True to form, the apostle of mercy and compassion who came
to the Philippines particularly to express his closeness with the people
devastated by the Typhoon Yolanda, took full advantage of his pastoral visit to
share everywhere and to everyone God’s love and the gospel of fraternal
charity. On the first full day of his
visit, Friday, January 16, 2015, Pope Francis started off in Malacañang before
civil authorities and the diplomatic corps with a thought that the Philippines
is faced with the challenge of building a modern society with solid foundations
– “a society respectful of authentic human values, protective of our God-given
human dignity and rights.” Certainly to
be counted among “the rich human . . . resources with which God has blessed
this country,” and not to be excluded from the ranks of (as the Pope put it in
his press conference onboard the flight from Colombo to Manila the day before) “the
poor who want to move forward . . . the poor who have faith and hope during the
commemoration of the fifth centenary of the preaching of the Gospel in the
Philippines”, are his Filipino elderly and sick brother-priests.
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| Msgr. Vengco as one of the keynote guest experts during the telecast of the Papal Visit 2015 covered by GMA Channel 7. |
A few days before the papal visit, Fr. Jun Sescon,
Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Manila, called me up to say that the
coordinators of the event would appreciate it if the Ephesus Ministry could
take care of bringing a couple of our elderly priests to the papal Mass at the
Manila Cathedral on January 16. Wow, I
said, that would be good news for our retired priests – to be part of that
historic Eucharistic gathering. Knowing
that only a limited number of priests and religious from the entire country can
fit into the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Intramuros and
that each diocese would only have a small quota of representatives drawn by
lots, I did not even dream of being there myself.
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| Msgr. Vengco and members of the Ephesus Ministry f the Kadiwa sa Pagkapari Foundation, Inc. assisting the elderly priests to get to the Manila Cathedral. |
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| Msgr. Vengco calling on the priests to be assisted inside the Manila Cathedral. |
Calling Bishop Emeritus Manuel Sobreviñas of Imus if he
was interested to join the Ephesus group for the papal Mass, he expressed
appreciation but begged off because it would be too strenuous for a 91 year
old. That is right, two hours before the
event everybody would have to be in place, not to mention that it would be to walk
from the designated drop-off point to the door of the cathedral. The Ephesus staff realized too that we have
to select senior priests who are already in the city to spare them the travel
stress. After being told by a number of
candidates we contacted them and their doctors advised them from participating
in such a demanding activity, we finally came up with a small Ephesus “Pope
Francis” Team: Fr. Arsenio F. Nalunat (74), Msgr. Marcelino O. Reyes (80),
Msgr. Arsenio R. Bautista (90) all of the Archdiocese of Manila, and Bishop Emeritus
Nestor C. Cariño of Legazpi (76) residing at the Cardinal Sin Welcome Home. Msgr. Marcy Reyes prophetically remarked upon
learning of his inclusion in the team, “Ok, I shall see the Pope and I can die
already.” (He would three weeks later.)
As only priests and religious with clearance could be
inside the cathedral for the Mass, to attend to our senior priests during their
four hours inside the cathedral we contacted for the task my former students,
Fr. Reynante Tolentino, Fr. Glenn Relucio, and Fr. Melchor Andaya, all of the
Diocese of Antipolo. They readily agreed
and their IDs were rushed. We picked up the whole group that had gathered
together at the Cardinal Sin Welcome Home at 7 a.m. of January 16. The regular caregivers
of our senior priests stayed outside on standby, when we entered the cathedral.
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| His Holiness, Pope Francis greeting the elderly priest assisted by Msgr. Vengco during the Mass at the Manila Cathedral. |
Already there inside the cathedral at the right-hand front
seats of the center aisle for elderly priests were Archbishop Emeritus Carmelo
D.F. Morelos of Zamboanga (84) and Fr. Catalino G. Arevalo, SJ (turning 90), my
venerable theology teacher. Bishop
Cariño got separated from us and was seated among the bishops at the extreme
right side perpendicular to the altar.
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| Msgr. Vengco as one of the keynote guest speakers together with renowned journalists Mr. Mike Enriquez and Mrs. Mel Tiangco of GMA 7. |
It was a very exhilarating event. Fr. Sescon was there
to make sure we were properly accommodated at the very front row at the right
side of the aisle; across us at the left side were elderly religious sisters also
mostly on wheelchairs. We were to be very visible to the Holy Father at the
altar. During the two-hour wait it was a
joy to see younger priests and bishops passing by and greeting with solicitude
our elderly priests.
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| His Holiness giving the homily and challenging priests, seminarians and religious to be ambassadors of Christ. |
In his homily Pope Francis greeted with great affection
all his dear brother bishops and priests, men and women religious present. In particular he said, “I ask you to bring my
affection to all your elderly and infirm brothers and sisters . . . who cannot
join us today.” And in connection with
the coming celebration of the fifth centenary of the evangelization of the
Church of the Philippines, he underlined the “gratitude for the legacy left by
so many bishops, priests and religious of past generations.” Today we are simply carrying on that work of love
flowing from the heart of the crucified Savior, a ministry of reconciliation
proclaiming the Good News of God’s infinite love, mercy and compassion.
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| Msgr. Vengco during one of the broadcasts of the television coverage on the Papal Visit. |
Whether
young or elderly ambassadors for Christ, we all depend on our daily personal
encounter with Him in prayer. And we are summoned to an examination of our consciences,
acknowledging our failings and sins and embracing the path of every day
conversion; as ambassadors for Christ, we ought to be the first to welcome his
reconciling grace into our hearts, rejecting worldly perspectives and seeing
all things anew in the light of Christ.
We have “to allow the word of God to shake our complacency, our fear of
change, our petty compromises with the ways of the world, our ‘spiritual
worldliness’ (Evangelii Gaudium,
93).” To live the Gospel means “living
lives that reflect the poverty of Christ, whose entire life was focused on dong
the will of the Father and serving others.
The great danger to this, of course, is a certain materialism, which can
creep into our lives and compromise the witness we offer. Only by becoming poor
ourselves . . . will we be able to . . .
respond with honesty and integrity to the challenge of proclaiming the
radicalism of the Gospel.” Pope Francis
specified that the Gospel calls us “to create ‘circles of integrity’, networks
of solidarity which can expand to embrace and transform society by their
prophetic witness.” I would like to
think that our Ephesus Ministry is one such circle of integrity and
solidarity.
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| The Holy Father greets Msgr. Vengco as he accompanies the elderly priests at the Mass at the Manila Cathedral. |
At the kiss of peace, Pope Francis descended from the
altar and proceeded, first to the elderly and infirm religious women at his
right, then to our Ephesus group at his left.
It was a moment of pure fraternity and solidarity. Fr. Nalunat to my left could not say enough
as he poured out his torrent of words to the Pope; I was in turn simply
wordless savoring the grace of divine compassion as I held tightly the hands of
the Holy Father. Whatever he whispered
to each of us, it was the gentle, fond cooing of a father to a child. It was Pope Francis connecting with his
elderly Filipino brother-priests.
Photo Courtesy:
L'Osservatore Romano (provided by Msgr. Vengco)
Kadiwa sa Pagkapari Foundation, Inc.
Rappler.com
Associated Press
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