Dearly Beloved People of God,<\/p>\n
The Philippine Church rejoices as it enters a national celebration of the 500 Years of Christianity in our treasured homeland.\u00a0 Five centuries ago we received the marvelous gift of the Christian faith; our hearts overflow with joy and gratitude.\u00a0 Why of all the nations and peoples in Asia was the Philippines chosen by God to be among the first to receive this precious gift?\u00a0 The clear answer is simply this: God\u2019s magnanimous, overflowing love.<\/p>\n
We recall what God told his people Israel regarding his choice: \u201cIt was not because you are the largest of all nations that the Lord set his heart on you and chose you, for you are really the smallest of all nations.\u00a0 It was because the Lord loved you and because of his fidelity\u2026\u201d (Dt 7:7-8).\u00a0 Only God\u2019s freely given love can illuminate the choice of the Filipino people to receive this valuable gift of faith!<\/p>\n
The Christian faith arrived and prospered in our land through the dedication and heroic sacrifices of thousands of men and women missionaries from various parts of the world.\u00a0 They treasured the gift of faith they had received and desired to share this gift with others.\u00a0 As the theme chosen by the Catholic Bishops\u2019 Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) for this fifth centennial notes: all Christians are \u201cgifted to give.\u201d\u00a0 This \u201cgiftedness\u201d motivated generous missionaries over the centuries; it must also enflame the hearts of all of us today to engage in mission here at home and in other countries (missio ad gentes<\/em>).\u00a0 Indeed, this is part of Jesus\u2019 mission mandate to his disciples: \u201cWhat you have received as a gift, give as a gift\u201d (Mt 10:8).\u00a0 We pray for a missionary renewal<\/em> of our Church\u2014both at home (ad intra<\/em>) and beyond our borders (ad extra<\/em>) during our celebration of the 500 years\u2014and into the future!<\/p>\n Missionary Transformation. <\/strong>Our beloved Pope Francis, who visited us in 2015, is committed to the missionary renewal of the entire Church; we can take inspiration from his document Evangelii Gaudium <\/em>(The Joy of the Gospel<\/em>).\u00a0 He asserts that we need an \u201cevangelizing Church that comes out of herself,\u201d not a Church that is \u201cself-referential\u201d and \u201clives within herself, of herself, for herself\u201d (cf. EG 20-24).\u00a0 Francis says: \u201cI dream of a \u2018missionary option,\u2019 that is, a missionary impulse capable of transforming everything, so that the Church\u2019s customs, ways of doing things, times and schedules, language and structures can be suitably channeled for the evangelization of today\u2019s world rather than for her self-preservation\u2026.\u00a0 All renewal in the Church must have mission as its goal if it is not to fall prey to a kind of ecclesial introversion\u201d (EG 27).\u00a0 We seek to renew our mission enthusiasm here at home as well as missio ad gentes, <\/em>mission to other nations and peoples.<\/p>\n Pope Francis continues: \u201cMissionary outreach is paradigmatic for all the Church\u2019s activity<\/em>\u2026.\u00a0 We need to move \u2018from a pastoral ministry of mere conservation to a decidedly missionary pastoral ministry\u2019\u201d (EG 15).\u00a0 \u201cI want to emphasize that what I am trying to express here has programmatic significance and important consequences\u2026.\u00a0 Throughout the world, let us be \u2018permanently in a state of mission\u2019\u201d (EG 25).\u00a0 We must seek to \u201cput all things in a missionary key\u201d (EG 34).\u00a0 We recall the challenge of Pope John Paul II during his 1981 visit to our Church: \u201cI wish to tell you of my special desire: that the Filipinos will become the foremost missionaries of the Church in Asia.\u201d\u00a0 This is a clear invitation to engage in missio ad gentes<\/em>!<\/p>\n Pope Francis\u2019 insights about Church missionary renewal come from his deep personal relationship with Christ.\u00a0 He writes: \u201cI invite all Christians, everywhere, at this very moment, to a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ\u2026.\u00a0 I ask all of you to do this unfailingly each day\u201d (EG 3).\u00a0 A pivotal insight of Pope Francis is that \u201cwe are all missionary disciples\u201d (EG 119); through baptism, \u201call the members of the People of God have become missionary disciples\u201d (EG 120).\u00a0 All Christians are \u201cagents of evangelization.\u201d\u00a0 Missionary evangelization \u201ccalls for personal involvement on the part of each of the baptized\u2026.\u00a0 Every Christian is a missionary to the extent that he or she has encountered the love of God in Christ Jesus: we no longer say that we are \u2018disciples\u2019 and \u2018missionaries,\u2019 but rather that we are always \u2018missionary disciples\u2019\u201d (EG 120).<\/p>\n Joy: A Convincing Sign.\u00a0 <\/strong>For Pope Francis, salvation history is a \u201cgreat stream of joy\u201d (EG 5) which we must also enter.\u00a0 Let the joy of faith be revived, because God\u2019s mercies never end (cf. EG 6).\u00a0 Unfortunately, \u201cthere are Christians whose lives seem like Lent without Easter\u201d (EG 6).\u00a0 \u201cAn evangelizer must never look like someone who has just come back from a funeral\u201d (EG 10).\u00a0 We must not<\/em> become \u201cquerulous and disillusioned pessimists, \u2018sourpusses\u2019\u201d (EG 85).\u00a0 \u201cMay the world of our time, which is searching, sometimes with anguish, sometimes with hope, be enabled to receive the good news not from evangelizers who are dejected, discouraged, impatient or anxious, but from ministers of the Gospel whose lives glow with fervor, who have first received the joy of Christ (EG 10; cf. EN 75).\u00a0 We all must not<\/em><\/strong> \u201cend up stifling the joy of mission\u201d (EG 79), both here at home and in other lands!<\/p>\n Mercy: Today\u2019s Pathway in Mission.\u00a0 <\/strong>Pope Francis continually insists that mercy is the very essence of God.\u00a0 In his Misericordiae Vultus<\/em> (The Face of Mercy<\/em>) Francis expresses it this way: mercy is God\u2019s identity card.\u00a0 <\/em>He says: \u201cWe need constantly to contemplate the mystery of mercy.\u00a0 It is a wellspring of joy, serenity, and peace\u2026. Mercy [is] the bridge that connects God and man\u201d (MV 2).\u00a0 Francis quotes Saint Thomas Aquinas, who asserts that \u201cmercy is the greatest of all virtues; \u2026 all the others revolve around it \u2026 it is proper to God to have mercy\u201d (EG 37).\u00a0 \u201cMercy is the very foundation of the Church\u2019s life.\u00a0 All of her pastoral activity should be caught up in the tenderness she makes present to believers; nothing in her preaching and in her witness to the world can be lacking in mercy.\u00a0 The Church\u2019s very credibility is seen in how she shows merciful and compassionate love\u201d (MV 10).<\/p>\n \u201cThe Church is commissioned to announce the mercy of God, the beating heart of the Gospel, which in its own way must penetrate the heart and mind of every person\u2026.\u00a0 As the Church is charged with the task of the new evangelization, the theme of mercy needs to be proposed again and again with new enthusiasm and renewed pastoral action\u2026.\u00a0 In our parishes, communities, associations and movements, in a word, wherever there are Christians, everyone should find an oasis of mercy\u201d (MV 12).<\/p>\n Conclusion. <\/strong>Pope Francis\u2019 profound thoughts on missionary renewal<\/em>, joy<\/em>, and mercy<\/em> provide a solid compass to guide us as individuals and communities during our 500-years celebration and in the year 2021 which is dedicated to missio ad gentes <\/em>(mission to all peoples).\u00a0 With Pope Francis we ask two graces of the Lord: \u201cLet us not allow ourselves to be robbed of missionary vigor\u201d (EG 109).\u00a0 \u201cLet us not allow ourselves to be robbed of missionary enthusiasm\u201d (EG 80).\u00a0 We remain constant in prayer, asking our two canonized \u201cforeign\u201d missionary saints, Lorenzo Ruiz and Pedro Calungsod, to intercede for us so that our loving God will always abundantly bless our Church in the Philippines and all her many missionary endeavors!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n For the Catholic Bishops\u2019 Conference of the Philippines,<\/p>\n + ROMULO G. VALLES, D.D.<\/strong> \n<\/p>\n[\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_post_nav prev_text=”PREVIOUS ARTICLE” next_text=”NEXT ARTICLE” _builder_version=”3.20.1″ background_color=”rgba(12,113,195,0.55)”] \n<\/p>\n[\/et_pb_post_nav][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]\n
Archbishop of Davao
President, Catholic Bishops\u2019 Conference of the Philippines
29 November 2020
First Sunday of Advent<\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider _builder_version=”3.20.1″]