Fr. Soc wants Sunday mass in every barangay

By May 12, 2013Inside News, News

LET’S celebrate a Sunday Mass in every barangay.

This was the call made by Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas to priests in the archdiocese in a pastoral directive dated May 7.

Fr. Soc said the lack of the Eucharistic celebration at the communities diverts people towards Sunday prayer fellowships with other sects.

He noted that while some priests reach out to the Catholic communities in far barangays by celebrating Masses on weekdays, Fr. Soc said the Sunday Eucharist occupies a primordial place in the Catholic life.

Fr. Soc acknowledged that the perennial complaint of priests is that “the people are not coming to our Masses so we might as well not go”.

In response, he said, “It is time for us to be missionaries in spirit and disposition. We cannot just demand that the people be there when we are there. We have lost them by our long absence. The time has come for us to reach out patiently and recover their lost faith.”

The pastoral letter also directs the priests to create in the archdiocese at least five new parishes this year, one in each of the vicariates.

“The only goal is to strengthen the base communities. The strength of the parish is not in overflowing Sunday crowds; it is rather in the vibrant distant barangays where the life of the parish truly shows,” Fr. Soc said.—Eva Visperas

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