DIOCESE OF NOVALICHES

Commission on Faith & Formation

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4TH WORLD APOSTOLIC CONGRESS ON MERCY (WACOM 4)

CELEBRATION OF THE MOST HOLY EUCHARIST
DAY 1 - JANUARY 1, 2017 - MANILA CATHEDRAL, INTRAMUROS, MANILA

Transcript of the Homily of

H.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 Manila
Cathedral, dedicated to Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception. In a special way, we welcome those
who came from far away lands, those who came from countries outside of the Philippines. So may I
invite 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 the
world, and the bishops of the Philippines, with our President, Most Rev. Socrates Villegas. We also
want to thank the Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines, the Most Rev. Giuseppe Pinto for presiding in
todays Liturgy. Thank you very much!

You know today, the 16th of January 2017, is the second anniversary of the Eucharistic Celebration
presided 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 the
theme of, "Mercy and Compassion".

And two years later, here we are gathered for the World Apostolic Congress On Mercy. We just
finished the Jubilee of Mercy, so its mercy upon mercy! Palakpak naman kayo!

This Opening Liturgy is celebrated to invoke not only the memory but also the protection and
assistance of our Blessed Mother, Mother of
Mercy. But we should follow her. She said in the
Gospel, Do whatever Jesus tells you. She
directs us to Jesus.

So first, let us reflect on Jesus as presented in

the Gospel. This portion of the Gospel, according
to St. John, is well known to us: the wedding in
Cana, in Galilee--the Galilee of the Gentiles, the
Galilee of a mixed people. The Galilee that was
suspect of being impure.
And in Galilee, in Cana, there was a wedding with Jesus, the Mother of Jesus, and His disciples in
attendance. This marks the first sign that Jesus performed. Water was turned into wine and, according
to 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 of
water into wine revealed the Glory of Jesus. It revealed the identity of Jesus: who is this Man, who is
this 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, the
disciples begun to believe in Him. This is the purpose of the signs of Jesus, to reveal His identity and to
invite the disciples to believe in Him.

And what a sign! What a first sign, happening in a wedding--the beginning of commitment, the
beginning of the coming together of two persons, of two lives, the beginning of a family, yet being
disrupted 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 a
marriage. And especially for the groom, your ability as a groom to provide wine for the seven days of
celebration 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 was
no more wine?!". It was a crisis that could mar, could stain the future of husband and wife and the
whole family that will be borne from such a union. The miracle happened at this moment of need, of
crisis 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 you
had the multitudes, 5,000 of them, being fed by the miraculous multiplication of bread. How many are
we 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 brought
back to life.

The signs of Jesus in the Gospel of St. John,

revealing who He was, the One sent by the
Father, the One who comes to people in need,
whether it was a wedding or sickness or
hunger or being tossed by the waves and the
winds, blindness, even death. Jesus comes with
the Mercy of God.

There is no human need that Jesus could not

address. There is no human need, crisis, or
difficulty 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: He
is the face, the voice, the hands of the Merciful Father. And the invitation to us is, "Will you put your
faith in Him?"

So let us not be afraid to open to Jesus those situations in life that we tend to hide because they are
embarrassing to admit. But no, they will invite Jesus to reveal who He was. He will reveal to us the
face 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 some
authors, probably the wedding party were relatives of Mary and Jesus for only relatives could go to
the recesses of the house and see they have no more bread, they have no more wine. Siguro raw
kamag-anak ni Maria kasi ang kamag-anak nakakapasok hanggang kusina at nakikita, "Naku wala na
silang 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. Her
heart was open. But seeing the needs was not enough for her. She approached Jesus. At first, her
words 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 of
Mary. Even if she did not verbalize it, she was probably prodding Jesus to do something. They have no
wine. This elicited a response from Jesus, How does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet
come.

The hour of Jesus, for St. John, is His crucifixion, His dying for all--the supreme act of mercy where
nothing is left of Jesus, everything will be for you. And that is the moment of glory. He will be glorified
because 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. Mary
did not take those words negatively. In fact, she directed the people, Do whatever He tells you. Just
do 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. s

Jesus, in His mercy, knew the disruption that will

happen in the family due to His death. And so He
tells her that she would not be left alone,
Woman behold your son, son behold your
mother. At that crisis moment when a mother
would lose her son, Jesus hour blesses this
woman, You will not be alone.
The mercy of Jesus on families, on mothers and parents losing their children to violence, to vices, to
human 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, its the hour of Jesus, it is the hour of mercy. And we are the disciples that
Jesus wants to be with His mother. We are the disciples of mercy, Jesus Mercy so that those who are
alone, those who have been victimized, those who have been abandoned and neglected, those whose
cries and tears dont touch the hearts of others would know that they have a family, a family born at
the 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. Let
us continue showing the face of Jesus to the world through acts of mercy. And like Mary, let us be
attentive to those in need. Let us turn to Jesus, bring their pleas to Jesus. But remember, Mary will tell
us, Do what Jesus tells you. So He will tell us to perform signs that will reveal not ourselves but will
reveal 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 to
the Ephisians, it is not your work, it is the work of Jesus. So no one may boast. We boast only of our
need for Gods mercy. Please reflect on how God has been merciful to us, how God has revealed the
face of Jesus to us in the many signs of mercy. And then we will not be proud, we know we are
products 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 the
depth, the breadth and the worth of the blessings we have received for though we are sinners, God in
Jesus is rich in mercy.

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