Most. Rev. Francisco De Leon, Bishop of Antipolo, conducted the Pastoral Visit at Nuestra Señora De Aranzazu (NSDA) on August 9, 2019, Friday. The visit started with a concelebrated mass lead by Bishop Francis and Rev. Fr. Lopito Hiteroza, parish priest of NSDA.
In his homily, Bishop Francis discussed the importance of a pastoral visit in a parish. First, he said that the cleanliness of the church itself, the tabernacle, the confessionary room is very important because the physical attributes of the church can contribute to the aura of the parish. Second, he has to check if the canonical rites are regularly and properly conducted. The bishop meticulously inspected all the things that he has to. A conference with the Parish Priest and Pastoral Council also took place to report the overall state of the Shrine to the Bishop.
The most important role of the pastoral visit, according to him, is to check if the faith of the people in a parish is growing or not. All the physical attributes and proper conduction of sacraments only comes second. He said, “upang magkaroon ng isang tunay na pananampalataya ay mayroon dapat na pagmamahal sa isa’t isa. Makakamtam ang pagmamahal na ito, kung kilala natin si Hesus.” He enumerated eagerness of power, depression, stress, sadness, anger, and popularity as some of many examples of barriers for knowing Jesus Christ.
How does faith and knowing Jesus Christ are related to each other? At the introduction of the Gospel of John, it was mentioned, “In the beginning, the Word already existed, the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”, many bible scholars interpreted that the prologue indicates that the fulfillment of God’s promise in the Old Testament is the existence of Jesus Christ in the New Testament. According to John 3:16, “For God so love the world, he gave his only begotten Son, whoever believes in Him shall not perish and have eternal life.”, this verse tells us that God loves humanity. He gave His only Son just to save us from our sins. As for this, knowing Jesus Christ, his love for us, his good works, miracles, his sacrifice of his own life for the salvation of humanity, will strengthen the faith of the Church respectively.
How can we recognize Jesus Christ? There are many ways! Reading the bible and attending the sacred mass regularly are examples of the most effective ways of knowing Jesus. Most importantly, considering Jesus Christ as our role model as Christians is the best application of our knowledge about him.
In our life, there are many things that hinder us from having faith. Problems, bad values, misunderstandings, and confusions may come into our life and they are the reason why our faith shatters. Our moral and spiritual growth is very vital for us. That is why, the guidance of each member of the Church is very important.
According also to Bishop De Leon, the New Evangelization is very important to boost the faith of those people who don’t possess it anymore. He quoted: “People will only recognize God, if they will lift up their eye of faith.” Openness of minds and hearts of the people are very needed.
The people must realize and appreciate the value of a Pastoral Visit to show support and reverence in this activity. Above all, let us be reminded that one of the aims of the Pastoral Visit is to encourage our faith to Jesus Christ. (Lara Fe Cristi)
