Homily of H.E. Most Rev. Charles John Brown D.D., Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines
Novena Mass in Honor of Nuestra Señora del Santísimo Rosario de Malusac
October 19, 2024 | Santo Rosario Parish, Barangay Malusac, Sasmuan, Pampanga
Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word” (Lk. 1:38). “Ecce ancilla Domini fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum” in Latin language.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:
For me, as the Apostolic Nuncio in the Philippines, that means the representative of Pope Francis, it gives me a lot of joy and happiness in my heart to be with you this morning; here in Santo Rosario Parish, here in the Archdiocese of San Fernando, here in Malusac, to celebrate your Ninth Day in the Novena, which is leading up to your feast day tomorrow.
It's been a wonderful line-up of priests and bishops, who have come here during these days to prepare you for tomorrow, your glorious feast day. I'm delighted to be accompanied this morning by His Excellency, the Most Rev. Deogracias S. Iñiguez, Jr., D.D., Bishop-Emeritus of Kalookan, who is here with you, another bishop. Of course, your beloved Parish Priest, Rev. Fr. Ervin Ray S. Garcia, OP, who was the one who invited me. I am very grateful for the nice welcome that was afforded to me in Sasmuan this morning, when I arrived, by your Mayor, Catalina Cabrera, who is also here with us this morning.
Mary, a Girl from the Province
So, the Gospel (Luke 1:26-38) that we heard this morning for this Mass in honor of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary, talks about the moment in which Angel Gabriel came to tell Mary, Mama Mary, that she would be the Mother of God. Mary, of course, was a girl living in the provinces. This is an important point. Where was Mary living? Was she living in the capital? The capital is Jerusalem. No, she was not living in the capital. As you heard in the beginning of the Gospel, “the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth”. The Gospel has to tell us where that town was, because no one really knew that town. It was a small place. It was in the province. It wasn't famous. It was on the periphery. There, God chose Mama Mary, out of all the young women in the entire world, in the entire history, that we can say, that the attention of God was directed to the province, to Galilee, to the place where Mama Mary was. A girl growing up, not in the capital, but in the province.
So, that should make us realize that if we want to attract the attention of God, by living a holy life, it doesn't matter whether we're in the capital or in the province. Whether we are in Manila or in Malusac, it doesn't matter. What matters is the purity of our heart, the cleanliness of our heart, the love that's in our heart. That's what draws the intention of God. That's why God sent the angel Gabriel, not to Jerusalem, but to Nazareth.
I'm very happy to be here in Malusac for my first visit. Father Rayvin has told me that this is the first time that an Apostolic Nuncio has ever come in the history of the Church, to Malusac. I'm very delighted to be the first nuncio to come, and hopefully not the last one. Because after the wonderful welcome that I've received, I will spread the word, and other nuncios will come in the future. I'm sure of that.
Arrival of the Apostolic Nuncio at Barangay Malusac, Sasmuan, Pampanga.
The Fishermen and the Net of God's Love
Of course, here in Malusac, you're known for being fisher folk, fisher people. People who make their living from fishing. That's a very, very important image for us as Catholics. When we read the Gospel, as Catholics, we are continually finding images of fish and fishermen (cf. Lk. 5:1-11; Jn. 6:9).
Who was the first pope? St Peter. What was St Peter's job before Jesus called him? He was a fisherman (Mk. 1:16-20). He was fishing, and that's how Jesus called him. Now our Holy Father, Pope Francis, when he becomes Pope in Rome, he receives a special ring. It's the ring of the fisherman. The Fisherman's ring, because Pope Francis, our Holy Father, is the successor of Peter the fisherman.
So, fishermen are very important in the history of the Church. Again and again, we find the Gospel speaking about Jesus, either talking about fishermen or even accompanying fishermen. Do you remember the famous scene after the resurrection of the Lord? When the apostles and disciples are fishing all night long, and they catch nothing. Jesus says to them again, “Throw out your net again for a catch.” They say, “Lord, we've been fishing all night and there's nothing here, but in obedience to you, we will do it”, and they throw in their net, and they pull in a huge catch of fish (Jn. 21:1-14). Then there's that beautiful line in the Gospel of St. John, when he describes this miraculous catch of fish, that was so enormous. St. John says “It was so great, so big”, this catch of fish, and “yet the net was not broken”.
“The net was not broken.” That net is an image of the Church, an image of the Church. All of us are Catholics. All of us, in a certain sense, are fish in the net of God's love. God's love has surrounded us with a net. We are, in a certain sense, fish surrounded by God's love.
You know, brothers and sisters? In the early Church, they used the word “fish” to refer to Christians. Why? They had that famous symbol of the fish. Maybe you've seen sometimes on some automobiles, on cars, you'll see sometimes a fish symbol that people put on their car to show that they are Christians. The symbol of the fish.
Of course, in your language, in Capampáñgan, fish is “asan” right? See, I'm learning a little bit. I've learned some Capampáñgan, “asan” is fish. In the Greek language, the word is ΙΧΘΥΣ (IKhThUS). It has five letters, and those five letters were symbolizing Jesus. Because the five letters of the Greek word for “asan”, which is “ichthus” is, the first letter is like a “J” for Jesus. Then the next letter is kind of like a “C” for Christ. The third letter is like a “G” for God. The fourth letter is like a “S” for Son; and the fifth letter is “S” for savior. So ichthus, “asan”, in Greek, means “Jesus Christ, God's Son, Savior”.
ΙΧΘΥΣ = Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, Θεοῦ Υἱός, Σωτήρ (Jesus Christ God's Son Saviour)
So, this idea of fish is so important for us as Catholics. For me as your Apostolic Nuncio, as someone who works for the “chief fisherman” of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis―it gives me so much joy to be with you in your fishing village, here in this beautiful town, a beautiful Barangay of Malusac.
Like a Fluvial Procession to Heaven
Secondly, we have this afternoon, your wonderful fluvial procession, in which you will go onto the river with all the images of the saints. That's another beautiful image that helps us understand what the Church is like. As I said, the Church is like a net of God's love, catching us, His fish, and drawing us into heaven.
The Church is also like a procession, like a parade, like a fluvial procession. All of us traveling together towards the kingdom of God. In a fluvial procession, you have all these beautiful images of the saints (which I blessed this morning, which surround us here in your church), and the Saints accompany us. They're traveling with us on our procession, on our way to heaven. If you want to know the direction to go to heaven, we follow the example of the saints. We follow the example of the saints.
So, I believe that each boat probably will have a saint in it, a saint's image this afternoon when you have your fluvial procession. That's to make you think that if I want to go to heaven, I need to follow the example of the saints.
Our Lady of the Rosary La Naval de Manila, joins the fluvial procession at Malusac.
Photos courtesy of Lorenz Khalil Soberano & Luis Macapagal.
The Rosary, a Powerful Prayer
Thirdly, after the idea of fishermen and the procession as being our path to heaven, we have the idea of the Holy Rosary. Your Parish is Santo Rosario. Santo Rosario, the Holy Rosary, and we see the beautiful image of the Rosary on the doors of your church. We see the beautiful image of the Rosary in the hands of Our Lady. The Rosary is a powerful prayer. It’s so important for us to pray the rosary. If we pray the rosary, we draw close to Mary, and Mary directs us to God. The Rosary is a powerful prayer.
I like to say that Mary is our mother. That's what we call her “Mama Mary”. All of us have a physical mother, a natural mother, right? A human mother. Each and every one of us. No one in the church here, doesn't have a mother. You can't come into the world without a mother, and your mother loves you. Your mother loves you. If you want to show your love to your mother, sometimes it's nice to bring her flowers, right? You bring a flower to your mother, you'll make your mother smile. Mothers always smile when their children bring them flowers.
The Rosary is like 50 flowers that we bring to Mary, our Mother in heaven. Because the word “rosary” comes from the word for “rose”, like the flower, the rose. So, the Rosary is like 50 Hail Mary's, 50 roses that we offer to Our Lady. It's a powerful prayer, and it makes Mary smile on us, and makes Mary send the blessings of Jesus upon us, so that we can be true Christians, true Catholics in this world.
The Nuncio and the Rosary
For me as your Apostolic Nuncio, I decided to go to the seminary in the year 1983, when most of you weren't alive. I was a student, and I was traveling in Asia. In fact, I went to India, to Northern India, to the Himalayan Mountains, because I like to travel and walk in the mountains. Before I went, I brought my rosary with me. Even though I didn't really pray the rosary so much as a young person, but I brought my rosary with me when I went to the mountains. I was 23 years old, and I was walking in the mountains, day after day. What was I doing to pass the time as I was walking? I was praying the rosary, praying the Hail Mary, again and again and again. In a period of about two weeks, something changed in my heart. I knew that Mary wanted me to become a priest. It wasn't like Mary appeared to me, but Mary gave me the inspiration to become a priest. To leave everything and to follow Jesus, her Son. It's really because I was praying the rosary.
Final Exhortation
So, I know that Father Rayvin, is encouraging you to pray the rosary, I want to add my voice to his, encouraging you in your parish of Santo Rosario to pray the rosary.
So, on this glorious day, we have those three images in our mind: 1) the importance of the fishermen and fish; 2) importance of a procession, following the example of the saints, knowing about the saints, making friends with the saints, so the saints will be in each of our little boat, the captain leading us to heaven; and 3) thirdly, praying the Holy Rosary to Mama Mary, because by praying the Holy Rosary, Mary will direct so many blessings to you, and give you so much joy and happiness.
So, for me, as the Apostolic Nuncio in the Philippines, I thank you for your presence this morning here in your wonderful parish. I thank you for the beautiful welcome that I've received. I ask you, finally, to pray for Pope Francis, the chief fisherman in the Church. I will see him next month. I'm going to go to Rome, and when I go to see Pope Francis, next month, I will tell him “The people in Malusac are praying for you, Pope Francis”, and I'm sure that will make him very happy. So, don't forget to pray for Pope Francis.
May God bless you, and have a wonderful and holy and happy fiesta.
Thank you.
Transcribed by Joel V. Ocampo
Photos by: Costa Ecclesia Rosarii Media
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