Churches hold 2nd collection for disaster help on Palm Sunday

As Filipino Catholics marked the start of Holy Week with Palm Sunday, Catholic Churches held a second collection during mass to help victims of recent natural disaster, including tropical cyclone "Ondoy" (Ketsana) and last January's earthquake in Haiti. Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales urged Filipino Catholics to give to the second collection - part of its "Alay Kapwa" campaign - as the Church ushers in the Holy Week “This Palm Sunday, please support the special Alay Kapwa collection in your parishes. This will go to the Caritas Disaster-Preparedness Fund Drive. This fund is used in times of major crises like we experienced in Ondoy (Ketsana). We were also able to extend help to Haiti through this program of Caritas," Rosales said in his message, the text of which was posted on the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines news site.

Rosales pointed out collections on this year's Alay Kapwa Sunday would support the programs of the Church, including Caritas Manila's disaster-preparedness fund drive, aside from social services and programs for the less fortunate. The prelate lamented it is only now that Filipinos are beginning to see and directly experience the effects of a crisis that they have been ignoring. He said Mother Nature is reacting to what people had done to her. Now, he noted people are again praying for rain, as billions of pesos worth of crops, plants and trees have dried up due to the El Niño phenomenon. "Alay Kapwa Sunday has always been about the less fortunate. But with the seriousness of the climate crisis and these calamities, we, all of us, become the less fortunate," he said. "The season of Lent gives us the opportunity to reflect on our lives. It is also a time to reflect on how we have served as stewards of God’s creations. What have we done to our environment?" he added. The CBCP created the "Alay Kapwa" initiative in 1975. Implementing it is the CBCP National Secretariat for Social Action (NASSA). Meanwhile, Rosales asked the faithful anew to seek for God’s wisdom choosing the right leaders the upcoming May elections. “We must also pray that we, as a people, select leaders who will never compromise the environment for economic gains, leaders who can help protect and nurture what little we have left, leaders whom we can depend on in times of calamities and disasters. There will be very rough times ahead," he said. Rosales said the Lenten season also provides an opportune time to reflect on one’s share of responsibility towards caring for the environment. “The season of Lent gives us the opportunity to reflect on our lives. It is also a time to reflect on how we have served as stewards of God’s creation," he said. - KBK, GMANews.TV