Since last Tuesday (Jan. 24), the Catholic bishops coming from 86 dioceses all over the Philippines gathered at the Pius XII center for their regular assembly. The executive secretaries from various episcopal committee and commissions were also invited - that includes me. The first day was devoted to listening to the results of the study on the diocesan plans and how they reflect the vision-mission and priorities of the second Plenary Council of the Philippines (PCP II). The study was conducted by research centers coming from various Catholic universities all over the Philippines. Among others, the study show that "Basic Ecclesial Communities - BECs" ranked 3rd in the adoption of PCP II priorities reflected in the diocesan plans.
One the second day, 3 bishops gave talks on Benedict XVI's "Verbum Domini" - the Word of God in the Life and Mission of the CHurch. Yesterday, the 3rd day of the gathering, several executive secretaries gave presentations on the relation of the Word of God to various specific dimensions/priorities of the Church (Catechetics, Liturgy, Youth, Social Action, Social Communications, BECs). I gave a 45 minutes presentation on the topic: "The Word of God and Basic Ecclesial Communities" followed by 15 minutes open forum in the afternoon. I was nervous at first, since this was the first time I have given a talk to the bishops (except for the 10 minutes BEC committee report I gave last July 2010). But I was encouraged by the attentiveness and interest of the bishops.
Tomorrow, the bishops will be listening to the reports from various commissions, followed by discussion on several concerns.
I will be meeting the members of the National BEC team (headed by Bishop George Rimando) immediately after the CBCP assembly on Wednesday.
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