Palo priest to faithful: “Pray for IEC”

TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines – Father Ivo Velasquez, a priest of the Archdiocese of Palo in Leyte, called on the faithful to pray for the success of the 51st International Eucharistic Congress currently being held in Cebu City.

Velasquez, in his homily during a Mass he celebrated at the Sto. Niño Parish Church in this city, also requested for prayer for the fruits of the IEC in all those who are taking part in it.

The young priest, who is a formator at the St. John the Evangelist School of Theology in Palo town of Leyte, talked on the essence of the Eucharist, which the people should learn to live by. “These are not symbols of the Lord, but ‘Christ himself present,’” he said.

“In the Eucharist, Christ is truly with us,” Velasquez said referring to the Holy Host and the Wine. This is one reason that Catholics should not take the Holy Mass for granted, he said, adding that the Holy Mass, being the highest form of prayer, cannot just be substituted by any prayer said outside the structural church.

“We come to church not to listen to opinions but to listen to God’s word,” said Velasquez, as he underscored the inclusion of every baptized Christian as member of one body, which head is Christ.

“We are here as a ‘church’, a community of God’s people coming together not by our own choice or by our selection but by God’s will,” he told the faithful.

Velasquez, also spiritual director and formator of some faith groups in the Archdiocese, expounded on the role that each person undertakes in the church. “We are all chosen to be part of the church and each one of us plays a part especially in spreading the word of God,” he said.

“It is not this structure that constitutes the church which could be destroyed but all of us gathered here,” he said, reiterating the utterance of Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle at the celebration of the Diamond Jubilee of the Diocese of Palo held at the then typhoon-wrecked Palo Metropolitan Cathedral on November 2013.

This is best understood by regular attendance of the Holy Mass and understanding more deeply the significance of the Holy Eucharist in a man’s life, said Velasquez.

Meanwhile, Father Ric Marpa, chancellor of the Archdiocese of Palo, said that from the archdiocese, the clergy are attending the IEC in Cebu in two batches.

Church workers and volunteers have also registered to be participants in the IEC, which Marpa described as “another worth-while experience among Catholics.” (FREEMAN)