5th Anniversary Celebration of the Diocese with Religious Men and Women
Immaculate Conception Cathedral, 39 Lantana Street, Cubao, Quezon City
August 25, 2008 6:00 pm

THE ROLE OF THE RELIGIOUS IN BUILDING UP THE LOCAL CHURCH

As we celebrate our Fifth Anniversary, I am very grateful for this opportunity to thank the Lord for the presence of the Religious Congregations in the Diocese of Cubao. Without you , we cannot serve God’s people as fully and capably as we are doing today. In your witness to Jesus and His gospel through your Consecrated life, you are a precious gift and a blessing not just to the Universal Church but also to this local church.
The Second Vatican Council calls for a closer collaboration and cooperation between the bishops and religious and in particular has highlighted the bishop’s role of pastoral service to religious within the local church. As a bishop, I am a father, a brother and a friend who is walking with his sisters and brothers in the religious life, on a journey which will bring all of us to a greater understanding of our respective role in the church and will enable us to respect and support each other effectively.
I remember the story of the two brothers. Once there were two brothers who inherited their father’s land. The brothers divided the land in half and each one farmed his own section. After several years, the older brother married and had six children, while the younger brother never married.
One night, as the younger brother laid awake, he thought: “It’s not fair that each of us has half the land to farm. My brother has six children to feed and I have none. He should have more grain than I do.”
So that night the younger brother went to his silo or barn. Gathered a large bundle of wheat, and climbed the hill that separated the two farms and went over to his brother’s farm. Leaving the wheat in his brother’s silo, the younger brother returned home, feeling pleased with himself.
Earlier that very same night, the older brother was also lying awake. “It’s not fair that each of us has half the land to farm,” he thought. “In my old age my wife and I will have our grown children to take care of us, not to mention grandchildren, while my brother will probably have none. He should at least sell more grain from the fields now so he can provide for himself with dignity in his old age.”
So that night, too, he secretly gathered a large bundle of wheat, climbed the hill, went and left it in his brother’s silo, and returned home, feeling pleased with himself.
The next morning, the younger brother was surprised to see the amount of grain in his barn unchanged. “I must not have taken as much wheat as I thought.” He said, bemused. “Tonight I’ll be sure to take more.”
That very same moment, his older brother was also standing in his barn, musing much the same thoughts.
After night fell, each brother gathered a greater amount of wheat from his barn and in the dark, secretly delivered it to his brother’s barn. The next morning, the brothers were again puzzled and perplexed. “How can I be mistaken?” each one scratched his head. “There’s the same amount of grain here as there was before I cleared the pile for my brother. This is impossible! Tonight I’ll make no mistake – I’ll take the pile down to the very floor. That way I’ll be sure the grain gets delivered to my brother.”
The third night, more determined than ever, each brother gathered a large pile of wheat from his barn, loaded it onto a cart, and slowly pulled his haul through the fields and up the hill to his brother’s barn. At the top of the hill, under the shadow of a moon, each brother noticed a figure in the distance. Who could it be?
When the two brothers recognized the form of the other brother and the load he was pulling behind, they realized what happened. Without a word, they dropped the ropes to their carts and embraced.
King Solomon watched with amusement the brothers’ mutual generosity. The love they felt for each other caused a miracle to occur. Solomon was inspired to build a temple on that very spot.
I never doubt that our collaboration and mutual generosity can bring about many miracles in the diocese. As I walk with you in this journey, I accept my ecclesial responsibility in promoting your charism, and supporting you in carrying out your missions and ministries. Lumen Gentium #12 says, “The Holy Spirit distributes special gifts among the faithful of every rank. By these gifts he makes them fit and ready to undertake various task and offices for the renewal and building of the local church.” Charism is a gift of the Holy Spirit and its basic purpose is to renew and build the church. Certainly, the charisms of the different religious congregations are essential in renewing and building the church of Cubao.
With the Holy Spirit guiding us, we were able to come up with a llive point pastoral agenda this coming three years from 2009 – 2011. The No. 1 goal in our Five Point Pastoral Agenda is that by the end of 2011, the Diocese of Cubao will be a local Church where parishes are alive and strengthened through BECs by a comprehensive formation program for integral Renewed Evangelization for the lay and clergy with the collaboration of the religious. Evangelization for the church means bringing the good news in all the strata of humanity and through in transforming humanity itself from within. Through your presence and help in our diocese this pastoral agenda will not be difficult to achieve.
We have about 500 religious men in (34 congregations) and about 1,500 religious women in 89 congregations composed of contemplative, monastic, and apostolic communities. Your presence in the diocese first and foremost, gives witness to the presence of the divine in this world besieged with secularism. The contemplative and monastic communities sanctify our diocese with their continuous prayers. It is always a source of hope and consolation to know that there are people praying for you. With your constant prayers we know God is always here with with us to help us.
Those of you who are involved in the active apostolate and ministries make the presence of Christ more visible to the community. When you walk in the streets, in the market place, in the MRT/LRT stations and people see you, you remind them of Christ who walked in the streets of Jerusalem and other parts of Israel, preaching, healing, teaching, and performing miracles. Your immersion in the depressed area, your apostolate to the children, the elderly, the unwed mothers, the handicapped, and the marginalized of the society, your defense and promotion of human rights make the presence of Christ more obvious to our people. When you reach out the poor (whom God loves so dearly) you become the hands of Christ reaching out to them.
Secondly, you help build the local church in the Diocese of Cubao specifically in the field of evangelization through education and catechesis. With the deterioration of the society’s moral fabric, the increasing poverty, and the indifference of the people toward the church, the call for renewed evangelization through catechesis is indeed urgent. You are not only generous in teaching our people to know God so they can love and serve Him, you are also generous to open your houses to our people and use them as venues for evangelization.
Lastly, as you live your community life responding to your vocation as religious, and as you practice your vows and fulfill your charisms based on the traditions and spirituality of your founders, you remind us of the early church in which members come together with a common mission and share their resources. The unity in such community is essential carrying out your mission especially in evangelization. Once again, thank you for your presence, thank you for your prayers, thank you for your support, thank you for your apostolate! With the help of the Holy Spirit, let us journey together in building our local church here in the Diocese of Cubao.

MABUHAY PO KAYO! MABUHAY PO ANG DIOCESE OF CUBAO!