7/28/2019 PASTORAL LETTER OF HIS EXCELLENCY, MOST REV. VICENTE M. NAVARRA, D.D. ON THE DIOCESAN OBSERVANCE O

1/2

Office of the Bishop

P.O. Box 141 & 152 Tel. Nos. (034) 433-3310-11

Bacolod City 6100 (034) 433-6713 ; 432-1984

Philippines Fax (034) 433-0249

PASTORAL LETTEROF HIS EXCELLENCY, MOST REV. VICENTE M. NAVARRA, D.D.

ON THE DIOCESAN OBSERVANCE OF THE YEAR OF FAITH

Unless your faith is firm, you shall not be firm. (Isaiah 7:9, NAB)

Greetings!

1. Pope emeritus Benedict XVI, through his Apostolic Letter,Porta Fidei, declared a universalcelebration of the Year of Faith. From the appointed date of its opening last 11 October 2012,

this shall commence through and finally culminate on the Feast of Christ the King, come 24

November 2013. Significantly, the inclusive dates of the year of faith also marks the 50th

anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council and the 20th anniversary of thepromulgation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, two significant occasions that brought

about renewal in the life of the Universal Church. Furthermore, it is the Holy Fathers foremost

wish that as we celebrate this special moment of grace we may all grow towards a re-discoveryof the dazzling beauty and profound joy of believing.

2. The life of a believer is marked by two significant actions relative to God. The Catechism of

the Catholic Church aptly describes faith as ADHERENCE to God and ASSENT to His Truth(c.f. CCC 150). By adherence, the believer comes to a special relationship with God, thereby

radically belonging to Him. By assent, the believer accepts with total trust, whole and entire, the

truth of what God has revealed. Put together, faith in reality is a YES (assent) to a

RELATIONSHIP (adherence). With that said, I would like to invite you to consider thefollowing suggestions for our deepening reflection and devoted action as a diocese.

Faith as Charity that begins from the womb and beyond3. St. Paul in his letter to the Galatians said that LOVE is Faiths premiere expression. He thus

speaks of faith as working through love(Gal. 5:6). What more can be a fitting starting point

than the mothers womb? A place so special, that God intended it to be a haven where all humanlife is to be initiated in loving welcome. The great heresy of our time enshrined in the RH Law

only serves to reverse the natural loving and nurturing space of the womb, making it hostile for

human life especially at the time when it is most vulnerable. It is therefore inconceivable thatany Christian may choose to remain silent in the face of such gruesome violation, especially that

the Lord himself clearly spoke of Love as welcoming the little ones in my name(cf. Mt. 18:5).

4. This year of faith, communicating with all clarity and audacious loudness our firm stance tostand against all forms of discrimination against these little ones and the poor, could be an

invaluable gift to the Philippine society now beset by a creeping mind-set of forgetfulness that allof us whether great or small, full grown or still developing, suitable or susceptible, are madefrom Gods image and likeness.

Faith as being a Community of Hope: Fostering our Basic Ecclesial Communities

5. It is a fair observation, I believe, that the very reason why human civilization structured toform communities, is because at some point, we have discovered our collective HOPE to

achieve some future collective good. At its basic anatomy then, every community is built onhope, because of hope.

6. A story from scriptures illustrates this point. Cleopas and his companion on their way to

Emmaus retorted to the strangers prodding query which gave voice to their despair: WE HAD

HOPED that He was the One (Lk. 24:21, RSV). Clearly, their flight of withdrawal from thecommunity of disciples was at the same time an aching departure from hope. Amazingly as the

story ends, when their eyes were opened and their hearts burst into flames of hope-filled-faith,

they made a return-journey, integrating themselves back again to the community of disciples (cf.Lk 24:13-34). Another illustration can help make the point clearer. Dante, in his poetic

contemplation of the last things, gave an avid description of the gates of hell. He particularly

noted that above the infernal portal, the following words were inscribed: Abandon All Hope, YeWho Enter Here (Dante, Divine Comedy: Inferno, Canto III). This leads us to the exact point

7/28/2019 PASTORAL LETTER OF HIS EXCELLENCY, MOST REV. VICENTE M. NAVARRA, D.D. ON THE DIOCESAN OBSERVANCE O

2/2

that the wretchedness of hell lies precisely on its abandonment of hope. Truly, hell can be a

crowded place, but there can never be a community. Hope then, is an essential element of

community building and if this is true, only hopeful people can be community builders.

7. Not so long ago, we have made it our own commitment as a diocese, the building up and the

strengthening of our Basic Ecclesial Communities. This year of faith, this same diocesan thrust

sets the tone for our celebration. What more can be a fitting testimony of vibrant faith than theconsolidation of our small communities of disciples? After the example of the Apostles, may we

work to spread the contagion of Christian hope, with eagerness and gentleness (cf. 1 Pt. 3:15),

through vigorous, massive and exhaustive catechetical instructions, implementation ofsystematic bible study programs and the like, especially in our local communities, so that our

people will grow stronger in the faith and our energetic communities steadily increase in number

(cf. Acts 16:5).

Faith as Devotion to Loving Service8. While faith is an assent to the truth of who God is, the same faith also requires an affective

engagement. In this plane, sheer knowledge of the things of God develops into devotion, a

passionate self-donation through committed and faithful service. This love-driven-faith spurs uson to loving service done devotedly, for as Benedict XVI says: Faith without charity bears no

fruit, while charity without faith would be a sentiment constantly at the mercy of doubt. Faith

and charity should require each otherit is faith that enables us to recognize Chri st and it is hislove that impels us (Porta Fidei 14).

9. Devoted service however, is not to be understood as sheer preoccupation with work, ananxious compulsion to function and an unbridled obsession with efficiency, rather it entirely

rests in a loving focus of energy achieved only if the principle of our action proceeds from our

contemplation.

10. The story of Mary and Martha provides us with valuable insight. As the familiar narrativegoes, Martha, perturbed about many things [turbaris erga plurima] murmurs a complain to

which the Lord replied by saying that Mary has chosen the better part. This is not to sayhowever that the Lord prefers contemplation over active service, but rather, Jesus stresses the

point that because Martha is anxious about many things, she effectively disconnected herself

from devoted and loving service, while Mary has chosen the better part because she maintained

her focus to the one necessary thing[unum necessarium], (c.f. Lk. 10:38-42, Latin Vulgate).

11. Devoted service thus is accomplished after our discovery of the unumnecessarium and it

is only through such that we can focus and concentrate all our vivacities to serve. Pope Francis atthe moment of his election to the papacy could have been conscious of the many things his

role demands. Yet in one mesmerizing instant he simply bowed in silence before the world at

prayer. Thus, it could be said that his first official gesture as successor of Peter was to show usthe unum necessarium. This year of faith it would be most beneficial that we all attend to our

spiritual necessities, both ministers and lay faithful alike, by coming up with clear programs of

spiritual exercises/retreats even in the parochial or organizational level. Furthermore, it is

imperative that we strengthen our sacramental life, especially highlighting the importance of thesacrament of reconciliation and fostering a zealous devotion to the Holy Eucharist, the source

and summit of Christian life. This will hopefully lead to a renewed revitalization of focused,

devoted and loving service to one another as a community.

Conclusion12. May Mary our Mother, star of the New Evangelization keep all our intentions and

endeavours close to her most Immaculate Heart, and that she may obtain for us the grace ofinterior knowledge of the Lord, who for us became man, so that we may more love and follow

Him (Ignatius of Loyola, SPEX: Second Week, The First Contemplation, Third Prelude).

I impa

rt to you my pastoral blessings!

Vicente M. Navarra, D.D.Bishop of Bacolod

Given this 31

st

day of May, 2013On the occasion of the Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary