The Clarion call by the Church

          One senses a rapid growth of Christian renewal among the members of the Diocese of Bacolod. This may be highlighted by the groundswell of devotion to the St. Therese of the Child Jesus.

          St. Therese and God seem to have touched the hearts of Negrenses, including the inmates of the provincial jail. And the soldiers.

          Today the relics of the Child Saint will be transported to Kabankalan City to the Southern Negros Diocese. There it will stay for a day and return the next day to Bacolod.

          What is strange is that St. Therese of the Child Jesus remained a cloistered nun. Yet, she is the patroness of missions. And precisely that life, spent behind the four walls of her monastery, seems to have touched a sympathetic cord among the Catholic population of the world, including Negrenses.

          St. Therese of the Child Jesus, pray for us, that we learn to love as you did love the Lord and one another.

***

          Members of the Neo-Catechumenal communities of Bata and Iloilo returned home yesterday post a three-day pilgrimage to Manila and Antipolo nursing a big hangover.

          But the most memorable event which still has the members starry-eyed was their audience with the Papal Nuncio, Archbishop Eduardo Joseph Adams last Thursday at the Apostolic Nunciature.

          The American Nuncio was very humane. He did not carry himself with the air typical of members of the Diplomatic Corps. He exuded sympathy and empathy.

          After the two communities sang the Creed to him and the Pope he represented, Msgr. Adams stressed to the Neo-members that “I confirm you as does the Pope in your faith.”

          And he explained the blessings the community members had received from God that enabled them to understand the faith and what it means to be a Christian.

          The highlight of the affair was the sudden  appearance of Jupiter Sarroza, a retired Bacolod high school teacher, who disdained the ravages of his ailment which requires his daily dialysis “because I don’t want to miss this chance to meet the representative of the Holy Father.”

          It was a poignant scene. Msgr. Adams offered special prayers over Jupiter whom he blessed with his apostolic hands. He also kissed the aging man on the cheeks.

          Actually, Msgr. Adams is titular archbishop of Scala. He was consecrated on October 23, 1996.

          He was ordained a priest on  May 16, 1970, after graduating from Philadelphia’s Sta. Charles Theological Seminary. He  had his advanced studies in Rome and graduated in 1976 from the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy. He has held positions in various Apostolica Nunciatures in various countries.

          He was appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Bangladesh where he served for six years. He was later Apostolic Nuncio to Zimbabwe were he served for five years, last September 3, 2007, he was appointed Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines. He is the 16th Papal envoy to the country.

          Incidentally, he candidly told the two communities that the nunciature would have to served us breakfast, but pointed out that there were just too many of us. Actually, 75.

          The first group of the movement, he said, were those from Cebu.

          The second highlight of the pilgrimage was our visit to the Redemptorist Mater Seminary. A small community occupying two houses in Quezon City.

          There were 20 students for the priesthood from many countries of the world, including the Philippines.

          The rector is retired Naga Msgr. Benjamin Almonida. What struck us was the fact that the retired bishop immediately accepted to  herd over the group of disparate characters-some from Latin America, others, Europe and the Philippines.

          Lorenzo Ruggiero and Faustino Oringo Mora, Jr. will be ordained as deacon on March 8 (tomorrow). There is another one whose name I failed to get.     Lorenzo is known to most Bacolodnons. Fr. Paolo, the formator, cited his joy at finally meeting the two Henares sisters – Cora and Cecilia – whose names have become familiar to the seminarians, they having hosted the students for the priesthood for the past few years during their vacations in Bacolod.

          Fr. Angel Mojica, the Columbian itinerant priest from Rome, was beaming all throughout the three days we were together.  His face lighted up when Jupiter braved the trip up to Antipolo’s Our Lady of Good Voyage Cathedral for the liturgical rite we participated in Wednesday afternoon.*

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