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

Greetings of peace!

We are from the Church People Workers Solidarity (CWS), a non-profit, ecumenical organization in support of workers’ rights and welfare. CWS was formed in September 2011 as a response to the 30th anniversary of Blessed John Paul II’s encyclical, Laborem Exercens (On Human Work).

Yearly, CWS appeal for school supplies for the children of workers, farmers and farm workers especially the contractual workers. They are among the hardest hit by the worsening economic crisis that lead the workers and their families to a dehumanizing condition.

CWS recognizes the need to extend holistic help to these vulnerable communities. And one way is the modest support to the schooling of the children through provision of school supplies so that it will not be an added burden to the meager income of their parents.

With this, we would like to ask for your support, financial and in kind to help at least seven hundred children both in Metro Manila and in Negros Island, particularly in Diocese of San Carlos and Bacolod. Attached herewith is the background of the communities we are helping. Also attached are some of the photos of our 2022 school supply distribution in Metro Manila and Negros.

Your support in the form of financial assistance or in kind (notebooks, ball pens, pencils, crayolas, backpacks, socks etc will surely bring happiness and smiles to the children of the workers, fisher folks, farmers and farm workers. CWS is estimating an amount of Php 500 to 700 per child for the basic school supplies needed for their schooling.  

For cash donations, you can deposit it through the BPI Kamuning Savings Bank account name Church People-Workers Solidarity, Inc. and account number: 3143-4239-39 or through our GCash number – 0927.567.7548 (Michelle G.).

Kindly advise us if you have deposited your donation so we can gratefully acknowledge your support. For school supplies in kind, please inform us of the address where we can pick up your donation or you can bring the school supplies to this address: No. 2605 Conchu St. San Andres, Manila City.

For more information, please contact the CWS Secretariat, Tony Balbin through email churchfortheworkers@gmail.com and mobile number 0942.198.6383.

Our prayers, support and solidarity are our gift to our brothers and sisters in these trying times. We are hoping for your favorable response to this humble appeal. Thank you and God Bless!

Yours in Christ,

Sr. Lydia Lascano, ICM
Treasurer, CWS – National