His Eminence Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle will lead the launch of the Year of Basic Ecclesial Communities (BEC) in a Eucharistic Celebration on November 26 at the Aquinas School Gymnasium, Blumentritt Street, San Juan City.
With the theme “Building and Strengthening of Participatory Communities that make up the Parish as Communion of Communities”, the Year of the BEC is the fifth of the nine-year journey in New Evangelization as the Catholic Church in the Philippines looks forward to the 500th year of Christianity in the country on 2021.
According to the Pastoral Exhortion of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), “‘On Era of New Evangelization’, the focus for 2017 will be the building of a parish that is truly a faith community immersed in the lives of its people.” This vision of the Church finds expression in the BECs.
During the launching of the Archdiocese of Manila, Fr. Amado Picardal, CSsR, who is the executive secretary of the CBCP Episcopal Committee on BECs, will deliver the keynote address, while Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick S. Pabillo, DD, will give an inspirational talk. The Archdiocese is lining up a series of activities for the Year of the BEC, and has tapped us at Radio Veritas, together with TV Maria, for a yearlong promotion and formation for our listeners and viewers for this event.
The second Plenary Council of the Philippines, or PCP II, describes BEC as “small communities of Christian, usually of families, who gather around the Word of God and the Eucharist. These communities are united to their pastors but are ministered to regularly by lay leaders. The members know each other by name and share not only the Word of God and the Eucharist, but also their concerns, both material and spiritual. They have a strong sense of belongingness and responsibility for one another.” (PCP II 138)
The members of BECs have threefold mission: the prophetic mission of proclaiming and giving witness to the Word of God, the Good News, as well as denouncing the manifestation of evil in society, the priestly mission through active participation in the liturgical celebration and the kingly/servant mission of working for the kingdom, for justice, peace and the integrity of creation.
The BECs carry out their mission within the parish, starting in their own neighborhood, in the barangay or village, in nearby communities. They go to the peripheries in the parish and reach out to those who are baptized, but not evangelized, those who are nominal or seasonal Catholics and those who are alienated from the Church. They engage in dialogue with Christians from other denominations and those who belong to other religions.
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