Do you make a difference?

VISITOR FROM VATICAN Msgr. Reginald Malicdem (left), rector of Mary Mother Hope Chapel with Landmark owner Teddy Keng and their VIP guest  Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary general of the Synod of Bishops —CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

This was the challenge posed by His Eminence Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary general of the Synod of Bishops, who presided at the mass last Friday at Landmark Makati Mary Mother of Hope Chapel.

The Cardinal, who hails from Malta but is based in the Vatican and works closely with Pope Francis, is in the Philippines for 10 days upon the invitation of Cardinal Jose Advincula through Fr. Mark Demanuele, a kababayan from Malta.

“This is my first time to preside for mass at a mall,” the impressed Cardinal declared.

Having churches in the malls is unique to the Philippines. Msgr. Reginald Malicdem, rector of the Landmark Chapel, explained before the final blessing that it is the Philippine Church’s way of being synodal, bringing the church to the people, where they are found most often.

In fact, Msgr. Regie noted, within only a kilometer of each other, there are three mall chapels: SM Makati Chapel, Landmark Chapel and Greenbelt Chapel.

After mass, the priests who concelebrated with the Cardinal joined in making him have a taste of real Filipino food at Via Mare. The Cardinal was able to try beef kaldereta, crispy pata, rellenong bangus and lumpia.

His Eminence was also able to have a taste of a variety of Filipino rice cakes or kakanin: palitaw, bibingka and puto bumbong. I offered ketchup for the rellenong bangus and explained that’s how Filipinos appreciate it but the very honest Cardinal said, “No. Ketchup with chicken, yes; with fish, no.” He liked the sauce of the kaldereta and said the bibingka was good! Perhaps we also need to listen to the gustatory wisdom of the Cardinal!

Listening, in fact, has been one of his key messages. He gave a keynote address at the Philippine Conference on New Evangelization on Jan. 19. There, he emphasized the importance of listening, explaining that it has an impact not only on the one listening, but also on the one being listened to. Cardinal Jose Advincula, Archbishop of Manila, calls this “transformative listening.”

To fuel a culture of listening at the Synod, they started what they called “Conversations in the Spirit” and had roundtables where everyone was encouraged to speak, giving a chance for each delegate to be listened to, instead of the traditional auditorium setup where everyone would just listen.

This kind of listening can only be done with humility, which is what Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle emphasized on the third day of the Philippine Conference on New Evangelization, held on the Feast of the Sto. Niño. Like the Child Jesus, he said, we need to be humble, a trait that Christ had kept all the way to the cross.

This is the trait that we all witnessed in Cardinal Grech as he walked from SM Makati to Landmark, visiting mall chapels. A few days prior, with Msgr. Esteban Lo as guide, he also took the e-trike from Binondo Church (National Shrine of San Lorenzo Ruiz) to Sta. Cruz Church!

He attended an interfaith meeting and had an audience with the seminarians of San Carlos Seminary. Everywhere he went, he listened intently and observed keenly, absorbing and appreciating the various expressions of faith that he could witness in Manila.

It is no wonder Pope Francis chose him for the gargantuan task of being the secretary general of the Synod. This is a regular assembly of bishops that started back in 1965, established by Pope Paul VI after Vatican II, where they discuss issues of the day in the presence of the Holy Father, and come up with pastoral solutions.

READ: Five things to know about Pope Francis’ Synod

The idea is for there to be a collaboration with the episcopal body. But the ever-dynamic Pope Francis has taken this collaboration a step further: for the first time, the “strictly for bishops only” assembly has been opened to lay persons, minorities and even persons from other religions!

Hopefully, through the dynamic leadership of Pope Francis and Cardinal Grech, the Synod on Synodality, which will conclude in October this year, will indeed make a great difference not just among the most holy in the Catholic Church but especially on those who are trying to find their way into or back to the church, and on humanity as a whole.

A more welcoming, more empowering Catholic Church will certainly give even the lost and the most shy among the faithful the confidence to make a difference! INQ