Bishop Pablo Virgilio David of Caloocan said strong family ties could lick the drug problem, which he said had worsened because of waning personal connections.
“What is the cause of addiction? Is it the exposure to drugs? No. It is caused by [a person’s] loneliness and [his] imprisonment [from the community]… Therefore, a person truly needs a family, friends, and acceptance from his own community… In order to solve our problem regarding drugs, we must strengthen the ties of all Filipino families,” Msgr. David said during formation month in the Diocese of Malolos.
‘Don’t play blind’
David called on everyone to “stop playing deaf and blind, acting like there’s nothing to worry about.”
But David warned against punitive killings of drug addicts.
“I believe that the campaign against drugs must be implemented well,” said Msgr. David. “We must have a government and police force with a firm political will. Do you think, however, that drug addicts must be treated like junkies that are good for dead?
“In the eyes of God, none of us are junkies, drug addicts or not.”
Holy Land pilgrimage
Gerry Divino’s book, “A Journey of Faith,” published by Jesuit Communications in 2013, now has a second edition. It tackles the experiences and reflections of 38 of the 51 Filipino pilgrims to the Holy Land, including then Imus Bishop Luis Antonio Tagle, now cardinal-archbishop of Manila.
“From all walks of life we came. From the secluded subdivisions of Alabang to the outskirts of Cavite and Laguna, we were all different,” Divino writes in the introduction. “Doctors, lawyers, accountants, finance and math experts, teachers, from the academia to the military, doubters and devotees we were. In those ten days we ate the same fish that St. Peter partook of, sailed in the same boat at the Sea of Galilea, had ourselves baptized in the same water as Jesus did at River Jordan and united in being with Him and what He lived for.
“The book is about how a pilgrimage can change the way we look at our faith,” says Divino. “And since that fateful Holy Land trip, no one in that Via Lucis pilgrimage looked at one’s faith in the same way ever again.”
Book is available at Sonolux, Ateneo de Manila University, Loyola Heights, Quezon City (call 4265971); or Tanging Yaman store, 5/F Atrium Building, SM Megamall. Proceeds will go to the TV program, “The Word Exposed with Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle.
Mercy pilgrimage
Radio Veritas is holding its Jubilee of Mercy Pilgrimage on Sept. 25.
Pilgrimage will visit the designated jubilee churches in the Archdiocese of Manila: Cathedral-Basilica Minore of the Immaculate Conception, Intramuros, Manila; Santuario de Santo Cristo, San Juan City; Archdiocesan Shrine of the Divine Mercy, Mandaluyong City; Our Lady of Sorrows Parish, Pasay City; and National Shrine of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Makati City.
“Let us take some time to pause from secularization,” said said RV president Fr. Anton Pascual. “Let us give time to pray, reflect and renew our relationship with God through the Veritas Jubilee Pilgrimage to the Jubilee Churches in the Archdiocese of Manila.”
Deadline of registration is on Sept. 20 at RV studios at 162 West Ave., Quezon City. Pilgrimage donation is P1,200, inclusive of transportation, lunch and snack. Call 9257931 -39 loc. 129.
Dominican jubilee novenas
To mark the 800th anniversary celebration of the Order of Preachers, Santo Domingo Church in Quezon City is holding every Wednesday, 5:30 p.m., the perpetual novena to St. Dominic de Guzman, founder of the Dominican Order.
Santo Domingo is also holding the perpetual novena to the Santissimo Rosario de La Naval de Manila every Saturday, 5:30 p.m. Mass follows at 6 p.m.
E-mail announcements to lzulueta@inquirer.com.ph.