No lavish Christmas parties, please

RATHER than hold lavish Christmas parties, Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma is appealing to companies and groups to divert their party budget to relief efforts for typhoon and earthquake victims.

“I consider the cancellation of Christmas parties very laudable. Whether or not we eat or drink, Christmas comes. What is important in celebrating Christmas is Jesus,” Palma told reporters yesterday.

The local diocesan clergy decided to cancel their alumni homecoming slated on Nov. 19 and 20, and their Christmas party next month.

Employees of Cebu Daily News also agreed to donate their Christmas party budget in favor of calamity victims. An in-house survey on Wednesday showed that 95 percent of the staff wanted to use the money for relief goods.

Instead, a Mass and service award program to recognize 5, 10 and 15-year employees will be held in December with simple snacks.
Palma, outgoing president of the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), said the Cebu Caritas Inc. is handling the archdiocese’s distribution of relief goods and attending to needs of calamity-stricken families.
Adopt-a-parish
Msgr. Roberto Alesna is coordinating with donors which include the National Secretariat for Social Action, Radio Veritas, St. James Apostolate Foundation in Muntinlupa, and the Austria Caritas.
Fr. Charles Louis Jayme, custodian of San Pedro Calungsod’s image during its pilgrimages, was appointed the coordinator of the archdiocesan relief operations.
He will also supervise the “adopt-a-parish” program wherein parishes in Metro Cebu will assist a parish church in the north that was devastated by super typhoon Yolanda.
“Prayers alone are not enough to console and alleviate the plight of the victims. We have to do something concrete and relevant in order to address the pleas for help,” said Palma.
He canceled his trip to Mexico where he was invited for the Latin American Bishops’ Meeting this week.
Palma was also troubled with Yolanda’s effect on Palo, Leyte where he used to serve as archbishop.
Donation
“I served there for only four years but certainly when it becomes a part of your life, there’s much pain and sorrow,” he said.
Palo Archbishop John Du is expected to visit Cebu anytime this week.
On Nov. 24, the needs of calamity victims will be highlighted during the national launching in Cebu City of the 51st International Eucharistic Congress (IEC) slated in 2016.
Participants of an outdoor 4 p.m. Mass at Fuente Osmeña and procession are encouraged to bring at least one piece of canned goods or bottled water for calamity victims.
Students, lay organizations and parishioners, will join the procession from Fuente Osmeña to Plaza Sugbo where a benediction will take place.
The launching of the IEC also coincides with the Solemnity of Christ the King and the culmination of the Year of Faith.