Guided by the Word

The Fraternity of the Diocesan Clergy of Davao (FDCD) came together for their quarterly fraternity gathering held at Mergrande Ocean Resort last January 22, 2024 (Monday). They reflected on the theme on the National Bible Month, “God’s Word: The Breath of New Life” with Fr. Anthony Sepulveda, Prelate of the Opus Dei, as their resource speaker.

Fr. Anthony gave 2 main Scripture references as a starting point of his talk. The first reference was taken from the book of Genesis 2:7, “Then the Lord God formed the man out of the dust of the ground and blew into his nostrils the BREATH OF LIFE, and the man became a living being.” The second reference was taken from 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “ALL SCRIPTURE is BREATHED out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

Fr. Anthony emphasized that God’s Life-Giving Spirit is especially present in His Word in Scripture and that the priests are called to preach to concrete people with concrete situations but always guided by God’s eternal wisdom.

He further added that the priests are renewed by the Holy Spirit through contrition. They are guided and guiding through the Scripture and the Holy Spirit, it’s Divine Author. The priests should always be in touch with those led by the same Spirit: the Church fathers, the Magisterium, and the Saints.

For a priest to preach God’s Word as the Breath of New Life, he should always pray to the Holy Spirit for enlightenment. (Rev. Alcris Panganiban)