‘Only God’s love can fulfill the human soul’: Bishop Bastes’ homily hours before he died

Retired Bishop Arturo Bastes of Sorsogon celebrated Mass on the eve of World Mission Sunday. No one expected it to be his last.

The Mass, live-streamed on social media, captured some of the final hours of his life before he passed away early the next morning.

During his homily at a congress on Sacred Heart devotion, he emphasized that nothing can quench the thirst of the human soul except a personal relationship with God.

“No other love, no other thing in the world, no other riches in the world can ever surpass the greatness of the love and Sacred Heart of Jesus,” Bishop Bastes said at the Sacred Heart Parish-Shrine in Quezon City.

He lamented that, instead of loving God, people often choose to love money and material possessions.

Despite all human efforts, he stressed that only God’s love can truly fulfill humanity.

“No materialistic thing, nothing in this world can satisfy your heart except the love of God,” Bishop Bastes said.

According to him, devotion to the Sacred Heart emphasizes that God’s love is unfailing, even in the face of human unfaithfulness.

“The Sacred Heart is the best proof that God loves us,” he said.

Bishop Bastes succumbed to a heart attack at 6:30 a.m. on Oct. 20 at his brother’s residence in Cainta, Rizal. He was 80.

Born in Loboc, Bohol in 1944, he was ordained priest for the Society of the Divine Word in 1970.

He was named bishop of Romblon on July 3, 1997, and received his episcopal ordination on Aug. 21 of the same year in Cebu City.

In July 2002, he was appointed coadjutor bishop of Sorsogon, a position he held until April 2023, when he became the fourth bishop of the diocese.

Within the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), he served as chairman of its Episcopal Commission on Biblical Apostolate (ECBA).

His wake is currently being held at Villa Cristo Rey in Christ the King Mission Seminary in Quezon City. His remains will be transported to Sorsogon either tomorrow or Thursday.

Wakes will also be held at the Sorsogon Cathedral until his funeral at 10 a.m. on October 30. The Mass will be presided over by papal nuncio Archbishop Charles Brown, alongside Bishop Jose Alan Dialogo of Sorsogon and other bishops. (CBCP News)

A version of this article was first published by CBCP News.