BASIC ORIENTATION ON SOCIAL ACTION WORK

Our Programs and Services in the light of Aral ng Batangueño

I. INTRODUCTION
While I was being treated at the Makati Medical Center the other day, I had the chance
to talk to a young lady who, like me, was also being treated. Her name is Krizette.
She is 26 years old and was diagnosed two (2) years ago with pericarditis or
inflammation of the heart. I was able to ask further about her condition alongside
other things, ang among them was that we were both each of our grandmothers'
favorite grandchild. There was something unique about her story, though – her
grandmother who just turned 79 this year was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease a
couple of years ago. Her grandmother is no longer staying with the family because
she has been sent to the island of Malta, as advised, under the care of the UN
International Institute on Population Aging.

She told me in detail about the facilities on the island of Malta and one of them was
engraved in my memory: the facility for the elderly with advanced dementia where
her grandmother was enrolled. The rooms for the elderly face a circular corridor, like
an oval, as it was called, as these patients are wont to walk about, day and night, in
great confusion, while memories fade. I wondered... How do they get back to their
rooms when their memories have been seriously impaired? Here’s how. On each door
are pictures posted from their weddings, debuts, graduations, and small but
meaningful memories and events left and embedded from their youth. After my
therapy, I went back to my room and cried my eyes out.

Many times, we, too are like patients with that similar condition – we tend to get
afflicted – although from a relatively different perspective. We often forget the
important matters pertaining to our call and mission. The Holy Father, in his annual
message to the Roman Curia, made mention of a so-called “spiritual Alzheimer's”.
According to him, this is much worse than the physical affliction, for it is a progressive
decline of our spiritual faculties, causing us to lose our memory of that first encounter
with the Lord, because of passions, whims, and obsessions with worldly cares1. I am
citing this analogy since we, pastoral workers, may all be susceptible to this kind of
disease. There is, however, an antidote and cure. Just like Krizette's afflicted
grandmother, we are called to gaze and learn from the imagery, memories, and
experiences of those who came before us; to remind us of the reason for our hope.

In the context of our service to the local Church to uplift and make better the quality
of life of the poor, we shall collectively embark on revisiting the Vision of the
Archdiocese of Lipa as contained in the first Philippine attempt to inculturate the
Christian Doctrine: Aral ng Batangueño, Mamayan at Kristiyano. We shall also probe
and analyze its relevance and implications to the mission of the social action
apostolate in the province and beyond.

II. OBJECTIVES

▪ To revisit and reimagine the Archdiocesan Vision, its relevance with and
implication to our present realities

1
Abby Ohlheiser, Pope Francis Warns against Spiritual Alzheimer’s.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/world/wp/2014/12/22/pope-francis-warns-vatican-leaders-against-
spiritual-alzheimers/. Accessed on 22 August 2022.

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▪ To articulate and assess the situations of poverty in the province, alongside their
causes and effects
▪ To learn and relearn about the threefold program of the social action

III. METHODOLOGY

a. Workshop 1: Bansagan ang Larawan

Each group of 5-6 members shall:
1. Select or appoint a secretary and narrator from among themselves
2. Allocate 25 minutes for brainstorming and 5 minutes for reporting
3. Describe and derive meaningful experiences or memories that can be
associated with each of the set of eight (8) photos given
4. Use a separate meta card for the description
5. Apply creativity and innovation in describing or labeling
6. Create a coherent, engaging, fun, and meaningful story from the photos
7. Choose a title for the story
8. Present with strong conviction and maximum participation

b. Workshop 2: PoverTree Analysis

Each group of 5-6 members shall:
1. Select or identify a difficult situation or problem in their locality
2. Identify the root causes and their effects
3. Identify at least three (3) recurring themes
4. Offer some conclusion

c. Workshop 3: Finding the DOT

Each participant will answer the following questions on a meta card:
1. What problem can I solve?
2. What goal/dream can I help expedite?
3. What can I create to give others a shortcut to a better quality of living?
4. Discuss and share with a peer

IV. SALIENT POINTS

a. Isang Bayan
- Tayo ay kabilang sa iisang Katawan.
- Ang kaisahan ay dapat magbunsod ng pag-aanyaya vs. exclusivity
- Pagkakaisa is not UNIFORMITY but harmony in diversity
- Imagery: Good Gut Health = diverse microbiome = stronger immunity

b. Tinawag ng Ama
- Maliwanag ang Diyos kung tumawag.
- Kasama sa tinatawag Niya ang buong pagkatao natin; lahat ng katangian,
mabuti man o hindi [pa]
- Ang tinatawag ay “hinihirang” at ibinubukod. Ito ang dahilan ng unique na
formation na ibinibigay sa atin. Hindi tayo naglilingkod sa estado lamang. Hindi
lamang sa tao. Tayo ay may pananagutan sa Diyos dahil tinawag niya tayo.
- Ang tinatawag ay hindi lamang nakikinig. Tumutugon din.
- Isa lamang ang tugon kapag ang Diyos ay nagpahayag at tumawag. Faith.
Pananampalataya.
- Faith is the conviction to believe even if you are uncertain.

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c. Kay Jesus, Kay Jesukristo
- Jesus is the fullness of God’s revelation
- Wala tayong pinagdaanan na hindi Niya naranasan (Hebrews 2:11)
- All were created through Him; all were created for Him; He is before all else that
is … in Him, everything continues in being. (Colossians 1:16)
- Bakit tuloy ang pag-iral ng ating apostolado? Dahil kay Jesus.

d. Upang maging Sambayanan

- It is not enough to save oneself. The community is essential.
- Hindi sapat na iligtas ang sarili. Ang pamayanan ay mahalaga.

e. Ng mga Taong may Kaganapan ng Buhay sa Sanlibutan

- Root-word: Ganap.
- It is more than what we do. It must lead to fulfillment
- Hindi lamang sa langit ang reward. Mayroon din sa sanlibutan.
- Do not romanticize poverty.
- Poverty is failing to invest in people.
- Excerpt from Thelma Lee-Mendoza: “Poverty is neither fate nor punishment. It is
a condition that can and must be changed.”
- Temporal Liberation and Eternal Salvation are inseparable.

f. Sumasaksi sa Paghahari ng Diyos

- Kalooban is the seat of God’s Kingdom or the opposite.
- Indicators of Witnessing: See Mt 25: 31-46

g. Nagsasabuhay ng Misteryo Paskwal

- Paschal Mystery: Passion, Death, and Resurrection
- Unless the grain of wheat falls and dies, it will never bear fruit.
- Analogy: Lifecycle of Plants
- Aral ng Batangueno:
1. Kasipagan – Pagsisikap – Passion
2. Disiplina – Pagpipigil – Death
3. Tagumpay – Pamumunga/Pagyabong – Life and Resurrection
- Walang shortcut
- Dapat nating tanggapin na hindi puro kasiyahan ang gawaing ito
- There is a temptation to flee from the cross. Example: “Employees do not need
a perfect manager or supervisors. They need a happy leadership who is gonna
make them excited to come to work.”
- We are not here to console ourselves.
- We are not here to make ourselves happy. We are here to console others; serve
others and make OTHERS happy. This is ALAY KAPWA.

h. Sa Kapangyarihan ng Espiritu Santo

- How do you know if it is the Holy Spirit?
- Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they
are from God, for many false prophets have gone out. (1 Jn 4:1-6)
- “By their fruits, you will know them” Mt 7:15-20
- 12 fruits of the Holy Spirit: “charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control,
chastity.”

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- Short examen from the Ignatian Spirituality or Spiritual Exercises: How do you
know if it is God who is working in your life?
- Examine your thoughts every day, one at midday and one before retiring, during
the first half of the day and before you sleep. Where do your thoughts and your
actions lead you?
- If they lead you to become more charitable, more joyful, more peaceful, you are
becoming more patient with others, you treat people with kindness, then you
can be sure it is the Lord who is working in your life. (Apply this in your
programs, character evaluation, appraisal, etc.)
- If these do NOT lead to the fruits of the Spirit, then they are surely eading us to
the ways of the world.
- Worldly spirits are NOT from the Lord.

i. Three (3) major issues that enslave us 2

- Karamdaman/sickness (#318-321)
- Karukhaan/poverty (#312-317)
- Kamangmangan/ignorance (#301-311)

j. LASAC Thematic Programs3 prior to Pastoral Visit, 2018:

Poverty Alleviation Sagot Kapwa Karamdaman Works of Mercy

Poverty Reduction Sanay Kapwa Karukhaan Skills Training
Poverty Eradication Sulong Kapwa Kamangmangan Advocacy & Com.

k. LASAC Programs and Services Post-Pastoral Visit, 2018:

- Food Security
- Servant Leadership
- Humanitarian

l. Special Feature: Pastoral Caravan

- Bringing the Church to the Peripheries
- A story of an old woman amputee/naputulan ng paa: she felt totally abandoned,
questioning the Lord of his will in allowing such misfortune to befall on her.
- She was gifted with two (2) hand crutches to support and assist her in her daily
activities and chores
- She was also administered with the Sacrament, Anointing of the Sick
- Hindi lamang ang katawan nila na nakatanggap ng ginhawa, kung hindi pati
kaluluwa’y tumanggap ng mahal na grasya

V. CONCLUSION
The signs of the times present us with challenges and encounters that portray
intertwined and complicated realities at all levels: micro (the individual/self), mezzo
(the various groups, sectors, and institutions), and macro (the government and
communities). With greater awareness for the work that we do and for future
endeavors, we must foresee and admit, that our interventions, if not properly
discerned, may suffer from an excessive multiplicity that may often result in a
harmfully fragmented apostolate. To combat and prevent this, our response must
always be convergence, as enshrined in the Archdiocesan Vision.

2
Cardinal Rosales, Aral ng Batangueño, Mamamayan at Kristiyano, #301-326
3
Rev. Fr. Jayson Siapco, How has the Archdiocese responded to the Summons of the Poor? 15 June 2015.

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In the context of Synodality which speaks of being together, walking together, and
remaining together, it is therefore not a call to create more activities or programs
because … “What the Holy Spirit mobilizes is not an unruly activism, but above all, an
attentiveness which considers the other in a certain sense as one with ourselves”4.
This loving attentiveness is the beginning of a true concern for the poor which inspires
us to effectively help them seek their good. After all, if there is no longer an underlying
unity and loving attentiveness in the many works we fulfill, then there is the risk that
we will no longer be able to grasp the true purpose of our mission.

Prepared by:

(sgd.) Renbrandt S. TANGONAN

Communications and Advocacy Assistant IV

4
Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel), 2013, #199.