Approximately 6 to 7 million faithful packed
Manila's Luneta park and surrounding areas for Pope Francis' final Mass in
the Philippines on Sunday which falls on the Feast of Sto.
Nino, the final itinerary on his January 15-19 apostolic nunciature
to the country, enduring the ceaseless rain to hear the pontiff's
evangelization of hope and solace, the biggest Holy Mass in the country in
decades. This exceeded the number of attendee of St. John Paul II’s World Youth Day Mass in Manila in 1995.
The
country is the Catholic Church's benchmark in Asia, with 80 percent of
the former Spanish colony followers of the faith, the past indication that God
does not stop to penetrate everybody’s heart even the colonizers as a conduit
of His relentless grace to invade each country with love.
The Argentine Pope concelebrates the Eucharistic
celebration with more than 2,000 priests and bishops, while a 1,000-member
choir sing at the Mass accompanied by a 200-member orchestra.
The liturgy is Pope’s third and final in the country after celebrating Masses for the religious and clergymen at Manila Cathedral on Friday and for the victims of Supertyphoon “Yolanda” in Tacloban City on Saturday.
Everything
was in order according to Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chair Francis
Tolentino.
These million hosts affirm
that the Philippines indeed remain starving and connecting with Jesus’
love, compassion and mercy for the common good despite the country’s
struggle on the effects of political historical felonies several typhoons,
earthquakes and other natural disasters.
My mother together with her friends who are also a devoted
Catholic had to walk from Luneta Park to Pasay City which is approximately
8-kilometers in distance on obvious reason that these available public utility
vehicles on the day could not quickly accommodate these 6 million people in a
matter of an hour.
This
is the Pope's second trip to Asia within five months, in affirmation to the
emergent significance of the region to the Catholic Church as it faces waning
support in Europe and
the United States, again, on obvious irreconcilable issues that these countries have been known for which include same
sex union, abortion, divorce, pre-marital sex which are a threat to the concept
of a genuine and unerring God’s concept of family as an institution of the
society.
In
his homily, the most coolest Pope says:
“A child is born to us, a
son is given us” (Isaiah 9:5). It is a special joy for me to
celebrate Santo Niño Sunday with you. The image of the Holy Child Jesus accompanied the spread of
the Gospel in this country from the beginning. Dressed in
the robes of a King, crowned and holding the scepter, the globe and the cross,
He continues to remind us of the link between God’s Kingdom and the mystery of
spiritual childhood. He tells us this in today’s Gospel: “Whoever does not
accept the Kingdom of God like a child will not enter it” (Mark
10:15). The Santo Niño continues
to proclaim to us that the light of God’s grace has shone upon a world dwelling
in darkness, bringing the Good News of our freedom from slavery, and guiding us
in the paths of peace, right and justice. The Santo Niño also reminds us of our
call to spread the reign of Christ throughout the world.
In these days, throughout my visit, I have listened to you sing
the song: "We Are All God's Children". That is
what the Santo Niño tells us. He reminds us of our deepest identity. All of us
are God’s children, members of God’s family. Today Saint
Paul has told us that in Christ we have become God’s adopted
children, brothers and sisters in Christ. This is who we are. This is our
identity. We saw a beautiful expression of this when Filipinos rallied around
our brothers and sisters affected by the typhoon.
The Apostle tells us that because God chose us, we have been
richly blessed! God “has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in
the heavens” (Ephesians 1:3). These words have a special
resonance in the Philippines, for it is the foremost Catholic country in Asia;
this is itself a special gift of God, a special blessing. But it is also a
vocation. Filipinos are called to be outstanding missionaries of the faith in
Asia.
God chose and blessed us
for a purpose: to be holy and blameless in his sight (Ephesians 1:4). He chose us, each of us to be witnesses of His truth and His
justice in this world. He created the world as a beautiful garden and asked us
to care for it. But through sin, man has disfigured that natural beauty;
through sin, man has also destroyed the unity and beauty of our human family,
creating social structures which perpetuate poverty, ignorance and corruption.
Sometimes,
when we see the troubles, difficulties and wrongs all around us, we are tempted
to give up. It seems that the promises of the Gospel do not apply; they are
unreal. But the Bible tells us that the great threat to God’s plan for us is,
and always has been, the lie. The devil is the father of lies. Often he hides
his snares behind the appearance of sophistication, the allure of being
“modern”, “like everyone else.” He distracts us with the promise of ephemeral
pleasures, superficial pastimes. And so we squander our God-given gifts by
tinkering with gadgets; we squander our money on gambling and drink; we turn in
on ourselves. We forget to remain focused on the things that really
matter. We forget to remain, at heart, children of God. That is sin: to
forget at heart that we are children of God. For children, as the Lord
tells us, have their own wisdom, which is not the wisdom of the world. That is
why the message of the Santo Niño is so important. He speaks powerfully to all
of us. He reminds us of our deepest identity, of what we are called to be as
God’s family.
The
Santo Niño also reminds us that this identity must be protected. The Christ
Child is the protector of this great country. When he came into the world, His
very life was threatened by a corrupt king. Jesus Himself needed to be protected.
He had an earthly protector: Saint Joseph. He had an earthly family, the Holy
Family of Nazareth. So He reminds us of the importance of protecting our
families, and those larger families which are the Church, God’s family, and the
world, our human family. Sadly, in our day, the family all too often needs to
be protected against insidious attacks and programs contrary to all that we
hold true and sacred, all that is most beautiful and noble in our culture.
In the Gospel, Jesus welcomes children, he embraces them and
blesses them (Mark
10:16). We too need to protect,
guide and encourage our young people, helping them to build a society worthy of
their great spiritual and cultural heritage. Specifically, we need to see each
child as a gift to be welcomed, cherished and protected. And we need to care
for our young people, not allowing them to be robbed of hope and condemned to
life on the streets.
It was a frail child, in need of protection, who brought God’s
goodness, mercy and justice into the world. He resisted the dishonesty and
corruption which are the legacy of sin, and He triumphed over them by the power
of His cross. Now, at the end of my visit to the Philippines, I commend you to
Him, to Jesus who came among us as a child. May He
enable all the beloved people of this country to work together, protecting one
another, beginning with your families and communities, in building a world of
justice, integrity and peace. May the Santo Niño continue to bless the
Philippines and may He sustain the Christians of this great nation in their
vocation to be witnesses and missionaries of the joy of the Gospel, in Asia and
in the whole world.
Please
don’t forget to pray for me! God bless you!
References:
1. Aries
Joseph Hegina, MMDA: 6M Filipinos attended Pope Francis’ Luneta Mass,
papal route, 6:52 PM, Sunday, January 18th, 2015, http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/666218/mmda-6m-filipinos-attended-pope-francis-luneta-mass-papal-route
2. William Saletan, The
Pope’s Catholic, Problem, http://www.slate.com/blogs/saletan/2014/02/11/catholic_poll_on_abortion_gay_marriage_and_birth_control_europe_and_the.html
3. Rouchelle
Dinglasan, Millions brave storm to hear Pope Francis’ Mass in
Luneta, GMA News January 18, 2015 2:23pm, http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/popefrancis/story/409262/millions-brave-storm-to-hear-pope-francis-mass-in-luneta
4. http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/history-made-philippine-crowd-for-pope-francis-hits-6-7-million-37121/, History made! Philippine crowd for Pope Francis hits
6-7 million
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