THOMASIANS can always find strength and consolation in each other amid their suffering, Faculty of Arts and Letters Regent Fr. George Phe Mang, O.P. said during the Red Wednesday Mass on Nov. 27 at the UST Santisimo Rosario Parish Church.
Red Wednesday, which commemorates persecuted Christians around the world, is a reminder to everyone that they are not alone in their struggles.
“We are part of a larger community connected together through our shared human experience,” Phe Mang said in his homily.
“Our community, bound together by faith, reminds us that we share each other’s burdens through prayer, sacraments, and mutual support. We become instruments of God’s consolation to one another,” he added.
This year’s commemoration carried the theme “One in Suffering, One in Consolation,” which Phe Mang likened to Christ’s suffering on the cross and Mary’s consoling presence at the foot of the cross.
The Artlets regent underscored the civil war in Myanmar, where he hails from, as its conflicts, which began in 2021, have escalated in recent months.
He urged Thomasians to give “constant support to humanitarian assistance” as a form of solidarity and consolation.
“United in consolation, we become witnesses of hope to the world. We are not alone. We are one in suffering. We are one in consolation. Let us embrace this unity, support each other, and exercise God’s love in our Thomasian community.”
A candle-lighting ceremony followed the Mass.
The UST Main Building, Arch of the Centuries, and the Martyr’s Monument were illuminated in red.
Red Wednesday, which is commemorated every fourth Wednesday of November, is also aimed at raising awareness to the dangers faced by Christians worldwide.
The commemoration was initiated in 2016 by the papal charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).
