CBCP-Episcopal Commission on Clergy

09/07/2019

09/07/2019

ATM: Reading an article on Padre Pedro de [V]Balderrama, the chaplain of the Magellan’s expedition.

REALIZATION: If not for the efforts of this priest, the expedition would simply be a conquest; a search for spices. Christianity reached the Philippine soil because of him. The 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines is a commemoration of the First Mass and First Baptisms that he celebrated.

Oh, by the way, he was a diocesan priest...

18/06/2019

Pope Francis reminded the Philippine bishops that they are called to imitate Christ by loving their enemies and praying for those who persecute them.

17/06/2019

A young Polish priest who was ordained last month following a terminal cancer diagnosis has died, his community announced Monday.

06/06/2019

For the month of June, Pope Francis has asked Christians to pray for their priests. He notes although they are not perfect many of them give “their all until the...

06/06/2019

The Holy Father, Pope Francis has appointed Fr. ROBERTO GAA, a priest of the Archdiocese of Manila as Bishop of Novaliches. He succeeds Bishop Antonio Tobias.

Bishop-elect Gaa was ordained priest in 2000. He holds a Licentiate in Spirituality from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He is presently the Rector of the Holy Apostles Senior Seminary, Makati City.

Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Bishop Antonio Tobias of Novaliches, and appointed as his successor Fr. Roberto Gaa of the Manila archdiocese.

04/06/2019

02/06/2019

MEMORIAL OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, MOTHER OF THE CHURCH
Monday after Pentecost (Whit Monday)

First taught by Saint Ambrose in the fourth century, the title of “Mother of the Church” for the Virgin Mary was proclaimed by Blessed Paul VI on November 21, 1964, at the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council’s third session. Since that time a devotional memorial to Mary has appeared on a number of proper religious, diocesan, and national calendars. To better focus the Church’s attention on the maternal care of the Blessed Mother for the disciples of Christ throughout the ages, Pope Francis has chosen to inscribe this memorial for the universal Church.

Robert Cardinal Sarah, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, provided some spiritual reflections in a commentary accompanying the decree: “The water and blood which flowed from the heart of Christ on the Cross as a sign of the totality of his redemptive offering, continue to give life to the Church sacramentally through Baptism and the Eucharist. In this wonderful communion between the Redeemer and the redeemed, which always needs to be nourished, Blessed Mary has her maternal mission to carry out.”

He also recounted the existing liturgical history of the celebration of Mary, Mother of the Church. In preparation for the Jubilee Year of 1975, her Votive Mass was approved in 1973 and inserted into the Missale Romanum, editio typica altera. Saint John Paul II added “Mother of the Church” to the Litany of Loreto in 1980, and during the Marian Year of 1987, a new Collection of Masses of the Blessed Virgin Mary was issued, including two additional formularies for the Virgin Mary as “Image and Mother of the Church.”

Cardinal Sarah’s commentary reminds the followers of Christ that “if we want to grow and to be filled with the love of God, it is necessary to plant our life firmly on three great realities: the Cross, the Eucharist, and the Mother of God. These are three mysteries that God gave to the world in order to structure, fructify, and sanctify our interior life and lead us to Jesus.”

From Newsletter of the Committee on Divine Worship, March 2018
© 2018, USCCB

28/05/2019

Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on June 1, First Saturday of the month 🙏🏼

28/05/2019

Meeting of the Presidents of the Bishops’ Conferences on Safeguarding of Minors: Presentation By Luis Antonio G. Cardinal Tagle - Meeting “The Protection of Minors in the Church” (21 February 2019)

28/05/2019

Pope Francis on Twitter: Even today so many Christians are killed and persecuted for the love of Christ. They give their lives in silence, because their martyrdom isn't newsworthy. Yet there are more Christian martyrs today than in the early centuries.