MAKATI City – A shared love for the poor was what gathered 7 bishops, 188 priests, 12 of which are from the Military Ordinariate of the Philippines, and 844 lay people at this year’s Clergy Lay Congress (CLC) at SPACE at One Ayala in this city on June 18.
Headlining the congress, which focused on the theme “Heart for the Poor” were two Vatican officials, Adjunct Secretary of the Dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life Archbishop Dario Gervasi and Fr. Giovanni Buontempo, coordinator of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life’s office for relations with ecclesial movements and associations of the faithful.
Essential to community life
In his message, Archbishop Gervasi stressed how caring for the poor is central to the very existence of Catholic lay communities like Couples for Christ (CFC). He explained, “It is fundamental for CFC to take care of the poor…[A]ny church community if it thinks it can go its own way without helping the poor live with dignity [will] also risk breaking down.”
Touching on the theme for the CFC 45th anniversary week celebrations “One Family”, the prelate noted that “CFC finds its unity and strength in being united in Jesus.”
“In Christ we can experience a unity that surpasses human unity. The Church is one in this love. What does it mean to be united to Christ? If we are united to Him, we are also united to His characteristics, and one of those characteristics is loving the poor and identifying himself with the poor,” he added in his inspirational talk.
Superficiality of relationships
Meanwhile, in his session “Cry of the Poor, Call of the Church”, Fr. Buontempo highlighted the superficiality of modern relationships and the need to encounter the poor and for Christians to allow themselves to be “wounded by their suffering.”
“When we welcome them in their humanity, in their suffering, we end up wounded by their stories. Their cross becomes our cross. Their despair becomes our despair. We must allow ourselves to be touched by this anguish,” he explained.
Fr. Buontempo shared various stories from his work as a young priest in Rome, Italy, and later on, in Philadelphia, in the U.S. where he spent time with immigrants from El Salvador and Cuba, who struggled with various issues like extreme poverty, alcoholism, and prostitution.
He said one obstacle to truly loving the poor is the superficiality of our day-to-day encounters. “We are increasingly accustomed to superficial relationships with others. We are always in a hurry to complete all the daily tasks before us. We speak with others, but we do not truly listen to them. We do not grasp what is in their hearts. We have brief fleeting interactions with others,” he said, noting that this happens even with those closest to us like our family, relatives, and friends.
3 essential attitudes
The first Singles for Christ member to be ordained bishop, Bishop Samuel Naceno Agcaracar, SVD gave the session titled “In His heart: The Preferential Love for the Poor”. He called on the attendees to take on three attitudes that would help them grow in love for the poor:
-
We must be willing to embrace their reality.
-
We must be willing to learn. “One of the subtle temptations of ministry is to assume that we are always the teachers. Authentic encounter with the poor show that those who live in material insecurity often teach us trust in Divine Providence and gratitude,” he said.
-
We must see the poor as partners in mission.
The half-day event concluded with the offering of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass presided over by Papal Nuncio to Japan Archbishop Francisco Gerardo Escalante Molina.
Delegates from various Philippines provinces and countries like New Zealand, Indonesia, Australia, the U.S., Singapore were present at this year’s CLC.
