MANILA Archbishop Jose Cardinal Advincula urged the clergy to step out of their comfort zones and look after God’s people, during Mass at the Manila Cathedral on Maundy Thursday.
“Let us let go of our rigidities and our attachments to comforts and conventions so that we can be available for mission,” Advincula said in his homily.
“Let us keep going out and ministering to all so that the good news is brought to the poor [because] the Church is ever on the way, ever on pilgrimage, ever on a mission and her priests are likewise called to live out her missionary spirit,” he added.
The clergymen were urged on to engage in “fellowship and communion” as the Catholic Church undergoes the synodal process.
“As priests, we are never alone in our vocation, we are never in isolation, there is no such thing as a solo minister or a solo priest [because] we are not priests by our own capacity or left to our own faculties,” Advincula said.
“If the Church is to be synodal, she must have priests and ministers who are imbued with the spirit of synodality,” he added.
Last year, Pope Francis opened the Synod of Bishops that will lead to the final or “universal” phase to be held in Rome in October 2023.
The Mass was celebrated in solidarity with the victims of typhoon “Agaton” that hit the Visayan region last April 11.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Chrism Mass and the Renewal of Commitment to Priestly Service were postponed. Allyssa Mae C. Cruz
