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The Burial Cloths

Danny Pilario·Sunday, April 21, 2019

The women with spices for him did not find his body. Peter and John ran to the tomb. Jesus was not there. Instead, he saw the burial cloths. Mary of Magdala saw the stone removed. She thought someone stole his body. She complained to the gardener. But something different happened. Two disciples was so disappointed. They thought they were mistaken in trusting the young preacher Jesus. They were ready to go back to their old lives until…

Two years ago, these orphans were distraught. After the brutal killing of their fathers, life drastically changed for them. Life was hard before. But it became harder now.

There were days that they had nothing to eat, said one. Many of them blamed God. At their very young age, they quarrelled with God: “Why my father? What about us? Who will take care of us?” Some stopped schooling. When we first journeyed with them, they were not talking. All they had were tears and blank stares. One or two were just looking far at nowhere.

But something changed. Something different happened.

They still cry when they remember him. They still feel the pain. Life is still so precarious. No one is really sure what the future brings. Justice is still not being served. And maybe not in the near future.

But light appears somewhere. They feel something hopeful, something joyful. Now they can smile. Now they can play. Now they can sing.

Thanks to Baigani and Bawat Isa Mahalaga for inviting them and teaching them to sing. Credits: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKH3xisSP-c

I did not deliver my homily at the Easter vigil. I just requested them to sing a song composed for them, and share their story of hope.

Their song is brave and courageous. And to hear it from the mouth of children, it becomes prophetic.

“Bayan ko’y sakal ng hambog, ganid at hangal
Panaigan nawa ng may dunong at dangal
At kung bawat isa’y tumayo’t manindigan,
ang kapwa magiging ating kanlungan.”

“Ang wasto’y gagawin, ang mali ay uusigin
Bawat naliligaw kapit-bisig na akayin
Bawat isip ay buksan, bawat puso ay baguhin
Dahil ang bawat isa’y mahalaga sa atin.”
 (Composer and lyricist: Julius Fernandez)

While they were singing and sharing, I was looking at their mothers sitting at the pews. They were crying. But this time, these are also tears of joy. They also feel something hopeful. For themselves. For their children.

I asked the children to light their candles from the Paschal candle and distribute it to the people. Like Magdalene, they are the new messengers of the resurrection. With our lighted candles, we all stood up and joined them in singing their song.

I told the parish community gathered for the Easter vigil:

“These children are our present witnesses to the resurrection. They underwent death. All they saw for now are the burial cloths. But their lives already tell us that Jesus is truly risen!”

Happy Easter to all!

From the children of Project SOW (Solidarity with Orphans and Widows)

Ina ng Lupang Pangako Parish, Payatas B, Quezon City

Final Report of the National Fact-Finding and Solidarity Mission in Negros Oriental, Philippines

April 4-8, 2019

Context

On March 30, 2019, between 2:00am to 5:30am, fourteen (14) persons were killed by State security forces during their operations in Canlaon City, Manjuyod, and Sta. Catalina towns in Negros Oriental province in the Philippines. At least fifteen (15) persons were also reportedly arrested in the said localities, according to relatives of the victims and peasant organizations in the province.

In a report by Bombo Radyo Cebu, the PNP Region 7 said that it launched its Simultaneous Enhanced Managing Police Operations (SEMPO) or Oplan Sawron in Negros Oriental. Central Visayas Police Regional Office (PRO-7) Chief Debold Sinas said that the police served 37 search warrants to “various personalities due to illegal possession of firearms.” He also said that they were able to serve 31 search warrants; 14 were killed when these personalities resisted arrests, while 12 others were arrested.1

In another article, Sinas also reportedly said that those who were killed were members of the CPP-NPA and that the 14 refused to surrender and engaged the police in a shoot-out. “They really fought. Even in Oplan Sauron Part 1, there was a directive from the top leadership of the rebels to fight it out with the police. They were not ready to surrender because they were hardcore rebels,” Sinas said.2

On April 1, 2019, PNP Chief Oscar Albayalde and Presidential Spokesperon Salvador Panelo said that these are legitimate police operations.3

The mass killings and illegal arrests of farmers in Negros Oriental are the latest of the attacks against human rights defenders and of the long list of human rights violations documented under the Duterte administration.

Backdrop of a Bloodbath: Poverty and Landlessness in Negros

Throughout decades, Negros has been known as an island of impoverished and landless peasants and farmworkers in the Philippines. Government neglect, exploitation of sugar workers, the dominance of landlords and warlords, and neoliberal policies have altogether created and contributed to the grinding poverty and hunger experienced by the poor in the island, despite the vast tracts of land and resources of its two provinces.

At least 56% of the country’s sugarcane produce come from the Negros island, where 54% of the country’s sugar mill and plantation workers are found. More than 335,000 sugarcane workers in Negros, out of 780,000 nationwide figures, are subjected to slave- like economic conditions.4

The average monthly income of a sugarcane worker in Negros is at PhP1,500 (or $27.96) to PhP2,000 ($37.28), which translates to PhP50 ($0.93) to PhP67 ($1.24) a day.5 The said levels are a far cry from the daily minimum wage rates of sugar workers in the province which is at PhP303.00 ($5.65) a day6, or from the National Capital Region wage rates at PhP512 ($9.54) a day.7 Comparing the said figures with the average family living wage as estimated by Ibon Foundation at PhP1,001 ($18.66)8, it would give the picture of the sheer destitute state of the sugar workers’ families.

Such a situation exists with the concentration of land to a few elites on the island. The Unyon ng Manggagawa sa Agrikultura said that of the 424,130 hectares of sugar lands in Negros, 40% are owned by 1,860 big landlords, while 30% are owned by 6,820 small landlords.9 UMA named the landlord families of the Cojuangcos, Aquinos, Roxases, Aranetas, Torreses, Teveses and others, as among those with vast tracts of land in the region.10

Meanwhile, the failure of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP), under which some 427,656 hectares of land in the Negros region was to be distributed, have so far resulted to the distribution of 302,377 hectares in its three decades of implementation. In an article by Arnold Padilla, Programme Coordinator of the Pesticide Action Network- Asia Pacific, at least 125,279 hectares in land acquisition and distribution (LAD) are yet to be distributed. Negros island accounts for 21% of the national LAD balance of 602,306 hectares – the largest among all regions. It has the second lowest LAD accomplishment rate at 71%, just behind the 67% of another impoverished region, the ARMM.11

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With very meager wages from their work in farms, farmers and farmworkers are forced to take on other informal or odd jobs to feed their families, especially during the Tiempo Muerto season or the period between the planting and harvesting seasons of sugarcane where no work is available in the haciendas for six months.

This is the reason why farmworkers organize themselves to cultivate undistributed CARP lands to ease the problem of hunger especially during Tiempo Muerto season, by planting crops that their families can eat. The farmworkers came up with a Bungkalan campaign (land occupation and collective cultivation) which was organized to assert their rights to the land they till and for genuine agrarian reform.12

Negros Oriental’s main produce are its sugarcane, coconuts, and bananas.13 Yet with its 1.35 million population14, the province has been considered as among the poorest in the country15, with 45% poverty incidence among its population, compared to the national average of 21.6%.16

The areas affected by the mass killings on March 30, 2019, registered high poverty incidence rates with Manjuyod having 33.6%, 43.1 % in Santa Catalina and Canlaon City at 42.3%.17

Human rights violations: State response to the peasants’ struggle for land

In Negros, killings, massacres, and other rights violations related to the peasants’ struggle for land and rights have marked the island’s history.

During the Marcos dictatorship, the massacre of 20 peasants, known as the Escalante Massacre, marked the Negrense’s protest action on September 20, 1985. Prior to this bloody incident, soldiers and paramilitary forces conducted combat operations in rural communities of Negros, stealing from the people, burning villages, kidnapping and assassinating local leaders. When the sugar crisis exploded in the late 1970s, the sacadas, and even a small number of enlightened landowners said they have had enough. This triggered many protest marches, demanding agrarian reform and land distribution, fair wages and improved government services.19

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People’s Choice Movement

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has been bringing out statements to guide the people on issues that affect the country. There have been voices, even among the bishops, questioning if these statements are being heeded at all. In spite of the doubts about the effectivity of these statements, the CBCP has decided once more in its plenary session last January to issue another statement on the forthcoming elections, with a faint hope that at least some people may be guided by it and act on it. Its statement, released last January 28, 2019, is entitled: “Seek the Common Good.” Among other things, it paints the crucial situation we are in: 
“The midterm election on May 13 is crucial. In our country today the checks and balances in the government are being undermined. So far the senate is the institution in the government that is holding out as our country is inching towards total control. It is very crucial therefore that we elect candidates who are principled, courageous and who have the common good as their main concern and not their own political interests.”
So it encouraged lay people to bond and reflect together to pick the right candidates:
“We encourage voters to be very discerning in their votes. Let the lay groups engage in discernment circles to help one another know the candidates well and choose the candidates with the common good of the whole country in mind and not according to what the candidates promise, much less according to what they have received from these candidates.”
Then it pointed out a type of engagement that lay people can engaged in:
“Participation in politics for Christian lay people is not just to be limited to non-partisan involvement. Christians are also encouraged to engage in principled partisan participation. This means that they can campaign for good candidates as an exercise of their Christian faith.”
A not insignificant group of some 130 lay Christian leaders heeded the call. They organized themselves and discerned together the best senatorial candidates to support among the 62 contestants. Since 2015 these Christian leaders from the Catholic, Evangelical and Protestant persuasions have come up with GABAYKRISTO, a set of Christian criteria by which to measure the politicians. They researched the stance of the 62 candidates on various important national issues. They got the profiles of the candidates and they met several times to set up the criteria for screening the candidates. This is a serious kind of discernment circle that the bishops have been calling out. They call themselves the PEOPLE’S CHOICE MOVEMENT.
They came out with two layers of screening. The first screening is to vet the candidates on two knock-out issues: belief in God and federalism/charger change. They believe that a person who does not have the fear of God in him can easily abuse others. They also believe that the present state of the country is not ready for federalism and charter change. 30 candidates were eliminated on these two knock-out issues. 
The 32 candidates who remained in the pool were then subjected to the second screening. They were rated using criteria based on GabayKristo, a guide of 20 specific questions which are divided into four categories –

• Character & Honor, 
• Competence & Abilities, 
• Faithfulness to public service, 
• Faithfulness to God, the Constitution and the laws.
Each of the 20 questions was graded from 1 to 5, 1 being the lowest and 5 the highest. The ten candidates with the highest scores were declared the selected candidates.
The following were the selected “10 BEST SENATORIAL CANDIDATES THAT OUR COUNTRY & PEOPLE NEED DURING THESE TIMES”. They are presented below in alphabetical order – –
1. Alejano, Gary
2. Aquino, Bam
3. Cominares, Nery
4. Diokno, Chel
5. Gutoc, Samira
6. Hilbay, Pilo
7. Macalintal, Romy
8. Poe, Grace
9. Roxas, Mar
10. Tanada, Erin

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OUR POWER: Is there a better option to using coal?

Probe Productions Inc. in partnership with The Climate Reality Project Philippines presents the television airing of the documentary

‘OUR POWER‘  on 14 April 2019, 5:00 – 5:30 PM, on GMA News TV, Channel 11.

This documentary features veteran journalist Cheche Lazaro as she investigates the impacts of coal-fired power plants on local communities in Bataan, Cebu, and Negros Island. Her journey takes her to the stories of local heroes who had struggled for their well-being against coal giants.

The documentary aims to show the resiliency of the Filipino spirit in the face of not only natural hazards due to climate change but also adversity from harmful practices that come with dirty energy.

We invite all Filipinos to watch this documentary and to stand in solidarity with our fellow countrymen during one of the most critical periods in our history.

Cosmic Rosary

F L O W:

Tunog Ng Pananawag: _____________

COMMENTATOR:
Sa mga misteryo ng Banal na Rosaryo, pinagninilayan natin ang ‘Mga Makapangyarihang Gawa ng Diyos’. Sinundan natin ang kuwento ng pamamagitan ng Panginoon sa daigdig sa katauhan ni Hesus ng Nazaret bilang Tagapagligtas ng sansinukob. Siya ang Salita kung saan ang lahat ng bagay ay nalikha at kung wala siya ay wala ring nalikha’. Ngayong gabi ay ating pagninilayan ang mga Misteryo ng Tuwa sa pananaw ng sangnilikha. Inilalahad sa atin ng mga misteryong ito ang katuparan ng plano ng Diyos para sa Kanyang mga nilalang, sa paglilihi at pagsilang ni Hesus ng Nazaret.

Sa loob ng labing-tatlong bilyon at pitong daang libong taon, ang sangnilikha ay naghirap at nagsilang ng enerhiya, mga bagay, mga bituin, kalawakan at planeta tulad ng ating mundo, na nagbunga ng ecosystem at buhay sa iba’t- ibang hugis at anyo, hanggang kalaunan ay lumitaw ang tao.

Ang lahat ng pagsisikap na ito ay nangyari upang maisakatuparan ang nais ng Diyos na mabatid at makilala Siya sa pamamagitan ng ‘gawa ng kanyang mga kamay’, ang mithiin ng Diyos na magmahal at suklian din ng pagmamahal ng kaniyang mga nilalang.

Sa mundo, ito’y maaari lamang mangyari sa paglitaw ng tao – isang nilalang na may kakayahang matuto at may kamalayang magmahal.

Ang kaganapan ng prosesong ito ay humantong sa pagsilang ni Hesus. Siya ay kumakatawan hindi lamang sa Kanyang sarili ngunit sa buong sangkatauhan at tunay nga, sa buong sangnilikha.

Sa misteryong ito ng pagsilang ni Hesus , ang Diyos ay nagkatawang-tao, at ating namalas ang dakilang pag-iisang dibdib ng Manlilikha at ng Kanyang Sangnilikha.

Si Maria ay gumaganap ng isang mahalagang bahagi sa lahat ng ito, kaya naman nararapat siyang parangalan sa Banal na Rosaryo.

PAMBUNGAD NA AWIT:

Hail Mary, Full Of Grace, The Lord Is With You
Blessed Are You Among Women And Blessed Is The Fruit Of Your Womb, Jesus
Holy Mary, Mother Of God,
Pray For Us Sinners Now And At The Hour Of Our Death. Amen.

PAGSINDI NG PASCAL CANDLE: ________________

I. PAMBUNGAD NA DASAL : ANG KRISTIYANONG PANALANGIN KASAMA ANG SANGNILIKHA

COMMENTATOR: Sabay sabay nating dasalin Ang Kristiyanong Panalangin Kasama ang Sangnilikha.

LAHAT: Pinupuri ka namin Ama, Kasama ng lahat mong nilalang, na nagmula sa iyong makapangyarihang kamay.

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The #Mercy2Earth Examen (Filipino)

Sa mensaheng “Show Mercy to our Common Home” ni Papa Francisco noong ika-1 ng Setyembre, 2016, ipinapaalala niya sa atin na isa sa mga hakbang tungo sa nakapagbubuklod na pag-ibig at pangangalaga kay Inang Kalikasan bilang bahagi ng Kristiyanong pananampalataya ay ang pagsasagawa ng pagsusuri ng ating budhi o examination of conscience. Ibinabahagi namin sa inyo itong #Mercy2Earth Examen hango sa mensahe ng Santo Papa upang gabayan kayo sa prosesong ito. Hinango din ito sa pagsusuri ng budhi na binuo ni San Ignacio Loyola. Inaanyayahan namin kayong gamitin ito ngayong panahon ng Kuwaresma bilang pamamaraan ng pagpapalalim ng inyong bokasyon bilang tagapangalaga ng Sangnilikha.

Ang #Mercy2Earth Examen ay may anim na hakbang:

1. Manahan sa presensya ng Diyos.
2. Magpasalamat sa Diyos sa handog Niyang Kalikasan at sa lahat ng kanyang mga nilikha.
3. Magpasalamat sa Diyos sa handog Niyang Kalikasan at sa lahat ng kanyang mga nilikha.
4. Ihingi ng kapatawaran ang inyong mga naging pagkukulang sa pangangalaga kay Inang Kalikasan at sa lahat ng nilikha ng Diyos.
5. Magbalik-loob at magbago sa pamamagitan ng pananagutan na magsagawa ng mga konkretong bagay para kay Inang Kalikasan at para sa kapwa.
6. Magtapos sa isang panalangin

1. Manahan sa presensya ng Diyos.

“Sa pagdulog sa mapagpala at mahabaging Ama na naghihintay sa pagbabalik ng bawat anak Niya, maaari nating ihayag ang ating mga pagkakasala kay Inang Kalikasan, sa mga dukha at sa mga susunod na salinlahi.”

Bago kayo magsimula, maglaan ng panahon sa pag-aalaala na kayo ay nasa presensya ng mapagmahal na Manlilikha. Maaaring makatulong kung ipipikit ang mga mata, makailang beses na huminga ng malalim, mag-alay ng panalangin at hingin ang biyaya ng malalim na pakikinig sa Salita ng Diyos na nananahan sainyong kaloob-looban.

2. Magpasalamat sa Diyos sa handog Niyang Kalikasan at sa lahat ng kanyang mga nilikha.

“Ang unang hakbang…kinakailangan ang pasasalamat at pagtanggap nang walang kabayaran, pagkilala na ang buong mundo ay handog ng mapagmahal na Diyos.”

 Mag-alay ng pasasalamat sa maraming pamamaraan ng Diyos na ikaw ay kanyang pinagpala sa pamamagitan ng kanyang Sangnilikha. Maaaring ito ang iyong almusal, ang tubig na ‘yong iniinom…o ang iyong paboritong puno, ang huni ng mga ibon, o isang lugar sa kalikasan na mahalaga sa iyo.

 Magpasalamat sa mga taong bahagi ng yong buhay, sa nakaraan at sa kasalukuyan. Maaring maalaala mo ang mga taong nagpalaki saiyo, ang ‘yong mga magulang, ang ‘yong mga guro, ang mga taong naging daan upang ikaw ay magkaroon ng makakain at maisusuot, at marami pang iba. Inaanyayahan tayo ni Papa Francisco na magkaroon ng “puspos ng pagmamahal na kabatiran na tayo ay hindi hiwalay sa kalikasan, bagkus tayong lahat, sa buong santinakpan, ay magkakaugnay. “Ang ating buhay ay kasing-kaugnay at kasing-nananangan sa napakaraming tao.

3. Pagnilayan ang mga naging daan upang mapakinggan ninyo ang daing ng Inang Kalikasan at ang daing ng mga dukkha

“Yayamang lahat tayo ay bahagi ng pagkasira ng kalikasan, lahat tayo ay tinatawag na angkinin ang ating naging kontribusyon, maliit man o malaki, sa pagkawasak ng mundo.”

Maglaan ng panahon na pagnilayan ang mga sumusunod na katanungan ni Papa Francisco sa kanyang mensahe:

 Batid ko ba ang daing ng Inang Kalikasan at daing ng mga dukha? Alam ko ba kung paano naghihirap ang ating kapaligiran, ang mga halaman at ang mga hayop? Naglalaan ba ako ng panahon na pag-aralan ang tunay na kalagayang pang-sosyal at pang-ekonomiya na kinakaharap ng marami sa buong daigdig?

 Sa paanong pamamaraan ako kusang nagsusumikap na pangalagaan ang Inang Kalikasan at kapwa ko mga nilikha? Sa paanong pamamaraan naman ako nagkulang?

 Paano ako makakatulong sa pagwawasto ng mga nakaraan at kasalukuyang kawalan ng pagbibigayan sa pagitan ng mga relihiyon, sa mga di makatarungang pakikipag-ugnayan natin sa mga taong iba ang paniniwala sa atin, sa mga kababaihan, sa mga katutubo, sa mga dukha, sa mga di pa isinisilang?

4. Ihingi ng kapatawaran ang inyong mga naging pagkukulang sa pangangalaga kay Inang Kalikasan at sa lahat ng nilikha ng Diyos.

“Pagkatapos ng taimtim na pagsususri ng budhi at pagkapukaw ng wagas na pagsisisi, maari nating ihayag ang ating pagkakasala sa Maylikha, sa Inang Kalikasan, at sa ating mga kapatid at kapwa.”

Idulog sa Diyos ang inyong mga pagkukulang sa pangangalaga sa ating Nag-iisang Tahanan at hingin ang kapatawaran.

5. Magbalik-loob at magbago

“Ang pagsusuri ng budhi, pagsisisi at pagpapahayag ng ating mga pagkukulang sa Ama na puspos ng habag at awa ay maghahatid sa atin sa matatag na pagnanasang magbalik-loob at magbago. Kinakailangang ito ay masalamin sa mga konkretong pananaw at pagkilos na may puspos na paggalang kay Inang Kalikasan.”

Manalangin sa Diyos at hingin ang biyayang matanto kung paano Niya kayo inaanyayahan na mas higit na pangalagaan ang Inag Kalikasan, ang mga dukha, at ang mga sususnod na salinlahi. Sa kanyang mensahe, ibinibigay ng Papa Francisco ang mga sumusunod na gabay:

“Bilang isang pagkakawang-gawa, ang pangangalaga sa ating Nag-iisang Tahanan ay nangangailangan ng “pang-araw-araw na pangkaraniwang mga gawain na sasalangsang sa katwiran ng karahasan, pagsasamantala at pagkamakasarili” at “naipadarama nito sa bawat pagkilos ang paghahangad ng mas magandang mundo…Ang katanungang ito ay makakapagpanatili sa atin na nakapokus sa ating hangarin: Anong kalagayan ng mundo ang ninanais nating iwanan sa mga kabataan ngayon at sa mga susunod pang salinlahi?”

Anong mga personal at pangkomunidad na pagbabago ang maari ninyong gawin upang mas higit na mapangalagaan ang ating Nag-iisang Tahanan at ang lahat ng kasalukuyang naninirahan dito at manininrahan pa dito sa hinaharap?

6. Pagtatapos na Panalangin

Tapusin ang pagsusuri sa pamamagitan ng pagpapasalamat sa mahabaging pag-ibig na natanggap ninyo sa mga sandaling ito at dasalin ang huling panalangin sa mensahe ni Papa Francisco:

Diyos ng mga dukha,
tulungan mo kaming kalingain ang mga napapabayaan
at nakakaligtaang nilalang dito sa mundo,
na napakahalaga saiyong paningin…

Diyos ng pag-ibig, ipakita mo sa amin ang aming kinalalagyan sa mundO
bilang mga daluyan ng iyong pag-ibig
para sa lahat mong nilalang,

Diyos ng habag at awa, nawa’y matanggap namin ang iyong kapatawaran
at maihatid namin ang iyong habag sa lahat ng dako ng aming Nag-iisang Tahanan.

Amen.

“May the works of mercy also include care for our common home “
Pope Francis

Global Catholic Climate Movement – Pilipinas
Rm.206, One Annapolis Building, #5 Annapolis Street, Cubao, Quezon City; gccmpilipinas@gmail.com; 09090658487

The #Mercy to Earth Examen (English)

In 2015 Pope Francis issued Laudato Si his encyclical on Care for Our Common Home. On Sept 1 2016 the Pope followed up with a message Show Mercy to our Common Home. Cardinal Turkson said that “this Message is the next logical step after Laudato Si” for it is showing us how to internalize its teachings in our lives and in our world. It is asking us to live Laudato Si”. GCCM-Pilipinas (Philippine Chapter of GCCM) is promoting a #Mercy2Earth Examen based on the Message of Pope Francis as an aid in opening our hearts to our complicity in environmental destruction with all its social consequences.

This #Mercy2Earth Examen has 6 steps:

1.  Rest in the presence of God.
2.  Give thanks for God’s creation and creatures
3.  Reflect on the ways you have heard “both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.”
4.  Ask forgiveness for the ways you’ve fallen short in caring for God’s creation and creatures.
5.  Make amends by committing to concrete ways to show mercy to creation and your neighbors.
6.  Closing prayer

1. Rest in the presence of God.

“Turning to this bountiful and merciful Father who awaits the return of each of his children, we can acknowledge our sins against creation, the poor and future generations.”

Before you begin, take a moment to remember that you are in the presence of our loving Creator. It might help to close your eyes, take a few deep breaths, and offer a prayer for the grace to listen deeply to God’s word within you.

2. Give thanks for God’s creation and creatures.

“The first step… involves “gratitude and gratuitousness, a recognition that the world is God’s loving gift.”

  • Offer thanks for the many ways God has blessed you through creation. This might include what you ate for breakfast, the water you drink… or it might be a favorite tree, the sounds of birds chirping or a place in nature that is special to you.
  • Give thanks for the the people, past and present, who have contributed to the fabric of your life. You might think about the people who helped raise you, your teachers, the people who pick your food, make your clothes, and the countless others. Pope Francis invites us into “loving awareness that we are not disconnected from the rest of creatures, but joined in a splendid universal communion.” Our lives are interconnected, and interdependent on so many other people!

3. Reflect on the ways you have listened to “the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.”

“In as much as we all generate small ecological damage,” we are called to acknowledge “our contribution, smaller or greater, to the disfigurement and destruction of creation.”

Take time to reflect on the following questions Pope Francis asks in his message:

  • Am I aware of the “cry of the earth and the cry of the poor?” Am I conscious of how the natural world, the plants, and animals are suffering? Do I take time to learn about the social and economic realities faced by so many around the globe?
  • In what ways have I made a conscious effort to care for creation and its creatures? In what ways have I fallen short?
  • Are there ways and times that I consume more than is necessary?
  • How can I help to “make amends for past and present religious intolerance” as well as for injustice towards people of other religions, “women, indigenous peoples, immigrants, the poor and the unborn?”

4. Ask forgiveness for the ways you’ve fallen short in caring for God’s creation and creatures.

“After a serious examination of conscience and moved by sincere repentance, we can confess our sins against the Creator, against creation, and against our brothers and sisters.”

Bring to God the ways that you have fallen short in caring for our common home and ask for forgiveness. If you are so moved, you might want to bring some of your reflections to the sacrament of reconciliation “as the place where the truth makes us free.” The #Mercy2Earth Examen © The Global Catholic Climate Movement, 2017

5. Make Amends

“Examining our consciences, repentance and confession to our Father who is rich in mercy lead to a firm purpose of amendment. This in turn must translate into concrete ways of thinking and acting that are more respectful of creation.”

Pray to God for the grace to know how you are invited to better care for creation, the poor, and future generations. In his message, Pope Francis offers the following guidance,

As a corporal work of mercy, care for our common home requires “simple daily gestures which break with the logic of violence, exploitation and selfishness” and “makes itself felt in every action that seeks to build a better world… A single question can keep our eyes fixed on the goal: “What kind of world do we want to leave to those who come after us, to children who are now growing up?”

What changes can you make in your personal life or in your community to better care for our common home and its inhabitants, present and future?

6. Closing Prayer

Conclude your examen by giving thanks for the merciful love that you received during this time and then praying the final prayer in the Pope’s message:

O God of the poor, help us to rescue the abandoned and forgotten of this earth, who are so precious in your eyes… God of love, show us our place in this world as channels of your love for all the creatures of this earth, God of mercy, may we receive your forgiveness and convey your mercy throughout our common home. Praise be to you!

Amen.

“May the works of mercy also include care for our common home “
Pope Francis

Global Catholic Climate Movement – Pilipinas 
Rm.206, One Annapolis Building, #5 Annapolis Street, Cubao, Quezon City; gccmpilipinas@gmail.com; 09090658487