30. Vocation Animation and Recruitment

30. Vocation Animation and Recruitment

VOCATION ANIMATION AND RECRUITMENT

“God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life”(Jn 3:16). His Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ calls us to follow him to have this eternal life just as he challenged a young man, “If you want to be perfect, go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven; then come and follow me.”(Mt 19:21). Through our baptism, all of us are called to be part of the saving mission of Christ which he entrusted to his Church (Apostolicam Actuositatem [AA], 30) and this vocation can either be towards married life or a celibate life dedicated to service and ministry in the Church that we are exhorted to promote this (Perfectae Caritatis [PC], 24). Parents, who are the first to communicate the faith to their children and to educate them “should prudently help them in the choice of their vocation and carefully promote any religious calling which they many discern in them.” (AA, 11). At this time when we have shortage of priests and crisis of vocation to religious life (Bishop Raymond A. Lucker, “Assessing the Shortage of Priests: Nonclerical Alternatives to Ordained Ministry” in Shepherds Speak, N.Y.: Crossroad, 1986, pp.34-38), “Priests and Catholic teachers should make serious efforts on behalf of religious vocations, so that a new supply may be at hand for meeting the Church’s needs adequately” (PC, 24). This should include understanding the young people today and their aspirations (John Paul II, Crossing the Threshold of Hope, N.Y.: A.A Knopf, 1994, pp.118-122), role-modeling and life-witnessing of the clergy and vocation awareness and a vocation program covering recruitment, formation and follow-up evaluation (PCP II Decree, article 73, #2 & 3). Young people today are facing obstacles and problems in embracing priestly vocation due to the lure of consumer society, perverted outlook on human sexuality, distorted sense of freedom and erosion of ethical principles (John Paul II, Pastores Dabo Vobis [PDV], 8). In spite of this, young people have vigor and vitality in involving themselves in voluntary social services towards the forsaken of society, to be open and sympathetic to the poor, the thirst for freedom, the search for a just world and a commitment to peace are ideals that inspire them to opt for priestly vocation (PDV, 9). All programs and activities of vocation animation and recruitment shall take this into account as well as to consider the “complex situation of the present day” (PDV, 10). To have a more effective and systematic vocation animation and recruitment, it is suggested to have a clear directional goal, realizable objectives, orientational principles, operational activities, effective deployment of Diocesan Vocation Director and Vocation Animators, organization and mobilization of Vocation Committees in parishes, organization of Love Your Seminarians Movement and Vocation Clubs, Vocation Sunday, conducting Vocation Seminars and Search-ins, clear funding, proper use of mass media and involvement of schools and other institutions and a good program for vocation promotion and recruitment.

Questions for small group discussions:
How do you promote or animate priestly and religious vocation in your parish?
Are there seminarians or formandi to the religious life who are from your parish? How do you support them? Do they inspire young people in your parish to follow priestly and religious vocation?
Are there programs and activities in your parish related to vocation promotion and animation? How are you involved in these? Are there many parishioners who are also involved in this? Why?

29. Religious Congregations

29. Religious Congregations

RELIGIOUS CONGREGATIONS

Christ Jesus calls all of us to holiness: “You must be perfect just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”(Mt. 5:48). Thus St. Paul wrote, “It is God’s will that you grow in holiness.”(I Thes. 4:3) In pursuit of this holiness and perfect charity and influenced by the Holy Spirit, since the infancy of the church, “men and women strove to follow Christ more freely and imitate Him more nearly by the practice of the evangelical counsels”(Perfectae Caritatis [PC], 1) of chastity, poverty and obedience which become the essence of their consecrated life and founded religious congregations (PC, 8). These evangelical counsels which they professed in the church in imitation of Christ, the virgin and poor man (Cf. Mt. 8:20) and who is obedient to God the Father even unto death (Cf. Phil. 2:8), does not set them apart from other Christians but it is to express “with greater fullness” (Evangelica testificacio [ET], 4) the baptismal consecration to “the service of God”(ET, 7), a self-surrender to “achieve a greater good for the Church” (PC, 1) and like all Christians, “to serve the world and the church, to be immersed in the world even as they live as signs of the coming kingdom.” (Second Plenary Council of the Philippines [PCP II], 454). As a sign within the church as a sign and witnessing to the Gospel beatitudes (Mt 5:1ff.), religious life has a radical and distinct form of discipleship “whereby persons consecrate themselves to living Christ’s life radically, publicly and in community, in order thereby to devote themselves exclusively to the mission of Christ” (PCP II, 449). To fulfill the mission of Christ, religious congregations, like the Augustinians, Benedictines, Brigittines, Carmelites, Carthusians, Columbans, Dominicans, Franciscans, Handmaids, Jesuits, Redemptorists, Trappists, etc., are not only involved in parishes, schools, retreat centers, mass media, health centers and socio-pastoral agencies but they are also involved in new ministries and missions but with a prophetic character. Consequently, religious life as “prophecy in the manner of Christ’s own prophetic life has to be an urgent dimension in the light of our evangelizing task as a Church and in the context of our history.”(PCP II, 451).
Like all Christian groups, religious congregations are undergoing a renewal to be attuned to the times. Vatican II delineates that the “appropriate renewal of religious life involves two simultaneous processes: (1) a continuous return to the sources of all Christian life and to the original inspiration behind a given community and (2) an adjustment of the community to the changed conditions of the times.”(PC,2). The cloistered nuns and contemplative hermits or monks who are “totally dedicated to contemplation give themselves to God alone in solitude and silence and through constant prayer and ready penance.”(PC, 7) The friars, religious brothers, missionaries and religious clergy as well as religious women who are involved in active apostolate “have contributions to make which are as various as the graces given them” (PC, 8) echoing what is said in the letter to the Corinthians, “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit” (I Cor. 12:4). Considering their valuable endowment and contribution to the Church, religious congregations and communities “should faithfully maintain and fulfill their proper activities. Yet, they should make adjustments in them according to the needs of time and place and in favor of what will benefit the universal Church and individual dioceses.”(PC, 20). In our Diocese of San Carlos we need not only the revitalization of the ARMWID (Association of Religious Men and Women in the Diocese) but also more religious congregations to spread the good news of Christ and make manifest their witness to their faith and love of God.

Questions for small group discussions:
Are you aware of the existence of Religious Congregations and missionaries in our Diocese of San Carlos? If you do, who are they and what do you think are their contribution to the Church?
Would you want to have more religious congregations in our diocese? If yes, why?; if no, why not?

29. Religious Congregations

29. Religious Congregations

RELIGIOUS CONGREGATIONS

Christ Jesus calls all of us to holiness: “You must be perfect just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”(Mt. 5:48). Thus St. Paul wrote, “It is God’s will that you grow in holiness.”(I Thes. 4:3) In pursuit of this holiness and perfect charity and influenced by the Holy Spirit, since the infancy of the church, “men and women strove to follow Christ more freely and imitate Him more nearly by the practice of the evangelical counsels”(Perfectae Caritatis [PC], 1) of chastity, poverty and obedience which become the essence of their consecrated life and founded religious congregations (PC, 8). These evangelical counsels which they professed in the church in imitation of Christ, the virgin and poor man (Cf. Mt. 8:20) and who is obedient to God the Father even unto death (Cf. Phil. 2:8), does not set them apart from other Christians but it is to express “with greater fullness” (Evangelica testificacio [ET], 4) the baptismal consecration to “the service of God”(ET, 7), a self-surrender to “achieve a greater good for the Church” (PC, 1) and like all Christians, “to serve the world and the church, to be immersed in the world even as they live as signs of the coming kingdom.” (Second Plenary Council of the Philippines [PCP II], 454). As a sign within the church as a sign and witnessing to the Gospel beatitudes (Mt 5:1ff.), religious life has a radical and distinct form of discipleship “whereby persons consecrate themselves to living Christ’s life radically, publicly and in community, in order thereby to devote themselves exclusively to the mission of Christ” (PCP II, 449). To fulfill the mission of Christ, religious congregations, like the Augustinians, Benedictines, Brigittines, Carmelites, Carthusians, Columbans, Dominicans, Franciscans, Handmaids, Jesuits, Redemptorists, Trappists, etc., are not only involved in parishes, schools, retreat centers, mass media, health centers and socio-pastoral agencies but they are also involved in new ministries and missions but with a prophetic character. Consequently, religious life as “prophecy in the manner of Christ’s own prophetic life has to be an urgent dimension in the light of our evangelizing task as a Church and in the context of our history.”(PCP II, 451).
Like all Christian groups, religious congregations are undergoing a renewal to be attuned to the times. Vatican II delineates that the “appropriate renewal of religious life involves two simultaneous processes: (1) a continuous return to the sources of all Christian life and to the original inspiration behind a given community and (2) an adjustment of the community to the changed conditions of the times.”(PC,2). The cloistered nuns and contemplative hermits or monks who are “totally dedicated to contemplation give themselves to God alone in solitude and silence and through constant prayer and ready penance.”(PC, 7) The friars, religious brothers, missionaries and religious clergy as well as religious women who are involved in active apostolate “have contributions to make which are as various as the graces given them” (PC, 8) echoing what is said in the letter to the Corinthians, “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit” (I Cor. 12:4). Considering their valuable endowment and contribution to the Church, religious congregations and communities “should faithfully maintain and fulfill their proper activities. Yet, they should make adjustments in them according to the needs of time and place and in favor of what will benefit the universal Church and individual dioceses.”(PC, 20). In our Diocese of San Carlos we need not only the revitalization of the ARMWID (Association of Religious Men and Women in the Diocese) but also more religious congregations to spread the good news of Christ and make manifest their witness to their faith and love of God.

Questions for small group discussions:
Are you aware of the existence of Religious Congregations and missionaries in our Diocese of San Carlos? If you do, who are they and what do you think are their contribution to the Church?
Would you want to have more religious congregations in our diocese? If yes, why?; if no, why not?

27. Seminary Formation

27. Seminary Formation

THE DIOCESAN SEMINARY FORMATION PROGRAM

God “loved us first” (I Jn 4:19) and called us to participate in the communion of the Trinity. Moved by the Holy Spirit, we recognize His call and we journey towards Him in the light of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus and in dialogue with the signs of the times, transforming our very selves in the process and allowing a new self to shine forth and to cooperate with God in transforming the world so that His Kingdom may come (Cfr. Second Plenary Council of the Philippines [PCP II], 565). This journey is our formation in our life in the light of our vocation to serve God and to undergo a gradual and progressive conversion to be conformed and be configured to Christ by the action of the Spirit, to follow Jesus Christ more faithfully and to be in union with God through a comprehensive and integral seminary formation program ( Optatam Totius [OT], 2-3; Cfr. Catholic Bishop’s Conference of the Philippines Episcopal Commission on Seminaries, The Updated Philippine Program of Priestly Formation, 2006 [UPPPF], pp. 6-7).
Formation is a lifelong process which involves individuals at every level and a radical re-orientation and progressive transformation of persons-under-formation and gradual change of their relationships with others and with God as they respond to God’s call to holiness and discipleship appropriate to the demands of specific times and places (UPPPF, pp. 2-3) and to “serve the Lord with a heart full of devotion” (Rom 12:11).
In the spirit of the Second Plenary Council of the Philippines [PCP II] which focused on the renewal of the local Church for the sake of the renewal of the Philippine society, the Diocesan Seminary Formation Program is designed for a contextualized and comprehensive education program. It is focused on forming “servant leaders” for a “Church with a Mission of renewed integral evangelization” as “Church of the poor” and as “Community of Disciples of Christ” (UPPPF, pp.5, 6-7) to be “ministers of Christ Jesus among the people” (Presbyterorum Ordinis [PO], 2). Through the Seminary, the Church helps in the discernment of vocations and to accompany the seminarians in inspiring and sustaining their priestly vocation through a preparatory formation whereby this pastoral care of vocations shall facilitate in “bringing to the priesthood only those who have been called, and to bring them adequately trained, namely, with a conscious and free response of adherence and involvement of their whole person with Jesus Christ who calls them to intimacy of life with him and to share in his mission of salvation”(John Paul II, Pastores Dabo Vobis [PDV], 42). While everyone has the task of promoting and sustaining priestly vocation, the families which are alive with the spirit of faith, love and reverence, and priests with their exemplary lives as well as parishes, in whose pulsing vitality young people themselves have a part, have an outstanding contribution to the integral formation of seminarians (OT, 2; PCP II, 566-567). The seminary should give attention to the spiritual, intellectual, psychological, disciplinary and pastoral aspects of the formation of seminarians and in making seminary education relevant by contextualizing it in the present Philippine situation and updated with the new trends in in the society and the Church ( Cfr. PCP II, 568).
Diocesan Seminary Formation in the Philippines has four objectives: (UPPPF, pp.11-13)
“Human Formation. The seminary aims at forming men of virtue, of human excellence and goodness of character, founded on psycho-emotional integration, and modeled on Christ’s example of authentic humanity.
Spiritual Formation. The seminary aims at forming men whose lives find their center in personal and transformative communion with God in Christ, and who seek to unite themselves with God’s saving will in all aspects of their lives, especially through participation in the mission of Christ as an ordained minister of the Church.
Intellectual Formation. Seminary Formation aims at forming men with a deep understanding of the mysteries of the faith, a capacity for ongoing theological reflection, and pastoral skills and competence, in the context of Church and society in the Philippines and Asia, for the sake of the mission of evangelization.
Pastoral Formation. The seminary aims at forming men with a deep commitment to and competence for pastoral leadership and service, especially of the poor and suffering, in union with Christ, the Good Shepherd, and the shepherds in the Church, towards the building up of the local Church in communion and mission.”

Since 1992 when it started as a Formation House under Rev. Fr. Lito dela Paz as its Rector, St. John Mary Vianney Seminary [SJMVS] was formally established as a Diocesan Seminary in June 1993 with Bishop Nicholas Mondejar as Rector. The academic formation is done in consortium with Colegio de Sta. Rita, a college in San Carlos City which is owned and managed by Augustinian Recollect Sisters. In January 1996 the seminary community transferred to its new Seminary building. At present with Bishop Jose Advincula as Rector, SJMVS aims to have a Christo-centric spiritual formation, relevant and comprehensive academic formation, authentic community life, human development program and realistic pastoral program. It’s vision is to “form an active, discerning and liberating spirituality, academically competent and psycho-emotionally mature individuals committed to respond to the call of God and the signs of the times to build His kingdom of justice, peace and love”(2007 St. John Mary Vianney Seminary Handbook , p.6). Vocation to the priestly ministry looks promising in our diocese and given the proper support it will usher the fuller development of a vocation configured in Jesus Christ the priest, prophet and king towards forming the seminarians to become true pastors of the people of God (Cfr. O.T., 4).

Questions for small group discussions:
How should our Diocesan Seminary be and how should seminarians be formed so they will be good priests and ministers of the Church in the future?
How can we support our Diocesan Seminary, St. John Mary Vianney Seminary?
Are there groups in your parish like “Love Your Seminarians Movement”(LYSM) that directly support the formation of seminarians? If it is not existing, are you willing to organize a group that can support seminarians and/or our seminary?

28. Social Action

28. Lineamenta on Social Action

THE ROLE OF SOCIAL ACTION IN A RENEWING CHURCH

“The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve.” (Mark 10:45). Jesus’ entire life is one of doing good, of service and of love. He preached and healed the people of their ailments (Matthew 4:23-25). He teaches His followers a new way of living based on Christian “diakonia” or service (Matthew 20:26-28). The Early Church emulated this social care and concern that they were recognized by other people through their Christian way of life and concrete ministry of love. As John Chrysostom (d. 407) said, “God is glorified not only by right doctrines but also by the best possible [Christian] way of life.” (Gen. Sermo 1,3 quoted in Norbert Brox, ‘Making Earth in Heaven’: Diakonia in the Early Church, Concilium, August 1988, p. 37). Christ Jesus is encountered through the least of our brothers and sisters who are in need of food and clothes, a stranger, sick and in prison who are in need of care (Matthew 25:35-46). Our Lord calls us to diakonia and to serve our fellowmen as He did.
Our call to diakonia or service has to be seen in the context of our situation. Our situation today is marked by consumerism and individualism amidst poverty and injustice. Instead of people being their brothers’ and sisters’ keepers, we have to deal increasingly with egocentrism, self-seeking and cynicism. We live in a time of egotistical contemporary culture wherein a greater number of people pursue an intense self-interest which blinds them to what communal life and the social order really demand from each person. The range and complexity of the present political, economic, cultural and social situation demand a comprehensive approach to Christian diakonia or service and to bear in mind that God created the earth to serve the needs of every human being and people (Cf. Populorum Progressio [PP], 10)
Diakonia has not to be seen only on its intent on alleviating the sufferings of the poor and the weak by providing caring assistance, but instead more weight and emphasis is given on being with them and sharing life with the affected ones. In the course of this unconditional immersion in the life of the poor and solidarity with the least of our brothers and sisters, our involvement in social action is to uphold human dignity and rights of the poor farmers, fishermen, farm and factory workers, employees, the indigenous peoples, overseas contract workers, the unemployed and landless people. In this light, the Second Plenary Council of the Philippines (PCP II) urged to strengthen social action apostolate by setting up working structures, by involving the people and establishing inter-sectoral and inter-faith linkages under the direction of the diocesan Bishop (PCP II Decrees, art. 25).
Our solidarity with the poor in their struggle to achieve qualitative life with justice, peace and freedom, provides an impetus to Church renewal and commitment to integral evangelization and comprehensive pastoral involvement. This is in line with the Decree of the Second Plenary Council of the Philippines on Social Action which states: “The social action apostolate of the Church must set up special programs to address such crucial issues as peace and economy, the exploitation of women and minors, migrant and overseas workers, children and youth, and intensify the organization of the grassroots people or empowerment and self-reliance through cooperatives and livelihood programs and projects” (PCP II Decrees, art. 23, no.1)
In our Diocese, our Social Action Apostolate is involved in Adult and Alternative Literacy Program, Appropriate Technology Program (Appro-Tech), Community-based Health Program (CBHP), Community Organizing (CO), Cooperatives (Coop), Indigenous People’s Apostolate (IP), Migrants Apostolate and International Solidarity Work, Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Program (JPIC), Mass Media Apostolate, Political Education (Pol-Ed), Prison Apostolate, Relief and Rehabilitation Program, Sectoral Linkages and Networking, Socio-Economic Development Program (Socio-Econ), and Sustainable Agriculture (Sus-Ag). The arena of Social Action Apostolate is vast and its involvement is varied but all for the fulfillment of Christian stewardship. As Vatican II exhorts us, “True apostles.. are not content with this activity alone, but look for the opportunity to announce Christ to their neighbor” (Apostolicam Actuositatem [AA], 13).

Questions for small group discussion:
What are the Social Action programs and activities that are present in our parish / quasi-parish / chaplaincy / mission station?
How are we involved in these programs and activities and how do we support them?
What can we do more in order to improve our social action programs and activities?

25. Social Communication

25. Lineamenta on Social Communication

SOCIAL COMMUNICATION MINISTRY

God wills to communicate with man in many different ways and forms. He created the human being in his image and likeness (Genesis 1:26) in order “to embrace divine revelation and to enter into loving dialogue with Him. Because of sin, this capacity for dialogue at both the personal and social level has been altered, and humanity has had to suffer.. the bitter experience of incomprehension and separation” (John Paul II, Rapid Development [RD], January 24, 2005, no. 4). God, however, did not abandon us. He “loved the world so much that he gave his only Son” (John 3:16), Jesus Christ, and through Him “communication itself takes on its most profound saving meaning” (RD, 4). “The communication between God and humanity has thus reached its perfection in the Word made flesh” (RD, 5). Consequently, the Church has been commissioned by Christ to bring salvation to all men and to proclaim the Gospel and, with this, claims “her duty to preach the news of redemption with the aid of the instruments of social communication” (Vatican II, Inter Mirifica [IM], 3).
The Church recognizes the importance of these instruments of social communication, which are a product of human genius, because of its great influence on human society. “As a Mother, the Church welcomes and watches such inventions with special concern.. Such would be the press, the cinema, radio, television, and similar media, which can be properly classified as instruments of social communication” (IM, 1). She recognizes the importance of mass media in evangelization and said that “if these instruments are rightly used they bring solid nourishment to the human race. For they can contribute generously to the refreshment and refinement of the spirit, and to the spread and strengthening of God’s own kingdom” (IM, 2). Pope John Paul II had also seen this important contribution of the mass media to the Church when he said, “Communication permeates the essential dimensions of the Church which is called to announce to all the joyful message of salvation. For this reason, the Church takes advantage of the opportunities offered by the communications media as pathways providentially given by God to intensify communion and to render more penetrating the proclamation of His word” (RD, 6). She is also aware that mass media can be exploited for perversion and Vatican II states, “the Church grieves with a motherly sorrow at the damage far too often inflicted on society by the perverse use of these media” (Ibid.)
We acknowledge that in our present world, the means of social communications are effective tools in promoting unity and solidarity among humankind. Certainly, the media of social communication has a tremendous potential because through “the mass media not only news or images but values are communicated to millions. And right into the very homes of people. Hence the imperative need for media education and media awareness” (The Second Plenary Council of the Philippines [PCP II], 653). More particularly, there is a need to foster movements of renewal among practitioners and consumers in the field of social communication and to have priests who will exercise pastoral care and promote spiritual formation for mass media practitioners (PCP II, 655 & 656). The practitioners or the communicators who actively employ the media have a duty in conscience to make themselves competent in the art of social communications, have objectivity and truth in their information, have the facts honestly reported in their proper context and their services grounded on the standard of Christian morality and the system of human values. The consumers or the recipients, who use, read, listen to and view the various media, should interpret the message correctly and to reap some benefits on the process even as they continue to be vigilant in their proper use of media and its meaning to life. They have to be conscious of the great power of the media in conditioning and reshaping people’s way of thinking even to the point that the reality for many is what the media recognize as real. Hence, silence can be imposed upon important issues, individual and groups whom the media ignore which may lead to the danger that the Gospel can be muted, though not entirely stilled, in the process (Aetate Novae [AN], 4). The Church plays a vital role in social communications to maintain her role as promoter of integral human development, human rights and Christian values and to exercise her primary duty to preach the Gospel to every creature (Mk 16:15). In our diocese, we have to look into the proper way of utilizing print, broadcast and cyber media and to design a comprehensive program of evangelization in the context of the present technological development of communication for the well-being of the people and the Church and for the greater glory of God.

Questions for small group discussions:
What are the existing means of social communications in your parish/quasi-parish/chaplaincy/ mission area? What are their impact and sphere of influence among the people?
How can we use the Mass Media for our Evangelization Program, for worship services and for other activities of the Church?
How can we have a media education and media involvement that is attuned to the times, contextualized to our place and promotive of Christian values?

24. Liturgical Year & Sunday School

24. Lineamenta on The Liturgical Year and Sunday School

THE LITURGICAL YEAR AND SUNDAY SCHOOL

The Holy Mother Church unfolds the whole mystery of Christ throughout the course of the year and celebrates His saving work by recalling it on certain days in a church calendar called the Liturgical Year. She keeps memory of the Lord from His incarnation and birth until his resurrection and ascension, the day of Pentecost, and the expectation of His hope-full return (Sacrosanctum Concilium [SC], 102). Every week, on the day which the Church calls the Lord’s Day, it keeps the memory of the Lord’s resurrection that she also celebrates once in the year in the most solemn feast of Easter. The unfolding of the Paschal Mystery of the Lord every Sunday in a week is made in a three-year cycle of A, B and C in the Liturgical Calendar in order to have a spread of the reading of most of the books of the Bible or Sacred Scriptures. The weekdays have a two-year cycle of I and II to allow the faithful to meditate on most of the text of the Sacred Scriptures so that by hearing the word of God and taking part in the Eucharist through the week they “may call to mind the passion, the resurrection, and the glorification of the Lord Jesus, and may thank God who ‘has begotten us again, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, unto a living hope’ (1 Peter 1:3)” (SC, 106). The Church mandates that “The Lord’s Day, on which the paschal mystery is celebrated, is by apostolic tradition to be observed in the universal Church as the primary holiday of obligation” (Canon 1246). On these days and other holidays of obligation, “the faithful are obliged to assist at Mass. They are also to abstain from such work or business that would inhibit the worship to be given to God, the joy proper to the Lord’s Day” (Canon 1247). This is to allow the faithful to immerse into the depth of the salvific action of Christ through the liturgical celebrations spread out through different Seasons: Advent and Christmas Season, Lent and Holy Week and Easter Season and the Sundays of the Ordinary Year. Of great importance to the local Church of our Diocese of San Carlos is the celebration of the fiesta that for the parishes and the basic ecclesial communities represents an added occasion to honor the patron saint and to thank God on this occasion. Arguably, the most popular one are the fiesta celebrations in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of our Lord Jesus and after her follows the celebration of other saints like St. Vincent Ferrer, St. Isidore, St. Joseph, the apostles and other saints. The different celebrations through the Liturgical Year is an opportune time for the Total Catechesis Program in parishes and basic ecclesial communities to teach the faithful, from the children to the adults, the doctrines of our faith. Catechesis can be family-based, community-based (in basic ecclesial communities), school-based and parish-based. Community-based and parish-based catechesis can be in form of a “Sunday School” that uses the class-room method or it can be an evangelization program that uses the existing mass media in order to reach out to most of the faithful in our diocese. The catechesis that goes with the fiesta and other celebrations can be done in a form of a novena or any other format appropriate for the local church and its cultural environment. What ever program and activities of evangelization done in relation to the celebrations throughout the Liturgical Year should lead to a deeper understanding of God and His saving actions, of Christian truths and values and of the meaning of the feasts in the context of our present social reality.

Questions for small group discussions:
1. Are fiestas and other celebrations in our parish and basic ecclesial communities throughout the Liturgical Year an occasion for catechesis and Christian formation? Why?
2. How can we make our novenas and other devotional activities in our parish and basic ecclesial communities meaningful and evangelizing?
3. What can we do so that our celebrations throughout the Liturgical Year can deepen the spirituality and commitment of our lay faithful in our parish and basic ecclesial communities?

23. Social Services & People's Organizations

23. Lineamenta on Social Services and People’s Organizations

SOCIAL SERVICES AND PEOPLE’S ORGANIZATIONS

God has a fatherly concern for all of us and willed that we constitute into one family (Gaudium et Spes [GS], 24). Jesus Christ signified this call to be one as a certain likeness to the Trinitarian Union when he prayed, “May they all be one as you Father are in me and I am in you” (John 17:21). True to this social nature we are called to “treat one another in the spirit of brotherhood” (GS, 24). This implies that we are interdependent to one another (GS, 25) and shall, therefore, take into account the “needs and legitimate aspirations of other groups, and even of the general welfare of the entire human family” (GS, 26). The progress of the human person and the advance of society itself hinge on the interdependence of human beings on one another, so evident in the ties that bind like the family and the social groupings that facilitate personal growth and development. Social services revolve around these reciprocal but essential ties which give rise to a variety of organizations, movements, associations, institutions and foundations. In spite of the services of these associations and institutions that alleviate human condition, to a great extent the qualitative life and development of the people and society are mainly affected by the environment, social and personal conditions which certainly “are often diverted from doing good and spurred toward evil by the social circumstances in which they live and are immersed from their birth” (GS, 25). Inevitably this stark reality of our present society, marked by selfishness and violence, graft and corruption and poverty and exploitation, comes into collision with Christian values derived from the Gospel of our Lord and calls us to rethink our world-view, to change our character and strategies of life and to have a missionary activity with special concern for the different sectors of our society. The Second Plenary Council of the Philippines (PCP II) in 1991 underscores the following concerns: “Taking a closer look at the particularities of our society, we see there are a few sectors in it that call for special attention from us as a Church: Tribal Filipinos, children and youth, women, peasants, the urban poor, fisher folk, and the disabled.” (PCP II, 375). In the Decrees of that same Council it stated that the Church “should develop a comprehensive theology of stewardship” (PCP II Decrees, article 31). It points out that social action apostolate, which is focused on the task of social transformation, “must become a vital involvement of the Church at all levels” (PCP II Decrees, article 22 #2 ) and “must set up special programs to address such crucial issues as peace and economy, agrarian and industrialization concerns, the exploitation of women and minors, migrant and overseas workers, children and youth, and intensify the organization of the grassroots people” (PCP II Decrees, article 23 #1). Specifically, the Church in our times is asked to look into the social concerns and issues of the different sectors and to build a network of alliances and involvement with grassroots organizations or people’s organizations. In her active involvement in social services and her solidarity with people’s organizations, she becomes the Church of the poor and recognizes the power of the poor to evangelize (Enrique Dussel, “The Ebb and Flow of the Gospel” in Concilium, October 1986, pp. 96-97). Accompanying the poor in their struggle for qualitative life where there is justice, peace, truth and freedom, she is becoming prophetically missionary and hope-bearingly evangelizing where the evangelizing locus par excellence is the “Church of the Poor” (Ibid., pp. 97-98). In the Church, people’s organizations find the compassionate guidance of a mother and our social services will have an evangelizing character and our evangelization will carry a liberating social concern.

Questions for small group discussion:

How can we reach out to grassroots associations and people’s organizations in our parishes and basic ecclesial communities?
How can grassroots associations of farmers, fishermen, hacienda workers and other groups and organizations of common people establish a dialogue and working relations with our parish priest and parish lay leaders?
How can we make our social services liberating and done according to the eyes of the poor?

22. Altar Servers and Children

22. Lineamenta on the Ministry of Servers

THE MINISTRY OF SERVERS AND CHILDREN MINISTRY

Christ, the “way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6) to the youth in search for meaning and value in life, has a compassionate heart for the children. In one endearing moment, “he took a little child, set him in the midst of them, and putting his arms around him said to them, “Whoever welcomes a child such as this in my name, welcomes me” (Mark 9:36-37). To “set him in the midst” is to place the child in a significant place reserved for the Torah or Law which is an obvious gesture how Jesus considered the children as important and the Kingdom of God that has already dawned through Him belong to them and to the disciples who would be child-like. It represents a fundamental shift of standpoint and perspective that Christian discipleship means that we have to be passionately concerned for the dignity and rights of children and to have a resolute commitment to a society in which children no longer have to live out an insignificant role but find their place in the midst of it with an active contribution to our life of faith. “In the family, parents have the task of training their children from childhood to recognize God’s love for all men…Children must also be educated to transcend the family circle, and to open their minds to ecclesiastical and temporal communities. They should be so involved in the local community of the parish that they will acquire a consciousness of being living and active members of the people of God” (Apostolicam Actuositatem [AA], 30) “Children also have their own apostolic work to do. In their own way, they can be true living witnesses to Christ among their companions” (AA, 12). In this light, the Church does not only have Cultural and Sports Program, Sunday School and Catechesis for children, she also recognizes the gifts and talents of children and so encourages them to be members of children’s choir and as altar servers.
Altar servers or acolytes are those who accompany the priest or the deacon in order to help them during Eucharistic celebrations. Formerly it is a “minor order” reserved for cleric as a preparatory stage for priestly ordination but is restored to a true lay ministry by Pope Paul VI in 1972. At present altar servers are those children or adolescents who help the priest or deacon at the service of the altar and they carry the cross, candles, books, incense, wine and water, and give the celebrant anything needed. The altar servers are not instituted acolytes but de facto act as such in most ways. Parish priests must be aware of the positive contribution acolytes and servers render to the liturgy and divine worship so, every parish and basic ecclesial community should have a group of stable and well-formed altar servers. Proven in their integrity and commitment, the parish priest shall form them comprehensively in order to have a correct understanding of the Eucharist and the sacraments.
The presence of children round the altar is very significant for their invaluable services, for representing the whole community and for making every celebration meaningful and festive. Altar servers should wear liturgical attire for esthetic, festive and sacred reason. Parents should inspire their children to be acolytes or mass servers not only to consider its educative factor in the faith for them and for the community, it also nurtures priestly vocations. Altar servers and their parents should bear in mind the meaning of this ministry of altar servers. Since the Eucharist is the “re-presentation” of the sacrifice of Christ, so they themselves must become a sacrifice to the Lord, exhibiting dedication and concern for their fellowmen and genuine love and deep appreciation of the Eucharist.

Questions for small group discussions

1. How should the altar servers be formed in the parish? How can we have a common curriculum for their formation in our diocese?
2. Do we allow girls to join the ministry of servers and be altar girls? If yes, why; if not, why not?
3. What programs and activities in the whole diocese so we can have an interaction of altar servers?

21. LECOM and Bible Aspostolate

21. Lineamenta on LECOM and Bible Apostolate

LECTORS AND COMMENTATORS’ MINISTRY AND BIBLE APOSTOLATE

God reveals himself and his love, goodness and mercy in the Word-made-Flesh, Jesus Christ who is the primordial revelation of God the Father. God’s self-communication through Him is unfolded through creation and events enshrined in the Holy Scriptures wherein the Word of God becomes history to reveal Him who wills that we should have “life of fullness” (John 10:10). When we read and reflect on the Holy Scriptures or the Bible, we proclaim the word of God. “When the Scriptures are read in the church, God himself is speaking to his people, and Christ, present in his own word, is proclaiming the Gospel. The readings must therefore be listened to by all with reverence; they make up a principal element of the liturgy” (General Instruction of the Roman Missal [GIRM], 1975, #9). The preaching of the word of God by those involved in the Ministry of Lectors and Commentators and the Bible Apostolate has a very essential place in the life of the Church and the faith of the people. “The preaching of the word is necessary for the sacramental ministry. For the sacraments are sacraments of faith and faith has its origin and sustenance in the word” (Presbyterorum Ordinis [PO], 1965, #4). The nourishing, sustaining and holy word of God entrusted to them to be proclaimed to the people requires the Lectors, Commentators and Preachers the personal integrity and transparency needed for their prophetic task. They must be “truly qualified and carefully prepared in order that the faithful will develop as warm and lively love for Scripture from listening to the reading of the sacred texts” (GIRM #66). It is not only a sense of duty to immerse into and to pray the scriptures but also to be one with God through His word to be nourished and be deepened in our spiritual life.
In this Ministry of the Word, Lectors have a place of prominence since their main task is the proclamation of the Word of God to the community. This Ministry of Lectors has been for centuries a “minor order” reserved for the clerics as a preparatory stage for priestly ordination but in 1972, Pope Paul VI converted it into an instituted ministry accessible also to lay persons. The Lector has three major tasks: 1) the proclamation of the Word of God in the liturgical Assembly; 2) the instruction of children and adults in the faith (catechesis) and 3) the preaching of the message of salvation to those who have not yet received it. The Lector follows the norms and guidelines for the proper fulfillment of his task like: (i) to proclaim the word of God from the Lectionary, (ii) to maintain eye contact with the assembly, (iii) to avoid unnecessary gestures, (iv) to know when to pause, (v) to have proper attire, posture, pronunciation and diction, and (vi) to be committed to the Lector’s tasks and follow their assigned portion since the readings are assigned to the different readers and at different dates.
The Ministers of the Word has a well defined set of requirements like: a) he must be an exemplary Catholic, b) at least 21 years old, c) adequately literate, d) has completed the seminar established for his proper training and formation, e) has a firm will to render faithful service to God and the Christian people and f) has signed a petition made out to the Ordinary who has the right to accept it. “Lay men whose age and talents meet the requirements prescribed by decree of the Episcopal Conference, can be given the stable ministry of lector and acolyte through the prescribed liturgical rite. This conferral of ministry does not, however, give them a right to sustenance or remuneration from the Church.” (Canon 230, s.1)
The Ministry of Lectors, Commentators and Preachers of the Word of God is a commitment to keep. St. Paul has this message for them: “preach the Word, in season and out of season…So be prudent, do not mind your labor, give yourself to your work as an evangelist, fulfill your ministry” (2 Timothy 4:2, 5).

Questions for small group discussions

1. How should our Ministry as Lectors, Commentators and Preachers be in our parishes and basic ecclesial communities?
2. How can we have a good, meaningful and effective Bible Apostolate in our parishes and basic ecclesial communities?
3. How can we systematize and have a common formation program and curriculum for the training of our lectors, commentators and preachers in our diocese?

20. Liturgical Music and Art

20. Lineamenta on Liturgical Music and Art

THE MINISTRY OF MUSIC AND DIOCESAN CULTURAL PROGRAM


Sacred music and art and other cultural expressions of faith and worship are addressed to God the Father who created us in his image and likeness and every creature with its purpose, beauty and goodness (Genesis 1:1-27). They play an important part in our worship and ecclesial gatherings for the glory of God and the sanctification of the faithful (Vatican II: Sacrosanctum Concilium [SC], chapter VI & VII). Greater than that of any other art, sacred music has an “immeasurable value” since it “increases in holiness to the degree that it is intimately linked with liturgical action, winningly expresses prayerfulness, promotes solidarity, and enriches sacred rites with heightened solemnity” (SC, 112). “Liturgical action is given a more noble form when sacred rites are solemnized in song, with the assistance of sacred ministers and the active participation of the people” (SC, 113). Hence, sacred music has to be preserved and fostered with great care (SC, 114), has to be taught in seminaries and formation houses of religious congregations (SC, 115) and fostered among the lay faithful (SC, 118). Local or indigenous religious music can also be adapted into our Church liturgy (SC, 119 & 120). Composers and singers of sacred music “must be given a genuine liturgical training” (SC, 115) and the local Church is encourage to “found higher institutes of sacred music whenever this can be done” (Ibid.)
Sacred art, as the highest achievement and considered the noblest expression of human genius, is sought for use in divine worship and it “should be truly worthy, becoming, and beautiful, signs and symbols of heavenly realities” (SC, 122). The art should be sacred and with noble beauty; and the local church should exclude art works which are repugnant to Christian faith, morals and piety and lack artistic worth (SC, 124). Sacred furnishings and vestments should worthily and beautifully serve the dignity of worship but the church also “welcomed those changes in materials, style, or ornamentation which the progress of the technical arts has brought with the passage of time” (SC, 122).
The primary role of sacred music, sacred art and sacred furnishings is to support the liturgical rite and enacts the paschal mystery of Christ and the pattern that this mystery lays out for our lives. The cantor or song leader and the choir should bear in mind that their role is not to entertain, nor to keep the faithful “interested” when the rite seems dry but to help the people to surrender to the Paschal Mystery as it unfolds within the rite. The cantor and the choir members require personal skills and qualities beyond the ability to sing well. They should have quality of personal presence which is paying attention to others, listening well and communicating easily. They should be poised in front of a group and have a certain level of technical skill that allows them to take personal responsibility for the music ministry. They should be transparent, open to critique and coaching and open to learn new ways of doing this ministry well. Moreover, beyond improving their vocal and gestural skills, they need to deepen their spirituality so that they may prayerfully sing and perform their ministry that unfolds the story of God’s salvific activity for all.
Thomas Day offered the following advice to improve music ministry in the Church: (Thomas Day, Why Catholics Can’t Sing [N.Y.: Crossroad, 1990], pp. 169-170):
1. The pastor or parish priest should have a constructive involvement and gives congregational singing a significant boost.
2. Let the assembly hear its own voice, not the voice of an ego behind a microphone.
3. Put a reasonably good musician in charge of the music.
4. Occasionally, sing unaccompanied music supported only by a choir. Parishes with limited resources can produce some rugged yet impressive sounds with plain unaccompanied singing of plain music.
5. Maybe once a week, maybe once a month, let the music reach its full potential; let the entire assembly sense that it is doing its best to pray in song.
6. Hymn and songs are useful, but they can die from overuse. Catholicism’s real musical destiny is in the singing of the actual texts of the liturgy.
7. Avoid “contemporary” songs that sound palpitatingly romantic.
8. Encourage music as an art.
9. Good congregational singing begins with a sense of beloved familiarity.
If we are to encounter the Paschal Mystery of Christ to its depths through the sacred music and art, is to immerse into it and let the workings of God unfold marvelously that you need not look any further than your chosen liturgical ministry and your daily life to find the way of salvation.

Questions for small group discussion:

What would you want your music ministry be in your parish?
How should our sacred art and furnishings be in our churches and places of worship?
How can we coordinate and systematize the music ministry and the different cultural activities in our diocese?

19. Lay Ministers

19. Lineamenta on Lay Ministers

Lay Ministers and Worship at the GKK Chapels

The Church, founded by Our Lord Jesus Christ, is a community of disciples who are firmly believing, sincerely worshipping, generously serving, prophetically witnessing and joyfully radiating the gospel. As a community, God calls the faithful to participate in His life not merely as individuals but also as people who acknowledge Him in truth and serve Him in holiness. To nurture and promote constant growth of this Community, our Lord instituted a variety of ministries by virtue of our baptism like the ordained ministry of bishops, priests and deacons and the call of the lay faithful to certain ministries according to their proper roles in the Christian community. Through these ministries the parish is made into a “dynamic Eucharistic and evangelizing community of communities” where parish priests have new and effective shepherding and do not monopolize the activities of the parish to allow more lay participation so that every one may have a part in the growth of the Christian community (PCP II, 600). In this way the lay faithful will feel they are part of the development of the Parish family where all their ministries and community life are oriented to the person of Jesus Christ and their love and service are centered on God and not on the “inclination and personal preferences of the incumbent pastors” (PCP II, 601). In many of our GKK or Basic Ecclesial Communities in the Diocese of San Carlos, we have Lay Ministers of the Word and Lay Ministers of the Eucharist. The Second Plenary Council of the Philippines underscores the value of these two ministries:
“We look forward with confidence to the time when our Lay Ministers of the Word and of the Eucharist will help lead the thorough-going renewal of Christian life in all our parishes. Such renewal will bring parishioners to renewed and renewing celebrations of God’s Word and God’s Love in a worshipping as well as caring community centered on the Lord Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh who continues to dwell among us.” (PCP II, 607)
The Lay Ministers of the Word and the Eucharist are co-workers of the Parish and the Christian community in pursuing renewal and renewed evangelization and worship with new ways, new fervor and new expressions but always in line with the program of the parish and in coordination with the parish priest. If formed by a wholesome and comprehensive common Diocesan Curriculum for Lay Ministers’ Education and Training and following a common Diocesan Manual for Lay Ministers, the Lay Ministers of the Word and of the Eucharist have a vital role in nourishing and renewing the GKK or BEC. The Lay Ministers of the Word or Lectors, who are given the great task of expressing the inexpressible mystery of God’s unfathomable love and mercy, can proclaim the word of God to the people who hunger for God’s sanctifying message. The Lay Ministers of the Eucharist, who are given the improbable task to share the Body of Christ to the faithful, can manifest God’s ongoing work of sanctification to all who have been made in the divine image. Men and women who are appointed to these ministries have taken into themselves the responsibility to internalize the Gospel of our Lord Jesus in their own lives to be role models to the people so that evangelizing through their example, God’s Kingdom will reign up to the grass roots level of our communities where faith-life and worship will be more intense and vibrant.

Questions for small group discussions:
What would you want your lay ministers to be? How should their life and services be characterized?
What can you do as an individual and as a community to make our worship at the GKK or BEC level more alive and meaningful?
How should our lay ministers be trained and formed to be effective in fulfilling their ministries?

18. Eucharist

18. Lineamenta on the Eucharist

The Holy Eucharist and the Devotion to the Blessed Sacrament

Jesus Christ gathered together his apostles for the last supper and took bread and give thanks to God (Lk 22:19; I Cor 11:24; Mk 14:23; Mt 26:27). This thanksgiving meal is the beginning of the Eucharist, the sacramental meal wherein the gracious gift we respond with gratefulness is the salvific reality placed therein by Christ, which is Christ himself with his being and work. Hence, we say that the Eucharist is the actualizing of the salvific reality Christ, through the words of thanksgiving, uttered over the bread and wine. This supper with his apostles wherein Jesus broke bread and shared the cup with them with his words “This is my body…this is my blood” he has summed up in it his whole messianic being and work, give his followers concentrated expression in a visible and even edible blessing and bequeathed them the sacrament of the Eucharist. From this institution of the Eucharist by the historical Jesus which the Church celebrates by virtue of the authority and the commission which was expressly given to her by him has evolved from the apostolic tradition’s breaking of the bread (I Cor 11:23ff.) to the present post-Vatican II Liturgy of the Eucharist.
Vatican II Constitution of the Church clearly states the meaning of the Eucharist to the people of God: “Taking part in the Eucharistic Sacrifice, which is the fount and apex of the whole Christian life, they offer the divine victim to God, and offer themselves along with It. Thus, both by the act of oblation and through holy Communion, all perform their proper part in this liturgical service, not, indeed, all in the same way but each in that way which is appropriate to himself. Strengthened anew at the holy table by the Body of Christ, they manifest in a practical way that unity of God’s People which is suitably signified and wondrously brought about by this most awesome sacrament.” (Lumen Gentium [LG], 11) PCP II states that the Eucharist, led by the priest who is “the servant-leader of a Eucharistic community”, is the center of every Christian community. “No Christian community is built up which does not grow from and hinge on the celebration of the most holy Eucharist….The center of the assembly over which the priest presides is the Eucharist and every work of the apostolate is directed to it.” (PCP II, 523)
What is vital is not a “mere multiplication of Masses or the rubrical perfection of Eucharistic celebrations” but “that the whole assembly should become a living offering to God joined to the Eucharistic sacrifice” (PCP II, 524). The Plenary Council reminds us that “Priest in the ministry should continue to develop their preaching skills and the art of presiding meaningfully in Eucharistic celebrations” (PCP II, 180) and to all the faithful “to return the Eucharist to its rightful place—at center of our private, ecclesial and societal lives and not at its fringes” (PCP II, 181)
The Eucharist as wellspring of a vibrant Christian community does not only foster the community celebration that keeps us in touch with the dynamic power of Father, Son and Holy Spirit that holds us together, it also helps us to internalize the deeper meaning and relevance of the Eucharist to our lives through Eucharistic devotions. Perpetual Eucharistic adoration, Benediction, novenas and prayers to Blessed Sacrament and other Eucharistic renewal movements are growing in popularity and number. These devotions offer avenues for heighten social awareness and concern since our contact with God in prayer and the Eucharist makes us grow in the fervor of witnessing to our faith concretely into a “faithful, creative, persevering and visible commitment.” (PCP II, 199)

Questions for small group discussions:
How should Eucharistic celebrations be done in our parish, Christian communities and groups?
What efforts should be done to make our Eucharistic celebrations relevant to our culture and situation and would heighten the awareness of the people for social concern and responsibility?
Are our Eucharistic devotions helping us to be better Christians and facilitate the transformation of our society?

17. Sacraments

17. Lineamenta on Sacraments

The Meaning of Sacraments in People’s Lives

God calls us gratuitously and freely to participate in his divine life through Jesus Christ in whom we have become a new people of God (Lumen Gentium [LG], 2 & 9). As a new people of God or Church, we manifest Jesus Christ’s presence on earth as the “primordial sacrament of the Father” whose saving mission is to bring the life of fullness. As Church we are a “kind of sacrament of intimate union with God, and of the unity of all mankind” (LG, 1). Just as human beings make use of signs and symbols to express man’s relationship with God, God also uses signs to communicate with us. Arguably, the seven sacraments of the Church are the sensible and effective signs of Christ’s presence in our midst, sanctifying us and nourishing us to sustain and strengthen our faith-life. Through the sacraments, Christ encounters and saves us. “As actions of Christ and of the Church, they are signs and means by which faith is expressed and strengthened, worship is offered to God and our sanctification is brought about. Thus they contribute in the most effective manner to establishing, strengthening and manifesting ecclesiastical communion” (Canon 840).
1) Baptism. The first of the three sacraments of initiation and the gateway to all other sacraments, it incorporates men and women into Christ. It obtains forgiveness of their sins and incorporates them into the Church, the community of faith, hope and charity and calls them to the common sharing of gifts and efforts to exercise Church’s mission.
2) Eucharist. It is the source and summit of all the Church’s worship and of the entire Christian life wherein all other Church’s activity are bound up with it for it contains the Church’s entire spiritual wealth, Jesus Christ himself. Every Christian community is rooted and has its center in the Eucharist, which is “the indispensable starting point for leading people to a sense of community” (Presbyterorum Ordinis [PO], 6). The Eucharist brings about the unity of the people of God, bringing them to perfection, nourishing them in charity and providing them the foretaste of the heavenly banquet (Sacrosanctum Concilium [SC], 8). In the Diocese of San Carlos, the Eucharist, which shows forth Christ’s preaching of the good news, death and resurrection is the center of the local Church up to the GKK level. It fosters the community spirit in such a way as to make all feel united with their brothers and sisters in the communion of the local and universal Church and even in some way with all humanity.
3) Confirmation. In this sacrament the baptized continue the path of Christian initiation where, in the giving of the Holy Spirit, the believer is conformed more fully to Christ and strengthened to bear witness to Christ, in building the Christian community in faith and love. It reawakens the Christian community to the transforming presence of the Holy Spirit who bestows the members the different gifts which help in the establishment of God’s Kingdom on earth.
4) Penance and Reconciliation. Instituted by Jesus Christ the Lord so that sinners may receive pardon from God’s mercy at the same time may have reconciliation with the Church and with our brothers and sisters who are always harmed by our sins. Here the Church finds herself face to face with the human person—in all his/her weakness, wounded and affected by sin in the innermost depths of his/her being and yet desirous to be freed from the bondage of sin and be reconciled back to God, to other people and to the whole creation. In our Diocese, this profound grace of conversion and reconciliation is celebrated in three forms: a) Individual confession, b) Communal preparation followed by individual confession and absolution and c) a collective form of reconciliation with a single, general absolution in special occasions allowed by the local Church.

5) Matrimony. This sacrament cooperate celebrated by the couple - and with solemn witness of the bishop, priest or deacon and other witnesses - signifies the mystery of unity and fruitful love that exists between Christ and his Church (Ephes. 5:32). The institution of marriage requires fidelity to the couple’s covenant where the irrevocable consent that the spouses freely give to and receive from each other manifests Christ’s nuptial bond with the Church. Its purpose is the procreation and education of children where the couples with the love of the Creator, who through them, will constantly enrich and enlarge Christ’s own family.
6) Holy Orders. In this sacrament, some of Christ’s faithful who answer their call to the priesthood “are taken from among men and made their representative before God” (Hebr. 5:1). They are set apart, through their vocation and ordination, not that they may be distant from the people or from any human being but that they may be totally dedicated to the work for which the Lord has raised them up. They fully live the Church mission and exercise it in different ways in communion with the entire people of God.
7) Anointing of the Sick. This sacrament is a sign of Christ’s concern for the bodily and spiritual welfare of the sick. The Church, through her care and ministry for the sick, commends to the Lord the faithful who are sick so that the Lord strengthens the sick and provide him/her with the strongest means of support. This sacrament as a community aspect where the family and some members of the community shall show concern and care for the sick. This is not a sacrament for those who are at the point of death only but for all who are sick.

Through this sacraments, Christ encounters and saves us and are formed into a community of Christ’s faithful people.

Questions for small group discussions:
1. How shall we celebrate our sacraments so that they express Christ saving action and at the same time is building up our local Church in the context of our local culture and situation?
2. How shall we prepare those who will receive the sacraments so that they will find meaning and sense in the liturgical celebration of the sacraments?
3. What norms and guidelines shall guide us for the better celebration of the sacramental liturgy?

12. Education, Catechesis and Lay Formation

12. Lineamenta on Education, Catechesis and Lay Formation

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, CATECHESIS AND LAY FORMATION

The mission of evangelization was entrusted by Christ Jesus to the apostles. “Make disciples of all nations…teach them to carry out everything I have commanded you.”(Mt 28:19-20). The Church, through the help of the Holy Spirit, spreads this call to all peoples by her education ministry, catechesis and formation programs. Through these, the Church as mother and teacher forms, guides and nurtures communities and individuals, especially the youth, in the Gospel message.
The Ministry of Education provides appropriate systems and structures, contextualized pedagogy and curriculum and relevant programs and activities at the diocesan and parish level for the advancement of arts, sciences, humanities and various disciplines in the light of the Gospel message. It defines human beings under formation as created subjects with a destiny, who are promised a resurrected life within the incarnational world and, exercising their gift of freedom, are called to serve the community for the greater glory of God. They are formed as creatures and children of God who are objects of His love and have a personal and transcendental destiny and can see the universe, ennobled by the incarnation of Jesus Christ, in a new meaning. They are nurtured to have a new vision of a human person with a promise of life after death that changes the whole reality of life as we live now. They are educated so that their physical, moral and intellectual talents are developed harmoniously to attain a greater sense of responsibility and the right use of freedom towards a worthy service of God with free will. They are guided to imitate Christ, who proclaims Himself to be the servant of all, making them realize that they are called to use their talents in the service of the community in whose life they participate. The Education Ministry of the Diocese shall abide with Vatican II’s exhortation, “every effort should be made to see that suitable coordination is fostered between various Catholic schools and that between these schools and others that kind of collaboration develops which the well-being of the whole human family demands.”(Gravissimum Educationis[GE], 12)
The Catechetical Ministry echoes what John Paul II said, “Guarding the deposit of faith is the mission which the Lord entrusted to His Church, and that which she fulfills in every age.” (John Paul II, Fidei Depositum) It is aimed at making a person’s faith become living, conscious and active through the light of instruction. Through this Ministry the Church realizes its educative function in collaboration with all institutions of learning whether Catholic or non-catholic, private or public schools. It uses approved doctrinal instruments in teaching catholic doctrine and in assiduously “fulfilling the mission of proclaiming the faith and calling people to the Gospel life.”(Catechism of the Catholic Church [NY: Image Doubleday, 1995], p.6) In line with the call for catechetical renewal as Church of the poor of the Second Plenary Council of the Philippines [PCP II] toward a renewed integral evangelization as developed in the National Pastoral Plan [NPP] (Cfr. Catechism for Filipino Catholics [Makati: Word & Life Publications, 1997] pp.1-6), the ministry shall design an appropriate common diocesan curriculum of catechesis and establish a common catechetical institute in collaboration with existing tertiary catholic schools within the diocese for professionalizing the catechists.
Lay Formation Program is a common diocesan formation program and training design for lay leaders to enhance their competence in evangelizing the world and to have an active participation in the saving mission of the Church. The challenges of daily life marked by poverty and injustice, violence and destruction of environment, modernization and globalization, consumerism and individualism call for a new form of integral faith formation and well-rounded education for lay leaders. The Church in her mission of love, freedom, justice, peace and care for creation enunciates a relevant lay education that responds to the needs of all segments of society and rooted in the Scriptures and the teachings of the Church Magisterium.

Guide questions for small group discussions:
1. How can we have a proactive Education Ministry that responds to the Catholic education needs of our parishes, quasi-parishes, mission areas and schools?
2. How can we sustain an effective and relevant catechesis in our parishes, quasi-parishes, mission areas, schools and GKKs?
3. What should be our common diocesan program for formation of lay leaders?

15. LOMAS

15. Lineamenta on LOMAS

THE ROLE OF LAY ORGANIZATIONS, MOVEMENTS, ASSOCIATIONS AND SPIRITUAL GROUPS IN PARISH RENEWAL

God’s call to holiness is for the entire human race and for the whole Church. “Thus it is evident to everyone that all the faithful of Christ in whatever rank or status are called to the fullness of the Christian life and to the perfection of charity” (Lumen Gentium [LG], 40). This common call is to be involved in the mission of the Church for evangelization and renewal. “The obligation of spreading the faith is imposed on every disciple of Christ according to his ability” (LG, 17). The present developments in our present world and fast-moving pace of our present-day society, however, require a more organized form of spreading the faith and infusing the spirit of renewal into the temporal order. “In the present circumstances, it is quite necessary that, the area of lay activity, the united and organized form of apostolate be strengthened”(Apostolicam Actuositatem [AA], 18). Hence, lay organizations, movements, associations and spiritual groups are formed in response to this and “to put to use every Christian and evangelical possibility latent but already present and active in the affairs of the world” (Evangelii Nuntiandi [EN], 20). These forms of Catholic Action have the combined and simultaneous possession of the following characteristics (AA, 20):
a) The immediate aim of organizations of this kind is the Church’s apostolic aim, that is to make the gospel known and men holy, and to form in them a Christian conscience so that they can infuse the spirit of the gospel into the various communities and spheres of life.
b) Cooperating with the hierarchy in their own way, the laity contribute the benefit of their experience to the running of these organizations, to the weighing of the conditions in which the pastoral activity of the Church has to be conducted, and to the hammering out and carrying out of a program of action. In such matters, they assume responsibility.
c) The laity act together in the manner of an organic body so that the community nature of the Church is more fittingly symbolized and the apostolate rendered more effective.
d) Whether they offer themselves spontaneously or are invited to act and to cooperate directly with the apostolate of the hierarchy, the laity function under the direction of the hierarchy itself, and the latter can sanction this cooperation by an explicit mandate.

Traditional Church associations and organizations like the Legion of Mary, CWL, MBG, KofC, DMI, COM, CFD and others “have been doing a tremendous work of evangelization [and] provide an environment and support for apostolic endeavors” (PCP II, 608). Movements of renewal like Cursillos de Cristianidad, Samaria, Catholic Charismatic Renewal, Neo-catechumenal Way, Christian Family Movement, Christ Family Mission (ChrisFaM), Marriage Encounter, Focolare, Movement for a Better World, Parish Renewal Experience (PREX), Couples for Christ, lay covenant communities and other several movements are instruments of genuine conversion and venues of life-changing encounters with the Lord (PCP II, 610). “When properly guided they draw attention to the continuing presence, power, and activity of the Spirit in the Church and in the world…foster an intense Christian and apostolic life, move passive Catholics by their witnessing, and prevent the lapse of many Catholics into other Christian groups” (PCP II, 612). These organizations, associations, movements and spiritual groups, however, “must not degenerate into elitist religious clubs” (PCP II, 609). “When they develop loyalty to their leader or group loyalty stronger than their loyalty to the wider Church, they become sects” (PCP II, 611). “While they should continue to foster national and international ties with their mother organizations, their members should be encouraged to be involved in BEC’s and their parochial activities should be in accord and in coordination with parish priorities and programs” (PCP II, 609.). “They should become schools of sanctification and reach out to the unchurched and the poor” (Ibid.). They should provide a special contribution to formation expected of lay organizations, associations and movements - particularly on lay spirituality - and deepen the spirituality common to all Christians.

Question for small group discussions:
1. Are lay organizations, movements, associations and spiritual groups greatly involved in building and strengthening BECs and actively participating in parish program and apostolate? If yes, how? If not, why not?
2. Do lay organizations, movements, associations and spiritual groups coordinate always with the parish priest and parish pastoral council and make their programs and activities in accord with the priorities and programs of the parish? If yes, how? If not, why not?
3. How do we shepherd lay organizations, movements, associations and spiritual groups so that they can be tapped for the well-being and renewal of the BECs and the parish? What shall we do with those who are not in accord with parish priorities and programs and do not coordinate with the proper authorities of the parish and local Church?

13. Marian Devotions and other Devotions

13. Lineamenta on Marian Devotion and Other Devotions

MARIAN DEVOTIONS AND OTHER DEVOTIONS

The search for God, which is a yearning rooted deeply in the human soul, is sometimes expressed in a particular form of piety among common people called popular devotions. They are called “popular” because they originated from the people at a certain time and in a given culture and so loved and cherished by the people that they become widespread and are more practiced by them than the official liturgy of the Church (Bernhard Raas, SVD, Popular Devotions [Manila: Divine Word Publications, 1992], p.13). “Devotions”, from Latin devotio meaning consecration, surrender or dedication to perform all for God or anybody who is object of one’s desire, add life to the otherwise stale formality of the official traditional liturgy. A great number of these popular devotions have long and glorious history with them, such that the Church has considered them as veritable helps in one’s sanctification and in building Christian communities. Vatican II commended them to be practiced in proper context and in accord with the existing norms and guidelines of the Church. “Popular devotions of the Christian people are warmly commended, provided they accord with the laws and norms of the Church” (Sacrosanctum Concilium [SC], 13). The liturgy, however, takes precedence over popular devotions. “These devotions should be so drawn up that they harmonize with the liturgical seasons, accord with the sacred liturgy, are in some fashion derived from it, and lead the people to it, since the liturgy by its very nature far surpasses any of them” (Ibid., 13).
In the Diocese of San Carlos, popular devotions are prayers and practices which originate from different circumstances and are promoted by some groups and take the form of novenas and pious practices to the Holy Trinity, Jesus Christ, the Blessed Sacrament, Blessed Virgin Mary and the saints, particularly St. Vincent Ferrer. Christian values are learned through these devotional practices and the people are lead to God through them. We know Christ is our savior because we have the Friday novenas to the Sacred Heart and prayers to the Lord of the Divine Mercy and we understand His Passion and death through the Stations of the Cross. We venerate Mary as our spiritual Mother because we pray the Rosary, have our Wednesday devotion to our Mother of Perpetual Help, honor her in Flores de Mayo and have our Marian novenas. Popular devotions play an important role in the life of faith of the people (Catechism for Filipino Catholics, 1470-1471).
The factors that contribute to the spread and rise of Marian devotions and other popular devotions are political and historical events and circumstances, private revelations and visions, cold liturgy, and charismatic promoters of devotions. Even if popular devotions are a help in sustaining faith, there are inherent dangers to popular devotions. They can become more important than the liturgy since sentimentalism and subjective external experiences in the practice of popular devotions can give a wrong feeling of security in the presence of the living God and can easily degenerate into superstitious practices and idolatry. They can also be one-sided and can cause people to develop false priorities and values that they can be abused by their promoters for other purposes like moralizing or didactic intentions. There should be a proper way of dealing with popular devotions since they affect a great number of our lay faithful. There will always be a tension between liturgy and popular devotions but liturgy must remain the critical norm for popular devotions since it is superior to any of the popular devotions. That is to say that one must have a positive attitude to popular devotions and learn from them. To deal properly with popular devotions one must know the people’s conditions and their needs and desires. They must have good knowledge about popular devotions and a solid knowledge about the liturgy and a love for it. What matters most is the sincerity one witnesses to his or her faith and the intimacy with God one gains with the practice of piety and devotions.

Questions for small group discussions:
1. What are the existing popular devotions in your parish? What are the positive elements brought about by the practice of these devotions? What are the negative elements?
2. How can we shepherd these devotions so that we can harness their great potential for the well being of the parish, the Christian communities and families?

11. Catholic Schools

11. Lineamenta on Catholic Schools

CATHOLIC EDUCATION

God calls every one to participate in His Life and to be one with Him because of His great love for us. Initially He manifested this call to the people of Israel and sent His Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ to make His call more explicitly for everyone. Eventually Jesus established the Church from His followers who became the New People of God and sent His Holy Spirit to guide and sanctify her and commissioned her to spread the Gospel “to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem” (Lk 24:47). In fulfilling this mandate “to proclaim the mystery of salvation to all and to restore all things in Christ, Holy Mother the Church must be concerned with the whole of man’s life, even the earthly part of it insofar as that has a bearing on his heavenly calling. Therefore she has her role to play in the progress and spread of education.” (Gravissimum Educationis [G.E.], Introduction)
The Educational Mission of the Church or Catholic Education encompasses the whole aspect of human life, physical and spiritual, and includes all peoples, even those outside the fold of the Church, because all are called to participate in God’s life and to enter the Kingdom of God. Everyone “has an inalienable right to an education corresponding to his proper destiny and suited to his native talents, his sex, his cultural background, and his ancestral heritage.”(G.E., 1) Every Christian has “become a new creature by rebirth from water and the Holy Spirit...called what he truly is, a child of God, is entitled to a Christian education.”(GE,2).
Vatican II declaration on Christian Education underscores the role of parents in Catholic Education (GE, 7). “Parents must be acknowledged as the first and foremost educators of their children. Their role as educators is so decisive that scarcely anything can compensate for their failure in it.”(GE, 3) While it stresses the role of the family in educating the children, it also recognizes the role of the civil society and the school whom parents entrust a share in the work of education (GE, 3, 5 & 6). Moreover, the Council states, “the office of educating belongs by a unique title to the Church, not merely because she deserves recognition as a human society capable of educating, but most of all because she has the responsibility of announcing the way of salvation to all men, of communicating the life of Christ to those who believe, and assisting them with ceaseless concern so that they may grow in the fullness of that same life.”(GE, 3)
The Church has shown great consideration for the Catholic School System (pre-school, elementary, secondary and tertiary) “to promote effectively the welfare of the earthly city and preparing them to serve the advancement of the reign of God.”(GE, 8) Bishop Luis Antonio Tagle points out in his talk at the CEAP National Convention in Davao City on September 14-16, 2005: “Catholic education has a triple purpose: First is the development of the human person…second is to contribute to the welfare of the society,…and third, the advancement of reign of God through faith and the life of the church.”(Most Rev. Luis Antonio G. Tagle, DD, Renewal and New Directions in the Catholic Church: Implications to Catholic Education in Perspective [CEAP, September 2006], p.27) The aim of Catholic education is to advance higher culture and to mould students so that they may become people who are “truly outstanding in learning, ready to shoulder society’s heavier burdens and to witness the faith to the world.”(GE, 10) Education should form “the whole person, so that all may attain their eternal destiny and at the same time promote the common good of society.”(c.795). Hence, the Catholic School is an important center in educating Christians who form a truly Committed Christian Community where each one experience love, freedom, justice and peace.
In our Diocese of San Carlos, Catholic schools, whether they are administered by the diocese or by religious congregations, perform a task in integral education and that is to teach and live the Gospel of Christ in all aspects of formation and cultural development. The service of the Catholic school is carried out in various forms such as catechetical ministry, campus ministry, adult literacy program, educational apostolate of the laity and education for peace, justice and integrity of creation. In the school apostolate, members of the catholic school community have an active participation in the saving mission of the Church through integral evangelization and all forms of relevant and liberating formation activities in all strata of society with special concern for the poor and the underprivileged.

Questions for small group discussions:

1. How can we make Catholic education in our schools share the priorities of the wider Church and promote Filipino values that resonate with the values of the Kingdom of God?
2. How can we make our Catholic education system a potent force in transforming our society into a truly human, Filipino and Christian society?
3. What can we do to have a collaborative effort of all our educational institutions to realize our goal for a qualitative Christian education and at the same time serve our poor constituents of our Church?

14. Women

14. Lineamenta on Women

THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN THE RENEWING CHURCH

God created both man and woman in His image and likeness (Gen 1:26-27). They are both equal before the eyes of God. A far cry from that original egalitarian state, throughout history in some societies though, women were marginalized and had secondary role. But this was not so with Jesus Christ. “While women were second class citizens in his own social milieu Jesus paid great respect to them and associated women with himself in his ministry (Lk 8:1-3). He even chose women to be the first witnesses to his resurrection (Lk 24:1-10; Mt. 28:1-10).”[PCP II, 51]. While the Apostles and their successors were to follow the way Jesus showed his love for women, there was also the reality of a pervasive patriarchy of the Christian churches in our history and the irony that women were marginalized by the very institutions that proclaimed the fundamental dignity of all persons grounded in God’s love. The experience of being marginalized was and is formative in the way women are thinking of their role in the church. In the Scriptures, in traditional formulations of doctrine, in liturgy and in the role of women in sacramental and pastoral ministry, women were represented largely by figures, images, descriptions and positions that presented them as accessories to males and male images and roles. As long as women accepted this role, there was no conflict between their self-understanding and their experience of being marginalized. The women who were nurtured, however, within the Christian tradition became aware that there was a fundamental contradiction between the Gospel and Jesus Christ’s concern for justice on the one hand and the preaching and practice of the Christian churches on the other. The Gospel is reinterpreted in the light of the good news for women and the churches are challenged to proclaim and practice the good news for all, including women.
The women are not only the most active participants of the liturgical and pastoral activities of the Church but are also greatly involved in catechesis and Christian community organizing and services. After the Vatican II renewal of the Church, the women experienced empowerment in their involvement in the activities of the Church reserved exclusively for men, like special ministers of the holy eucharist, holy mass servers, professors of philosophy and theology, head of social action and other pastoral programs of the Church. In some places where there is a lack of priests, the women are taking charge of the administration of the local church as a woman pastor. Exclusive women organizations in the Church like the Catholic Women’s League, Daughters of Mary Immaculate, Mother Butlers’ Guild, Children of Mary, etc. grew in numbers and influence. They are not only concerned with women’s issues in the Church and society. This new phenomenon of more active role of women in a renewing Church is emulating the role of the Blessed Virgin Mary and women saints in the growth of Christian faith and gives birth to Christian feminist spirituality that opens new worlds in Church language, concepts and apostolate.

Question for small group discussion:
1. What is the role of women in the parish? Why?
2. What are other possible involvements of women in the parish so that they can have a meaningful contribution to the Church in our diocese?