HUMANAE
VITAE at ‘40’
Last
July 25, CFC-FFL members, together with
thousands of faithful coming from the different
parishes, schools and lay organizations
in Metro Manila and nearby Luzon provinces,
gathered together for a Prayer Rally for
the Family and Life. This was in celebration
of the 40th Anniversary of a very relevant
and important encyclical by Pope Paul VI
entitled “Humanae Vitae.” The
theme of the celebration was “Biyaya
ng Pamilya… Biyaya ng Buhay.”
The
program began at 3pm with the Opening Remarks
given by Fr. Melvin Castro, the Executive
Secretary of the Episcopal Commission on
Family and Life. Testimonies from different
people followed afterwards. Our very own
Francis and
Debbie Rodrigo shared about the desire and
the conviction that God has planted in them
to have and raise more children. Presently,
they have 4 boys and Debbie is now expecting
another baby. Other couples shared about
their practice of the natural family planning
method and how it has been effective to
them. Dr. Brian Clowes from Human Life International
told the crowd that the Filipinos are a
blessed race and that Faith and Family will
make us happy. He exhorted everyone to be
on guard because the US government is using
its funds to aid the Philippines to try
to control our population.
The
highlight of the celebration was the Celebration
of the Holy Eucharist which was presided
by Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, DD, together
with other bishops and priests. In his homily,
Archbishop Lagdameo stressed that human
life is a blessing from God from birth to
death. He also emphasized that according
to Humanae Vitae and Evangelicum Vitae,
the mission of the Church is to celebrate
life and every human being should be honored,
respected and valued, and we need to praise
God for the gift of Life. He further explained
that the celebration of the 40th Anniversary
of the encyclical is very timely for our
country today since there is a move to push
the Reproductive Health Bill in Congress.
A change in attitude is necessary to fight
this threat to life. The Bishop further
said that the problem is not population
explosion, rather, it is population implosion.
He called upon all of us to be Pro-God,
Pro-life and Pro-Poor.
In
His message during the celebration, Cardinal
Rosales likened the massacre of Herod of
the innocents to the killing of the unborn.
He says that the child is very vulnerable
and weak while it is in the womb and it
continues on even after child birth until
infancy. “Ang pag-aalaga nito ay banal
na tungkulin.” Responsible Parenthood
is human parenting. It means that in transmitting
life one cannot proceed as he wills but
must conform to the will of God in the sacrament
of marriage. Responsible Parenthood using
NFP (Natural Family Planning) demands 
an
understanding and appreciation of the true
values of life which include “pagpapahalaga
sa buhay,” understanding the meaning
of family and self-discipline/self-control.
If we are to be protectors of life, we need
to imbibe these values. We need to believe
that our All-Knowing God and Creator, knows
our needs and understands the difficulties
we are all experiencing in life and in raising
a family. The Cardinal said that the most
important solution to this problem is self-discipline.
“Ang may disiplina sa kama ay may
disiplina sa paaralan, sa daan at sa pamahalaan.”
He also stressed that the Church considers
abortion as a terrible crime. The unborn
has no choice; he cannot fight back nor
escape the brutality of men.
Bishop
Paciano Aniceto thanked everyone for making
the gathering possible.
The
Prayer Rally was indeed a meaningful event
for all of us in CFC-FFL. Once again we
have been affirmed in our direction as a
community. It was also both an affirmation
and a challenge for us couples to really
value the sanctity of life, and to press
on with our work of strengthening families.
We declare, indeed, that we are here to
Renew the Family and Defend Life!
Contributed
by:
Mary Grace Oconer
Missionary
CFC-FFL / Couples for Christ Foundation,
Inc.
