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My dear brothers and sisters in Christ it’s me again, don’t worry we’re coming to the close, to the end. And as we opened the PCNE with prayer and with Eucharist, it is just fitting to bring you to a close also around the Eucharistic table and we are blessed to have as our presider to this evening’s Eucharist the Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines His Excellency the Most Reverend Gabriele [Giordano] Caccia. And we thank him for the beautiful message that he sent to us which was read at the opening liturgy last… What day? (Crowd answers: Wednesday!) Ahh I’m just testing you! (Laughter) You know for photographs now you don’t say “cheese” anymore, you say “Wednesday”, Oh please say, “Wednesday”, (Crowd answers: Wednesday!) Ayan! And, we thank our two bishops, Bishop Mel Rey of Lucena, Bishop Cornelius Sim of Brunei, the two companions of the Apostolic Nuncio working in the nunciature, Fr. Kevin from the United States and Fr. Viola from Argentina. So we thank all of you for staying.
As is quite obvious my synthesis already dwelt on a portion of the Gospel. But as a totality the readings and the closing of the PCNE invite us to focus on Jesus. After all the situations, all the stories, all the persons that we have encountered, all the callings to mission, now we bring all of them to Jesus.
In the first reading from the prophet Jeremiah, we sense the deep frustration of God because the leaders of Israel were not good shepherds. The Kings, ang mga hari ng Israel who were supposed to reflect to the people the love, the caring, that the true king – God, wanted his people to receive they just failed. They tried to rule according to their own brand of ruling and they forgot that it is God’s people and that the true king is God. And therefore they should give to the people the shepherding, the caring, that God wants them to receive. And the fruit of it is they fed themselves rather than the flock and the flock got dispersed, scattering, division. You have scattered my sheep and worst you have driven them away. Hindi lang pinagkalat-kalat ang mga tupa, pinalayas pa yung iba. That is not what God wants for His people. God wants gathering, the gathering of His people. God wants the unity of His people. God wants God’s people to be one in spirit, in caring. It is not the role of a shepherd to scatter, the role of the shepherd according to the mind and heart of God is to gather. And that is at the root of the word Church “ecclesia”, Iglesia – pagtitipon, pagbubuklod, hindi pagkakalat, hindi pagkakawatak-watak. And all of us who have been called to follow Jesus and who have been given some positions or even callings of responsibility over others we should be mindful of that. The type of caring that unites, the type of shepherding, the type of leading that would bring people together.
The frustration of God in the first reading is somehow as waged when we come to the second reading. St. Paul in his letter to the Ephesians tells the Ephesians and tells us that those who used to be separated from each other, those who were far off from one another. Kayo na dating magkakalayo, kayo na dating nagtitinginan mula sa malayo lamang, malayo ang tingin, wala namang… (Crowd answers: inaudible) Marami pala dito ka-generation ko, hindi maitago. Ganoon eh, minsan lampas-lampasan pa nga ang itingin eh. But according to Saint Paul in Jesus Christ you who used to be far off from us, of Israel, we are now brought together. In Jesus the prophecy is fulfilled. I will shepherd my people and I will raise a shepherd who will not scatter or drive away others but will bring them close – Jesus. He is the Good news; He is God’s good news. But how did Jesus bring us together? Not through a contract, not through a negotiation, not through a treaty but according to Saint Paul, “We who once were far off have become near to each other by the blood of Christ.” He is our peace, He who made both one, the two one, dividing the wall of enmity through His flesh. This is not a piece of paper signed by two or three parties. It is in His person, in His body, in His blood, in His heart. Heart, wounded so that all would have a place. A heart wounded so that by that opening people could enter, saint, sinners, Jews, gentiles, male, female, in his person. That’s why in the gospel we see that, in His heart, in His person there’s room for weary and tired disciples. In his person, in his heart there was room for sheep who were longing to be fed by God’s word. In his person, all are gathered. But it meant “dying for all” so that all may be one. How we wish it were just a contract. Sana pirmahan na lang ng papel at pagkatapos magpirmahan nagkakalimutan. Hindi ganoon ang daan ni Hesus at hindi ganoon ang inaasahan niya sa atin, it is personal.
And so, at the end of this session we are invited “enter Jesus” the good news in person. Enter His heart there you will find the Gospel, the love that becomes calvary, the heart that welcomes woundedness so that there will be ever a space for the tired, the weary, the rejected, the lost, and in that heart, in that person we will find peace and reconciliation. The same with us, if we enter the person of Christ hopefully our persons will be transformed. And then we go home, we go to our work, and with the heart of Christ in us, with the Gospel, evangelizing us because we have encountered Him person to person. The person of Christ, my person then we could be agents, instruments not of enmity, not of violence, not of hatred, not of bigotry, but of peace and reconciliation. But let it happen in our persons.
Sana po pag-uwi ninyo mamaya sabihin nung mga kasama ninyo sa bahay, “Parang nag-iba ka, saan ka ba galing? Parang may iba sa iyo, parang iba.” Hindi lamang sa mga bagong kaisipan at kaalaman kundi, “may bago akong napasok, the body of Christ.” We are the body of Christ, we all belong to Christ, and in Christ we are one. May galing sa Northern Luzon, may galing sa Bicol, may galing sa Visayas, may galing sa Mindanao. May galing sa Brunei, may galing sa L.A, may galing sa Canada, may galing sa China… You are Joseph right? (Talking to one from the audience) Please rise, from China. (Applause) From Argentina, from the U.S, from Italy, we have friends from India. But see, the body of Christ, in Christ. The Gospel erupts as a concrete reality in the world. A world that is busy, fighting each other, building walls and barriers, economic, social, cultural, whatever, just to separate us from one another. In the person of Christ we find peace and reconciliation.
Tatapusin ko na pero hindi ako kakanta… (Laughter)
I have narrated this story a number of times but I think it merits repetition and I say this in a special way to my brother priests and also to the religious and our lay partners, the lay people who are missionaries. We are partners in the same mission, you are not partners of our clerical mission, you are baptized so you belong to Christ in baptism. So together we are one body. Sometimes we see new situations, we see new realities, and we are turned off. What we do not understand we push away. Something that looks strange to us and threatening we drive away. Specially parang kapag nakaka-disturb. I have two stories.
Once there was a lady who kept reminding me of her birthday. “Bishop, my birthday is coming, please come to the dinner, if you have time please come to the mass.” I checked my schedule and I could not so I said I’m sorry I could not. But even with that response she kept on sending texts, calling, writing at the certain point I felt like, “Hmm! I better change my number, I better change my email address.” Parang, “Is it not clear I cannot attend?” Two days before her birthday she even showed up she said, “You have not been answering my texts.” I said, “But because I have already told you I could not come.” And she said, “But you know, kasi on my birthday all the gifts will go to your diocese.” And I said, “When nga, what time nga? What time is your, what is is the mass? Kasi naman itong secretary is not clarifying!” “My… my fault, my fault, my most grievous fault.” (Laughter)… How we drive away people and then when it is to our advantage, “Kailan nga? Kailan nga?” But Jesus opened his heart even when He was being rejected. There is room even for enemies not just for the “makulit.” And for those who were wondering new methods, new expressions, one catechist told me “Wow, I attended that workshop for millennials.” Sabi niya, “wow I thought being a catechist is just writing a lesson plan. No, but you have to go, to enter the world of the millennials,” and in a way disturbed her but also enriched her. But that is the part of expansion our hearts in our persons before opening it on syllabus or a lesson plan, it must start with your person. In my person do the millennials have a place or are they driven away because they are too mysterious in their clothing, in their… I met one girl whose hairstyle was like two volcanoes (Laughter) – Taal vocano and Mayon volcano ready to erupt… Ganyan! (Laughter) Parang your tendency is, “Gee, what if she applies to the novitiate?” Woah!! (Laughter)…
Now this final story I was in a summer camp for the youth and they asked me to give a talk on finding one’s purpose in life. It was actually a vocation promotion but they did not use the word vocation baka no one would come. They might get afraid. So it was finding the purpose of life and I gave a talk, after that question answer. The first question I got from a young girl was, “bishop will you sing for us?” I said, “nobody told me that I would sing. Hindi ako nagdala ng minus-one. I’m not prepared to sing.” So I told them, “ask meaningful questions, ask questions related to the topic.” So they asked beautiful and difficult questions. Then one boy raised his hand and said, “Oh so, bishop will you sing for us?” Talagang pusigido. So I said, “I will start a song that everyone knows and we sing together.” And we sang after that you know they came to ask for blessing, some asked for selfies, some asked for autographs on their journals, some on their T-shirts. And one girl nga sabi, “dito, dito, dito mo pirmahan! (pointing to her chest) So I said, “No! No!” people might wonder, “How did the signature of the Bishop end up there?” so I said, “Turn around! Turn around! Yan!” As this was going on I was getting confused, I was asking myself, “What do they see in me? Am I behaving like bishop? Am I betraying my ministry? What do they see in me? Do they see a bishop? Do they see a celebrity? Do they see an actor? (Laughter) What do they see?” All of this so confusing… so confusing… but I just complied. The answer came a year later. In a similar youth camp one boy approached me and said, “Bishop I attended the youth camp last year and you signed my T-shirt.” And I said, “Ahh yes, isa ka doon sa mga nagpamirma ng t-shirt.” Then he said, “I have not washed the T-shirt. Hindi ko pa pinabalabahan.” (Laughter) Then ako naman, “Yiieeh! One year, edi ano na yan? Yiiieehh!!” And then he said, “But every night I fold it, I put it under my pillow. I have not seen my father in years.” He said, “But with that T-shirt, I know I belong to a family. I know I have a father.” And it was just a signature, it was my little bread. It was not even the full fish. But it assures a child with an Overseas Filipino Worker parent that he is not alone.
I told this story in London there was a youth day in England and Wales, and after my talk I saw a group of Asian, Asian looking young people getting out of the auditorium and I thought to myself they probably want to greet me because I’m from Asia, from the Philippines and true enough they met me at the gate from different countries but there were some Filipino and one of the Filipino youth said, “Bishop I was there in that summer camp. I know the boy that asked for your signature,” and I asked him, “What are you doing here?” “I am a youth minister here in England.” Look at how in the person of Christ, in the body of Christ, our little pieces of bread even when we do not fully understand might be a calling on the part of Jesus.
Come be part of me. Stop the scattering. Come be one, enter my heart, I shed my blood for you. May the walls be cleansed by my blood.
Let us pause… With faith, with peace, let us turn to Jesus and allow him to transform our hearts, our persons.
