Bishop Julito Cortes of the Diocese of Dumaguete is calling on the people to do a lot of reflection this Holy Week on the passion and death of Jesus, who is the “King of Kings”.
Bishop Cortes ushered in the Holy Week with a message on Palm Sunday that centered on humanity and whose existence if influenced by many things that would separate man from God.
“The use of sex and illegal drugs, even the use of computers by young people, these are the ones that are looked upon as diyos-diyos (idols) and are obstacles to our relationship with God”, Bishop Cortes stressed.
The Dumaguete prelate challenged the people to reflect on how well do they know Jesus and to follow him in their daily lives and in society.
Speaking in the Cebuano dialect prior to the blessing of the palms, the bishop went on to say that this Holy Week, “we are given a chance to reflect on where we are now in our lives and who is the real king in our hearts”.
“Who is the king of our homes? In our society? In our Church? In our nation and in the entire world”? the Dumaguete prelate continued.
“This Holy Week, then, let us walk with the Lord and let us walk with one another. Let us join the Lord Jesus as he enters Jerusalem, hailed as the ‘king who comes in the name of the Lord.’ Let us dine with him during the Last Supper. Let us pray with him in the Garden of Gethsemane. Let us suffer with him as he gets arrested, made to carry his Cross, stripped of his clothes, and nailed to the cross, until he dies. And, with much hope, let us rise with him in the glory of his Resurrection”, Cortes reiterated.
“Only when we join the Lord in his Passion, Death and Resurrection, can we clearly see the depth of our human misery when we are without God,” Cortes added.
Furthermore, by journeying with the Lord, one can be truly in communion with one another, he pointed out.
Bishop Cortes went on to say that one can “fully participate in the Lord’s mission for us, as individuals, as a community of disciples and as a Church”, by walking with the Lord and entrusting everything to the Father.
And it is by sharing and accompanying Jesus in his suffering, death and resurrection that “ we can we get a glimpse of the unfathomable depth of God’s love, the solid foundation of each person’s dignity and value”.
“Only with Jesus can we truly be men and women of Mission. In the company of Mary, our Mother, may the Holy Spirit stir us to observe the glorious, the sorrowful, the enlightening and the joyful moments this observance of Holy Week brings to humanity”, Bishop Cortes said. (JFP)