34 Extraordinary Ministers in St. James The Apostle Parish Were Sent Forth

“This is the day that the Lord made! Let us rejoice and be glad in it.” – PSALM 118:24

What a great Sunday morning to start with, isn’t it? Indeed, the Lord has made morning to overcome the occasion of yesterday’s mourning and today is the day to continue your journey together with the Lord.

It was a blissful 24th Sunday of October 2021, when the parish priest of St. James Apostles Parish of Bunawan, Rev. Fr. Rolando O. Mandreza, DCD, presided the Mass at exactly 8:30 am and proclaimed the goodness of God. He exclaimed the goodness of service, the virtues of being a servant and especially the gift of healing through persistence and of faith.

The Gospel was taken from the book of Mark 10:46-52 which talks about faith and the persistence of the blind person (Bartimaeus) to see again and to be healed by Jesus of Nazareth and because of his faith and persistency, he was healed.

Fr. Rolando stressed out the people who claimed to be believers, believers who can see the problem of our nation, can see the people who are suffering from certain situation, can see the crosses carrying by our neighbors who were hurting, can see the people who belong in the community before but now were being far away from us and being cast out for some reasons and still acted like nothing happened, acted like a blind person who didn’t see these situations. He said, “atoa nang nakita, pero ang pangutana, klaro ba kining tanan? Ug kun maklaro nato ni, unsa may pwede nakong buhaton? Unsay akong mahimo para makatabang? Unsay bag-ong hagit nga akong dawaton arun makatabang ko?” These were the questions he posed as a sort of task to service to God in the things one can do by helping and lending one’s hands to His people.

He also stated, “kay pwede man ta makakita, pero magpakabuta nalang, kay lisod magpakabana, mahago ko, mahurot akong oras, mahurot ang akong kabtangan kung mag-apil-apil, maong mag buta-buta nalang ta”. A power line and words which were full of wisdom and hope, wherein the Ministers of Bunawan saw those clearly and have understood the true meaning of service, the authentic character of brotherhood and sisterhood and learned the sense of belonging and of being generous; generous with their TIME, TALENT, and TREASURE to God and to everyone.

These Ministers were not just ordinary but they were so called extraordinary because they are healed. They wanted to continue and do this service because they have tasted and experienced the goodness of God, they saw the problems in the community, they saw their neighbors carrying heavy baggage, they felt being cast out and far away from God’s presence and here they were, being healed from spiritual blindness, ready to share the goodness and greatness of our God, and they believed that they live with a purpose in life.

The sending forth was exercised by Fr. Rolando O. Mandreza, DCD, and read the letter of the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Davao, Romulo Geolina Valles, D.D., which was about the certification of appointment to renew and confirm the 34 Extraordinary Ministers of the Holy Eucharist of St. James the Apostles Parish.

The Extraordinary Ministers have understood and agreed their appointments, duties, and responsibilities, which is mainly to share the living bread of Christ to His people with charity and love and to follow this commandment: “LOVE ONE ANOTHER AS I HAVE LOVED YOU”!

Fr. Rolando O. Mandreza also blessed the medallions of the said Extraordinary Ministers which signify and remind of the great love of God to us. Afterwards the medallions were given to the ministers and the ministers gladly wore it, as if they wore the love of Christ and truly accepted the duty and responsibility of being a true, authentic, and genuine Extraordinary Ministers of the Holy Eucharist. And indeed, “They were sent forth for favor”! (Angelo P. Marqueza | SJAP SocCom)