The Archdiocese of Manila (RCAM) is set

to officially mark the start of the “Year of the

Poor” on Nov. 29, Saturday—the eve of the first
Sunday of Advent—
In a circular, the head of the Committee
for the Year of the Poor, Fr. Luke Moortgat,
CICM, shares that as one of the preparations
for the 500th jubilee year of Christianity in the
Philippines in 2021, the upcoming liturgical year
invites the faithful to reflect and act on the lives
of the poor in society.
“We will remember that Jesus lived
poorly, not even having a stone to lay down his
head, while he went around doing good, caring
for the outcast of society,” he explains.
“We plan, therefore, to pray and have
actions for the people at the bottom of society,
that is, the poorest 25% or people living with
less than P350 day for a family of five, or P70
per person per day,” the priest adds.
Moortgat admits that while removing all symptoms of poverty is a task the
Church cannot accomplish on her own, he stresses each one can do her part in
helping decrease its causes.
Themed “Bumangon at Manindigan” (Rise and Stand up), the Year of the
Poor aims to adopt the attitude of the Apostles when they cured the poor person
with disability.
Quoting Acts 3: 5-6, Moortgat states, “I have no gold or silver, but with the
grace of God, I tell you, rise up and walk”.
“We are not bussing in a large numbers of students from a small number of
schools, but we hope to have participants from a very large variety of entities such
as parishes, schools, church offices, religious congregations, Catholic organizations,
all kinds of businesses, NGOs [non-government organizations], movements,
concerned Catholics, etc., etc. Please invite them,” he says.
Citing Jesus in Mt. 25:40, the priest stresses, “Whatever you have done to the
least of my brothers and sisters, you have done it to me”.
 The Immaculate Conception, according to
the teaching of the Catholic Church, was
the conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary in her
mother's womb free from original sin. The
Immaculate Conception is commonly confused
with the doctrine of the Incarnation and the virgin
birth of Jesus, though the two deal with separate
subjects. The Catholic Church teaches Mary was
conceived by normal biological means, but her
soul was acted upon by God (kept "immaculate")
at the time of her conception. The defined dogma
of the Immaculate Conception regards original sin
only, saying that Mary was preserved from
any stain (in Latin, macula or labes, the second of
these two synonymous words being the one used
in the formal definition). The proclaimed Roman
Catholic dogma states "that the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her
conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the
merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of
original sin." Therefore, being always free from original sin, the doctrine teaches that
from her conception Mary received the sanctifying grace that would normally come with
baptism after birth. The definition makes no declaration about the Church's belief that the
Blessed Virgin was sinless in the sense of freedom from actual or personal sin. However,
the Church holds that Mary was also sinless personally, "free from all sin, original or
personal". The Council of Trent decreed: "If anyone shall say that a man once justified
can sin no more, nor lose grace, and that therefore he who falls and sins was never truly
justified; or, on the contrary, that throughout his whole life he can avoid all sins even
venial sins, except by a special privilege of God, as the Church holds in regard to the
Blessed Virgin: let him be anathema." The doctrine of the immaculate conception (Mary
being conceived free from original sin) is not to be confused with her virginal
conception of her son Jesus. Catholics believe that Mary was not the product of a virginal
conception herself but was the daughter of a human father and mother, traditionally
known by the names of Saint Joachim and Saint Anne. In 1677, the Holy See condemned
the belief that Mary was virginally conceived, which had been a belief surfacing
occasionally since the 4th century. The Church celebrates the Feast of the Immaculate
Conception on 8 December, exactly nine months before celebrating the Nativity of Mary.
The feast of the Annunciation (which commemorates the virginal conception and
the Incarnation of Jesus) is celebrated on 25 March, nine months before Christmas Day.