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BE A SIGN OF HOPE: FR. IGNACIO TELLS THE DEVOTEES IN TIME FOR THE JUBILEE 2025 THIS QUIAPO PARISH-WIDE FORMATION

Dec. 09, 2024 12:58 PM

Rev. Fr. Leo Ignacio delivered the last of the monthly Parish-wide Formation activity with the title, “Pilgrims of Hope” at 7:00 P.M. on November 26, 2024. The topic falls in line with the upcoming Jubilee 2025 with the theme: “Pilgrims of Hope” declared by Pope Francis in his Bull of Induction called “Spes Non Confundit”.

At the first part of the talk, Fr. Ignacio explained the meaning behind the Jubilee 2025 logo. The cross represents the symbol of faith in Christ and the anchor (at the end of the cross) represents the deep understanding of our faith. He added that ‘a true devotee does not separate himself from the cross for it is the path of salvation’ The red person in the logo signifies the passion of the heart to serve. The yellow person means happiness. While the green person represent new life and receive an everlasting life together with the Lord. Meanwhile, for the blue person, it symbolizes peace. The waves carry the church described as a boat that represents the reality of life. As integrated in the Nazareno 2025 logo, Fr. Ignacio invited everyone to join in one movement while embracing the cross and participating in this journey.

As emphasized in the Spes Non Confundit, Pope Francis emphasizes the following: Value of mercy, prayer as weapon (year of prayer), concrete actions of compassion, forgiveness and solidarity, gather together in the spirit of solidarity. As the phrase means: “Hope does not disappoint us” (Romans 5:5), Fr. Ignacio described the Jubilee as a ‘journey to search new life new relations with people’. In this new journey, we cross paths with different people. With that, the message tells us may we find those who are in need, losing confidence, afraid, fearing, weak physically so we may share in them the hope.

The challenge of the Spes Non Confundit are mentioned as follows: be an effective sign of hope, which translates to be a welcoming church for all people, being able to teach to open hearts and form minds of devotees and be a true devote at the heart of Jesus of Nazarene, become a visible sign of hope like giving formation and other programs catering to the needs of the people around the church and beyond, be a channel of peace and be open to diverse faiths amidst doubters and challenges, difficulties and no monetary compensations.
Lastly, Fr. Ignacio set the example of the Virgin Mary as someone who is filled with hope even as a witness to the sufferings and death of her son, Jesus. Fr. Ignacio stated that ‘with the Lord, hope will give us the courage to bear all sufferings, strengthen faith and affirm all challenges because the Lord is our source of hope.