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.