(Speech delivered by Archbishop Socrates B Villegas, President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, at the opening of the 109th CBCP Plenary Assembly, July 5, 2014 at the Pius XII Catholic Center in Manila.)
ONE of our college students asked me during a students’ forum “What is the biggest challenge for the Church in the Philippines?” My spontaneous answer in a split second was “Pope Francis”. He is not a problem. He is a challenge. He shakes up our old belief systems about spiritual shepherding. He jolts us from our complacency and status quo attitude. He humbles us with his simplicity. He disturbs us to make us better.
He has slowly moved the Church from being a dogmatic, self engrossed and authoritative sick institution to being a gentle, outreaching, compassionate and persuasive Church through the power of love and mercy. He even told our Catholic laity at Regina Caeli on May 11 “Bother your pastors, disturb your pastors, all of us pastors, so that we will give you the milk of grace, of doctrine, and of guidance.”
Every pastor “will sometimes go before his people, pointing the way and keeping their hope vibrant; the pastor should go ahead at times. At other times, he will simply be in their midst with his unassuming and merciful presence. At yet other times, he will have to walk after them, helping those who lag behind.” In front or amongst or behind the people, the pastor must be always humble.
When we lose humility, we lose perspective. When we lose perspective, we also become too reactive. When we become too reactive, we become less effective and less credible as pastors. The loss of humility in Church ministry can be very costly.
If we are ready to walk in cadence with Pope Francis–
Perhaps, we can reconsider our approach at solving the cancer of Philippine society which is graft and corruption by talking more about the beauty of integrity and honesty rather constantly denouncing the evil that we experience.
Perhaps we can widen circles of integrity rather than creating fiercer watchdogs against corruption. Perhaps we need to remind ourselves that for every prophetic denunciation we utter we must stretch our hands to offer an opportunity for conversion and healing.
Perhaps we can reconsider our approach to solving the problems of family and life by listening more to the wounded and the grieving broken homes rather than condemning divorce and abortion and contraception at every opportunity. To keep healthy, one needs to stretch everyday. The body needs it, so does the heart and mind. Perhaps we can reach out to more people by stretching our minds and lowering our fences and listening like Jesus without being judgmental or punitive.
Perhaps we can be more convincing if we used the power of goodness and beauty rather than the brilliance of polemics and debates. The cynics and skeptics will ask for baptism not by intelligent proselytism but by the sweetness of Christian exemplary living. After all, did not our grandmothers tell us that we can catch more flies with a teaspoon of honey than with a gallon of vinegar? St Francis said “Go and preach the Gospel. Use words if necessary.”
As Vatican II concluded, Venerable Pope Paul VI asserted, “This world in which we live needs beauty in order not to sink into despair. Beauty, like truth, brings joy to the human heart. Beauty is that precious fruit which resists the erosion of time, which unites generations and enables them to be one in admiration.”
Perhaps instead of denouncing poverty and unjust social structures, we can talk more about the power of generosity and the promised abundance that God has promised to those who leave everything behind to follow Him. Perhaps we can fight poverty by embracing simplicity of life. If our stomachs know hunger by experience, the hungry and suffering poor will believe us.
Most frontal attacks on evil just produce another evil in oneself which is an inflated self image. The best criticism of the bad is the practice of the better, said Richard Rohr. When evil is exposed to the light, it just dies slowly melting away.
Since we opened the Year of the Laity, we have tried to prick the culture of cowardice against evil by inviting our Catholic faithful to Choose to be Brave. The Holy Heroes formation program is going around the dioceses and corporations to make heroism and holiness more attractive and simpler to embrace.
A New Evangelization Conference was initiated by a small group of young professionals. Last June 7, they gathered 5,000 youth and motivated them to talk about Jesus to their fellow youth. They even came up with a New Evangelization Resource Book to help the youth retell the story of Jesus. They told me they were responding to the bishops’ challenge to reach out to the hurting and disgruntled former Catholics.
Pope Francis challenges us to follow his example of humble and happy ministry. We are not required to make an opinion on everything. We are surely not experts in everything. We must be comfortable with admitting in public what we do not know and honestly say it without sounding evasive. Our duty is not to be in the limelight. Our duty is to be spotlights so that all eyes may see Jesus more clearly and let us help others to see the Lord.
As we prepare for the visit of Pope Francis next year, let us resolve as a fraternity of bishops to serve with humility and happiness; to speak with honesty from the mind and to listen patiently with the heart; to see the goodness in everyone and live the mercy of the Gospel. This is the example of Pope Francis. Living by this example will make us good shepherds like the Good Shepherd. ***
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