"Year of Faith" kicks off in Pasig

by Fr. Ramil Marcos

PASIG CITY - Under the careful tutelage of our shepherd, Bishop Mylo Hubert Vergara, the Diocese of Pasig joins the worldwide community of Catholic faithful in celebrating the Year of Faith.  Pope Benedict XVI has announced this special focus from October 2012 – November 2013, calling on all Catholics to deepen their faith in God and live that faith in the midst of the world.   With this summons from the Holy Father, all the dioceses of the world are being mobilized to undertake meaningful activities to invite people to enter into a personal and communitarian journey of faith.
   Our diocese will celebrate a special jubilee year in 2013 – its 10th year foundation anniversary.  Thus, our faith community gladly welcomes the Year of Faith as a fitting context within which to remember how our own diocese started to exist as a new local church from the mother-churches of the Archdiocese of Manila and the Diocese of Antipolo.  Bishop Mylo, ever aware of the significance of events, seized this opportunity to weld together the diocesan anniversary and the special international event of the Catholic Church.
   Our bishop, with the priests of the diocese and the lay leaders and volunteers, proclaimed the start of the Year of Faith last October 20, 2012, 2 PM at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Pasig City.  Capped with a Eucharistic celebration, the one year program was announced and from there, will start to unravel and progress into its implementation.
   The diocesan program will form the backdrop of the parish programs as well.  As every parish joins the diocesan activities, they will also echo the same activities, with some adaptations, on the parish level. Thus, for an entire year, the whole diocese will be further bonded by ideals, goals and concrete steps geared towards the growth of faith among Catholics.
   Each month, we will pursue a definite theme touching on a facet of Christian doctrine.  This will be supported by a document from the Second Vatican Council or the Magisterium of the Popes. There will then be activities appropriate to the theme or the study document to be sponsored by various diocesan ministries. 
   Blended into these monthly schedules, the vicarial assemblies, already started early this year, will continue to be held to complete the four sessions required for the formation of parish leaders and the consultation among the faithful regarding the future of the diocese. 
   During the Year of Faith, every Catholic will be nourished by the Word of God, by the teachings of the Vatican II and the Catechism of the Catholic Church – three essential resources that will be utilized in reaching out to people in a gesture of genuine love and concern for salvation and human development.
   Thanks to the active leadership of our Bishop, the intense fraternity of our priests and the dedication and collaboration of our lay leaders and volunteers, this remaining months of 2012 and the coming year 2013 will be full of meaningful interaction between God and his people, the sources of faith and its recipients, the fountains of spiritual life and the souls thirsting for a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, Lord of all. /DPOC20121104





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