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It was through a Christian indigenous, Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin (which means “the talking eagle”), that a new chapter of encounters between the Indo-Americans and the European missionaries began. The call by God of this indigenous signaled the start of evangelization in Latin America.
When David wanted to build a temple, God was reluctant to accept: heaven is his dwelling and the earth his footstool. But Yahweh overlooked his transcendence and entered history – first the ark and the tabernacle, next the temple, were then symbols of His presence among His people. In the fullness of time, Jesus’ flesh is the real throne of God’s Presence.
The Law is the content of the covenant between God and the chosen people. The Law is their great wealth, the reason for their glory in front of all the other nations. The heart of the Law is love: the Torah is their object of meditation, prayer, love and contemplation. In the New Testament, Jesus is the New Law.
Christian tradition has always found its roots in the Old Testament. The strong sense of God’s existence and holiness as well as His involvement with humanity have always been recognized as “wisdom” in the Hebrew Scriptures and have become a source of inspiration for Christians.
The creation and consolidation of BECs throughout the southern island of Mindanao by missionaries were major pastoral thrusts later adopted by the Local Church. These ecclesial communities have been instrumental in the evangelization of indigenous peoples and in recognizing their rights to ancestral lands.
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines declared 2017 as the Year of the Parish as communion of communities. Clergy and lay faithful have been committed to making the parish truly a communion of communities, forming and revitalizing BECs so that they become agents of communion, participation and mission.
We are often asked, “To which parish do you belong?” But what about if we are asked, “How is your parish?” In the Year of the Parish, it is fitting to reflect on how our parish should be. To guide us, we begin by reflecting on the three c’s: compassion, communion and collaboration.
As the bloody campaign against illegal drugs and crime continues under the present administration, the Church in the Philippines is addressing the mounting mortality by establishing community-based drug rehabilitation programs as a form of compassionate care and systematic intervention in order to reduce those who are being killed.
While some biblical texts and the traditional teaching of the Church endorse capital punishment as a deterrent and safeguard of the common good, contemporary Church pronouncements emphasize the dignity of the offender as a child of God and oppose death penalty.
The Catholic Church believes in the sanctity and intrinsic value of human life based on the belief that life is a gift from God. For this reason, life is sacred and must be protected. The Church is concerned with the life of every person, especially those who are weak and vulnerable.
