2008 National Laity Week celebration kicks off today
About 500 laity all over the country gather here today, Sept. 29, for the National Laity Week Celebration 2008. The four-day activity culminates with the reading of the conference statement after the Eucharistic celebration in the famous St. Anne Parish Church in Molo district.
Molo is said to be the home of Blessed Pedro Calungsod, one of the two patron saints of the Catholic Laity of the Philippines. The other patron saint is San Lorenzo Ruiz. This year's theme is "The Laity: Primary Agents of Change, Towards Honesty and Integrity for Good Governance."
The objectives of the celebration is to value lay vocation and its potentials in bringing about a change in one's life in Church and society; understand and discuss the implications of the affairs theme and internalize prayer (individual/groups).
The relevance of the theme in the context of the on-going call to change of heart would be reviewed within one's own community and the Church. There is also a need to manifest witnessing of Christians to the outside community to the world.
The celebration also aims to concretize the role of lay persons in making good governance a reality through honesty and integrity. The presence of Pampanga Gov. Ed Panlilio will add spice to the celebration. The governor, a priest, won over the moneyed candidate in Pampanga. However, his administration is currently being rocked by his political opponents and wants him removed from the elected government position.
This year's observance of the National Laity Week likewise commemorates the 20th Anniversary of the Apostolic Exhortation Christifideles Laici (December 30, 1988), the Magna Carta on the laity, a post synodal document on the vocation and the mission of the lay faithful in the Church and in the world. Ms. Muriel Gojo of the Teresian Association and Dr. Linda Tacorda, (PhD), national president of the Sangguniang Laiko ng Pilipinas will present the Christifideles Laici.
The Laity are baptized and gifted member of the body of Christ appointed by Christ himself to spread the kingdom, penetrating deeply in the world to infuse it with Gospel values. The spirituality of the laity is a life of intimate union with Christ fostered primarily through the Liturgy and through fulfilling human obligations in the ordinary conditions of life.
Their immersion in the world with their animation of society is their path to holiness. They generously exert all their energies in extending God's Kingdom, in making the Christian spirit a vital energizing force in a temporal sphere. With their vision and determination to go beyond their own concerns, they assume the role of molders of a new humanity.
Their role in the modern worlds is to bring the spirit of the First Christians with a new way of being believers. It is with this awareness that the Laiko calls on the Laity to do their share in the collective effort to build our country and set it on the road to Kingdom.
The participants will gather at the Punta Villa Monday morning for a registration. They will also have a city tour. In the afternoon, there will be a motorcade from Punta Villa to St. Anne Parish at 1:30 pm. Rev. Fr. Tomas Delicana, parist priest of Molo will welcome the participants. There will be a mass at 5 pm which to be officiated by Archbishop Angel Lagdameo.
After the Eucharistic celebration, the participants will be given the chance to taste the native food of Molo such as pancit Molo in an Agape at the convent.
The following day (Tuesday), Fr. Albert Alejo, SJ, Rector of Ateneo de Davao University and Gov. Panlilio will have a talk. While, Fr. Melo Diola of Barug Pilipino (Cebu), Engr. Jose Lugay, Laiko Advocacy Against Graft and Corruption and two other speakers from Visayas will share their experiences and advocacies.
The activity caps in the reading of conference statement and singing of the celebration's theme on Wednesday. This year's theme song is composed by Fr. Joel Eslabra, clergy of Jaro.