DGMA hosts Week of Prayer for Christian Unity DGMA Cathedral of the Crucified Lord, January 21, 2021 (Thursday)
Three is biblical! For the third time, the Diocese of Greater Manila Area was honored and humbled to host this year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity at the Cathedral of the Crucified Lord on January 21, 2021, Thursday, from 5:00 to 7:00 PM. Its theme, “Abide in my love and you shall bear much fruit” (John 15:5-9) was the focus of the Worship Service. Attended by the DGMA parishioners and local ecumenical community, it was also livestreamed for wider coverage. Bishop Vicente Salvador Ballesteros led the worship service while Obispo Maximo Rhee Millena Timbang was the keynote speaker.
This weekly prayer series conducted annually every January since its inception in 1993 is part of an international ecumenical prayer movement aimed to promote Christian unity. Participating host churches are selected as organized by the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP), of which the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI) is a member-church, and the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines-Episcopal Commission on Ecumenical Affairs (CBCP-ECEA).
The Most Rev. Rhee Millena Timbang, IFI Obispo Maximo XIII, gave the recorded keynote message based on the theme via Zoom; while the Rt. Rev. Vicente Salvador Ballesteros, DGMA diocesan bishop, welcomed the ecumenical participants to this local service. The prayer materials synchronized for use worldwide were produced by the Community of Grandchamp in Switzerland. The Rev. Erahvilla Maga-Cabillas, chairperson of DGMA’s Concordat and Ecumenical Relations (CER) Committee, arranged this common (international) liturgy by adopting it to the local cultural scene with native songs/music composed by Filipino artists.
Bishop Buddy, in his welcome greetings, explained that the third hosting assignment was designated to DGMA by the incumbent Obispo Maximo. The first held in the same locale, the second one was conducted last year at the IFI National Cathedral on Taft Avenue, Manila, and now the third one again at the Cathedral of the Crucified Lord. This momentous occasion was significant because it coincided with the celebration of the 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines when the first Holy Eucharist was held on the Island of Limasawa, Cebu in 1521.
He quoted in Psalm 133, “Behold, how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.” According to him, unity is essential for thought, intention, and execution; and for refreshing one another in order to be blessed by the Lord in the spirit of love and brotherhood. “God is everything for the human beings,” his alluding to St. Augustine of Hippo, “as God is water when one is thirsty; light when in darkness; and a robe of immortality when naked.” Referring to the theme taken from the Gospel of John, “Jesus is the true vine and we are the branches, and by abiding in Him we will bear fruits,” he concluded.
In his beamed message, the Obispo Maximo Rhee Timbang expounded on the importance of prayer, meditation, and liturgy as expressing the theme of Christian unity in order to bear fruits. From the Gospel of John, he quoted Jesus words, “The Father and I are one… I am the Vine and you are the branches.” He recalled the role of Israel as the vineyard in the Old Testament, and in the New Testament with Jesus as the vine and the people as the vine workers. His Eminence explained that “pruning” was related to judgment, and by abiding in the Lord meant bearing much fruit. He added, “Abide is renamed to obey, conform, comply in accordance to the Lord’s mandate and to find comfort in the joy of the Lord.”
He presented the challenges to the Christians by uniting, praying, and working together: (1) Towards the integrity of creation as the groaning of Mother Earth (the vine) is reflected in global warming and the death of the environment; (2) Towards the pursuit of peace and reconciliation with due process by abiding in justice and peace with no fear from violations of human rights, poverty, and other social unrests; and (3) Towards organizing Church leadership for the upliftment of the marginalized people including the farmers, workers, Lumads, and the voiceless in society. He summoned the ecumenical community to united prayer and to its collective stance as “ONE VOICE” to defend the people against the present ills of the nation in saying “NO” to anti-terrorism, extra-judicial killings, and other human rights violations.
The unity messages were read via Zoom by the heads of the organizers: Bishop Reuel Marigza, General Secretary of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP) and Archbishop Antonio Lampon, Chairperson of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines-Episcopal Commission on Ecumenical Affairs (CBCP-ECEA).
The ecumenical liturgy consisted of various readings from the Psalms, New Testament, intercessions, and meditations forming the three-part Vigil: FIRST VIGIL – Abiding in Christ: The Unity of the Whole Person; SECOND VIGIL – The Visible Unity of Christians; and THIRD VIGIL – The Unity of All Peoples in All Creation. Participants in these readings included the DGMA clergy: The Very Rev. Msgr. Cesar Emmanuel Ballesteros, The Reverends Sherryl Ann Javier-Bianson, Erahvilla Maga-Cabillas, Victoria Esguerra, Ricardo Aliwalas, Dionito Cabillas, Albert Dacera, and Severino Ismael II; and guest UCCP Pastor, the Rev. Irma Salvador Mepico of the Faith Bible Church. The lay readers consisted of Rose Madrilejo, Khristianne Lineses, Nennette Perez, Anna Rose Ancheta, Paolo Nietes and Kian Galvez. These lay participants also led in the candle ceremony with unity prayer as they gathered around a unity candle-floral motif.
The musical contributions during this service were provided by the following via Zoom: ACTS seminarians’ choral renditions; Aldeem Yanez’s song, “Diyos na Aming Gabay”; Gary Granada’s song, “Misyon”; and Sr. Bibsy Castillo-Aldeem Yanez’s hymn, “The Guiding Light.”
After this ecumenical worship service, the photo shoot took place and later the host (DGMA) tendered a sumptuous dinner for the clergy and lay participants and guests at around 7:00 PM
