“The Church is a
community, and it must express its nature as a community in its
prayer as well as in other ways.”
This is a statement from an introduction of the CHRISTIAN PRAYER, the
LITURGY OF THE HOURS, which is the
PRAYER OF THE ENTIRE CHURCH.
This communitarian aspect of the
Church has been considered as the basic reason for the trust of the Catholic
Church in the Philippines for the building of BASIC ECCLESIAL COMMUNITIES. In the
Acts and Decrees of the Second Plenary Council of the Philippines which was
held from January 20 to February 17, 1991, we read the following: “Our vision of the Church, as communion,
participation, and mission, about the Church as a priestly, prophetic, and
kingly people and as a Church of the poor – a Church that is renewed – is today
finding expression in one ecclesial movement.
This is the movement to foster BASIC ECCLESIAL COMMUNITIES.” (No.
137) “They are small communities of Christians, usually of families who
gather together around the Word of God and the Eucharist. These communities are united to their pastors
but are ministered to regularly by lay leaders.
The members know each other by name, and share not only the Word of God
and the Eucharist but also their concerns both material and spiritual. They have a strong sense of belongingness and
of responsibility for one another.” (No. 138)
Reflecting on the foregoing
statements, I have been pondering in the past few weeks how this movement to
build BASIC ECCLESIAL COMMUNITIES can be fostered in our barangay, CENTRO 07,
of Tuguegarao City, which is an urban community composed of people from different
walks of life and with various concerns or aspirations. I was faced with the following questions:
1. How can we know each other personally?
2. How can we gather
together periodically?
3. How can we
share with each other the Word of God?
4. How can we worship
God as a Community?
5. How can we serve and help one another?
At the promptings
of our Parish Priest, Rev. Fr. Gerard Perez, we have
conducted a BEC Survey and have collated the
data gathered to make a Profile of Centro 07.
This profile could serve as a baseline to help address the foregoing
questions. There is a need, however, to
engage the support and cooperation of the people in the barangay, particularly
those in authority or with some degree of influence. Hence, our Barangay Pastoral Lay Leaders have
requested for a Special Meeting with the Barangay Officials of Centro 07 for
the purpose of having a collective plan of action to address the said
questions.
With the grace of God, we trust that
this vision of the Church as a Community shall be realized in our Barangay thru
the formation of BASIC ECCLESIAL COMMUNITIES.
by: Buddy Cagurangan
March 10, 2013
