“Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”

These strong words of Jesus Christ from John 2:19 struck me as I contemplated on the message imparted to us as we celebrated the 19th anniversary of the canonical establishment of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish here in Bangkal last November 9, 2022.

Every year, we feel blessed in celebrating the establishment of our parish coinciding with the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome.

Whether it was intentional or not, we won’t care; but celebrating OLLP 19th anniversary back-to-back with the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica is what matters.

The Gospel message is so vivid that the establishment of the Church does not speak about the structure of the Church, but on our awesome appreciation of the architectural designs; foremost, the Church manifests the presence of Jesus Christ in our community, as we parishioners, form the body of the Risen Christ.

When Jesus said, “the days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down” (Luke 21:6), we, as a parish community “stood firm” (Luke 21:19) despite the challenges of the pandemic; indeed, we “hold firmly to the faith we possess” (Hebrew 4:14).

As a body of the Risen Christ, we are humbled that after two years of dreadful COVID-19, we celebrated the 19th anniversary of the canonical establishment as a parish back-to-back with the feast in Rome.

We also felt an honor to have Fr. Fernando “Anggong” Ingente, SM, as a resident priest in our parish, who celebrated his 45th birthday on that same date.

As a priest of the Society of Mary, it is but appropriate that Fr. Anggong is in the parish of Mama Mary, Our Lady of Lourdes, as he was much welcomed by our parish priest Fr. Henry Campeon.

All is well indeed, for this year as we enjoyed a triple celebration as one Christian community, the body of Risen Christ, here in Bangkal: Feast of Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome, a wonderful celebration of the 19th anniversary of the canonical establishment of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, and a happiest 45th birthday of Fr. Fernando “Anggong” Ingente, SM.

“Viva Maria!”

(Vonz Hijada)