Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Eucharistic
adorers
growing
globally
IN THIS ISSUE:
CEBU City, Jan. 29, 2016 The newlyelected head of the World Federation
of the Churchs Eucharistic Works said
their organization has picked up steam
in recent years, proof is a growing
number of adorers world-wide.
Jose Angel Linares, the federations
new president from Spain, said more
and more lay Eucharistic adorers from
all over the world have been seeking
membership in the federation.
Eucharist as food,
popular piety keys to
dialogue in Asia, A2
Cardinal Zen: Latin
Mass nourishes
persecuted Chinese
Catholics, A3
Growing yearly
Every year it grows and grows
throughout the world, said
Linares, who previously served as
the federations secretary before
his election as president during its
general assembly at the sidelines
of the ongoing 51st International
Eucharistic Congress (IEC) here on
Friday, Jan. 29.
He will succeed Eduardo Marino
Gomez, also Spanish, who served
the federation for eight years or two
consecutive terms.
The assembly, which convenes
every four years coinciding with the
IEC, was attended by more than 20
country representatives, some coming
from as far as Peru, Italy, El Salvador
and the US.
The federation, which aims to bring
together diverse groups of adorers,
currently has 39 member associations,
with a total membership of about 2
million and is present in at least 36
countries.
50 years of mission
During the meeting, which was
attended by Archbishop Piero Marini,
President of the Pontifical Committee
of IECs, the Federation ratified the
membership of three more lay groups
from Europe.
Since its inception 50 years ago, the
federation has promoted participation
in national and international
Eucharistic Congresses, has promoted
pilgrimages to Marian shrines as
well as helped fulfill other works
entrusted to them by the bishops.
(Roy Lagarde / CBCPNews)
The 51st IEC Monstrance with the Blessed Sacrament was the most prominent feature of the grand procession from the Cebu Capitol Building to
Plaza Independencia, accompanied by over a million Cebuanos and IEC participants, Jan. 29, 2016. ROY LAGARDE
Student-volunteers:
IEC, an experience of
a lifetime, A3
Thousands / A7
A2 NEWS
CBCP Monitor
Delegates of the 51st International Eucharistic attend a pre-Lenten Visita Iglesia. DOMINIC BARRIOS
Staying connected
The 64-year old Salesian
prelate noted that the
Eucharist strengthens
Christians, especially
those who are persecuted
for the faith. And
everywhere, wherever
we are present, even in
persecuted countries [or]
minority countries, it is
always the celebration of
the Eucharist that keeps us
connected to the Universal
Church.
Jala also emphasized
that in the difficulties
of living a Christian life
we should find courage
in Jesus, who is always
present in the Catholic
Church.
The Indian archbishop
acknowledged the
Cebuano parishioners
shared faith-sharing
moments with the IEC
foreign delegates, showing
the community and
universality of the Church.
Msgr. Daniel Sanico,
one of the over-all
organizers of the IEC
Parish Encounter said it
was a very complicated
preparation from security
to food to transportation
to everything else. It
involved everyone, but we
were hopeful [it would]
turn out right.
I came to see that the
challenges made them
even stronger in terms
of faith and their love for
the Eucharist, he added.
(Chrixy Paguirigan /
CBCP News)
vw
Deaf
track workshops show Churchs love for all
CEBU City, Jan. 29, 2016 The 51st
International Eucharistic Congress
(IEC) delivers a clear message
that the Eucharist is inclusive,
expressly because the congress gives
importance to deaf delegates coming
from all over the world.
With the help of the International
Catholic Foundation for the
Service of Deaf Persons (ICF), deaf
persons are given the opportunity
to attend the IEC with translators
always by their side to help them
communicate.
[We] want people to realize that
just because a person cannot hear
they are no different to any person
who can hear. Different people
have said it in different ways we
have one Church, explained ICF
executive director Terry OMeara.
CBCP Monitor
A3
Joseph Cardinal Zen offers the Traditional Latin Mass at Asilo de la Milagrosa in Cebu. MAURICE ALMADRONES
Delegates of the ongoing 51st International Eucharistic Congress (IEC) on Thursday had an early
Visita Iglesia covering select churches across Cebu City. DOMINIC BARRIOS
Student-volunteers: IEC, an
experience of a lifetime
CEBU City, Jan. 29, 2016
Volunteers for the 51st
International Eucharistic Congress
(IEC) consider it an experience
of a lifetime to able to contribute
to the success of the global event.
I am grateful I can spend
time helping IEC delegates in
my own little way, said Via Mae
Romo, a second-year hotel and
restaurant services student from
the Banilad Center for Professional
Development in Banilad, Cebu City.
As a volunteer usherette, the
18-year old has to stand for hours
showing hungry pilgrims from
around the world where the meal
stations are inside the IEC Pavilion.
Joy, love
Coming from a school founded
by no less than Blessed Alvaro
del Portillo of Opus Dei, she takes
pride in being part of a gathering
that puts the Eucharist at the
center of Christian life.
I am happy I am here at the
IEC, she exclaimed.
Meanwhile, for Anisa Along,
another student-volunteer,
serving does not just mean
carrying out a duty, but doing so
with genuine joy and love.
This is what I want: To serve
God and His people, the people
of IEC, with joy and love, the
usherette said.
Opportunity to pray
Whats more, being here allows
me also to mingle with different
kinds of people, Along added.
Sje said her tiredness
disappeared every time she saw
pilgrims smiling at her, treating
her kindly, and expressing
appreciation for what she and
fellow volunteers did.
While she is not officially an
IEC delegate, the student said she
would like to grab the opportunity
given her to ask forgiveness from
the Lord, pray for her loved
ones, and ask for blessings.
(Raymond A. Sebastin /
CBCP News)
A4 OPINION
CBCP Monitor
EDITORIAL
Monitor
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Candidly Speaking
Fr. Roy Cimagala
WE need to be very familiar with the
world of liturgy, because for us to be
truly human and Christian we need to
have our life to be liturgical. We have
to enter into this world presented to us
by our faith, and much richer than what
our senses and intelligence alone can
perceive and understand.
Its in the liturgy where we unite
ourselves fully with Christ our Savior
and receive the merits of his redemptive
work. Its in the liturgy where the living
Christ offers himself to the Father
together with us.
We are not left with a symbol only of
Christ in the liturgy. Thats because the
sacramental signs used in the liturgy,
especially the Eucharistic species, are
no ordinary signs that simply point to
another reality. In the sacraments, the
signs themselves, the matter and form
that comprise them, are Christ himself
and his grace.
In the liturgy, man is united with God,
time with eternity, earth with heaven. It
is the best union we can have with God
on earth. In a sense, with it, we enter
into the most perfect dimension of our
life, into the fullest scope of reality.
Obviously, we need to be aware of this
nature of the liturgy, so we would know
how to act and live in it.
The fullness of the liturgy takes place in
the Holy Eucharist which is described as
the source and summit of the Christian
life. The Catechism explains it this way:
The other sacraments, and indeed
all ecclesiastical ministries and works
of the apostolate, are bound up with the
Sent to Consecrate
Biblically Speaking
Leander V. Barrot, OAR
CBCP Monitor
A5
GPS Mass
Whatever
Simple Gifts
By the Roadside
Fr. Eutiquio Euly Belizar, Jr. SThD
carry within ourselves, in
our way of thinking, feeling,
seeing, acting or even our
refraining from acting itself.
But so should our Christian
identity, and even more so
because in the Eucharist there
is no more Jew nor Greek,
slave or free, man or woman,
for you are all one in Christ
Jesus (Gal 3:28). Nor should
there be Ilocano, Bicolano,
Tagalog, Waray, Cebuano,
Pampango, Pangasinense,
etc. in us who celebrate the
Eucharist but only Christ in
us, in between us, among
us. We have to work more so
that Christ in us, our hope
of glory passes from song to
reality.
Three, to keep our humor
in its right perspectivethe
Cross of Christ. We crack jokes
whenever an opportunity
presents itself and God
knows how our Pinoy humor
helped us in Eastern Visayas
tremendously to tide over
Yolandas devastation. Id
like to think that our Pinoy
humor is also partly a fruit of
our sense of the Eucharist as
Sacrifice. In Jesus self-giving
act on the Cross perpetually
made present at Mass, we
see the grotesque transience
of earthly life. We are made
aware by Jesus on the Cross
of how vain our obsession for
long life and eternal youth and
the wealth to achieve them
because no one, absolutely
no one, on earth is immune
to suffering and death. The
joke is on us who cannot take
The Eucharist
A6 FEATURES
CBCP Monitor
ROY LAGARDE
Taize-sponsored Pilgrimage of
Trust for youth (2010); annual
gatherings of the AMRSP
(Association of Major Religious
Superiors of the Philippines);
vigorous mission promotion by the
Pontifical Mission Societies (PMS)
that celebrated their eightieth year
in the Philippines with a Grand
Mission Festival (2012); exemplary
faith witness of numerous Filipinos
serving in foreign mission and the
dedication of expatriate missioners
working in the Philippines;
continued defense of the rights of
the indigenous [lumad] peoples;
the local and national efforts to
strengthen the Basic Ecclesial
Communities (BEC); catechetical
and youth initiatives. Despite its
recognized limitations, the local
Church of the Philippines struggles
to remain faithful to its mission of
integral evangelization.
VISIT OF POPE FRANCIS.
Undeniably, the most significant
Church event of 2015 was the January
15-19 pastoral visit of Pope Francis;
he told the crowds that when he saw
the destructive effects of the 2013
typhoon on television, he decided
to come to comfort his brothers and
sisters. Affectionately nicknamed
Lolo Kiko (Grandfather Francis)
by the huge crowds, he won their
hearts and souls. He emphatically
asserted: The poor are at the center
of the Gospel, are at the heart of the
Gospel; if we take away the poor from
the Gospel, we cannot understand
the whole message of Jesus Christ.
The most moving part of the papal
visit was Pope Francis presence in
Tacloban, the city hardest hit by the
2013 typhoon. Thanking Pope Francis
for his pastoral visit, Cardinal Tagle
captured the peoples sentiments and
mission commitment; he said: Every
Filipino wants to go with younot to
Romebut to the peripheries, to the
shanties, to prison cells, to hospitals,
to the world of politics, finance, arts,
sciences, culture, education and
social communications. We will go
to these worlds to bring the light of
Jesus, Jesus who is the center of your
pastoral visit and the cornerstone of
the Church.
EUCHARISTIC CONGRESSES.
The Philippine Church is privileged
to have been selected to host the
fifty-first International Eucharistic
Congress (IEC) in 2016 in Cebu
City. This is the second time the
country has hosted the IEC; the
thirty-third IEC was held in Manila
on February 3-7, 1937. The local
By the Roadside / A5
RH Law), we white-wash
sin as part of keeping up
with the rest of the world.
To celebrate the Eucharist
in this social environment
as though everything is OK
smacks of a betrayal of Christ
in the sacrament itself. We
complain against public
sinners in our midst who,
after all the plunder and
abuse of power they or their
forebears have committed,
offer no apology. But that is
what we become too when
we allow ourselves to lose a
healthy sense of sin.
Finally, to be serious
about mission and dialogue.
After the celebrant says the
Prayer After Communion
and imparts the blessing, he
declares: Ite, missa est (Go
forth; the Mass is ended).
The Mass ends by our being
sent or, more properly, by
the celebrant becoming the
mouthpiece of Jesus who
commands us: Go and make
disciples of all the nations
(Mt. 28:19). If that is not
motive enough to mission,
I dont know what is. To be
fair, Filipino Catholics have
CBCP Monitor
A7
st
A SYNTHESIS
By Teresa Tunay
HIS Eminence John Cardinal
Onaiyekan, DD, Archbishop of
Abuja (Nigeria), whose subject is
The Eucharist: Dialogue with the
Poor and the Suffering, opened
the days Catechesis on a note of
gratitude: It is a great grace for
each and everyone who is here to
be part of this Congress. There
are many all over the world who
would have wanted to be here but
cannot be. For those of us who are
here we must consider ourselves
called by God to this Eucharistic
Assembly. During our time here, we
should try to find union with God
and solidarity with each other. I
personally thank God that I have the
chance and the opportunity to share
some reflections with this special
congregation on this occasion.
Linking his lecture to the theme
Christ in you, our hope of glory,
the cardinal referred to this glory
as first and foremost of the face
of God revealed to us through the
Son the glory that is also revealed
in the will of God being expressed
and fulfilled in our world and in our
lives the glory of Gods eternal
kingdomthe ultimate destiny of
every living human being created
by Godthe glory of the heavenly
banquet of which we have already
a foretaste in the Holy Eucharist.
After expounding on the Eucharist
as Real Presence, Sacrifice and
Communion, the Nigerian prelate
spoke about the Eucharist in dialogue
with the poor and suffering. He
said material poverty is the most
immediate poverty the Church needs
to addressit is not inevitable, but is
due to human failures such as injustice
and greed. The Eucharist stresses the
goodness of God who gives himself to
humanity and the need for sharing
among Gods children starting from
those in the Church.
There is also a spiritual poverty,
a lack of spiritual values expressing
itself in the form of selfishness.
The Eucharist challenges us to
see one another as brothers and
sisters, children of the same Father
in heaven. It is often said that the
Church must have a preferential
option for the poor. Although many
would say this is easier said than
done, we ought to recall the miracle
on the Cross.
He said dialogue means to
discover the presence of Christ
and the working of the Spirit
among diverse people.
These [people on the
periphery] are all truly areas for
dialogue: Secular and spiritual
wisdom must draw closer.
Intelligence and faith must find
ways of relating. Justice and
mercy must embrace, explained
the prelate.
Eucharist and provision
Menamparampil said the
faithful are not alone in this call
and that the Eucharist equips
one for the mission, gives life and
supplies energy.
The Eucharist is rightly called
panis viatorum, nourishment
for travelers. It supplies energies.
It builds up inner sturdiness for
the mission, he said.
The Eucharist equips us for
the mission Jesus does not
merely say Go; He assures us I
will be with you, the archbishop
added.
The providence of the
Eucharist was further discussed
by Turkson, who reiterated that
the Eucharist is the summit and
source of the Christian life.
The Eucharist is integral to
the very essence of Catholicism, it
integrates all the facets of our life
of faith, he said. The Eucharist
is heaven on earth and invites us
to share even now in the fullness
of Gods glory in heaven forever,
he added. (Chrixy Paguirigan
/ CBCP News)
Thousands / A1
Deaf / A2
Manufactured by
MANDAUE CITY
COLLEGE
Dr. Paulus Mariae L. Caete
President
A8
CBCP Monitor
Thousands of lay people, religious, and consecrated persons gather for the 51st International
Eucharistic Congress (IEC) in Cebu City, Jan. 29, 2016. JOHANN MANGUSSAD
Childhood dream
I want to be here. I want
to know better the meaning
of the Eucharist I can see
the Eucharist as the presence
of God in my life, he added.
For Renca, what the Body
and Blood of the Lord stands
for is nothing but love. And in
his own little way, Stanislaus
wants to be an instrument of
that Divine Love.
It is for this reason he
is studying to become a
missionary, a dream of his
since childhood.
My congregation is the
Scalabrinian congregation
[Missionaries of St. Charles
Borromeo] founded by
[Blessed] John Baptist
Scalabrini because it helps
migrants. I am also a
migrant. I want to serve
them, added Renca, who has
been undergoing formation