DIOCESE OF NOVALICHES

Commission on Faith & Formation

Social Communications and Media Ministry
Christ The King Parish, Atlas Street, Filinvest 2,
Batasan Hills, Q.C. 1126 * 5145318 / 5145312

4TH WORLD APOSTOLIC CONGRESS ON MERCY (WACOM 4)

CELEBRATION OF THE MOST HOLY EUCHARIST
DAY 4 - JANUARY 19, 2017 - NATIONAL SHRINE OF DIVINE MERCY, MALOLOS, BULACAN

Transcript of the Talk of the Most Rev. Rolando Joven Tria Tirona, OCD, D.D.,
Archbishop of Nueva Caceres

What they have done (referring to the dance number before his talk) is to show us the richness of our
culture and, come to think of it really, faith is very much embedded in our culture. So the dances, the
shouting, the reading, all express really that we are unique beings, gifted not just with the mind, with
the heart but gifted above all with the capacity to express ourselves in our faith. Amen. Amen.

You know every time I'm introduced, I feel afraid. I feel very worried. One time I was introduced in a
forum and evidently the emcee did his homework, his research. So he mentioned my full name, my
parents' name, when I was born, the place I was born--he even mentioned my former girlfriends! That
was before I entered the seminary.

I want you to answer fast, God is good all the timeAll the time...God is merciful...God is
compassionate

You know, that is one of the things God wants to see in us. The hunger and thirst not just for material
things, not just for the food but be consumed. And afterwards, we perish but God from the very
beginning, wants to feed us, wants to satiate our thirst.

But even before He can do that He Himself experience it. Remember Jesus said, I have come to give
you food that will not perish. Food that will bring you eternal life. On the cross, Jesus said, I thirst. I
thirst.

So everytime God sees our hearts hungering for Him, longing for Him, in thirst of Him. I can assure you
the mercy of God, the mercy of God abounds from heaven unto our hearts because as the Psalm says,
"As the deer longs for living streams, so my soul longs for you, my living God."

So I go back. Are you hungry? Are you thirsty? For God? Very good. So thank you! That's my talk.

You know, I've been given the task of explaining to you the concept of "Witnessing to the Mercy of
God as the Church of the Poor". There were two main pillars here, that point to our sympathy, Gods
mercy. First, witnessing. Second, Church of and for the poor.
The first one is very important. My brothers and sisters, were used to hearing, we're all called. Our
vocation is holiness. But we should never forget that our vocation also is to be witnesses of Gods
Mercy.

In fact, you can never be or live a holy life without being witnesses. And you can never be witnesses
without entering into the dynamics of relationship with the Holy Spirit, the Source of Holiness.

And that is why it is important for us to reflect, "What does it mean to be a witness?"

Very often, when we speak of witnessing, we immediately think in terms of court cases, litigations. I
remember a story. In the trial court, the lawyer told his witness..."Velasca, I am going to ask you a
question...witness, when the crime was committed, were you in morning shift or evening shift?"

And the opposing party objected, Objection your honor, very misleading.

The judge said, Rephase the question. And the lawyer said again, Witness, when the crime was
committed, were you in the afternoon shift or in the morning shift?"

Again the lawyer objected, "Objection your honor!"

And the judge got annoyed and told the lawyer, Lawyer, Ill be the one to ask question. Then the
judge said to the witness, Witness, when the crime was committed, what shipment were you?

My brothers and sisters, witnessing is such a powerful force in our lives. In fact, it defines our being
Christians. And it gives to us the very identity as Christians. The Holy Bible abounds with testimonies
with witnessing.

To summarize, without going into details, the witnessing that God asks of the people of Israel is this:
that they witness to the faithfulness, to the fidelity of God to His people. The Hebrew term to use is
Hessed, "enduring fidelity".

In fact, every time there would be great moments, wherein God would gather the people, he would
tell them, Look my People! As Bishop Bacani said yesterday, Remember what I have done for you.
You experienced this, now be witnesses to this.

And what are these? Things, where I can show, that I show that I am faithful to my promise. My
brothers and sisters, if that was true then, I can assure you, that is also true now and in the days to
come. Our God is a faithful God.

Let us sings, Yahwehs love will last forever. His faithfulness till the end of time. Yahweh is a faithful
God. Yahweh, the Faithful One." O, palakpakan niyo naman ang sarili niyo!

In the New Testament, Jesus also speaks of witnessing, of being witness. In that solemn moment
before He ascended to heaven, He gathered His disciples and commissioned them and He said these
solemn words, This is the witness that the Messiah did His task."
Thus, it is written, that the Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that
repentance for the forgives of sins would be preached in His Name to all nations, beginning from
Jerusalem. And then Jesus said, You are witnesses to these things.

When Jesus commissioned the disciples, He commissioned them to be witness, to be proclaimers, to

testify to the mercy and compassion of God.

Now what is Christian witnessing? Christian witnessing is not a matter of sporadic good actions. Very
often we say, Ah he is a good witness because he gives alms. He does this thing, he does that."

Christian witnessing is more than the acts of charity or good things we do. Christian witnessing is a
way of life. It is a way of life formed by inspiration and commitment. That is what it means to be a
Christian witness.

By way of life, will inspire and I will tell you what inspires me. And not only that but I will decide and
commit myself to follow my inspiration. There is no one-shot deal for Christian witness. You have to
renew that inspiration. You have to renew that commitment until you die.

And that is what I said, it is not a one-shot deal on a something you do because it is Holy Week,
because it's Christmas. It has to be lived every day because we are told by Jesus to witness to His
Passion, Death and Resurrection.

Let us try to be more focused on what it means to be a witness. First, there is a big difference between
a "reporter" and a "witness".

A reporter sees an objective event and he relates or narrates it as objective as possible. He doesnt
want the audience--or himself, I'm sorry--to be affected by the event. Its up to the audience, to the
listeners, to react to the event.

So there is a certain detachment from what the reporter sees and what he relates. That is the
reporter. You never see a reporter crying, di ba? You never see a reporter smiling. The reporter is very
serious.

Now let us go to the witness. The witness cannot be but in the event, caught by the event, even
transformed by the event. The witness is affected by what he sees and when he relates that he
doesnt relate what is the event that is happening, he would also relate what effect that event had had
on his life. In witness terms, we call it conversion.

My friends, Jesus did not say, Go! Be my reporters!" He said, "Go! Be my witnesses!" And what is this
event? It is, of course, the Jesus event.

Unless we enter into the Jesus event and we assume Jesus of the Gospels, we can not become true
witnesses. Or if ever we do, it is very superficial. So the importance, then, for us of really knowing the
Lord through the Gospels and develop that relationship of intimacy with Him.
And we will see that Jesus event will affect us and we can not contain our joy! We can not contain our
power! We can not contain our excitement! We want to shout it on rooftops that indeed God is a
merciful God!

Second, a witness is inspired and is guided by the Holy Spirit. And that is very important. Jesus
Himself, when He was sent by the Father to testify and to witness to the Father when He was
baptized, the Spirit took hold of Him, enveloped Him. And Jesus was strengthened by the
proclamation of God, "This is my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

Why was God pleased with Jesus? Because He sees the Spirit of the Father! That will be the Divine
Motor of Jesus as He proclaims the new path to heaven.

It is the Spirit that guides us! St. Paul says, "You received the Spirit, be guided by the Spirit."

You know when a person is filled with the Spirit, we call him a "mystic". A mystic is not someone--we
associate it normally--with extraordinary bodily phenomena, experience of extraordinary bodily
phenomena: levitation, transverberation, locution, bilocation.

That's not what mysticism is all about. Mysticism is simply to be captured, enveloped, taken hold by
the Holy Spirit. And many of us, mind you, are not mystics. What are we, "mistakes". Why? Because it
is not the Spirit of Jesus that inspires us, much less guides us.

Another point to remember when we speak of witnessing is that a witness--witnessing is a "now

reality". It is true the sources of my witnessing belongs in the past, but I must make that real, relevant,
true, effective to the present moment.

So we the apostles proclaim to the peoples of different countries, different languages telling them,
"Now the time has come! A new dispensation has begun! The Kingdom of God is at hand!"

It has to be relevant. The world has so many issues. The Philippines has so many issues and we are
precisely in those present issues--in particular time and moment---that we have to witness to the
mercy, to the compassion, and to the power of God.

Let us also be reminded that witnessing is not a matter of parroting, repeating, transmitting.
Witnessing is an invitation. When I witness to Jesus, I invite you to embrace Jesus, I invite you to call
on Jesus.

That's why invitation is not just words, not just actions, but a concrete invitation to a change in life.
Remember in the First Letter of John where it is said, "I now speak to you what you have heard, seen,
and felt." Or in John Chapter 1: 10, "I am telling you this so that you may have life and live to the full!"

You know the Gospel of John is the Gospel of Faith and every page of John is an invitation for people
to believe in Jesus. John is a witness par excellance! I have seen! I have felt! I have touched! So I'm
telling this to you, so that you, too, may believe in Jesus and may have eternal life."
And finally, my brothers and sisters, witnessing is a community, a Church action. We know the greatest
scandal nowadays is that we Christians is divided. We forget that Jesus prayed in this manner, "Father,
I pray that they may be one as You and I are one." For what purpose?! "So that the world may know
You sent me."

So in the unity of Churches, in the unity of our families strengthened, bonded together by faith, we
become witnesses to the presence of Jesus....

Now, let's take a look at the Church of the Poor. I am not going to labor you by giving you a Theology
on the Church of the Poor. I'm just saying that in 1991 the Church of the Philippines has been blessed
by what we call the Plenary Council of the Philippines.

For two nights, bishops, lay, priests gathered together because of their desire--this is the context of
the Church of the Poor: a renewed church. This is the longing of the people: we want a renewed
church. And you know why? In their reflection and desire that for the renewed church a gem spark.
And what is that gem? That this Church should proclaim itself: Church of the Poor, Church for the Poor.

Not only that, now this Church should proclaim: Church of the Youth. Church of the Youth. During
Vatican II, the concept of Church of the Poor was brought up by certain bishops but it did not make
progress during that time. Now thanks to the Spirit, this Council, this Plenary Council was inspired
again to proclaim that we need to be Church of the Poor.

Now will somebody, what does it mean to be Church of the Poor? and I will go to the final topic. At the
conclusion of that long article--11 articles in fact--they conclude by saying, "The Church of the Poor
will be a church wherein the poor will feel at home and will actively participate."

These are two very important values of Filipinos, even my dear friends abroad. These are values that
we long. We want to be welcomed, we want to belong, and we want to participate!

Remember when we were kids. We fight and we say, "You're out! You're isolated." So the core of the
Church of the Poor is the poor feel at home, not threatened. The poor is welcomed, not rejected. The
poor participates and they are not just kept like decorations, or even slaves, if you like, in the Church.

This Council said that the Church of the Poor is a Church that embraces evangelical poverty,
detachment, and trust. That it has a preferential option and love for the poor. But in the core, the poor
do not feel descriminated, that the poor has access to spiritual goods.

Not only that, a Church wherein the poor feels that they are only recipients of the Gospel but they
themselves can contribute to the enrichment of the Gospel in our lives.

This PCPII has some jobs also for bishops and priests. It says the Church of the Poor is a church
wherein the leaders do not have ambitions or vie for prosperous positions. You know ambition can eat
all of us.

There was a priest who was asked to go to the Nuncio. And when the Nuncio told him, "Father, Oh
Monsignor, the Holy Father wants to make you a bishop."
And the Monsignor took out from his pocket a skull cap and said, "I've been waiting for this for a long
time!"

The Church of the Poor speaks of simplicity, of humility, of inclusiveness. Isn't that what Pope Francis
is telling us today? The Church must be inclusive. Let us go to the periphery!

I always like the text in the Acts of the Apostles where it said, "And Jesus went about doing good." He
did good things not just in the center but especially in the periphery.

In fact, if you notice the Gospel when the pharisees and the scribes put themselves at the center of
the society and their mindset is that they have to purify these people--put them aside, clean society!
So that when it is already clean, then the Messiah will come.

So they are supposed to be at the center of society. But Jesus turned that inside out. He said, "No! You
were thinking you were at the center of society, of the Church. You're out! And now, I'm bringing with
me the sick, the poor, the lonely at the center of society. I come not for the healthy but for the sick.
That is such the power of Jesus instilling in us what it means to be a Church for the Poor.

Now to the final question, "What does it mean to be a witness to the Mercy of God as Church of the
Poor?" I only have three things. I hope you remember these.

First, by intimacy with Jesus. If you want to be a witness of God's Mercy? Be intimate with Jesus.
Because the source of your witnessing will be your relationship with Jesus.

Did He not say, "I come from my Father and it is I who know my Father. And I can reveal to those who
believe in me the Heart of my Father. And the Heart of the Father is a Merciful Heart."

So if you want to discover the Face of the God and His compassionate Mercy. Then follow what Jesus
said, "Remain in me as I remain in you. Dwell in me as I dwell in you."

My brothers and sisters, we should never forget the call to intimacy with Jesus. Intimacy is not a
sentimental experience. On the contrary, it is a courageous experience because when you're intimate
with Jesus that means...you will also embrace othe Cross of Jesus. You will also embrace the sacrifice
of Jesus, the love of Jesus.

Is not being said, "You can sacrifice without love, but you can never love without sacrifice." So when
you love Jesus, you are bound to sacrifice yourself and that is the cost of His intimacy with you.

I have a beautiful quotation here from Pope Francis. In Miserecordia Vultus, the Holy Father says,
"Mercy is the ultimate and supreme act by which God comes to meet us. Meeting with God is
intimacy with Him. We plead with Mercy to invite Jesus."

Furthermore he said, "In order to be capable of mercy, we must first of all dispose ourselves to listen."
And what is listening? To be intimate to the Word of God! This means the value of silence in order to
meditate on the Word of God that come to us. In this way, it would be possible to contemplate God's
mercy and adapt it as our lifestyle.
Let us not underestimate, my brothers and sisters, the value of silence. Silence is an ancient value.
Unfortunately, with the influence of materialism, colonialism, techie society, technology, we've lost
that sense of silence.

We Filipinos, we're very noisy. We're fiesta people. That's why we're called Filipinoise. Filipinoise!
When a Filipino keeps quiet, immediately friends would say, "Why are you quiet? Are you sick? Do you
have a problem?"

But silence should be co-natural to us as Christians. Tagore used to say, "Here and there doesn't
matter. We must be still and still moving."

Here and there does not matter. We must be still and still be moving. That is only possible if we are
still in the Heart of God. Because God acts in a way that if we can understand, but lo and behold!, we
begin to realize that we are moving forward.

Second, immersion. Immersion to where? Immersion in the life of the Church. I mentioned to you
witnessing is an ecclesial experience. We must be immersed in the Church. And what is the Church?
The Body of Christ.

We must not just participate but we must welcome the Sacraments, which are the food, the strength,
the vitamins--whatever!--the guide of our Christian life. We must not be spectators in the Church but
we are co-workers, co-celebrants in the Church.

It is when the Church becomes--or when we are immersed in the Church and our immersion brings
forth, as I said, unity, communion--then the Church becomes, indeed, Lumen Gentium: the Light of the
World!

Finally, my brothers and sisters, I have a quotation here, St. Paul--Pope Francis said, "All of us Church
are called to offer others an excellent witness to the same way, love, mercy of God, who despite our
imperfections offers us His closeness, His Word, and strength and gives meaning to our life."
(Evangelium Vitae)

Pope Emeritus Benedict, speaking of the Clergy, said, "A good shepherd, a pastor after the God's
heart, is the greatest treasure which the Lord can grant to a parish and one of the most precious
gift...The life of the priest becomes a very powerful expression of God's mercy."

And finally, how do we witness to the Mercy of God? Intimacy. Immersion in the life of the Church.
Third one, involvement in people's lives, especially the poor.

The Church often for the Poor witnesses to God's Mercy by compassionate service and ministry of all
the poor, the weak, and the forgivable. And for the poor witnesses to God's mercy by actively
engaging in corporal and spiritual works of mercy.

Listen to what Jesus said to St. Faustina. The Lord explicitly told her, "I demand from you deeds of
mercy, which are to arise out of love for me. You are to show mercy to your neighbors always and
every where."
There is no escaping! What could be more clear and direct that Jesus mandates us?!

You know the first uncharitable remark made by man to God is when God asked Cain, "Where is your
brother?", and his response, "Am I my brother's keeper?" God felt hurt.

Because it is in the Bible that we should take care of others, that we should be involved in the lives of
others and erase suffering, eradicate poverty.

Pope Francis also says, "For instance, Jesus introduces us to His works of mercy in His preachings so
that we can know whether or know we are living as His disciples. Let us discover in His Corporal Works
of Mercy, let us not forget the Spiritual Works of Mercy."

But there is a...warning. The Church of the Poor, we witnesses to God's Mercy not from the position of
power, not from the position of arrogance, not from the position of security, we give witness to the
Mercy of God as Church of the Poor from the position of servanthood patterned after Jesus, the
Suffering Servant. That is why the suffering of the Church is also works of mercy.

Pope Francis say, "I prefer a Church which is bruised, hurting, and dirty because it has been out in the
streets rather than a Church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own
security."

So when bishops and priests stick to our comfort zones, what happens? Uric acid increases,
cholesterol increases. Naging diabetic. But if you go out, you mingle with people, you smell the
people. Then you feel something vibrant in you, that is the vibrancy of Jesus.

My brothers and sisters, the Church in the Philippines--thanks to the bishops--is very fortunate that
we have this NASSA--National Secretariat for Social Action--or Caritas Philippines, which is linked with
Caritas Intertionalis the president of which is Cardinal Vidal. So every country has Caritases: Caritas
Norway, Caritas America...Caritas Germany, Caritas Austria, Caritas Spain, all of which come together...

Thanks to its program of offering to a brother, we can sustain and facilitate immediate relief and
rehabilitation to those who are suffering from natural calamities.

By way of information, the overall Caritas Confederation response to this disaster of Yolanda which is
up to more than Php4.6B that NASSA received from our brothers, Caritas Brothers from other nations,
benefitting more than 1.8M Filipinos and we continue to partner with governments, NGOs, as we
continue advocacy in fighting human trafficking, children exploitation, not just land reform, so forth
and so on.

After the Typhoon Yolanda, 7,519 houses were built and given to the homeless. It is our policy not to
build houses wherein people of the Press or the Media can see. But our marching orders is go into far-
flung and hidden places, look for the homeless there where the Media can not see and help them
build up new houses, build up a a community, build up a Christian community.

Presently, our Social Action Secretariat of Caritas Philippines is addressing the needs of the Typhoon
Nina in the Bicol, in Southern Tagalog Regions with the assistance of the United States Catholic Relief
Services and other Caritas International member organizations like Caritas Norway and Caritas
Australia.

To them and to other Caritas of foreign lands, we say, "Thank you very much for being in solidarity
with us!" Let us give them a round of applause, my dear friends!

And now I close. Witnessing as a Church of the Poor to God's mercy is sharing God's blessing even in
the midst of personal sufferings and pain. There is no better way to witness to God's mercy than by
living with joy and courage and generosity the gift of life.

God's mercy, if you ask me, is this. It is God's Hessed. It is God's love that seeks us through and
through. It is God's love that sees us through and through in our life.

My brothers and sisters, at this point, I invite you to look at the screen, at the screen, and I will show
you a video of a man called Allan--a person with disability--who rebelled against God for his disability
and especially who complained against God because he was victim of Typhoon Yolanda.

Yet, yet, when he saw his brothers and sisters--his kababayan--and so many poor people, and he owns
coconut trees, he said, "Cut those coconut trees! Gather those fallen coconut trees. Cut them, make
them timber, and give them to all the homeless!"

That gesture is more than a theology of Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy. So please, don't just
watch the movie. Feel the video and enter into the life of Allan. Video please...

Now, Allan will sing, "My love will see you through."

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