DIOCESE OF NOVALICHESCommission on Faith & Formation

Social Communications and Media Ministry 
Christ The King Parish, Atlas Street, Filinvest 2,Batasan Hills, Q.C. 1126 * 5145318 / 5145312
4TH WORLD APOSTOLIC CONGRESS ON MERCY (WACOM 4)
CELEBRATION OF THE MOST HOLY EUCHARIST DAY 1 - JANUARY 16, 2017 - MANILA
CATHEDRAL, INTRAMUROS, MANILATranscript of the Homily ofH.E. Luis Antonio Cardinal
Tagle, D.D., Archbishop of Manila
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we welcome all of you to this Minor Basilica of the
ManilaCathedral, dedicated to Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception. In a special way, we welcome thosewho
came from far away lands, those who came from countries outside of the Philippines. So may Iinvite the
Filipino contingent to please give a warm welcome to our visitors.Our gathering is made more
special by the presence of our dear bishops from different parts of theworld, and the bishops of the
Philippines, with our President, Most Rev. Socrates Villegas. We alsowant to thank the Apostolic Nuncio to the
Philippines, the Most Rev. Giuseppe Pinto for presiding intoday’s Liturgy. Thank you very much!You know
today, the 16th of January 2017, is the second anniversary of the Eucharistic Celebrationpresided by Pope
Francis here in Manila Cathedral when he visited in 2015. This was not planned. But,two years
ago, the visit of Pope Francis to the Philippines, especially Palo, Leyte, was done under thetheme
of, "Mercy and Compassion".And two years later, here we are gathered for the World Apostolic Congress On
Mercy. We justfinished the Jubilee of Mercy, so it’s mercy upon mercy!
Palakpak naman kayo!
This Opening Liturgy is celebrated to invoke not only the memory but also the protection andassistance of our
Blessed Mother, Mother of Mercy. But we should follow her. She said in theGospel, “Do whatever Jesus tells
you.” Shedirects us to Jesus.So first, let us reflect on Jesus as presented inthe Gospel. This portion
of the Gospel, accordingto St. John, is well known to us: the wedding inCana, in Galilee--the
Galilee of the Gentiles, theGalilee of a mixed people. The Galilee that wassuspect of being impure.
 
And in Galilee, in Cana, there was a wedding with Jesus, the Mother of Jesus, and His disciples
inattendance. This marks the first sign that Jesus performed. Water was turned into wine and, accordingto the
Gospel, this is the beginning of His signs in Cana, in Galilee.Signs. A sign points to a deeper
reality and, according to the Gospel itself, this miraculous turning ofwater into wine revealed the
Glory of Jesus. It revealed the identity of Jesus: who is this Man, who isthis Person from Galilee,
from Nazareth, who is He, the son of a carpenter, the son of Mary.This miracle was supposed to reveal who He
was, His glorious identity. And with this revelation, thedisciples begun to believe in Him. This is
the purpose of the signs of Jesus, to reveal His identity and toinvite the disciples to believe in
Him.And what a sign! What a first sign, happening in a wedding--the beginning of commitment,
thebeginning of the coming together of two persons, of two lives, the beginning of a family, yet
beingdisrupted because they had no more wine.Wine. Wine is a symbol of joy, a symbol of celebration
heralding the new reality that was coming in amarriage. And especially for the groom, your ability as a
groom to provide wine for the seven days ofcelebration was a sign that you were ready to get married, you
can support your wife and your family.If you run out of wine on your wedding day,
 patay ka!
 You will be the talk of the town! People will say,"How do you expect him to provide for his family when on the
first day--the wedding day--there wasno more wine?!". It was a crisis that could mar, could stain the future of
husband and wife and thewhole family that will be borne from such a union. The miracle happened
at this moment of need, ofcrisis and this is the beginning. After this, other signs followed.A royal
official asked Jesus to heal his sick son in Capernaum. And it happened, another sign. Then
youhad the multitudes, 5,000 of them, being fed by the miraculous multiplication of bread. How
many arewe this afternoon, 4,000 5,000? There will be multiplication of bread.Then you had the
disciples being tossed in the sea and Jesus approached them and calmed the waters.Then we have the man born
blind, healed by Jesus, his sight was restored. Then you you have Lazarus,dead, buried for four days, but with the
word of Jesus, with the prayer to the Father, he was broughtback to life.The signs of Jesus in the Gospel of
St. John,revealing who He was, the One sent by theFather, the One who comes to people in need,whether it
was a wedding or sickness orhunger or being tossed by the waves and thewinds, blindness, even death.
Jesus comes withthe Mercy of God.There is no human need that Jesus could notaddress. There is
no human need, crisis, ordifficulty that falls beyond the purview of 
 
Jesus’ merciful glance and action. The signs of Jesus, in the Gospel of John, tell us who is this
man: Heis the face, the voice, the hands of the Merciful Father. And the invitation to us is, "Will you put
yourfaith in Him?"So let us not be afraid to open to Jesus those situations in life that we tend to
hide because they areembarrassing to admit. But no, they will invite Jesus to reveal who He was. He will
reveal to us theface of the Merciful Father.We turn to Mary, Mary the Mother of Mercy. With Jesus
and the disciples, the Mother of Jesus,attended the wedding. She was the one who told Jesus they have no
wine. According to someauthors, probably the wedding party were relatives of Mary and Jesus
for only relatives could go tothe recesses of the house and see they have no more bread, they
have no more wine.
Siguro rawkamag-anak ni Maria kasi ang kamag-anak nakakapasok hanggang kusina at nakikita, "Naku wala
nasilang kanin! Wala na silang lambanog! Wala na silang alak!" 
But Mary is presented as a woman who was attentive to the needs of others. Her eyes were open. Herheart was
open. But seeing the needs was not enough for her. She approached Jesus. At first, herwords might sound like a
factual statement, “They have no wine.”But the interaction between Jesus and Mary revealed that there was a
veiled request on the part ofMary. Even if she did not verbalize it, she was probably prodding Jesus to do
something. They have nowine. This elicited a response from Jesus, “How does your concern affect
me? My hour has not yetcome.”The hour of Jesus, for St. John, is His crucifixion, His dying for
all--the supreme act of mercy wherenothing is left of Jesus, everything will be for you. And that
is the moment of glory. He will be glorifiedbecause He will glorify the One who had sent Him, the Father.
And Jesus says, “I am just beginning.The hour has not yet come,” and the hour is determined by the
Father.“Mary you are my mother but the one who will determine my hour is the Father who sent
me.” Marydid not take those words negatively. In fact, she directed the people, “Do whatever He tells you.”
Justdo what He tells you and let us see and the miracle happened.There will be no mention of
the mother of Jesus again in the Gospel of John until the hour comes.Mary will be at the foot of the
Cross of Jesus. And now, it is not Mary who will tell something to Jesus;it is Jesus who will address Mary. sJesus,
in His mercy, knew the disruption that willhappen in the family due to His death. And so Hetells her
that she would not be left alone,“Woman behold your son, son behold yourmother.” At that crisis
moment when a motherwould lose her son, Jesus’ hour blesses thiswoman, “You will not be alone.”
 
The mercy of Jesus on families, on mothers and parents losing their children to violence, to
vices, tohuman trafficking, to new forms of slavery: children who are being kidnapped, sold to prostitution,their
body parts harvested in an international syndicated business of body parts.Whenever a mother cries,
it’s the hour of Jesus, it is the hour of mercy. And we are the disciples thatJesus wants to be with His mother. We
are the disciples of mercy, Jesus’ Mercy so that those who arealone, those who have been victimized,
those who have been abandoned and neglected, those whosecries and tears don’t touch the hearts of
others would know that they have a family, a family born atthe hour of Jesus at the foot of His cross, the
mercy of Jesus.I want to be merciful to you so let me end.
Baka abutin pa tayo ng bukas.
So our readings are about the beautiful signs revealing Jesus. Jesus is revealed in His acts
of mercy. Letus continue showing the face of Jesus to the world through acts of mercy. And like Mary, let us
beattentive to those in need. Let us turn to Jesus, bring their pleas to Jesus. But remember, Mary
will tellus, “Do what Jesus tells you.” So He will tell us to perform signs that will reveal
not ourselves but willreveal Jesus and how lives, families, societies are saved and made whole
because God is merciful.When we do our acts of mercy, let us not forget, it is not about us. St. Paul reminds
us, in his letter tothe Ephisians, it is not your work, it is the work of Jesus. So no one may boast. We
boast only of ourneed for God’s mercy. Please reflect on how God has been merciful to us, how God has
revealed theface of Jesus to us in the many signs of mercy. And then we will not be proud, we know we
areproducts of mercy ourselves and we boast only in the Lord.Let us pause and open our hearts to
the vivifying spirit, the spirit who enables us to understand thedepth, the breadth and the worth of the
blessings we have received for though we are sinners, God inJesus is rich in mercy.
Follow us:Website = http://www.novalichesdiocese.wordpress.comFacebook
= https://www.facebook.com/NovalichesDioceseInstagram
= https://www.instagram.com/dioceseofnovaliches/ Pinterest
= https://www.pinterest.com/ndiocese/ Twitter = https://twitter.com/RCBN_DioNovaScribd
= https://www.scribd.com/user/303077242/Diocese-NovalichesYouTube = https://www.youtube.
com/channel/UCcdMS3e5VijTjv_JFnljFGQSoundCloud = https://soundcloud.com/diocese-
novaliches
 Millions of books, audiobooks, magazines, documents, sheet music, and more for free.

Download this PDF

DIOCESE OF NOVALICHESCommission on Faith & Formation

Social Communications and Media Ministry
Christ The King Parish, Atlas Street, Filinvest 2,Batasan Hills, Q.C. 1126 * 5145318 / 5145312
4TH WORLD APOSTOLIC CONGRESS ON MERCY (WACOM 4)
CELEBRATION OF THE MOST HOLY EUCHARIST DAY 1 - JANUARY 16, 2017 -
MANILA CATHEDRAL, INTRAMUROS, MANILATranscript of the Homily ofH.E. Luis
Antonio Cardinal Tagle, D.D., Archbishop of Manila
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we welcome all of you to this Minor Basilica of the
ManilaCathedral, dedicated to Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception. In a special way, we
welcome thosewho came from far away lands, those who came from countries outside of the
Philippines. So may Iinvite the Filipino contingent to please give a warm welcome to our
visitors.Our gathering is made more special by the presence of our dear bishops from different
parts of theworld, and the bishops of the Philippines, with our President, Most Rev. Socrates
Villegas. We alsowant to thank the Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines, the Most Rev. Giuseppe
Pinto for presiding intoday’s Liturgy. Thank you very much!You know today, the 16th of
January 2017, is the second anniversary of the Eucharistic Celebrationpresided by Pope Francis
here in Manila Cathedral when he visited in 2015. This was not planned. But,two years ago, the
visit of Pope Francis to the Philippines, especially Palo, Leyte, was done under thetheme of,
"Mercy and Compassion".And two years later, here we are gathered for the World Apostolic
Congress On Mercy. We justfinished the Jubilee of Mercy, so it’s mercy upon mercy!
Palakpak naman kayo!
This Opening Liturgy is celebrated to invoke not only the memory but also the protection
andassistance of our Blessed Mother, Mother of Mercy. But we should follow her. She said in
theGospel, “Do whatever Jesus tells you.” Shedirects us to Jesus.So first, let us reflect on Jesus
as presented inthe Gospel. This portion of the Gospel, accordingto St. John, is well known to us:
the wedding inCana, in Galilee--the Galilee of the Gentiles, theGalilee of a mixed people. The
Galilee that wassuspect of being impure.
And in Galilee, in Cana, there was a wedding with Jesus, the Mother of Jesus, and His disciples
inattendance. This marks the first sign that Jesus performed. Water was turned into wine and,
accordingto the Gospel, this is the beginning of His signs in Cana, in Galilee.Signs. A sign points
to a deeper reality and, according to the Gospel itself, this miraculous turning ofwater into wine
revealed the Glory of Jesus. It revealed the identity of Jesus: who is this Man, who isthis Person
from Galilee, from Nazareth, who is He, the son of a carpenter, the son of Mary.This miracle was
supposed to reveal who He was, His glorious identity. And with this revelation, thedisciples
begun to believe in Him. This is the purpose of the signs of Jesus, to reveal His identity and
toinvite the disciples to believe in Him.And what a sign! What a first sign, happening in a
wedding--the beginning of commitment, thebeginning of the coming together of two persons, of
two lives, the beginning of a family, yet beingdisrupted because they had no more wine.Wine.
Wine is a symbol of joy, a symbol of celebration heralding the new reality that was coming in
amarriage. And especially for the groom, your ability as a groom to provide wine for the seven
days ofcelebration was a sign that you were ready to get married, you can support your wife and
your family.If you run out of wine on your wedding day,
patay ka!
You will be the talk of the town! People will say,"How do you expect him to provide for his
family when on the first day--the wedding day--there wasno more wine?!". It was a crisis that
could mar, could stain the future of husband and wife and thewhole family that will be borne
from such a union. The miracle happened at this moment of need, ofcrisis and this is the
beginning. After this, other signs followed.A royal official asked Jesus to heal his sick son in
Capernaum. And it happened, another sign. Then youhad the multitudes, 5,000 of them, being
fed by the miraculous multiplication of bread. How many arewe this afternoon, 4,000 5,000?
There will be multiplication of bread.Then you had the disciples being tossed in the sea and
Jesus approached them and calmed the waters.Then we have the man born blind, healed by
Jesus, his sight was restored. Then you you have Lazarus,dead, buried for four days, but with the
word of Jesus, with the prayer to the Father, he was broughtback to life.The signs of Jesus in the
Gospel of St. John,revealing who He was, the One sent by theFather, the One who comes to
people in need,whether it was a wedding or sickness orhunger or being tossed by the waves and
thewinds, blindness, even death. Jesus comes withthe Mercy of God.There is no human need that
Jesus could notaddress. There is no human need, crisis, ordifficulty that falls beyond the purview
of

Jesus’ merciful glance and action. The signs of Jesus, in the Gospel of John, tell us who is this
man: Heis the face, the voice, the hands of the Merciful Father. And the invitation to us is, "Will
you put yourfaith in Him?"So let us not be afraid to open to Jesus those situations in life that we
tend to hide because they areembarrassing to admit. But no, they will invite Jesus to reveal who
He was. He will reveal to us theface of the Merciful Father.We turn to Mary, Mary the Mother of
Mercy. With Jesus and the disciples, the Mother of Jesus,attended the wedding. She was the one
who told Jesus they have no wine. According to someauthors, probably the wedding party were
relatives of Mary and Jesus for only relatives could go tothe recesses of the house and see they
have no more bread, they have no more wine.
Siguro rawkamag-anak ni Maria kasi ang kamag-anak nakakapasok hanggang kusina at nakikita,
"Naku wala nasilang kanin! Wala na silang lambanog! Wala na silang alak!"
But Mary is presented as a woman who was attentive to the needs of others. Her eyes were open.
Herheart was open. But seeing the needs was not enough for her. She approached Jesus. At first,
herwords might sound like a factual statement, “They have no wine.”But the interaction between
Jesus and Mary revealed that there was a veiled request on the part ofMary. Even if she did not
verbalize it, she was probably prodding Jesus to do something. They have nowine. This elicited a
response from Jesus, “How does your concern affect me? My hour has not yetcome.”The hour of
Jesus, for St. John, is His crucifixion, His dying for all--the supreme act of mercy wherenothing
is left of Jesus, everything will be for you. And that is the moment of glory. He will be
glorifiedbecause He will glorify the One who had sent Him, the Father. And Jesus says, “I am
just beginning.The hour has not yet come,” and the hour is determined by the Father.“Mary you
are my mother but the one who will determine my hour is the Father who sent me.” Marydid not
take those words negatively. In fact, she directed the people, “Do whatever He tells you.” Justdo
what He tells you and let us see and the miracle happened.There will be no mention of the
mother of Jesus again in the Gospel of John until the hour comes.Mary will be at the foot of the
Cross of Jesus. And now, it is not Mary who will tell something to Jesus;it is Jesus who will
address Mary. sJesus, in His mercy, knew the disruption that willhappen in the family due to His
death. And so Hetells her that she would not be left alone,“Woman behold your son, son behold
yourmother.” At that crisis moment when a motherwould lose her son, Jesus’ hour blesses
thiswoman, “You will not be alone.”

The mercy of Jesus on families, on mothers and parents losing their children to violence, to
vices, tohuman trafficking, to new forms of slavery: children who are being kidnapped, sold to
prostitution,their body parts harvested in an international syndicated business of body
parts.Whenever a mother cries, it’s the hour of Jesus, it is the hour of mercy. And we are the
disciples thatJesus wants to be with His mother. We are the disciples of mercy, Jesus’ Mercy so
that those who arealone, those who have been victimized, those who have been abandoned and
neglected, those whosecries and tears don’t touch the hearts of others would know that they have
a family, a family born atthe hour of Jesus at the foot of His cross, the mercy of Jesus.I want to
be merciful to you so let me end.
Baka abutin pa tayo ng bukas.
So our readings are about the beautiful signs revealing Jesus. Jesus is revealed in His acts of
mercy. Letus continue showing the face of Jesus to the world through acts of mercy. And like
Mary, let us beattentive to those in need. Let us turn to Jesus, bring their pleas to Jesus. But
remember, Mary will tellus, “Do what Jesus tells you.” So He will tell us to perform signs that
will reveal not ourselves but willreveal Jesus and how lives, families, societies are saved and
made whole because God is merciful.When we do our acts of mercy, let us not forget, it is not
about us. St. Paul reminds us, in his letter tothe Ephisians, it is not your work, it is the work of
Jesus. So no one may boast. We boast only of ourneed for God’s mercy. Please reflect on how
God has been merciful to us, how God has revealed theface of Jesus to us in the many signs of
mercy. And then we will not be proud, we know we areproducts of mercy ourselves and we
boast only in the Lord.Let us pause and open our hearts to the vivifying spirit, the spirit who
enables us to understand thedepth, the breadth and the worth of the blessings we have received
for though we are sinners, God inJesus is rich in mercy.
Follow us:Website = http://www.novalichesdiocese.wordpress.comFacebook =
https://www.facebook.com/NovalichesDioceseInstagram =
https://www.instagram.com/dioceseofnovaliches/ Pinterest =
https://www.pinterest.com/ndiocese/ Twitter = https://twitter.com/RCBN_DioNovaScribd =
https://www.scribd.com/user/303077242/Diocese-NovalichesYouTube =
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcdMS3e5VijTjv_JFnljFGQSoundCloud =
https://soundcloud.com/diocese-novaliches

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Download this PDF
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