Cardinal Tagle: Start new life with true peace

Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle. RYAN LEAGOGO/INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, in an Easter message issued on Saturday, exhorted Filipinos to start a new life “with true peace coming from the Risen Christ.”

“We call on Jesus to breathe the Holy Spirit into the Filipino people so that we may experience a fresh start in our quest for peace, especially in the Bangsamoro autonomous region; in communities ravaged by earthquakes, typhoons and armed conflicts; in our fight against corruption, unscrupulousness, human trafficking, new forms of slavery, abuse of children and women, dehumanizing destitution and the wastage of creation, to name a few,” Tagle said.

“Peace is a gift of the Risen Jesus to frail, weak and sinful disciples. Peace is an offer of mercy and reconciliation to those who have been unfaithful. It expresses the hope that the sinner may become whole again. It is a plea to start again. With true peace coming from the Risen Christ, we can all start a new life,” he said.

Tagle said the faithful should also be ready to be sent on a mission, the way Jesus was sent to earth by the Father.

“Easter is indeed a missionary event, transforming timid and fearful disciples into bold and determined missioners,” he said.

“I call on all Christians, especially the lay faithful, in this Year of the Laity to heed the Risen Lord who sends us to bring his word, peace and hope to all strata of human life and society. If peace and new life are illusive in our time, it is partly because we do not fulfill our mission,” Tagle said.

Stewards of health

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) also exhorted Filipinos to renew their faith in the resurrection of the body and be good stewards of health.

“As we celebrate the resurrection of Christ, let us also renew our faith in the resurrection of the body. This body … is a gift from God … . Taking care of the body is a spiritual duty as good stewards of health,” Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas, president of the CBCP, said in a pastoral letter on stewardship of health.

Villegas said the Church teaches that the body is not simply a material vessel for the soul, as it is an integral and essential aspect of who humans are as beings created in the image and likeness of God.

According to Villegas, due to the various challenges that contemporary times present to living a healthy life, including the passage of the reproductive health (RH) law, the CBCP decided to issue the pastoral letter to guide the faithful in becoming responsible stewards of bodily health.

“The passage of the RH law prompted us to lay down these teachings about the Christian understanding of health. While we respect and recognize the duty and the right of the State to pass laws, we deem it our duty as pastors to teach you about the Christian understanding of health, which the present RH law seems to misunderstand,” Villegas said in the pastoral letter titled “Where, O Death, Is Your Victory? Where, O Death, Is Your Sting?”

The Church remains adamantly against the RH law, Villegas said.

“With or without the Supreme Court decision, it is the duty of the Church to be teaching life. Our duty does not depend on civil laws. Our duties come from God,” Villegas said in an interview with reporters before the Supreme Court ruled on April 9 that the RH law is “not unconstitutional.”

But after the court announced its decision, Villegas urged critics and supporters of the law to move on.

Virtuous life

Part of the CBCP pastoral letter calls on the faithful to lead a virtuous life and take care of one’s health by taking proper nutrition, adequate exercise and sufficient rest.

“The virtue of temperance can help us deal with our appetites for certain types of food and drink that can cause harm to our health. Temperance teaches us self-control and discipline with regard to our appetites in pursuit of the goal of good health. The virtue of prudence guides our practice of temperance by reminding us not to consume too much or too little; one needs to discern the right type and quantity of food and drink that are appropriate to maintain one’s health,” the bishops said.

Pursuing what is good for one’s health also means avoiding what is harmful to one’s well-being, such as the abuse of food, alcohol, tobacco, or medicine, the bishops stressed.

“Prudence would remind us that there are substances and activities that should be avoided if we desire to maintain our physical well-being for the present and the future,” they said.

While doing little to take care of our health is wrong, the bishops said doing too much to achieve physical perfection can also be unhealthy and harmful.

“Vanity, idealized body images and excessive competitiveness can lead people to manipulate their bodies in ways that do not respect the human body’s health, integrity, dignity, and intrinsic value. Examples of such harmful manipulation of bodies include excessive use of cosmetic surgery, unhealthy forms of dieting and the use of banned substances in sports,” the bishops said.

A time for everything

Filipinos must also distinguish between atonement and leisure, according to outgoing Kidapawan Bishop Romulo de la Cruz.

De la Cruz, who will soon depart to become head of the archdiocese of Zamboanga, said that while he is glad that many people still go to Mass, he has noticed that even more people fill beach resorts during Holy Week, even on Good Friday, the holiest day in Christendom.

“There is a proper time for everything, there is a place for enjoyment and Holy Week is not among them,” he said.

De la Cruz said that instead of swimming at beach resorts, Catholics should spend Holy Week to “reflect and spend time with the Lord.”

“There is nothing wrong with enjoyment because everybody needs to enjoy. But during Holy Week, spend time with the Lord, repent and be sorry for our sins,” he said.

De la Cruz said that what people should do during Lent is to “admit that they are sinners and be sorry for their sins.”

“Instead of going to beach resorts and other tourist destinations, try to examine your conscience. See your priests and confess your sins,” he said. With a report from Edwin Fernandez, Inquirer Mindanao

RELATED STORIES

Cardinal Tagle: learn true worship, shun false idols

Cardinal Tagle laments poverty amid progress