Three months after the first celebration of the 100 years Pontifical Approval of the Teresian Association at Saint Pedro Poveda College, Quezon City, the second one took place last Saturday, April 20th at the Santo Domingo Church, also called the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary of La Naval de Manila.
In this historic temple, Cardinal Jose F. Advincula, Metropolitan Archbishop of Manila, together with 15 concelebrants, presided the Eucharist of Thanksgiving, of Renewal and of Commitment, in the presence of nearly 400 faithful –TA members, MIT, families, friends, colleagues, Poveda Staff, acquaintances and sympathizers.
Symbols of gratitude
The Mass was preceded with the offering of symbols before the picture of St. Pedro Poveda near the altar, expressions of our immense gratitude to the Lord: Candles and Statutes of the TA - Fr. Poveda’s call to be light of the world ; Globe - our varied apostolate and mission presences; Rice stalks – the TA’s rootedness in the Philippines for almost 75 years.
Card. Advincula began by greeting the TA members on behalf of the people of God in the Archdiocese of Manila. In this Mass, he said “we honor the women and men of the TA who have joined together to put their Faith in the Eucharist, and through Education and Culture they contribute to human advancement and transformation. Like St. Teresa of Avila, they hear the Word of God and keep it.”
Easter dignity
In his homily, Card. Advincula developed beautifully two important aspects of the lay apostolate today, lessons he has derived from the 1st Reading, Acts 9:31-42: Easter dignity and Frontier ministry. Quoting Poveda, “you have to be living Crucifixes” he said that while living immersed in the world, ever witnessing to the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus, the members have to uphold their dignity as an Easter people, as befit the baptized who are men and women “of the cloth” signifying the glory of the Resurrection of Jesus.
Frontier ministry
Furthermore, he said that the lay apostolate is a frontier ministry, hence the frontiers of human life have to be the preferred venue of our mission, the edges and interstices of human experience, the marginal and liminal spaces of life; the untrodden and unfamiliar path, beyond the confines of our conveniences and conventions.
We need courage to do this. We need the Holy Spirit to blow where He wills and lead us beyond ourselves. The Church needs urgently lay apostles with solid Christian Faith and genuine human sensitivity to discover these frontiers wherever we are.
Before the final blessing, we turned our gaze to Our Lady of the Rosary, offering her a song to remind ourselves of the Marian origin of the TA in Covadonga, and Mary’s indispensable role in our Christian life and vocation-mission. The excellent and powerful performance of the choir facilitated participation, worship and prayer.
Lucia Subaldo, Sector Director of the Philippines gave an effusive and heartfelt vote of thanks to all those present, beginning with the Cardinal Archbishop of Manila.
The cocktail that followed in the venue lined up with some TA posters and video presentation was an occasion for meeting the invitees, especially families, new friends, and long-time friends. Indeed, we can say with the Psalmist “Praise the Lord. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.” (Psalm 106:1).
Nenita Tenefrancia. Manila, Philippines.
Published in News