The Eucharist, the Family and

the Jubilee of Mercy

Towards a Common Understanding
and Vibrant Celebration

Towards A Common Understanding

The Jubilee Year of Mercy

The Year of the Eucharist and of the Family

Towards A Common Understanding

The Jubilee Year of Mercy

From December 8, 2015-November 20, 2016

The Year of the Eucharist and of the Family

2016 (November 29, 2015-November 26, 2016)

Why Jubilee Year of Mercy?

Pope Francis: To
make our witness
[as Church]
stronger and more
effective
Cf: Misericordiae Vultus
(Bull of indiction)

Misericordiae Vultus
At times we are called to gaze even more
attentively on mercy so that we may become a
more effective sign of the Fathers action in
our lives. For this reason I have proclaimed
an Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercyas a special
time for the Church, a time when the witness of
believers might grow stronger and more
effective. Cf. MV #3

Why Year of the Eucharist and

of the Family?

Part of the CBCP led 9year program in

preparation for the 5th
Centenary of
Christianity in the
Philippines with an end
towards New
Evangelization
Cf.: CBCP, Primer on
the Year of Faith and the
New Evangelization

CBCP Primer on the Year of Faith and

the New Evangelization
Year 2016: The Eucharist and the Family

We will focus our pastoral action on

making the Eucharist better
appreciated and its missionary
implication better lived by the
Catholic faithful.

CBCP Primer on the Year of Faith and

the New Evangelization

We shall especially emphasize on

forming the Filipino Family as a
Eucharistic community of parents and
children , true to its name as a
domestic church, rooted in the
Eucharist.

CBCP Primer on the Year of Faith and

the New Evangelization

An evangelized family is an
evangelizing family. Even as it is
increasingly besieged by secularist
values, the Family, as PCP II has said,
is the focal point of evangelization.

CBCP Primer on the Year of Faith and

the New Evangelization

We shall intensify our efforts to

strengthen marriage and the family
and to protect them from ideas and
values that destroy them.

Towards a Closer Integration

Several elements involved:

The Jubilee (Extraordinary)
Mercy (Gods Mercy)
The Year (2016 in the run-up to 2021)
The Family
The Eucharist

Evangelization as the Key

Evangelization as the key towards a common

and unified understanding of the five
interweaving elements:
the Extraordinary Jubilee
Mercy (Gods Mercy)
the Year 2016 (vis--vis 2021)
the Family
the Eucharist

Further Clarification and Deepening

What is Evangelization?

What does it mean to be evangelized?

What does it mean to be

evangelizing?

Evangelization

Process of bringing forward the Good

News

Implies having received the Good News

oneself; having accepted or having made
it as ones own, and once accepted, and
therefore convinced of its being good
news, you spread it, you share it, you
pour it out

Mercy

Mercy as the core of the revelation of

Christ
When we evangelize we know that mercy
is the heart of the Good News that we
bring
The Church feels the urgent need to
proclaim Gods mercy

Mercy

Gods mercy is Christ Jesus: the face of

Gods mercy

The mercy of God in Christ Jesus is kept

alive in the Eucharist, always, and forever

Mercy
The Church feels the
urgent need to
proclaim Gods
mercy. Her life is
authentic and credible
only when she
becomes a convincing
herald of mercy.

Mercy
She knows that her primary
task, especially at a
moment full of great
hopes and signs of
contradiction, is to
introduce everyone to the
great mystery of Gods
mercy by contemplating
the face of Christ.

Mercy
The Church is called
above all to be a
credible witness to
mercy, professing it
and living it as the
core of the revelation
of Jesus Christ.
MV#25

Mercy

When we evangelize we know that

mercy is the core or the heart of the
Good News that we bring

The Church feels the urgent need to

proclaim Gods mercy

Mercy

Gods mercy is Christ Jesus: the face

of Gods mercy

The mercy of God in Christ Jesus is

kept alive in the Eucharist, always,
and forever

The Eucharist

What is the Eucharist?

The Eucharist as Memorial of

Christs Passion, Death, and
Resurrection where the mystery of
Gods mercy is fully revealed

The Eucharist
Memorial is not
just a
remembering of
a past event but
it is making it
truly present and
fully alive

The Eucharist
Christ is really and
truly present in the
Eucharist through
which we who
receive him are
transformed into his
likeness: offered, broken, and shared for
the salvation of the world and the entire
creation

The Family

What is Family?
Family is a community of parents and
children and by extension grandparents
and grandchildren and other relatives

What is the Churchs vision of Family?

Churchs Vision of Family

As a community centered in Christ,

therefore, the Family is:
Eucharistic
a domestic church
Truly evangelized and
evangelizing

Family as Focal Point of

Evangelization

Given the gap between the Churchs

vision of Family and the present
reality wherein families are besieged
by secularist values, the family
becomes the focal point of our
evangelization

The Eucharist as the Focal Point of

Living Community

Given the gap between the Churchs

profound understanding of and teaching
on the Eucharist and the actual
experience people have of the Eucharist
in the parishes, the Eucharist is the
focal point and means of building and
strengthening of communities among
the faithful.

Mercy as the Heart of Evangelization

Given the gap between the vision of Pope

Francis of the Church as a convincing herald
of mercy by which alone her life is authentic
and credible and the actual experience of
people of the Church, mercy becomes a
challenge for us as focal point of our formation
as members of the Church (ad intra) and of
pastoral action as Church in the world (ad
extra)

Bridging the Gaps: On Mercy

Becoming Heralds of Mercy

Can we be formed and transformed
as heralds of mercy? Yes, but how?
Developing a non-judgmental attitude
that seeks to understand rather than
condemn so as to liberate the person
from enslavement to sin

Bridging the Gaps: On Mercy

Making a Pilgrimage of Mercy

Making mercy as a goal to reach that

requires dedication and sacrifice

Taking the Two Steps forward

Step One: Judge not condemn not

Step Two: Forgive and give

Bridging the Gaps: On Mercy

Making the
Motto of the
Holy Year as
Ones Own

Merciful like
the Father

Bridging the Gaps: On Mercy

Rediscover the Works of Mercy

The Corporal Works of Mercy
The Spiritual Works of Mercy

Bridging the Gaps: On Mercy

The Corporal Works of Mercy

To feed the hungry, give drink to the

thirsty, clothe the naked, welcome
the stranger, heal the sick, visit the
imprisoned, and bury the dead

Bridging the Gaps: On Mercy

The Spiritual Works of Mercy

To counsel the doubtful, instruct the

ignorant, admonish sinners, comfort
the afflicted, forgive offences, bear
patiently those who do us ill, and
pray for the living and the dead

Bridging the Gaps: On the Eucharist

and the Family

Improve the Liturgical Celebration of the

Eucharist starting with the Liturgy of the
Word
Lectors need to deliver: To proclaim not just

read the Word of God

Presiders should deliver: A Homily not a
Sermon: To expose the Word of God, talk
about the main points of the Message and give
some practical applications in life

Bridging the Gaps: On the Eucharist

and the Family

Improve the Celebration of the Liturgy of

the Eucharist itself
Presiders should not rush the liturgy of the

Eucharist to make up for an overly extended

celebration of the Word and try to beat the one
hour only limit of the Mass
Encourage more moments of silence as part of
the celebration of the Eucharist especially after
Communion

Bridging the Gaps: On the Eucharist

and the Family

Overall make the celebration of the Holy

Eucharist nourishing, inspiring, renewing, and
an opportunity for growth where people return
home with something to bring with them as part
of their mission
See to it that the Dismissal which still is a very

important part of the Mass where people are being sent

on a mission to evangelize others in word and deed is
understood and appreciated as that by which people are
being asked to do something

Bridging the Gaps: On the Eucharist

and the Family
Make parents realize that evangelization

begins at home through witnessing and

good example
Erring members of the family should be
treated with mercy and compassion leading
them to conversion and renewal
Help parents become good shepherds of
their family by particularly practicing the
spiritual works of mercy

Conclusion or Path Forward

Walking Together as One Church with a Common

understanding of the Jubilee Year Full of
Challenges as well as Blessings
Opening the discussion further towards greater
participation of priests, religious and lay people in
charting a common agenda or way for a
meaningful celebration of the Jubilee Year
Finding ways to help parishes plan and implement
more concrete actions celebrating the Jubilee Year