MANILA, July 2, 2013— The head of Manila’s Roman Catholic Church urged Catholic school teachers and students to proclaim their faith openly.
Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle of Manila said that Catholic schools exist to proclaim and led the faithful to a lived encounter with Christ.
“To all the teachers especially in Catholic schools, let your way of relating with students, let your genuine care, compassion, concern for them who are now virtually your children, let all of these be your proclamation of your Lord Jesus,” Tagle said.
Students present an offertory gift of school supplies to Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle during the Mass of the Holy Spirit at San Fernando de Dilao Church in Paco, Manila on July 1. (Noli Yamsuan/RCAM)
The cardinal spoke at a Mass of the Holy Spirit July 1 at the Fernando de Dilao Parish Church in Paco, Manila for Catholic schools.
Tagle then asked students to pray and maintain spiritual intimacy with God all the time and not just in times of need.
“To the students, don’t just pray to the Holy Spirit during exams. We turned the Holy Spirit as solver of problems that we committed,” he said.
“Our deep encounter (with the Holy Spirit) would lead to confession, proclamation of our faith in Jesus… leading to a courageous and joyful confession of our Lord,” Tagle added.
The church leader also made a similar appeal to the “products” of Catholic schools: “Confess Jesus.”
“Confess the Lord who became human. So in your humanity grow in the way that Jesus grew in stature and in grace and wisdom before God and human beings,” Tagle said.
May our schools become a home of love that is the fruit of the Holy Spirit,” he said. “Mutual appreciation, mutual building up. And who will benefit? The whole Church, the whole of society, the whole of humanity.” (CBCPNews)
