ROXAS CITY, Capiz – Even amid the government’s existing health protocols due to the Covid-19 pandemic which forces some of the public to stay at home and have limited mobility, Catholics can still be “missionary disciples.”
This is what Cardinal Capiz Archbishop Jose F. Advincula Jr. said on Tuesday in his homily for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the Metropolitan Cathedral here.
Cardinal Advincula’s words are consistent with the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines’ (CBCP) theme for the year-long celebration in 2021 to mark the arrival of Christianity here in the Philippines five centuries ago dubbed as the “Year of Missio Ad Gentes.”
Proclaiming the Gospel, the newest Filipino Cardinal said, is not just the task of the clergy and consecrated persons reserved in pulpits, but also by the laity.
“Let us be reminded that all of us are missionary-disciples,” the Cardinal told the faithful attending the pontifical high mass for Roxas City’s fiesta.
“Through our words, actions and our total commitment to the faith, we can all preach the Gospel to others around us be it at home, work-places, schools and within our small communities,” he added.
These simple capacities, the 68-year-old Prelate said, explains that “even if most of us are forced to stay at home, we can still carry out our mandate to be missionary disciples.”
Cardinal Advincula celebrated the mass and preached wearing a face-shield and a face-mask in accordance with the minimum health and safety protocols suggested by state authorities.
The ninth Filipino to have been given the title “prince of the Church,” also took note that Filipino Catholics, similar to the first followers of Jesus, should not just be at the receiving end of instruction and witnessing but should also be prompted to instruct and give witness to their faith.
“We cannot be disciples only, we have to be missionaries,” Cardinal Advincula stressed.
“We are missionaries that are mandated to proclaim the Good News of our salvation,” he stressed.
Such missionary mandate, he said, is coming from Christ himself and was thus lived by the early missionaries that arrived here in the Philippines 500 years ago.
The Cardinal also recognized the acclaim that Filipinos are known worldwide as being devout Catholics.
“Filipinos are known throughout the world because of our devout Catholic faith [especially] through our migrant workers and missionaries [who] serves the Church in almost 200 countries around the world where Filipinos are present,” the Archbishop of Capiz said.
“May our celebration of being Christians for 500 years… renew and ignite our perseverance, as a Church, to do our part in bearing witness to the Gospel not only here at home but as well as to other nations,” concluded.
Meanwhile, Roxas City Mayor Ronnie Dadivas represented the people in the crowning of the image of the Immaculate Conception – a tradition that honors the Blessed Virgin Mary as the city’s patroness and as well as the faithful’s consecrating their community under her intercession.
The Immaculate Conception of Our Lady is the principal patroness of the Philippines and also of the Archdiocese of Capiz.
Apart from the 500th year of Christianity in the Philippines, Capiz, upon receiving its gift as a Cardinalate See, will be celebrating its 70th year as a canonically erected diocese.
