Cardinal Tagle warns priests against outside pressure: ‘It’s a trap’

Cardinal Tagle warns priests against outside pressure: ‘It’s a trap’

Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle breathes over chrism oil during the Chrism Mass at the Manila Cathedral, April 13, 2017. MARIA TAN

MANILA— Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila has told priests that outside expectations could “narrow their mission” and called on the clergy not to let it determine evangelization.

In his homily during the Chrism Mass at Manila Cathedral today, the cardinal urged priests to expand their concerns and not allow themselves to be slaved of the pressure to be great and to be noticed”.

Speaking directly to priests, he said: “Having expectation is not entirely bad but sometimes it narrows our mission and when the evangelizer is carried away by pressure, sometimes the mission gets narrow.”

“It’s also like you try to justify the expectations of others rather than really proclaiming the Good News. It’s a trap,” Cardinal Tagle said.

The Manila archbishop also emphasized the need for priests to serve as authentic missionaries of God’s love by walking to peripheries.

He said that as evangelizers, clergymen must go to the outsiders and reach out even to “the unchurched, to those who hate the Church and those who have no appreciation for the Church”.

“Go and show them the freedom that the spirit gives us, the freedom to love, the freedom to serve and the blind will see, the oppressed will be set free and the prisoners will find liberty,” Cardinal Tagle said.

“But we shud start with ourselves what is keeping me unfree? What’s keeping me oppressed? What’s keeping me blind? And we turn to Jesus the evangelizer. Jesus calls us to be with Him.”

“And so as one parish community, with the pastors, with all the baptized, and one archdiocese, let us accept this where Jesus’ freedom leads us a new form of evengelizing, new methods, and communities that have not been reached or touched,” he said.

Also present during the Mass were Papal nuncio Archbishop Giuseppe Pinto, Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo, and priests of the Manila archdiocese.

The Chrism Mass is a Holy Week ritual where the bishop and priests gather to renew their priestly vows and bless the oils which will be used at baptism, anointing of the sick and ordination. CBCPNews