Church

After months of being a service volunteer for the World Youth Day in Lisbon, a former campus minister got the surprise of her lifetime: a lunch with Pope Francis.

Audrey Abatol has been a fan of Pope John Paul II. Growing up, she has always been fascinated with the WYD founded by the pope-turned-saint.

Since November last year, she had been volunteering at WYD international relations secretariat after resigning from her work at a Jesuit-run school in the city of Mandaue.

Then the organizers pulled out a big surprise a week ago.

The Caritas Philippines, the Church’s social action arm, launched an appeal on Thursday to help relief efforts in typhoon-hit areas of the country.

Authorities said typhoon “Egay” brought widespread flooding and landslides to several parts of the country on Wednesday, leaving at least five people feared dead.

The Office of Civil Defense reported that approximately 44,356 families or 180,439 individuals have been affected in the regions of Ilocos, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol, Western Visayas, Northern Mindanao, and Soccsksargen.

1st Reading – Isaiah 55:10-11

Thus says the LORD: Just as from the heavens the rain and snow come down and do not return there till they have watered the earth, making it fertile and fruitful, giving seed to the one who sows and bread to the one who eats, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; my word shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it.

Responsorial Psalm – Psalms 65:10, 11, 12-13, 14

R. (Luke 8:8) The seed that falls on good ground will yield a fruitful harvest.

The liturgical commission of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has clarified that “both gestures are liturgically accepted” to accompany the prayer during Mass.

“We are, therefore, exhorted to exercise sincere respect for each other in the gesture we express during the prayer,” Archbishop Victor Bendico, chairman of the CBC Episcopal Commission on Liturgy, said in a circular released Friday. 

MANILA - Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo of the Diocese of Kidapawan was reelected as chair of the Episcopal Commission on Social Action, Justice and Peace and at the same time the President of Caritas Philippines during the CBCP’s 126th plenary assembly on Saturday at the Marzon Hotel in Aklan province’s Kalibo town.

MANILA - Bishop Pablo Virgilio David of the Diocese of Kalookan was reelected to head the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

The 64-year-old prelate was chosen for the position on the first day of the CBCP’s 126th plenary assembly on Saturday at the Marzon Hotel in Aklan province’s Kalibo town.

Around 80 bishops are currently gathered for the three-day assembly– the highest decision-making body of the CBCP.

David will be taking the role for a second, and last term of another two years.

ZAMBOANGA CITY - Archbishop-elect Julius Tonel has vowed to listen to his flock as he forms vision for the southern Philippine archdiocese of Zamboanga.

A day after his appointment, the prelate was still in “disbelief” with his new ministry but he said “the mission must go on”.

The challenge, according to him, remains the same: how to bring the Gospel closer to the people in the best way possible.

“So I will do a lot of listening,” Tonel said, adding that it’s the best way he can have as a base to serve the people.

ROME— The Vatican announced the date and theme for the third annual World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly.

The event will take place this year on July 23, the Sunday before the feast of Sts. Anne and Joachim, the grandparents of Jesus, and the theme for the day, selected by the pope, will be “His mercy is from age to age” (Lk 1:50).

According to the Vatican Dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life, the theme is linked to the theme for World Youth Day 2023, which also comes from the first chapter of the Gospel of Luke: “Mary arose and went with haste” (Lk 1:39).

1st Reading – Acts 10:34A, 37-43

Peter proceeded to speak and said:

“You know what has happened all over Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power. He went about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.

We are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree.

VATICAN— Pope Francis washed the feet of 12 young men and women, inmates at a juvenile prison in Rome, during a Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Thursday.

The pope presided over the livestreamed Mass for more than 80 inmates, family, staff, and guards in the chapel of the Casal del Marmo juvenile detention center on Rome’s outskirts on April 6.

In an off-the-cuff homily, Francis reflected on the meaning of Christ’s choice to wash the feet of his disciples.

“Washing the feet was a habit at that time,” he said. “But who washed the feet? The slaves.”