Reach out to those who are suffering, Tagle urges Nazarene devotees

Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle deliver his homily during the midnight Mass at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2018. (Photo from a TV Maria livestream video )

To be called a real person, you must learn how to reconnect your life to those who are suffering.

Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle shared this message with some 120,000 devotees of the Black Nazarene during his homily at a midnight Mass celebrated on Tuesday at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila.

“Ang tunay na tao ay marunong makipag-kapwa tao. Ang totoong tao niyayakap ang nagugutom, ang nauuhaw, ang walang damit, ang walang tahanan, at ang nilalapastangan,” he said.

[A real person knows how to relate with other people. A real person embraces the hungry, the thirsty, the clothesless, the homeless, and the abused.]

Tagle delivered the 21-minute homily during the Eucharistic Mass hours before the Traslacion, with Fr. Hernando Coronel, parish priest of the Quiapo Church, celebrating the Mass.

In the midst of disasters that happened in the country in 2017, particularly those who were affected in the war in Marawi, Mindanao, Tagle reminded devotees to reconnect with each other.

“Huwag natin ihihiwalay sa ating mga sarili ang mga kapatid nating nagdurusa, nasalanta ng bagyo, mga kapatid sa Marawi na nagpapasan ng kanilang mga krus,” he said.

[Let us not keep ourselves apart from our brothers and sisters who are suffering, affected by storms, our brothers and sisters in Marawi who are have their crosses to bear.]

His message was centered in this year’s Traslacion theme of “Poong Hesus Nazareno: Ang Daan, Ang Katotohanan at Ang Buhay,”

Tagle urged devotees to follow the path that Jesus Christ himself had set for others to follow.

He also urged them not to be disheartened in life for Jesus Christ will always be there during tough times.

“Huwag paghinaan ng loob dahil mayroon nakikipaglakbay sa atin, kasama natin si Hesus. Kasama natin si Hesus lagi sa Traslacion ng ating mga buhay,” he said. “Siya ang Nazareno. Siya ang daan, ang katotohanan, ang buhay.”

[Let us not be discouraged because Jesus is with us. Jesus is with us in our journey through life. He is the Nazarene. He is the way, the truth, the life.]

The midnight Mass was also attended by the Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Gabriele Caccia; Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada; Director General Ronald Dela Rosa, chief of the Philippine National Police, and Director Oscar Albayalde, chief of the National Capital Region Police Office; Senior Supt. Joel Coronel, chief of the Manila Police District; and Chairman Danilo Lim of the the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Chairman Danilo Lim. /atm