May Labot Ka!

(An excerpt from the Homily of Most Rev. Romulo G. Valles, D.D., Archbishop of Davao, December 16, 2021 during the live streamed mass of the Simbayanan at San Pedro Cathedral Parish, San Pedro Street, Davao City)

Now we go to the gospel, again like Mary we listen to what the Gospel is telling us, you hear it, John the Baptist is sikat kaayo with reason, yes. Apan niingon si Hesus, yes, tan-aw mo nga John the Baptist nga high grade kaayo, very inspiring kaayo no doubt, mura’g nagtoo gani siya nga he was the Messiah. But niingon si Jesus, he’s so great, yes. But you know in the kingdom of heaven ang labing gamay malabwan pa si John the Baptist.

Mao na if you listen carefully to the Gospel, ang kubrador sa buwis nga naminaw kang Hesus na encourage siya, uy,dawaton diay ko sa langit. Ang kubrador sa buwis wala may kwenta halos wala’y labot ba. Ingon ang tax collector kanindot ba diay ana daku diay ang langit posible ako diay mahilangit. Yes, that is the message, that is the Gospel, the invitation to everyone and the only one requirement is for us to be Christ-like to do good, to be just, to be loving, to be caring for each other.

Now, you allow me to continue a little bit ang atong Archdiocese sa Davao dili pa kaayo tigulang but compared to 500 years of Christianity wala pa kita kaabot ug 100. But as your archbishop, a kind of review listening to the Lord with the past archbishop’s beginning Archbishop Clovis Thibault, Archbishop Mabutas, Archbishop Nanding Capalla ug ako, I think we have been listening to the Lord with the message of enlarging your tent. Make the church as mother for many. For example, una-una ang Davao quite at the beginning of it, we try to develop mga GKK wala’y labot sa sentro sa mga bukid. So that ang mga gagmay katong pareha sa tax collector nga wala man mi labot ana, duda mi dili man mi taga sentro, dili man mi sikat, wala man mi nailhan sa parish priest. No, GKK gi-develop aron bation sa tanan nga they belong to one tent, one household. And then dinhi sa Davao quite early on we develop our ministry to the IP’s maybe we don’t realized it. Ang atong apostolate sa mga Lumad because you know very well open times the IP’s, mga Lumad they feel that they are outside, they feel they are abandoned, they feel that they are not considered among us. But the Archdiocese of Davao early on atong apostolate mangadto sa katilingban sa mga Lumad. And then another tatak sa Davao listening to the Lord, ang katawhan bation nga igsoon diay kita gyud. Davao is sayo kaayo miintra kita sa interreligious dialogue to be in dialogue with other religions. Kay lagi niingon ang Ginoo make your tents big because I will gather my children, I will let them know I love them, I care for them. And then another one you must know that Davao through Archbishop Clovis Thibault established the first major seminary in Mindanao kanang mabati ninyo Remase. And dili lang for Davao but Archbishop Thibault he made it a regional major seminary to serve for many years. Seminarians and local churches in Mindanao nga wala pa’y seminary so that they can trained their clergy in this seminary. That’s why when I was studying there akong mga classmates taga Cagayan de Oro, taga Butuan, Ozamis, Dipolog, Zamboanga because they are welcome by Archbishop Clovis Thibault.

And so last early on ang mga missionaries sa Davao they worked so hard nga ang local clergy, diocesan clergy maapil gyud sa pagdumala sa simbahan. Busa at the beginning very many, more than fifty like sixty, seventy PME missionaries working in Davao covering del Sur, Davao Occidental, Davao City, del Norte, Davao de Oro, Davao Oriental they cover that. But they worked so hard nga dili lang mga foreigners mahimong pari, they worked so hard ang local young men will become priest to take care of God’s people in this part of the catholic world.

Busa am thinking wow davao has been listening to the Lord and listening to the challenges of the Lord on how to make His tent, His household to serve many, many people in the days of the past and including the present days of our lives. So advent is coming, the example of Mary we continue listening to the word of God so that we can do as local church what the Lord wants us to do in order for people to feel the presence of God in Jesus.