We have just commenced another liturgical year with the First Sunday of Advent. For the Catholic Church in the Philippines, the beginning of Advent coincided with the launching of the Year of the Clergy and Consecrated Persons. The year 2018, dedicated to the clergy and consecrated persons, is the sixth year of our nine-year spiritual journey towards 2021—the 500th anniversary of the arrival of Christianity in our country (Pastoral Exhortation on the Occasion of the Opening of the 2018 Year of the Clergy and Consecrated Persons).
For the Year of the Clergy and Consecrated Persons, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has chosen the theme “Renewed servant-leaders for the New Evangelization.” According to Archbishop Romulo Valles, the current CBCP President, the goal of our prayers and activities this year is the renewal of our clergy and consecrated persons so that they may become effective instruments of the New Evangelization. Our aim is the “integral renewal of the values, mindsets, behavior and lifestyles of the [c]lergy and [c]onsecrated [p]ersons” (Pastoral Exhortation on the Occasion of the Opening of the 2018 Year of the Clergy and Consecrated Persons).
Our bishops are inviting us to continue to support and pray for the clergy and consecrated persons especially those who minister to us in our churches, parish communities, schools and religious institutions. A most opportune time for us to pray for them is on December 8, the patronal feast day of the Philippines, whose principal patroness is the Blessed Virgin Mary in her Immaculate Conception.
Annually, on December 8, the Universal Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. One of the Marian dogmas, the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception holds that “the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by the Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin” (Ineffabilis Deus).
During the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, the Gospel proclaimed to us is the story of the Annunciation as recounted in Luke 1:26-38. In this narrative, “[t]he angel Gabriel…salutes [Mary] as ‘full of grace.’” She was “enriched by God with gifts appropriate to [her] role [as] the mother of the Savior. She [was] whole borne by God’s grace” (Catechism of the Catholic Church). In spite of the unique place reserved for Mary in the history of salvation, she remained the humble servant of the Lord. When “the angel Gabriel was sent from God” to tell her that she was to give birth to the “Son of the Most High,” her modest response was one of total surrender to the will of God. Mary said, “I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.”
May the story of the Annunciation remind our dear clergy and consecrated persons of their own calling to participate in the mission of the Church. May Mary’s Fiat remind them of their acceptance of the invitation to be instruments of God’s work in this world. May they follow the example of the Blessed Mother who completely dedicated herself to Jesus that she stood by him even at the foot of the cross. And like Jesus, the Good Shepherd, may our clergy and consecrated persons always be “servant-leaders who care most especially for the least, the lost and the last” (Pastoral Exhortation on the Occasion of the Opening of the 2018 Year of the Clergy and Consecrated Persons).
Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, pray for all clergy and consecrated persons.
Rex Lago Paras is the Chair of the Lectors and Commentators Group of the Parish of the Holy Sacrifice.
