CONSECRATED MEN: MERCIFUL AS THE FATHER
We, the members of the ASSOCIATION OF MAJOR RELIGIOUS SUPERIORS (MEN) IN THE PHILIPPINES, though diverse in charisms and from different communities, contexts, and ministries, are nevertheless sharing the common elements of apostolic consecration, profession of the evangelical counsels, and life in our respective religious communities. We have been called together as leaders among our brothers, nay more, as active members of the Church and stewards of creation, in order to reflect prayerfully on the challenges of the present times, so as to lend our prophetic voice and our hands of service, being ourselves “merciful like the Father”.
Context
We find ourselves in a period full of convergent realities and challenges, in the cliché, albeit proverbial “crossroads”:
We are in a year which Pope Francis has declared the Jubilee Year of Mercy. What the Pope has proclaimed at the beginning of his pontificate has become a constant echo in the past three years in his words and in his deeds: “Go to the peripheries… Be merciful, be compassionate…“. This Jubilee Year universalizes this attitude for it calls all men and women to be “merciful as the Father.”
We, as a people, seem to be the hardest hit when we speak of climate change. Natural calamities may be a staple for us, but together with Pope Francis we ask, “What is happening to our home?” This is a question that our Filipino bishops have already asked about our land almost thirty years ago (CBCP Pastoral Letter on Ecology, January 29, 1988). This is a question we continue asking when we are perennially confronted by pollution, climate change, loss of biodiversity, and other ecological problems.
We, as Filipinos, have most recently come from an election period that has been so divisive to a certain extent, but we nevertheless have succeeded in choosing our leaders for the national and local government. We are witnesses to the beginning of the mandate of President Rodrigo Duterte. There is a lot of hope and promise, and a generous foreboding of change. The Filipino has chosen the leader who embodies this change and he indeed looks forward to it through the eradication of corruption and drug addiction and the alleviation of poverty.
Message
We must be persons of mercy and compassion!
Pope Francis has reminded the consecrated men and women that they should “wake up the world” (Letter for the Year of Consecrated Life, November 21, 2014). Our influence here in the Philippines is vast for we are present in various apostolates that are able to reach all corners of society: schools, parishes, social communication, families, community centers, indigenous people, seminaries and formation houses, depressed areas, and more! We can indeed wake up the world!
The inaugural message of Jesus at the synagogue at Nazareth in the Gospel of Luke is a model for all of us: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord” (Luke 4:18–19).
This message of Jesus, one of mercy and compassion, breaks forth into the different settings of our ministries. It is seen in our care for our common home (Laudato Si, May 24, 2015) —the Earth where we live in. If we care for our brothers and sisters, then we would care for the environment.
The new president of the Philippines means well for the progress of the country. He lives a simple life. He asks support and cooperation from the people whom he is leading. We give our principled support through openness and dialogue, yet with a vigilant stance and a prophetic voice in our dealing with the government.
We also show mercy and compassion to our brother religious, members of our own communities who are in special situations and needing our help just as the Father is merciful.
Commitment
Therefore, as men consecrated who are called to be “merciful like the Father”, we commit ourselves:
- to live a simple lifestyle, which is the best way to identify with and thus show mercy to our brothers and sisters in the peripheries.
- to be active in our role of participating in social life, being a visible force and a prophetic voice in working for the common good and in the constructive and critical engagement with our government leaders.
- to collaborate actively with each other, as men religious, in bringing about ecological conversion in our care for our common home.
- to reach out and lend support to the victims and survivors of abuse by consecrated men.
May we really become the voice of every man and woman, and repeat confidently without end: “Be mindful of your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love, for they have been from of old” (Misericordiae Vultus, 25).
Given in Tagaytay City, at Maryridge Retreat House on July 1, 2016.