More priests, religious needed – bishop

MASLOG, Eastern Samar, May 19, 2018–“LET us work for more vocation to the priesthood and religious.”
This was the call of Bishop Crispin Varquez in his homily during the 30th Diocesan Pentecost Vigil held in the Parish of St. Isidore, the Farmer, in Maslog, Eastern Samar, on May 9, 2018.

Varquez pointed out that the role of the clergy and the religious is very significant in the life of the Church “tungod kay hira an gintagan hi Kristo hin papel hin pagpadalagan han Singbahan nga iya gintukod.” (Because they were given the task to shepherd the Church that he has founded.)

He acknowledged that despite being human and therefore weak, the Church continues and is trying its best to be “baraan” (blessed) because it is headed by Christ himself who promised to accompany her until the end of time.
2018 has been declared by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines as the Year of the Clergy and Consecrated Persons, as part of the 9-year catechetical preparation leading to the 500th anniversary of Christianization in the Philippines that will be celebrated in 2021.

Varquez exhorted every family to pray and work for more vocations to the priesthood and religious life.
He suggested 5 ways to promote vocations, namely: 1) Tell and retell the story of God’s love in every home; 2) Teach your children through word and deed to be good Christians, to be prayerful and to aim for a deeper relationship with God; 3) Teach your children and the young generation to love the Church and the Catholic faith; 4) Teach your children about the life of the priests and the religious; 5) Teach your children and the young generation that they are made by God “for service,” to care for one another.

Varquez also said that it was his first time to go to Maslog by land. Ordinarily, Maslog is navigable only on a 5-hour boat ride. He called on government leaders to finish the Dolores-Maslog Road where there are areas that can hardly be negotiated during rainy season.

There were about 1,300 delegates from all the parishes and chaplaincies of the Diocese of Borongan that attended the 30th Diocesan Pentecost Vigil.

It was learned that the next Pentecost Vigil will be held in one of the parishes or chaplaincies in the Central Region of the Diocese. (ESTE News)