PRIDE remains one of the biggest obstacles to spiritual renewal, Cardinal Jose Advincula warned on Sunday as he urged Marian devotees to embrace humility during the Mass for the 44th Intramuros Grand Marian Procession.
Preaching on the gospel, the Manila archbishop told devotees to look to St. John the Baptist, “who paved the way for Jesus’s coming,” as a model for living with humility, charity, and spiritual emptiness.
“When we cannot acknowledge our sinfulness and admit our need for a savior, we consider ourselves perfect and the Messiah of our lives,” he said in his homily at the Manila Cathedral for the second Sunday of Advent.
Advincula said St. John’s life was rooted in charity, noting that Christ’s precursor dedicated himself to “service to the salvation of others.”
“Through detachment from worldly inducements, clarity about what or who, [truly] matters comes to the fore. The disposition of emptiness will help us yearn for the fulfillment of our lives that can only be found in our Lord Jesus Christ,” he said.
After the Mass, 42 Marian images were paraded on the streets of Intramuros, the old Walled City, down from an initial list of 56.
This year’s procession included images from private owners, families, shrines, and parishes across the country, unlike last year’s edition, which exclusively showcased canonically crowned (“coronada”) images.
Leading the procession was the Augustinians’ Nuestra Señora de la Consolación y Correa de Intramuros, the only canonically crowned Marian icon in this year’s lineup.
Held every first Sunday of December, the Grand Marian Procession traditionally anticipates the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception on Dec. 8.
The Intramuros Administration said about 30,000 devotees visited the Walled City throughout the day. Yuvshenka Andrea R. Osea
