“This church is the seed, the Word of God, and we could not permit it to produce only 100 more seeds, we should not be content with that, but we should continue to sow these 100 seeds, to plant it, to nurture it, so that the faith of the people would increase,” this was the challenge of Novaliches Bishop, Most Rev. Roberto Gaa, DD, to the parishioners of Sagrada Familia Parish who attended the dedication of the newly constructed church building and the blessing of its altar last September 19, 2020, Saturday.
“We have already completed the church,” he said in Filipino, “and I feel that we have also helped increase the faith of the people, but it doesn’t end here, the making of the church.”
“We are asked to build a new church now, a church that starts in our hearts, a church that is being built in our hearts, that house of prayer that is strengthened by our daily prayers, day and night. That is the church that we should strengthen,” he said.
For his part, Fr. Rico Ponce, O.Carm., prior provincial of the Order of Carmelites in the Philippines and Papua New Guinea, said that the completion of the church is a testament to the parishioner’s love, unity, and cooperation with the parish.
“The church is the center of our faith life as Christians,” he said. “In this church, we celebrate our experience of our Lord Jesus Christ who has resurrected and is with us everytime we celebrate the Holy Mass. In Him we get or strength in our daily life.”
Fr. Arnel Glodobe, O.Carm., the parish priest of Sagrada Familia Parish, expressed his gratitude to his Carmelite community – past and present – and the parishioners who have supported him in the twelve years that he stayed in the parish.
On the building of the church, Fr. Glodobe said: “We were able to get through it because of our cooperation and unity despite those many instances of arguments and misunderstandings in the process.”
“But look at the result of the pressure that we had to go through, isn’t it beautiful,” he added.
Fr. Glodobe made mention of the Parish Finance Council, headed by Dr. Bobby de Jesus, which was formed in 2018 and was instrumental in the creation of the building fund, as well as the building committee whose members dedicated their time and resources in the construction of the church.
“In our work, we can say that we can pat our backs and congratulate ourselves, finally we have finished the church, but there are more grains that we have to consume because the building of the church does not end with the 100 seeds,” Bishop Gaa said.
“Let this church be a symbol of your prayers, of your prayers as a community, but more than that, may this inspire the people in this community to pray in this church so that our faith would be strengthened especially in this time of the pandemic where we experience a lot of challenges, so that our faith in God would also flourish,” he said. (Text by Br. Ritche T. Salgado, O.Carm)