THE UNIVERSITY has encouraged Thomasians to attend onsite Masses in their respective parishes on Nov. 1 and 2 following the call of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) for Filipinos to return to church.
UST will observe its Undas break from Monday, Oct. 31, to Thursday, Nov. 3.
In an Oct. 19 memorandum, UST Secretary General Fr. Louie Coronel, O.P. urged Thomasians to attend in-person Masses to celebrate the liturgy and the Eucharist.
“In line with the invitation of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) to return to face-to-face Mass attendance ‘with a purified heart, renewed amazement, and increased desire to meet the Lord,’ the University highly encourages the Thomasian community to participate onsite in the liturgical celebrations for Nov. 1 and 2 in their respective parishes or localities,” Coronel said.
“Let us take this opportunity to spend more time with our families and pray for our departed loved ones,” he added.
The University will hold Masses for the departed members of the Thomasian community at the UST Santisimo Rosario Parish Church on the following dates:
- Nov. 1 (9 a.m.) – Solemnity of All Saints
- Nov. 2 (9 a.m.) – The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls’ Day)
- Nov. 8 (11 a.m.) – The Annual Commemoration of All Deceased Thomasians
In inviting Filipinos to return to church, CBCP President and Caloocan Bishop Pablo David said that with the pandemic “weakened,” the faithful could attend Mass without fear of the virus.
“We strongly encourage our faithful to return to the Sunday Eucharist with a purified heart, renewed amazement, and increased desire to meet the Lord, to be with him, to receive him and bring him to our brothers and sisters with the witness of a life full of faith, love and hope,” he said.
He also called for a study on the frequency of live-streaming the Holy Eucharist as he told Catholics that no broadcast could compare with the physical experience of attending Mass.
“[T]hese broadcasts alone risk distancing us from a personal and intimate encounter with the incarnate God who gave himself to us not in a virtual way, but really, saying: ‘He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him,’” David added.
Classes and office work in UST will resume on Friday, Nov. 4.
