With the increasing number of extrajudicial killings in our country, how do we Catholic lay people respond? With the Council of the Laity of the Philippines’ call for a “Walk for Life” at the Quirino Grandstand last February 18, 2017, we remember the power of coming together as one Catholic community to fight for what we believe in. It is an opportunity to let our voices heard in a society where people seem to be drowned by the cacophonous issues emerging everywhere.
Our own parish community cannot but respond to this call.
At around thirty minutes past three in the morning, the different ministries and organizations of the Parish of the Holy Sacrifice eagerly rode a bus to the Quirino Grandstand for the “Walk for Life.” We remained reflective on the way by praying the Rosary. As we walked towards the site, we saw a great number of people in white like a big flock of white sheep – Catholic clergy and religious, including seven bishops, and lay people from thirteen dioceses as far as Nueva Ecija and Legazpi. Organized into dioceses and vicariates and with placards of life in hands, the lay faithful filled the streets as they prayed the Rosary and sang songs of faith, hope, and love – saliently reminding the nation of the sanctity of life and the dignity of the human person.
Meanwhile, His Eminence Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle spoke out and campaigned for “active non-violence” in a country where values and virtues seem to decay and where violence starts to seep into its culture.
A testament to our Catholic unity under the banner of the Cross through which God has loved us first and breathed us new life in Christ, the “Walk for Life” does not stop at Quirino Grandstand. It should happen every day of our lives, as we bear the light of Christ and live out the values of the Gospel. May God, the author of life and Life Himself, bless us all!
