THE MARIAN virtues of gentleness, steadfastness and mutual sharing are essential to building friendships among the faithful, Manila Archbishop Cardinal Jose Advincula said as he presided over the opening Mass of the Philippine Conference on New Evangelization (PCNE) on Friday, July 24, at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion.
In his homily, Advincula urged the faithful to embrace values that strengthen friendships and reflect the Blessed Mother’s gentle love.
“A true friend knows how to wait because waiting is love. Gratuitousness is a language of love. In love, people do not force each other,” Advincula said.
On steadfastness, he urged the faithful to heed Mary’s invitation to follow the path of Jesus even amid despair and difficulty, saying such constancy allows friendships to endure.
“We continue to forgive, even when hurt remains. Friendship is not built on intense moments of dramatic emotions but on steadfast trust. To keep carrying the water, to keep filling the jars, and to keep doing whatever Jesus tells us,” he said.
Advincula said mutual sharing in friendship goes beyond helping another person and requires people to support one another.
He added that Christian friendship is rarely self-reliant but is instead shared, allowing the faithful to become instruments of God’s grace.
“It is mutual. It is reciprocal. It recognizes that no one is always the giver, nor is anyone always the receiver. There are moments when we carry others, and there are moments when others carry us,” he said.
‘Stewardship is caring for creation’
PCNE founder Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle led an afternoon roundtable discussion titled “Heart-to-Heart and Friendship Accompaniment,” which featured church workers and professionals from various sectors.
The panel included a religious sister serving as a registered nurse, priests, environmental conservationists, advocates and a choreographer, who shared their encounters with faith and their experiences in caring for creation.
Tagle warned that looking down on creation leads to exploitation and urged the faithful to regard nature as “a gift from someone bigger.”
He said creation must be viewed through the eyes of God and cherished as a gift.
“May nagbigay niyan, regalo ’yan. Kapag binigyan ka ba ng regalo, ano’ng gagawin mo? ’Di ba pahahalagahan mo?” he said.
(Someone gave that to you; it is a gift. When you are given a gift, what do you do? You cherish it, don’t you?)
Tagle said stewardship is closely linked to friendship because both are rooted in care for others and for creation.
“Kaya nga ‘yung stewardship, caring for creation, for each other, as a response to the Creator. It’s [an] act of friendship,” he said.
(That is why stewardship—caring for creation and for one another as a response to the Creator—is an act of friendship.)
He added that genuine friendship also requires the courage to tell others what they may not want to hear.
“Minsan, ang tunay na kaibigan ang naglalakas-loob na magsabi ng bagay na hindi mo gustong marinig dahil matibay [ang] samahan. They could dare for your good,” he said.
(Sometimes, a true friend finds the courage to tell you something you do not want to hear because the relationship is strong. They could dare to do so for your good.)
Now in its 12th year, the PCNE carries the theme “Sangkay,” the Waray word for friend, and seeks to forge and strengthen friendships among the faithful throughout the three-day conference.
Concurrent sessions and plenary talks will resume on Saturday, July 25, while PCNE Youth will be held on July 26. E. M. B. Mejia
