BIBILE CAMPAIGN

Bible week celebration campaigns for unity among peoples

MANILA, January 6, 2009─The Episcopal Commission for Biblical Apostolate (ECBA) of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines in tandem with Philippine Bible Society and other partner organizations is spearheading a week of biblical celebration in observance of National Bible Week, January 19-25.

Themed “May they be one” (Ps 133:1, Jn 17:21), the Bible week celebration enjoins all Filipinos “to read and study God’s word to promote spiritual, moral and social stability in the country.”

Fr. Oscar Alunday, SVD, CBCP-ECBA executive secretary, in a letter sent to the different dioceses, has urged diocesan biblical apostolates to celebrate bible week in the spirit of the Pauline jubilee year.

“In response to the Holy Father’s desire for a solemn celebration of the Jubilee Year, we shall have a daily continuous oral reading (COR) of the letters of St. Paul (Romans to Hebrews) during the Bible Week,” he said.

Among the various activities lined up for the different dioceses in line with the week-long celebration are bible enthronements in parishes, schools and offices, bible symposia and biblical workshops for bible studies, and bible sharing.

As Ecumenical week is also celebrated on Jan. 18-25, Alunday likewise recommended in his letter that prayer and work for Christian unity and communion be done during bible week.

“During the Bible Week, create occasions for prayer and work for Christian unity and communion,” he said. “May they be one (MTBO) is also our prayer as we work and join the five-year nationwide campaign (2009-2013),” he added.

The five-year bible campaign dubbed “May they be one” launched last September 30, 2008, aims to put a bible in the home of every Filipino family in a five-year period.

The bible crusade hopes to encourage Filipinos to read and live the Bible that could effect transformation in the country, touted to be one of the most corrupt in Asia.

The observance of National Bible week will culminate with a liturgical-ecumenical-biblical celebration led by Philippine bishops at the Araneta Coliseum on January 25 at 8 a.m.

Celebrated annually by the Church and other partner organizations, the National Bible Week is also empowered by Presidential Proclamations 44 and 1067 mandating government institutions to observe the yearly event. (Pinky Barrientos, FSP)

We have been shameless, says Bastes

ARANETA COLISEUM, Cubao, Quezon City, January 25, 2009—“Being most corrupt, we have been shameless for not being faithful to the gospel.”

Thus said Bishop Arturo Bastes, who heads the Episcopal Commission on Biblical Apostolate (ECBA) of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), during his homily.

The homily was delivered at the Eucharistic celebration in commemoration of the 2,000th anniversary of the death of St. Paul presided by Manila Archbishop Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City.

Bastes also forcefully challenged the Filipino people for “being shameless” in not protecting the environment short of pointing a finger to the present administration that has been relentless in issuing mining permits to both foreign and local mining companies without regard to both the health and security of the local people and the environment.

In the same passion, Bastes also challenged Christian denominations in the country for “being shameless” in not following the teaching of St. Paul on unity and communion.

“We Christians should feel ashamed that we are still divided,” said Bastes in his homily.

Bastes extolled the virtues of St. Paul who was not ashamed to proclaim and live the Gospel even unto death.

“I am not ashamed of the Gospel. It is the power of God for the salvation of all,” Bastes quoted St. Paul’s letter to the Romans (Rom 1:16). (CBCPNews)

The country’s situation challenges us, says bishop

ARANETA COLISEUM, Quezon City, January 25, 2009—Speaking before an assembly of roughly twenty thousand people inside the huge Araneta coliseum today, Imus bishop Luis Antonio Tagle said the state of our nation today presents a challenge to us as we call ourselves apostles.

He said the example of St. Paul’s life dare us to practice the qualities that embody what a true apostle is all about.

Tagle, one of the speakers in today’s celebration of the Pauline year at the Araneta Coliseum said a person can only be considered a true apostle if he or she has the revelation of Jesus Christ, cares for the Church and suffers for the Church.

Citing the three points as true marks of an apostle, Tagle said Paul was able to preach Jesus only because he has experienced the revelation of Jesus himself.

He said the same revelation, the presence of Jesus, should also be seen in the life of Christians.

The bishop also cited how the Apostle collected money to support the early Christian communities he founded even as he was accused of using the money for himself.

As his various letters would attest, Paul had suffered all kinds of harm because of his concern for the churches he founded, said Tagle.

A true apostle does not only suffer for oneself but more for others, for the Church, he said.

Peppered with anecdotes drawn from his own experience first as a priest, then as a bishop, Tagle electrified the audience of religious, lay leaders and students with his rhetoric.

He urged the crowd to develop a sense of transcendence and turn to God in times of difficulties and called on everyone to perform their mission in life the best way they can. (Pinky Barrientos, FSP)

Nuncio addresses mammoth crowd at Araneta Coliseum today

ARANETA COLISEUM, Cubao, Quezon City, January 25, 2009—The apostolic nuncio to the Philippines has addressed a crowd of about twenty thousand including around 85 bishops, priests and religious at the Araneta Coliseum today in celebration of the 2,000th anniversary of St. Paul.

In his introduction, Papal nuncio archbishop Edward Joseph Adams stressed the importance of the celebration as the church commemorates the bimillennium of the Apostle’s birth.

The nuncio cited that it was the grace of conversion the Apostle received that led to his becoming a great missionary of the Church.

The Church has nothing to pass on to the Christian believers but that light that Paul experienced during his conversion, he said.

For his part, Episcopal Commission on Biblical Apostolate (ECBA) Chair and Sorsogon Bishop Arturo Bastes gave a spirited homily that was warmly applauded by the faithful.

Echoing the exhortation of Paul to the early Christian communities he founded, he likewise urged Filipinos to live a life in imitation of Christ.

He took a dig on the issue of corruption, a perennial problem in Philippine society.

“Corruption has become a way of life for us,” he said. “Dapat tayong mga Filipino mahiya dahil sa corruption” (We should be ashamed of corruption plaguing our society), Bastes added.

The ECBA chairman said that while the Apostle was not ashamed to preach the gospel, “we Filipinos should be ashamed with our way of life”, referring to the issue of corruption.

Bastes said the ecumenical gathering is an inspiration for all believers especially for Filipinos as it shows that it is possible to heal a wounded nation like the Philippines.

We have the compass to heal our wounded nation in its economic, social and spiritual aspects, he said.

He cited the “one bible” campaign as one way of healing the division that exists between Christians.

ECBA and Philippine Bible society (PBS) have jointly spearheaded a five-year bible campaign dubbed “May they be One” that aims to put a bible in every Filipino home in five years.

Bishop Honesto Ongtioco of Cubao led the faithful in praying the Jubilee prayer to St. Paul asking God “That we too may turn from sinful ways and be converted so that we may attain peace in our hearts in our families in our country and in the world.”

A plenary indulgence was granted by the cardinal at the end of the Mass to all those who participated in the celebration.

The Pauline event was organized by the Pauline congregations in the Philippines in regard of the Holy Father’s counsel to make the Apostle Paul more known in this year’s celebration of the bimillennium of his birth. (Pinky Barrientos, FSP)

A FIRST-TIMER SYNOD DELEGATE’S REMINISCENCES Bishop Ambo David

Catholic Christians, especially the lay people in general, have a strong inferiority complex when it comes to the Bible. They tend to avoid getting into a discussion with non-Catholic “Bible-bearing” Christians—who quote from the Scriptures complete with chapter and verse numbers—afraid perhaps that they may end up betraying their “felt ignorance” over the Sacred Book.

I call it a “felt ignorance” because many of them do not realize that they are actually familiar with quite a number of passages in Scriptures; however, they are not able to locate these in the Bible when challenged to. They often do not realize that at each Sunday Eucharist, they get to hear four Biblical texts being proclaimed to them—two Old Testament readings (1^st reading and the Psalm), and two New Testament (2^nd reading and the Gospel). They know the content; they can even complete the lines when you recite familiar passages to them, but they often wouldn’t be able to tell exactly which book these lines come from. This is because Catholics, in general, are “hearers of the Word”, more than “readers of the Word.” To most of them, what matters is not that they get to memorize Word of God but that they get to live it after having heard it and understood it through the priest’s homily. Only one out of ten of them would perhaps find time to check the text in their personal Bibles at home. Often, these are the ones who might be involved in some lay ministries in their parish or ecclesial communities. The rest may not even know how to locate passages in the Bibles they display on their altars at home.

It was in response to this deep sense of inadequacy of most Catholics on Scriptures, that the Holy Father convened the 12^th General Ordinary Assembly (or Synod) of Bishops in Rome on October 5-26 last year, 2008, specifically on the topic, “The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church.” He called on all Episcopal Conferences of Bishops from all over the world to send delegates to the said gathering. Thus the CBCP elected and sent four official delegates—Bishops Arturo Bastes, Broderick Pabillo, Luis Antonio Tagle, and this writer, Pablo Virgilio David. Invited too by the Holy Father through the Apostolic Nunciature were two others—Ms. Elvira Go, as lay observer (auditrix), and Archbishop Orlando Quevedo in his capacity as Secretary General for the Federation of Asian Bishops Conference.

In preparation for the said Synod, the delegates had earlier received a copy of the Instrumentum Laboris (working paper) that had been finalized after comments on a previous draft (lineamenta), had been gathered and integrated into a final draft. It was over (specific parts of) this final draft that the Synod delegates took turns commenting on in their individual interventions at the said gathering, in the presence of the Holy Father and the rest of the delegates from all over the world.

As a first-timer, I found it extremely edifying to see how faithfully the delegates attended the sessions, and how spirited most of the interventions were. The Holy Father attended most of the plenary gatherings, sitting through the whole session quietly taking down notes, at times nodding his head in approval or flashing a warm smile in reaction to something amusing being said by an intervenor. He was just a few seats away from most of us—depending on one’s positioning in the hall, which was obviously according to ranking in the hierarchy. He sat in the middle of the presidential table, flanked by the members of the Synod’s General Secretariat. Immediately fronting the presidential table were several rows of cardinal delegates, followed by some high-ranking fraternal delegates from other Churches, such as the Protestants, the Greek Orthodox, the Armenians, the Coptics, and other ecumenical participants. Next in line were the Catholic archbishops and other bishop-delegates. At the back rows were the lay delegates and the superiors of major religious congregations—who, in my personal view, gave the most interesting interventions. This formal hierarchical ranking instantly melted away at each time we found ourselves socializing in the lobby for the snacks.

We were also grouped into what were called “circuli minori” for smaller group discussions. It was in these occasions that the synod delegates were given more opportunities to participate and to interact with one another. We Filipinos were of course assigned in any of the three English-speaking groups—often in the company of American, British, Irish, Australian, New Zealander, Indian, African, and other Anglophone delegates. I must say that despite the common language spoken in the smaller circles, it wasn’t easy struggling to make out what was being said sometimes because of the very peculiar accents that went with every possible kind of English spoken in the hall.

For the plenary assemblies, despite the fact that Latin remained as official language, the facilitators and resource persons often shifted either to Italian or English, with simultaneous translations in the other major languages. Sometimes however, the translations were too slow or too ambivalent, such that many of us chose not to rely on them anymore. Strangely, obviously through the work of the Holy Spirit, even unfamiliar languages began to sound very familiar and comprehensible after a while, with just a little effort to make out their sense.

As a result of the hard work done in the minor circles, and often in reaction to certain things said in the interventions made at the plenary assemblies, fifty-five propositions were drafted and finalized by the working committee and submitted to the Holy Father as among the raw materials for his post-synodal exhortation. (These propositions could now be easily downloaded from the internet.) Our own Bishop Chito Tagle was among the 15 members elected into the General Council that would assist the Pope in preparing his post-Synodal exhortation on the Word of God, and the Lineamenta (draft paper) for the next Synod.

I am not sure if he said it just to please us, but one of the delegate-cardinals approached me and said the interventions from the Filipino delegates were the ones he found most relevant, interesting, and even provocative. Our Bishop Chito Tagle’s own intervention on the “God who not only speaks, but also listens” became the major framework for the French Canadian Cardinal Ouellet’s brilliant synthesis. It is not far-fetched to presuppose that that speech motivated the Asian delegates to vote for his membership into the General Council. Archbishop Quevedo’s piece about the Bible and small ecclesial communities of the grassroots poor, as well as Bishop Bastes’ speech on the collaboration of Catholic and Protestant organizations in the translation and the dissemination of the Bible likewise drew a lot of attention, as was evident in the way they were cited in the free interventions. We, the two neophytes, Bishop Pabillo and myself, could not but be “star-struck” in admiration for our much-esteemed companions. But the final surprise was our lay delegate, Ms. Elvira Go, who we thought for a while was not going to be given the opportunity anymore to intervene, for lack of time. She gave a highly spirited speech that was both personal and testimonial—about her experience with the National Catholic Family Bible Quiz. After her intervention, several delegates approached her to inquire about the mechanics of the Bible Quiz and how they could also introduce it to their countries.

Among our favorite interventions from fellow delegates, the unforgettable ones for me were the delegate from Ukraine who spoke about the courageous witnessing of a priest in his diocese during the time when reading of the Bible was being suppressed by the communist regime that ruled their country, and that lady from Russia who spoke about her initiation to God’s Word through the visual arts and her work as a professor of arts and humanities in a Russian university. Two superiors general also gave speeches that made a deep impression in me during the plenary assemblies—that of the Claretian superior-general, and that of the SVDs—the only Filipino superior-general, Fr. Pernia.

Synods like these used to figure in my awareness as just another of those ecclesial events that produced magisterial documents, until I was actually given the privilege to participate in one. Suddenly I found myself in the company of flesh-and-blood pastors, teachers, ministers, and co-workers of the Church who brought with them, each his or her own specific faith-experience and perspective, which, when brought together into a neat synthesis, made up a whole spiritual kaleidoscope reminiscent of the day of Pentecost.

What is a Synod?

A Synod is a religious gathering, meeting or assembly at which bishops, gathered around and with the Pope, interact with each other and share information and experiences about a common pastoral issue. The work of the Synod is consultative. It has no decision-making authority unless such authority is granted by the Pope and its decisions are ratified by him.

Synods are signs of the collegiality of the Bishops in communion with the Pope. It helps the Pope govern the universal Church by offering counsel. It is the Pope who convokes the Synod and establishes the topic to be discussed. He ratifies the election of members chosen by the various Episcopal Conferences and appoints additional members. He likewise determines the agenda and presides over its session, either in person or through others. The Pope receives the proposals of the Synod and acts on them as he deems appropriate.

The participants of the Synod are called the Synod Fathers. These includes the Patriarchs, major Archbishops, Metropolitans of the Eastern Catholic Churches, Bishops elected by the Eastern Catholic Churches, Bishops elected by the Episcopla Conferences, representatives (10) of clerical institutes, the heads of the departments of the Roman Curia and other representatives appointed by the Pope himself.


The 12th Ordinary Synod

The 12th Ordinary Synod of Bishops took place in Vatican City last October 5-26, 2008. The theme of this Synod was “The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church.” This was convoked by Pope Benedict XVI on October 6, 2006.

The Synod proposes to:

• reverently contemplate this mystery of the Word, God’s greatest gift, to render thanks for it, to meditate upon it and to proclaim it to all members of the Church and all people of good will
• spread and strengthen encounters with the Word of God by thoroughly examining its doctrinal underpinnings and allowing them to show the manner in which this is to be done
• help the faithful understand what the Bible is, why it is there, how beneficial it is to the faith and how to use it properly and apply it to everyday life
• renew listening to the Word of God, in the liturgy and catechesis, specifically through lectio divina, duly adapted to various circumstances; and to offer a Word of consolation and hope to the poor of the world
• set forth the intrinsic connection between the Eucharist and the Word of God, since the Church must receive nourishment from the one “bread of life from the table of both God’s word and Christ’s body.”

And this is the Synod’s underlying purpose and primary goal, namely, to fully encounter the Word of God in Jesus the Lord, present in the Sacred Scriptures and the Eucharist (Lineamenta).



Pope Appointed Filipina as Auditor in the Synod





The Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Ms. Elvira Yap Go to attend the Synod of Bishops on the Word of God. Elvira is the chair of the National Catholic Family Bible Quiz Secretariat and she has been involved in many works of advocacy, and one of which is the strengthening of family relationship through the Bible.

Ms. Go is a papal awardee; she was one of the women auditors appointed by the Pope to the 12th Ordinary Synod of Bishops last October 2008. Her passion on the Word of God as unifying force for all sectors in the society starting in the family brought her to this august assembly of the Church. She strongly believes that families can really do something to change the future of the generation today and can be a good catalyst of change in the society. Hence, her dedication and commitment to bring more families closer to each other through the Bible is indeed noble and commendable.