A time of pain, a time of grace

(A Pastoral Statement)

Our Dear People of God,

Our Mother Church has been deeply wounded by the controversies in the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office that have erupted in the past two weeks. Some members of the Church believe in the innocence of the bishops involved in the issue, while others do not. There is no doubt that everywhere in the Church there is great sorrow. We your pastors are one with you. As shepherds struggling to love you like Jesus the Good Shepherd, we are sorry for the pain and sadness that these events have brought upon you.

We are saddened that many of you, especially the youth, the poor, our Basic Ecclesial Communities, have been confused because of the apparent inconsistency of our actions with our pastoral preaching.
As we express our sadness, we also ask you to be slow in judgment and to conscientiously seek the whole truth behind the controversy. Let us seek the truth always in charity.
We assure you that the bishops concerned are ready to accept responsibility for their action and to face the consequences if it would be proven unlawful, anomalous, and unconstitutional. We assure you that their action was done without malice. Out of their sincere desire to help their people, they failed to consider the pitfalls to which these grants could possibly lead them. They have also expressed their readiness to do everything that is necessary to heal this wound so that we can all move forward in hope.
We also assure you, our beloved people, that we shall re-examine the manner of our collaboration with government agencies for purposes of helping the poor, making sure that pastoral sensibilities are respected and the highest ethical standards are observed. We shall examine our values in the light of our vocation to be disciples of Jesus Christ. We commit ourselves to the long journey of personal and social transformation required of all disciples of the Lord. We plead with you to walk with us in this path of constant renewal.
We express again our deep sorrow for the pain that the recent events have brought to you our beloved people. The good Lord knows our love for you. The words of the psalmist come to our mind: “My sacrifice, a contrite spirit. A humbled, contrite heart you will not spurn” (Ps.51). As the same Psalmist addresses the Lord, we take his words as our own to encourage and challenge us: “Indeed you love truth in the heart; then in the secret of my heart teach me wisdom.”
For the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines,
+NEREO P. ODCHIMAR, D.D.
Bishop of Tandag
President, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines
July 11, 2011

Comments

Schedule of Masses and Pilgrimages at Carmelite Monastery

Solemnity of our Lady of Mount Carmel, 2011. Cebu Carmel Solemnity of our Lady of Mount Carmel, 2011 Schedule of Masses and Pilgrimages (see pictures) for the Novena Cebu Carmelite Monastery, Cebu Philippines. Taken from: @Ste_de_Lisieux (twitter Account) and http://lovepetitefleur.blogspot.com Mother of God, Queen and Beauty of Carmel, Pray for us. Flower of Carmel Vine blossom-laden, splendour of heaven, Child-bearing yet maiden, None equals thee. Mother so tender, whom no man didst know, On Carmel's children thy favours bestow, Star of the sea. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "O Star of the Sea, help and protect us! Show us that you are our Mother!" Thursday, July 7 6:00 a.m. Holy Mass Celebrant -Preacher - Rt. Rev. Msgr. Joseph Tan 7:30 a.m. Celebrant- Preacher- Rev. Fr. Wilfredo, Borces, MSP Pilgrims - Blessed Sacrament Parish, Reclamation Area 9:00 a.m. Celebrant-

my Spiritual Purification Through Bro.Joey

we have our recollection and our speaker is brother joey mabborang.. he is an excellent speaker, he's so brilliant a very commendable for a job well done... he tackles about the life and works of saint john of the cross ( NADA - TODO) though he didn't gave us that much brief explanation but, i personally understand everything most especially on the life and Works of Saint Teresa of Jesus, the 7 mansions and etc., and it made me more interested to read the book that brother willow gave us.. thanks by the way bro. willow for your generosity.. bro. joey is a prolific speaker.. he moves me, lalalong lalo na nung sinabi nya na " For other people we are fool, coz we have a job but why are we here? hindi naman tayo medyo pangit pero bakit? we can have our own family and have many children pero bakit? maybe they think that we are fool, ready to sacrifice everything even our love ones but for us we are fool for the love of our beloved, our lord Jesus Christ..." i told my s

Sen. Miriam Santiago defends Bishop from PCSO Controversy

Sen. Miriam Santiago’s declaration that “no constitutional violation” was committed with the disbursement of Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) funds for the purchase of the prelates’ vehicles. “The basic purpose of the grant of public funds is clearly stated on the face of the checks (issued by the PCSO) themselves: ‘purcha se of service vehicles to be used by the diocese in its various community and health programs.’ If there is any benefit to the bishop and the diocese, it is merely incidental,” Santiago said. Santiago blasted parties she said were eager to invoke the Constitution against the bishops when it was the Supreme Court that can decide the constitutionality of the cash grant that allowed the bishops to purchase vehicles. “The COA report said that this action was a violation of the constitutional provision that no public money should be appropriated, directly or indirectly, for the use of any church,” said Santiago, chairperson of the Senate c

Ad Maoirem De Gloriam

Search This Blog