PALM SUNDAY MASS Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle holds a palm frond during the Palm Sunday Mass at Manila Cathedral. Palm Sunday marks the start of the Holy Week. RAFFY LERMA
Be faithful even if you are being mocked. Don’t let popular opinion sway your beliefs and commitments.
Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle gave this message to the faithful yesterday, Palm Sunday, as Catholics across the Philippines flocked to churches to have their palm fronds blessed. The celebration of Palm Sunday ushers in the Holy Week.
In his homily during Mass at the Manila Cathedral, Tagle said the passion and death of Jesus Christ spoke of an unwavering faith in God, which Filipino Catholics must follow in their day-to-day life.
He said Jesus’ faith that paved the way to the fulfillment of Prophet Isaiah’s prophecy about His crucifixion was unshakable even if he was subjected to suffering and ridicule.
Way to new life
“Brothers and sisters, let us reflect. There are many problems happening in our personal life and in the society because we are not faithful to God,” Tagle said in Filipino.
“People are easy to change their faith and commitment if these are no longer popular or agreeable,” he said. “I hope we become truthful to God even if we are being laughed at, mocked or misunderstood because this kind of faith that Jesus showed will give us a new life.”
Tagle also advised the youth to be steadfast in what they do or believe in.
Stick to what’s right
“Don’t be swayed even if your friends laugh at you. If what you are doing is right, stick to it,” he said.
“This laughter and suffering will all be fleeting. You will experience a deeper happiness because you’ve been faithful to God and your suffering is one that is sincere.”
But the archbishop was quick to differentiate between this kind of suffering and that endured by unscrupulous people.
“There are those who are suffering because they did foolish things or because they plundered. This is not the kind of suffering that Jesus experienced,” he said.
Sin of stealing
Also known as Passion Sunday, yesterday’s celebration commemorated Jesus’ triumphant entry to Jerusalem, before his crucifixion, riding a donkey into the Holy City, where adoring crowds welcomed him with palm fronds.
Recently, Tagle encouraged parishioners taking part in the visita iglesia on Holy Thursday to wear shirts with the statement “Huwag Kang Magnakaw” (Do not steal) to make the occasion extra meaningful.
He made the pitch in a circular encouraging those participating in visita iglesia to examine individually and collectively their conscience with respect to the sin of stealing.
A tradition on Holy Thursday—which commemorates the Last Supper of Christ with the Apostles—is visita iglesia (Spanish for “church visit”), which involves going to seven or 14 churches to meditate on the Way of the Cross.
“It is in this regard that we are calling on parishioners joining the annual visita iglesia to wear the ‘Huwag Kang Magnakaw’ T-shirt as a symbol of rejecting the sin of stealing,” Tagle said in his circular.
Earlier, in Cebu City, Archbishop Jose Palma called on priests to make the sacraments of the Church free of charge.
Addressing more than 300 priests during chrism Mass at Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral on March 24, the 65-year-old prelate said the clergy needed to truly respond to the call to become a “Church of the Poor.”
“We need to go out of ourselves, leave our comfort zones, and reach out to those in the peripheries. Sometimes we think we have little to give. But the spiritual gifts we have are many,” Palma told the congregation.
Palma said avoiding money payments in performing the sacraments, particularly baptism and matrimony, was the best way to celebrate the Year of the Poor in the Philippines.
He also encouraged parishes to hold first communion for street children, a program introduced by Fr. Carmelo Diola of the Dilaab Foundation Inc, and start feeding programs akin to the “Kusina ni Santa Marta” of Msgr. Achilles Dakay.
“There has to be an end to this so-called culture of indifference. I must say that indifference to others is a crime. And the only Christian way is to get involved,” Palma said.
Helping the poor
He instructed Msgr. Daniel Sanico and Msgr. Rey Penagunda—the two vicars general of the Archdiocese of Cebu—to submit a report in August on how priests responded to his call to make the sacraments available for free.
“I want a record, not because we want to show off but because I want all of us priests to do what we ought to do,” the archbishop said.
Palma said he wanted priests to be “creative” in how they could help the poor in their parishes and areas.
“I hope parishes will come up with programs to make the sacraments available without people thinking about fees,” he said.
The seven sacraments of the Church are Baptism, Confirmation, Confession, Holy Eucharist, Matrimony, Holy Orders (priesthood) and Extreme Unction.
The Archdiocese of Cebu has 387 diocesan priests, 340 religious priests and 1,308 religious sisters, They administer to 3.8 million Catholics in Cebu, called “the cradle of Christianity” in the Far East.