WHAT IS SIN?

                    SIN IS A THOUGHT, WORD OR DEED CONTRARY TO THE WILL OF GOD.  IT IS THE BREAKING OF THE LAW OR COMMANDMENT.  This is the classical Pre-Vatican II concept of sin.

            Rev. Fr. Edgar Agcaoili, the Rector of Ermita de San Jacinto, Tuguegarao City, however, told us during an Assembly of Church Ministers at the Tuguegarao Parish Pastoral Center, that “SIN IS THE BREAKING OF RELATIONSHIPS.  IT IS REFUSING TO ENTER INTO A LIFE OF INTIMACY/FRIENDSHIP WITH GOD.”    As an example he said that when one does not attend Mass on Sundays, it is a sin not so much because he broke the commandment, but because he has lessened his relationship or friendship with God and the community.  When we go to Mass, he says, we build a closer relationship with God and the community.

            Reflecting further on this so-called ‘Paradigm Shifts’ in Theology after the Vatican II Council, my viewpoints on sin have zeroed in on the concept of LOVE  based on the following rationale.

1.    Love is the only motive that can build or foster a personal relationship with God or with a fellowman.

2.    The essence of love is unselfishness – focused on the welfare or good of the beloved.

3.    The essence of sin is selfishness – focused on one’s own welfare or well being.

4.    Love, therefore, is the true foundation for any intimate personal relationships, either with God or with other human beings; while sin is an act that breaks or lessens a personal relationship.

   God has created each and every human being out of love,  and He

expects everyone to respond to His love with love.   I do believe, therefore,  that I exist  “TO LOVE” and if I do not love,  I have no reason to exist.

By: Buddy Cagurangan 

March 25, 2012

Birth Pangs of BEC

Barangay Centro 07 of Tuguegarao City is experiencing some BIRTH PANGS in the task of forming a BASIC ECCLESIAL COMMUNITY (BEC).

            These birth pangs may be categorized into three:

1.    The Pangs of Commitment

2.    The Pangs of Conviction

3.    The Pangs of Celebration

1.    The Pangs of Commitment:   Most Christians still see the Church as “Sila”, namely, that the clergy are the “Active” members of the Church and the laity are just the “Passive” ones, or simply “followers”.  Hence, they believe that the role of the laity is simply to “kneel, sit, listen, pray and pay”.  Vatican II, however, has emphasized that the Church is all the People of God and everyone, clergy as well as the laity, should have an active role in the life of the Church.  This is a paradigm shift in understanding the nature of the Church which is the foundation of a BEC, because essentially BEC is a “Participatory Church”.

2.    The Pangs of Conviction:   Even with this conviction of the New Way of Being Church, there is still the challenge of how to put it into practice.  In Barangay Centro 07, the great majority of the population are businessmen who are in the barangay only during the day, but reside at night in different barangays. They encounter a problem of choosing to which Community Church should they belong and where they should be actively involved.

3.    The Pangs of Celebration:  The BEC, being a Community of Believers, are expected to manifest their solidarity in praising and thanking God in a Community Mass at least once a month.  Due, however, to the pressure or demands of a business enterprise, many encounter the challenge of giving “time” for a regularly scheduled Community Mass.

            These are the basic challenges in Barangay Centro 07 on the formation of BEC.  They are, indeed, formidable challenges.  With God’s grace, however, we trust that in one way or another they can all be overcome, for “WITH GOD NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE”.

by: Buddy Cagurangan

 April 22, 2012