Tagle to fellow priestsand Share ‘noche buena’ with poor
Breaking News • 11:53 AM Wed Dec 24, 2014
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By:
cbcpnews
MANILA — In the spirit of the Year of the Poor and the
theme of the forthcoming visit of Pope Francis, Mercy and Compassion,”
the Archdiocese of Manila (RCAM) is set to open its doors to families
who may not be able to prepare the traditional noche buena” on
Christmas Eve.In a recent circular, Manila Archbishop Luís Antonio G. Cardinal
Tagle expresses his wish to to make this joyful season of the
celebration of the Lord’s birth more meaningful, especially for our less
fortunate brothers and sisters in our communities.”
In this Dec. 2 letter, the prelate addresses all parish priests,
shrine rectors, and chaplains of chapels under RCAM,” encouraging them
to adopt a poor family (or families) to join you for noche buena in the
parish rectory.”
Tagle also requests his brother-priests to organize programs and activities for the poor during this season.”
May our solidarity with the poor help us to behold the Son of Man
who became poor that we may become rich for God. Let us visit Jesus in
the mangers of poverty around us. And let us bring gifts of mercy and
compassion,” he states.
Meanwhile, a missionary brother based in Sierra Madre where he
ministers to the native Dumagat tribes, lauded the cardinal for his
desire to reach out to the poor.
It’s a good thing to know of this. While it’s natural of Church
people to help the underprivileged, it’s important that they give
witness and step out of their comfort zones,” Br. Martin Francisco
noted.
In a speech he gave in March 7, 2013 shortly before his election as
pontiff, then Buenos Aires Archbishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio pointed out
that evangelizing presupposes a desire in the Church to come out of
herself.”
The Church is called to come out of herself and to go to the
peripheries, not only geographically, but also to the existential
peripheriesand the mysteries of sin, of pain, of injustice, of ignorance
and indifference to religion, of intellectual currents, and of all forms
of misery,” Pope stressed. (Raymond A. Sebastián/CBCP News)