PAVILION, CEBU CITY - Administrator of Jowai, India, Bishop Thomas Menamparampil, SDB, called on all faithful to mission and dialogue in the fourth day of the 51st International Eucharistic Congress.
According to Bishop Thomas, mission starts with communion as the Eucharist makes the Church.
“Everything at the last supper speaks of closeness, intense sharing, warmth, and depth. The bondedness that Jesus wishes to create among his disciples could have been expressed in stronger words than these, ‘Remain in me,’ he says, and I will remain in you’,” explained the bishop.
He hopes that Eucharistic Congress will help all people to respond to stay with Jesus in the midst of the challenges of a changing world and a dimming faith.
“His presence makes a difference; it provides the light we need and supplies the strength we lack. We pray that this is what the Cebu Congress will accomplish for us,” prayed the Bishop.
This communion experienced in the Eucharist leads to mission.
He said, “In and through the Eucharist Jesus draws the whole of human society to himself. United with him as branches with the vine, believers become capable of going forth and producing fruit in abundance, transforming society.”
Drawing society together itself is a great mission today in a fragmented world, “when people feel pulled apart in all directions by forces beyond their control: ethnic hatred, political anger, collective greed. In the Eucharist, with the announcement of the Word and the gift of himself, Jesus summons every tribe and tongue and people and nation unto himself,” reflected Bishop Thomas.
The Bishop recommended some courses of action to equip the Christians for the mission.
“We need resolute convictions to remain faithful in this era of persecution on one hand and secularization on the other.”
The Bishop stressed that the self-giving mission of Jesus in the Eucharist continues through the self-giving activity of Christian workers.
“The Eucharist takes Christian hearts by surprise, urging them to hasten to the aid of marginalized groups like migrants, minority communities, and underprivileged. The rich go out to help the poor or get them an employment, scholars reach out to the slums and remote villages to take classes for the illiterate, highly qualified persons spend a weekend giving training to unemployed youth, teaching Catechism, or preaching a retreat,” expounded the Bishop.
The Bishop also called on Christians to dare to confront contemporary problems through dialogue.
“The Bishops of Asia have always emphasized the importance of dialogue with the poor. Here is a central Christian message: “When you run short of generosity, come close to the poor,” said Bishop.
The Eucharist is sharing, solidarity, and responsibility for the larger society, poorer people.
“The divine sacrament becomes mission and dialogue when it brings healing to emotionally hurt individuals, broken families, and fragmented societies. It revives faith in unmotivated youth and reveals the face of Christ to persons who never had an encounter with him. It brings industriousness and productivity to factories, creativity and enterprise to management, sincerity and consciousness to administration. It inspires Christian legislators, civil servants and public leaders to make political decisions in behalf of weaker communities and seek the common good at national and international levels,” explained the Bishop.
Bishop Thomas touched on various areas of dialogue: Dialogue with one another, with respecting God’s creation, with cultural and religious traditions, with the millennial civilizations of Asia, with religious traditions, for social transformation, towards peace: healing historic memories, reducing anger, generating good will, and making humble proposals to a secularized society in our times; dialogue in search of truth and beauty, true enlightenment and decisive encounter with God.
Expounding on social transformation, the Bishop said, “Every form of injustice invites a negative response that will ultimately threaten the fabric of social order. Every form of corruption contributes to lack of trust, inefficiency, stagnation, and ultimately economic failure. Indifference to family values and cultural traditions leads a society to a moral collapse.”
“Dialogue must pave the way, correcting imbalances in thought in order to build a responsible ‘civil society’ that will stand for the dignity of the individual, rights of the human person, of women and children, of minorities; ensure the care of the aged and ailing, respect for life, freedom of religion, just legislation and international harmony. God’s glory is the human being fully alive,” said Bishop quoting Iraeneus.
As regards secularization in the world, there are reasons to remain hopeful. “As the sense of sin diminishes in human hearts and confessions fall, society needs persons gifted in dialogue who can revive the sense of values, rebuild the sense of self-worth in shattered individuals, hold out hope to people on the path to despair,” advised the bishop.
His last advice to all is not to be afraid; instead, let our hearts burn as Jesus talks to us and explains the scriptures and breaks bread with us. “When that happens, we know that Christ’s ‘little flock’ (Lk 12:32) in Asia has taken on its Mission, and that the Eucharist is Mission and Mission is Dialogue. It is this Dialogue that opens out the doors of the Kingdom to reveal the face of Christ to the whole of humanity.” (
Fr. Joselito Jopson, CBCP ECSC)
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