Every five years, the bishop, Francisco M. De Leon, D.D., visits the parishes under the Diocese to check the overall surrounding of the churches and the documents they handle. First, the bishop checks if the surrounding of the parish is clean because it is the House of God. Before the end of the mass for the pastoral visit, the bishop checks the cleanliness of the tabernacle. Next, the bishop baptistry and the confessionary. After the mass, the canonical books for christening, confirmation, wedding, and funeral will be checked if they are still up to date. Lastly, the bishop will also check the financial statement of the church that is needed in paying the salary of church workers, utility bills and funds for ministries. After checking the status of the church, the bishop will have a meeting with the Parish Pastoral Council coordinators to check if their faith is deepened, strengthened, or if they gained through it.
In Bishop Francis’ homily, he talked about evangelization which means proclaiming the good news of the Lord. He pointed out that the duty of the coordinators should not lie only in the confines of the church, but also to the people outside it, just like people who slowly lose their faith resulting to not attending holy mass every Sunday, people who convert to different religions like Born-again and people who are Pagans or are not catholic. The bishop encourages them to introduce Jesus to them because maybe they are blinded of what they are feeling and their emotions that’s why they can’t see Jesus yet, just like when the apostles went fishing and when they didn’t catch any fish, they didn’t recognize Him because they are blinded by disappointment, but John, the Evangelist, recognized Him because his eyes were looking up at Jesus that’s why he saw through Him.
Bishop Francis also pointed out that when we are facing problems, we should pray at the church and listen to what Jesus is telling us. If Jesus closed a door, He would surely open a much better door for us. It does not mean that we will lose all of our problems if we have faith in Him, it just means that He will always help you out in times of need, even though He already ascended in the heaven, His presence is still with us.
Faith will only grow if you share it.
Article by Jizelle Juntayas
Photo by Rian Solbita
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