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.

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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

Papal message for the November celebration of the World Day of the Poor was published on the feast of St. Anthony of Padua

By Justin McLellan, OSV News
Published: June 14, 2023 05:18 AM GMT

To recognize and address the poverty of others, Christians must become poor like the figure of Tobit from the Hebrew Bible, Pope Francis said.

Tobit, a blind and elderly man who dedicated his life to the service of others, “can show practical concern for the poor because he has personally known what it is to be poor,” the pope wrote in his message for the November celebration of the World Day of the Poor.

The papal message was published June 13, the feast of St. Anthony of Padua, patron of the poor. 

Christians are called to “acknowledge every poor person and every form of poverty, abandoning the indifference and the banal excuses we make to protect our illusory well-being,” Pope Francis wrote. “Regardless of the color of their skin, their social standing, the place from which they came, if I myself am poor, I can recognize my brothers and sisters in need of my help.”

The theme for World Day of the Poor 2023 is a passage from the Book of Tobit: “Do not turn your face away from anyone who is poor.”

“When we encounter a poor person, we cannot look away, for that would prevent us from encountering the face of the Lord Jesus,” Pope Francis wrote.

In his message for the world day, which will be celebrated Nov. 19, Pope Francis listed an array of cultural phenomena that prevent people from caring for the poor: greater pressure to live affluently, a tendency to disregard suffering, virtual reality overtaking real life and a sense of haste that prevents people from stopping to care for others. He offered the parable of the Good Samaritan, who stops to help a man in the street beaten by robbers, to counter the hangups many people have against helping the poor.

The parable “is not simply a story from the past; it continues to challenge each of us in the here and now of our daily lives,” he said. “It is easy to delegate charity to others, yet the calling of every Christian is to become personally involved.”

The pope thanked God for the men and women “of every age and social status” who devote themselves to caring for the poor and excluded, the “ordinary people who quietly make themselves poor among the poor.”

Pope Francis also called for a “serious and effective commitment on the part of political leaders and legislators” to defend the rights enjoyed by all people to food, clothing, shelter, medical care, rest and social services as outlined in St. John XXIII’s 1963 encyclical “Pacem in Terris” (Peace on Earth).

While recognizing the need to pressure public institutions to defend the poor, the pope praised volunteers who serve the common good in a “spirit of solidarity and subsidiarity,” saying “it is of no use to wait passively to receive everything ‘from on high.'”

The pope also pointed to the way poverty is exacerbated by inhumane working conditions, inadequate pay, the “scourge” of job insecurity and by workplace accidents resulting in death. Young people, he said, are also afflicted by a cultural poverty that destroys their self-worth and leads to frustration and even suicide.

He urged people not to fall into “rhetorical excess” or merely consider statistics when speaking of the poor, but to remember that “the poor are persons; they have faces, stories, hearts and souls.”

“Caring for the poor is more than simply a matter of a hasty handout,” Pope Francis said, “it calls for reestablishing the just interpersonal relationships that poverty harms.”

Calling for a care for the poor marked by “Gospel realism,” the pope invited Christians to discern the genuine needs of the poor rather than their own personal hopes and aspirations.

“What the poor need is certainly our humanity, our hearts open to love,” he said.