Religious Services are Essential Services

AFTER 5 weeks of quarantine, decision makers are now talking about the lifting of the lock down, either completely, or in a mitigated way, or only in some areas. In this conversation, the topic invariably comes: which are to be considered essential services that can be allowed? People naturally speak about the food industry, the health care services, peace and order services, basic transportation, and the list can go on and on. It is noteworthy however that in many lists, religious services are not included. Is this a sign of secularism that religion is not considered as important at all in the life of the people, that it is optional and can easily be dispensed with?

This is not so in the Philippines! This is not so in our special time! At this time, after more than 5 weeks of being cooped up in our houses, and with the great uncertainly about our future, people need hope. They need the assurance of a benign higher power on whom they can depend in this time of uncertainty. This is given by religion, more so in the Philippines, where the people are very religious. Religion is very important for Filipinos. For the vast majority, it is faith that gives them strength especially in difficulties.

We can see this in times of disasters like fires, floods and typhoons. One of the things that people first save are their religious images and their Bibles. After the disaster, the first thing that the community would restore is their chapel. The first thing that people do in calamities is to pray together. The signs of God in their lives are very important for the people.

This is given great evidence during this time of community lock down. People turn to online masses and church services. They find in them great comfort and strength to carry on. These services give meaning to their struggles and assure them that they are not alone, that all these will pass away. There is a loving God in whom they can depend. All of these keep them spiritually strong and psychologically sane, even.

We cannot therefore say that religious services are peripheral to the people. They see them as essential, and the sign that things are going back to normal is when they are again able to go to church and attend the services. This will uplift their spirits to a great extent.

So when the decision makers consider the essential services to be allowed, they should also consider the opening of the churches and its services as important. Of course, necessary precautions should be taken, like the proper social distancing and the sanitation practices to be done in the churches. We cannot also just go back to the old practices as before. Many things will also change in the way we do our services in the Church. This is already taken as a given. But allowing people to go back to Church to thank the Lord, to ask for his protection and implore his help, are deemed very important by the people. So if we want to reassure the people that we shall overcome, that we are on the way to victory in our fight against the virus, let us allow the people the opportunity to express their faith within our churches.

Broderick Pabillo

April 23, 2020

Post COVID Ministry Part III

IN the past month, most of the work of many parishes was not that of liturgical celebrations. Of course, we had to prepare our churches and ourselves for the online masses and other religious services. Those did not take much time. What took most of our time was organizing how to distribute the gift certificates (GCs) and in large part, the actual giving of the GCs to the poor families together with our volunteers and barangay officials. Some parishes also spent time packing rice and other goods to distribute to the people. In a word, works of charity characterized our church activities during this time.

We have done a lot to help many people during this lock down.  We now house more than 440 street people in 8 facilities in the archdiocese of Manila. Some 510 medical front liners are given lodging in 23 parishes, hostels, and convents. We have generously received help in the form of food items and sleeping materials from many religious communities and generous parishioners. Helping the poor has been an important expression of our work as church during these days. We were able to reach more than 400,000 families through our gift checks and food packs.

After the quarantine days, it would not be right to just toss the street people  back to the streets and to let the hospitals take care of their medical staff. We have to maintain the good will and the relationships that we have created with the beneficiaries, with the donors and with the administrations of various medical institutions. The parishes, schools and religious communities need to set up structures that can create a continuous relationship with the people. Besides, it would not mean that come May 1, there would no longer be any COVID 19. This virus will be around for some time so our effort to contain it should also continue.

Another consideration that we have to look deeply are our financial situation. People will give to the church once the public services start, but surely not as much as they had been doing. Everyone’s pocket has been affected by the quarantine. Thus the parishes are to plan very carefully with their finance councils how to make ends meet in the coming months. It is good that there are already vicariates who help the poor parishes meet their obligations to their personnel. As we have decided at the start of the lock down, as much as possible we will not dismiss people from our workforce.  If people are not able to work, it is not that they do not want to work. Everyone among us is a victim of these hard times.

As we try to help our parish and school personnel, let us also explain to them to be patient and not to demand the same treatment as before, as if nothing had happened. The challenge now is how to keep the morale of our people high in spite of the fact that we all face hard times. Let us all face this new situation with generosity and trust.

Broderick Pabillo

April 14, 2020

Post COVID Ministry Part II

An effect of the Corona virus pandemic that is here to stay is social distancing. The consciousness and the practice of social distancing will be with us long after the quarantine is lifted. What would this imply in our ministries in the Church? How do we limit the attendance of the people in our services? This may mean additional masses on Sundays and asking the people to come on the times when there are less people in order to reduce the density of mass goers in any given time. This can also mean the re-training of our ushers. We should get younger ones who can politely ask the people to keep social distancing. Each parish is to determine the adequate spaces to be observed between the mass attendees. Perhaps big celebrations should be done outdoors to follow the social distancing protocols. The churches can also invest in big LCD screens and a good outdoor sound system so that people can remain outside and still be part of the celebration.

Another thing that is here to stay is our consciousness of the need for constant handwashing. A regular feature of our churches will now be the alcohol bottles or hand sanitizers that will be made ubiquitous at the door of our churches and offices. A foot bath is to be provided at the door steps of our churches and offices. A new ministry can be started in the parishes –  perhaps to be called “sanitation ministry” – whose task is to disinfect or clean the pews in between masses. This would mean that masses should no longer be on an hourly basis. Some time should be given between services for the cleaning of the pews and other “high touch” surfaces much used in the church.

An important Filipino social custom may also change – that of the mano po. Instead of getting the hand of the elderly or the priest and putting it on one’s forehead, or much worse, kissing the ring of the bishop, the people would be taught to show their respect by a polite bow and similar gestures.

As Filipinos we are a tactile people. We want to express our nearness by touching. This we do to one another and also to the objects of devotion. Thus we see people lovingly and devotedly touching the statues and even the casing of the statues. We have to be educated to do without this form of reverence anymore. A slight bow or a moment of silent prayer in front of a statue is also a worthy expression of our desire to commune with God and his saints.

We have been telling the people during lent that if we cannot go to confession, we can obtain God’s forgiveness by a sincere contrition of our sins with firm resolve to come to confess our sins to a priest as soon as there is the opportunity. One of the conditions to fulfill in order to receive the plenary indulgence is to confess our sins to a priest. After the lockdown, it would be good if the vicariates can organize a kumpisalan ng bayan in all the parishes so that the faithful can avail themselves of this sacrament. Perhaps it would also help if parishes can re-design their confessional boxes that it would no longer be stuffy but that there be enough room for social distancing during confession. Proper physical distance should still be kept during the kumpisalan ng bayan.

Let us use our creativity on how to serve our people in the new situation that we are now in. If the new practices that we will adapt are properly explained to the people, they will understand. They will even appreciate that we are making changes so that we can serve God without jeopardizing our loved ones.

Broderick Pabillo

April 13, 2020

Post COVID Ministry Part I

After about a month of quarantine, many people have gotten used to it. Now, the challenge to us in the church is no longer on adjusting to the lock down. We should instead start looking forward to what we will do after the quarantine!

It would be too naïve to imagine that come May 1, we will all jump back to the life that we had before the quarantine. No! There will be a very gradual period of adjustment. Many of our ways of doing ministry will change. This early let us already project the changes that can come about based on our experiences during this past month and plan for them accordingly.

Some realizations become clear to us. First, the importance of the social media. Parishes who have well-developed social media ministry are able to reach their people easily and offer them services. Thus we should develop our social media ministry. Online religious services are here to stay. Many of our elderly people will hesitate to go to church; the social distancing cannot be easily done in our churches because we do not have that many churches. So the media apostolate is here to stay and will play a greater role in the life of the Church from now on. Thus all Church institutions are encouraged to set up good social media ministries.

If many of our elderly people would prefer to participate in the mass online after the lock down, we should be able to offer them the possibility of receiving communion in their homes. We should deploy more our lay ministers to bring communion to the sick and the elderly. In many parishes, we either do not have enough lay ministers, or many of our lay ministers are old, or both. The elderly ones can no longer give communion in the homes because they themselves are susceptible to be infected. Thus we need to recruit more and younger lay ministers. Can we fast track their recruitment and their formation? We can get from the older altar servers, or older choir members, or even ask the religious sisters and brothers to help in this ministry of bringing the Body of Christ to the elderly.

The pandemic has shown us the importance of the ministry to the sick. Not many parishes have this. In Manila we have only five priests of the archdiocese who are in the hospital chaplaincy. Most of our hospital chaplains are either religious or guest priests. We should seriously think as an archdiocese to strengthen our ministry to the sick, even down to the parochial level. This ministry does not only cater to the sick in the hospitals but also to the medical staff, and also to the sick and the elderly in their homes.

At the beginning of the lock down there were criticisms that the church to use its reputedly big money to help the poor. These criticisms soon died down when it apparent that we have churches, schools, and religious houses who were the first ones to open their facilities to house and feed the street people, the medical front liners and the uniformed personnel. People will not fault us for having big and good facilities as long as they see that these are open to serve those in need in times of emergency. This should be a deliberate choice by our institutions from one on since nowadays emergencies are a new normal in our life.

One thing that caught the admiration of the business community and the government is our silent but rapid mobilization to distribute more than 1 billion pesos worth of gift certificates (GCs) to the poor. Each family was given 1,000 pesos worth of GCs. This was done through the organizing capacity of Caritas Manila and the enthusiasm of more than  668 parishes in MegaManila and their volunteers. Our parishes would not be able to identify the poor families if there was no good networking with barangay officials. Many times the good relations with the barangay are forged because of the BECs.  This is one thing that we have to develop more – better relations with the barangay especially through the BECs. Naging mabango ang simbahan sa buwang ito dahil sa ang simbahan ay bumaba sa mga tao. Talagang naramdaman nila ang simbahan, hindi sa kanyang gawaing pangsamba ngunit sa kanyang pagtulong sa mahihirap.

These are my reflections as of now. Others are to follow, that is why this is entitled PART I.  I offer them as jumping points that can lead to still other reflections that would set some paths for the ministry of the church after the lock down. Please join, deepen and widen the conversation on this topic of challenges to the ministry these coming days.

Broderick Pabillo

 April 13, 2020.

Easter Message

My dear people of God in the Archdiocese of Manila,

An Easter Message is supposed to be a joyful message. Can there be joy when we have heard that the Enhanced Community Quarantine has been extended till the end of April? Can there be joy when the resources of many people have dwindled while the quarantine continues? Can there be joy when the news continues to speak about new infections and new deaths?

The joy of Easter is not a joy because there are no problems. It is a joy which surprises all of us, because when God acts, he acts in unexpected ways. In spite of the announcement of the Lord Jesus that he would rise again, the idea of the resurrection did not register among his disciples. So when Jesus was killed and buried, for the disciples, Jesus is over. He is dead. So when they saw the tomb empty, their first thought was, who took his body? And when they finally saw him, they were afraid. They thought they were seeing a ghost! Jesus had to assure them that it was he. He had to show them his wounded hands and side. He had to eat in front of them. The resurrection was totally unexpected to the disciples.

Easter for us this year is also totally unexpected. Not only because we are not able to do what we usually do on Easter – go to the Salubong, attend Mass, and celebrate with friends. As at the first Easter, are we open to be surprised by God? We do not know what will happen in the coming three weeks. We do not know what will be our life after the lock down. Surely, many things will change. What will they be? Of this we are sure, though: we will rise up from this pandemic. We will rise up, hopefully not to go back to our former way of life. We will rise up stronger and more confident. We will rise up with greater care for our health and 2 our families. We will rise up strengthened in our relationships. Most especially, we will rise up with greater trust in our God who never leaves us and who sustains us in difficult times. Let us allow ourselves to be surprised by God.

The resurrection tells us that God is faithful. He is powerful. He overcomes evil and even death. This gives us hope and joy. We can say this with greater conviction this year. The quarantine period was hard, but we have lived through it renewed and with new realizations in life. It has given us new life. Let not the monotony of the quarantine put off the joy of Easter. The basis of this joy is not what we can do, but that the Risen Jesus is with us. He is acting among us and renewing us. Because of him, we shall overcome!

May this Easter give us greater trust and hope. Jesus is risen! He is with us! We will overcome! We will live a new life with Jesus! Happy Easter to you all.

+BRODERICK PABILLO

Apostolic Administrator of Manila

11 April 2020

Pastoral Instruction: The Church in Our Homes

My dear people of God in the Archdiocese of Manila,

We truly miss going to Church by now. We may see their big structures from a distance. We may hear the regular ringing of their bells. We see them in our screens as we watch the online Masses. But oh, how we wish to go to them and pray. This feeling is very understandable after several weeks of quarantine. But let us not forget that though we may not be able to go to church, we can still live the church in our homes.

For the first three hundred years of Christianity, there were no big churches. Christianity was forbidden so the Christians could not construct big buildings; they gathered instead in their homes. They live the experience of being Church in their homes. Let us return to this. Let us be churches in our homes.

What makes a building a church? It is not the structure, nor the paintings or statue, much less the design. We go to church because there we are in the presence of God. We want to meet the Lord. There we experience the Lord in prayer. A building becomes a church because people gather there to pray together; it is there where the Word of God is being proclaimed. There we experience together that we are loved by God and we strive to love others too. Prayer. Word of God. Love. These are the essentials of the Church.

We can live these in our homes now. Let prayers be echoed in our homes, not just individual prayers but family prayers together. The Lord Jesus said: “In truth I tell you once again, if two of you on earth agree to ask anything at all, it will be granted to you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three meet in my name, I am there among them.” (Mt. 18:19-20) During this quarantine days let us set aside time together to pray as a family. We join as a family in the online Masses, most especially on Sundays. The 2 church bells are rung daily at 12 noon and 8 pm, inviting families to pray the oratio imperata and the family rosary.

In our homes too, the Word of God can be proclaimed and reflected upon. It would be good to have the family gathered together to hear passages of the Bible read as part of the family prayer. The family can have Bible sharing. Stories of the Bible can be told and retold within the family walls. The faith is not just a personal matter. It should be a family affair.

The Bible tells us: “We have recognized for ourselves, and put our faith in the love God has for us. God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him.” (1 Jn. 4:16) Where there is love, God is there. Let us strive during these days to really love one another in very practical ways. Love is not just in emotions. It is shown in deed. “Love is always patient and kind; love is never jealous; love is not boastful or conceited, it is never rude and never seeks its own advantage, it does not take offence or store up grievances. Love does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but finds its joy in the truth. It is always ready to make allowances.” (1 Cor. 13:4-7) We can strive to do these in our life together in our homes. Parents can set the example to their children and thus lead them to holiness. Then love is there.

Then God is there. Then the Church is there. This love within the family can expand to the people around us. We do not have contact with many people during the quarantine, but surely we can be kind, courteous and generous to some neighbor, to the garbage collector, to the barangay tanods, to the storekeepers, to the poor around us. Then the church in the family is in action!

We can live the experience of Church in our homes. God is very much present among us even if we cannot go to Church. He comes to our homes when we pray together, let the Word of God be heard within our homes, and love is lived among us as a family.

Mother Mary lived that experience of church in her own home in Nazareth. Let us make the Holy Family the protectress of our family.

Yours truly in Christ Jesus,

+BRODERICK PABILLO

Apostolic Administrator of Manila

1 April 2020