https://www.scribd.com/doc/279927248/Bag-ong-Lamdag

https://www.scribd.com/doc/279927248/Bag-ong-Lamdag

Making the Message Matter

Making the Message Matter

 Fr. Mario Sobrejuanite, SSP gave a talk, Making the Message Matter to the Oro clergy during their recollection on July 14, 2015 at Patrick Cronin Formation Hall. He said that the survey conducted by SWS in July 1991 shows that there are 81% of Catholics who attend mass on Sundays. In 2013 it has gone down to 37%, and for every 11 Catholics, one is thinking of leaving the Church.

Various reasons include: fierce individualism, rebellion against perceived authoritarianism, secularism and materialism, contempt for things traditional, the scandals in the Church, and because the majority of Catholics are ‘sacramentalized’ but not evangelized.

He said that the proclamation of the Word is a challenge to re-incarnate Jesus and make him visible, tangible, understandable and acceptable to the people of today. “How do we make the message matter so that when people go home, the message becomes the source of strength and pillar of support for the next week before they go to church again?” he asked. It was pointed out that priests have the best product but they don’t know how to market it. One has to promote, market, package, present, expose and advertize the message in order to make the message matter in one’s life.

He gave four elements necessary in the proclamation of the Word: a) communication; b) know God personally; c) know the people to whom you proclaim really well; d) recognize the presence of the power of the Holy Spirit.

Pope Paul VI once said that modern man listens to witnesses than to teachers; and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses. Being a witness means one has lived a dynamic, profound and personal relationship with Christ. Pope Francis said that preachers must be the first ones to be moved by the Word of God and incarnate in his daily life.

People thirst for authenticity and call for evangelizers to speak of God not in general and abstract way, but to shepherd with love and compassion. “As ministers, one must go ahead of the flock so that one can bring them to the right pasture, stay behind the flock so that no one is lost, and be in the midst of the flock so that they will feel your presence,” he said.

 Lastly, he stressed that one can only be effective when he is open to the wisdom and power of the Holy Spirit, the agent of renewal.

Fr. Steve Olario, one of the reactors, commented that there are few priests in the parish and they are overwhelmed by the structure, systems and multiplicity of things to do including administering the Sacraments. These are some of the factors that affect the quality of shepherding their flock.

Fr. Medallo Valmores, another reactor, believes that preaching needs humility. He said that for 33 years of preaching, there were times that he feels inadequate despite the preparation but those were the Sundays that were well-received and well- appreciated by the parishioners. “We should be humble enough that whatever appreciation people give to us, in all humility let us return it to the giver who is God,” he said.

Fr. Joel Lasutaz, SSS, said that marketing is giving value to the message and giving value to the people. People are valued and that is what other sects are doing. They give value to the people and the message, including the structure of the building, the media equipment, and the sound system. “If we do value the Word of God, then we also value our relationship with him. Our preaching gives value to the message through the way we speak, the way we deliver it just like promoting, advertising, and packaging it,” he said.

Abp. Ledesma Ledesma thanked Fr. Mario for sharing a lot of pointers in giving homilies and witnessing, and the challenge of how priests can share the message in the Archdiocese. “If all of us focus precisely on this – in fact, in Evangelii Gaudium, that’s the longest section of Pope Francis’ exhortation about giving homilies – we can be authentic messengers

of the Word. We pray, with the urging and help of Fr. Mario, we can continue our pastoral help to many people in our congregation,” he said.

A Preliminary Interview with Bishop-Elect Jose A. Cabantan

Appointed bishop of the Diocese of Malaybalay on February 18, 2010, Fr. Joe Cabantan will be formally installed on May 15, 2010. In this issue of LAMDAG, Fr. Cabantan speaks about his new mission, entrusted to him by God and the challenges that await him.

How did you receive the news of your appointment as Bishop of Malaybalay?
This came very unexpectedly. The secretary to the Nuncio called me in my mobile phone minutes after we laid to rest the late Fr.Idroy telling me to come to the nunciature the soonest possible. He would not even agree when I asked to go there the following week.

What was your immediate reaction to the appointment?
Right after the call, I could not understand myself. I felt I was floating in the air. I was really wondering why that urgency. When the Nuncio told me about the appointment I could not believe it. All my feelings of unworthiness, inadequacies and even sinfulness engulfed me. I did not accept the task immediately and I asked more time to pray over it. I was given few days to discern over it.

You are one of the first alumni of St. John Vianney Theological Seminary and the first diocesan priest of the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro appointed bishop, how do you feel about this?
I feel humbled but full of gratitude to God’s unfathomable grace and overflowing love. It is all pure gift from God and full of mystery.

What for you is a role of a bishop, in the diocese of Malaybalay?
With God’s grace I hope to be a loving and humble steward of all people and all of God’s creation in this particular Church.

You are a social action director and the Church of Malaybalay is right into environmental advocacy. What can you say about this?
Malaybalay Diocese is already engaged in this advocacy even before. My appointment to this diocese I believe spurs me on to continue what we have been doing here in the archdiocese. All I can say is that God must have prepared me for this advocacy.

What are your greatest fears and your greatest strength with regards to your appointment?
When the Nuncio mentioned to me that I have great predecessors there in Malaybalay, all the more I was afraid to take the task. What do I have but God by my side. His full assurances that I received in my prayers is my greatest strength. He alone can fill up all those inadequacies that I feel.

What have you chosen as your motto?
Spe Salvi Sumus meaning “In hope we were saved” (Rom 8:24 ) This echoes Pope Benedict XVI’s encyclical Spe Salve. This should remind me of the whole of creation groaning in pain towards its destiny of glory which I need to take care.

When did it become clear to you that you would be a priest?
The attraction started when I was serving as one of the altar boys in our parish at St. John the Baptist. Despite the fact that I did not pursue this attraction after high school, I remained connected with the church even when I was already working in factories. After I felt that something was still lacking in my life I decided to enter at San Jose de Mindanao Seminary. But it was only in my Spiritual-Pastoral Formation Year at St. John Vianney Theological Seminary that the call to the priesthood became so clear to me.

How would you describe your priestly life prior to your appointment as Bishop of Malaybalay?
Priestly life is still mysterious and grace-filled. There are ups and downs that make us more mature in this vocation. There are challenges that launch us into the deep waters and make us more trustful in God. Full of joy and I never regret.
What would you like to tell the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro? Let us be thankful to God for the gift of vocation, and intensify our prayers for more vocations. As for me, I ask them to please double them prayers for me as I enter into this new horizon in my priestly life and ministry.

- conducted by Mary Anne Padilla, FSP