CBCP calls for year of spiritual preparation for 2010 polls

MANILA, Philippines - The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) called Thursday for a year of spiritual preparation and change to face another crucial moment in the country’s history - the 2010 elections. CBCP President Angel Lagdameo said this year of prayer and work for peace-building will include efforts by all sectors for moral regeneration. “We invite the Filipino faithful to start preparing spiritually for another crucial transition in the life of our nation — namely, the elections in May 2010. For this purpose, we are declaring the post-Pauline year (from June 2009 until June 2010) as a year of Prayer and Work for Peace-building and Lay Participation in Social Change," Lagdameo said in a pastoral exhortation dated April 19. “We challenge our Catholic laity, in particular, to take the lead in the task of moral renewal towards a deeper and more lasting change in the Philippine society. We challenge all lay people involved in politics to renounce corruption and bond together in the task of evangelizing politics for effective governance and the pursuit of the common good," he added. The text of the exhortation is posted on the CBCP Web site. In his exhortation, Lagdameo also issued a set of challenges to legislators, traders, law enforcers, and those involved in mass communications to do their part. He particularly urged Catholic laypeople involved in legitimate business to organize selves and consciously practice their trade with a strong sense of corporate social responsibility informed by the social teachings of the Church. Catholic law enforcers were urged to form associations among themselves that consciously renounce violence, respect basic human rights, and truly work for the preservation of peace and social order. Lagdameo called on the Catholic laity involved in social communications and the modern mass media to form networks among themselves that can articulate a genuinely Christian ethics in their practice of their profession. “We urge every Catholic lay person to give a concrete expression to Christian discipleship through responsible citizenship," he said. Meanwhile, Lagdameo said the CBCP will launch this new thematic year by consecrating the country to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through the Immaculate Heart of Mary on their feast days on June 19-20. He said this Year of Prayer and Work for Peace-Building and Lay Participation in Social Change will begin and end with the feasts of the Two Hearts from June 2009 to June 2010. “From the wounded Heart of Jesus flowed the grace of healing and reconciliation. Let this grace flow through us, the community of Christ’s disciples, into the bloodstream of our nation. Let it find a concrete expression in serious advocacies for peace and dialogue, healing and reconciliation amidst conflict-situations in all possible circumstances of life," he said. Lagdameo pushed for all church groups all over the country to focus on peace-building and genuine reconciliation through dialogue. “Let us consciously lay the moral foundations on which we can build a more stable, more mature Philippine society. Let this foundation be not just a change of leaders or a change of social and political structures, but above all, a radical change of heart, commending ourselves to Jesus and his Blessed Mother as we entreat them to ‘make our hearts so like to (theirs) that we may holy be!’" he said. Lagdameo pointed out that while pastors exercise spiritual and moral leadership, they cannot just extend that leadership into the spheres of politics and governance. Neither can they do this in areas of business and economics, in the sciences and the mass media, without running the risk of being misconstrued as engaging in power play or over-extending their sphere of influence beyond their offices. He said this is where the participation of the laity in moral leadership pertaining to every specific discipline and institution in the Philippine society is most essential. Lagdameo also pushed for the recitation of a prayer at least every Sunday after communion in all Catholic churches and chapels all over the country from June 2009 to June 2010. The prayer is as follows: O Sacred Heart of Jesus, the reality of our deeply wounded and broken country impels us to respond with new urgency to the most pressing problems of our times. We are a broken people; our hearts are fragmented and we are discouraged. We need Your Heart, O Lord, as we seek to be made whole. Rooted in our faith in You and love for our country, we want to participate in Your work of transformation of persons, families, organizations, and society. Through the transforming power of the love of Your Heart, we draw a new dynamism, a strong inspiration, a fire, which can change and transfigure our lives as individuals and as a nation. (please pause for a specific intention) Love of the Heart of Jesus, give us courage and patience. Wisdom of the Heart of Jesus, teach us to pray and to act with hope and charity at all times. Amen. Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us. Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us. May Jesus, the Source of Divine Mercy, and His mother Mary accompany us in our work of peace-building and social and moral regeneration. - GMANews.TV