MANILA, Feb. 3, 2012?While everyone and every institution plays a significant role in society, it is on women that much depends, and by embracing their vocation as well as the natural abilities that go with it, they can contribute greatly to nation-building, Catholic Bishops? Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) President and Cebu Archbishop Jose S. Palma said as he addressed a crowd of over a hundred women Wednesday at a conference organized by Women in Nation Building in the Catholic Church (WNB-CC).
After calling out the various circumstances under which women are able to fulfill their potential and demonstrate their natural strengths, the prelate underscored the indispensable role of those who devote themselves to nurturing life and the home.
?Because motherhood is a key element to a woman?s identity, the woman who embraces it plays a special role in nation-building. Through motherhood, she contributes to the nation?s strength through the basic unit, the family,? Palma said.
?We are aware [that] at no other period in our history has the family been confronted with so many challenges ? challenge of the institution of marriage and conjugal procreation being questioned, the rising cost of rearing and education of children, in some places stigmatizing women who devote themselves solely ?to the care of the home, of husband and children. Thus, the global campaign to promote divorce or replace male-female union with homosexual partnerships. The situation calls for a heroic response from society, especially from women.?
Palma praised the innate qualities of women which equip them ?to persevere even in extreme conditions.? Being endowed with such God-given gifts only shows the need to enable them to fulfill their potential and live out their vocation ? as citizens of this world and the next, he enthused.
?Obviously, women can do more and would like to do more. They need to be given every opportunity to help transform the nation and the world. This is where your vocation as Catholic women comes in, for you are not only citizens of the state; you are, foremost, citizens of the Kingdom of God.?
?Above all, you are Catholic Christians? and proudly proclaim it,? the CBCP president continued. ?We must delight in upholding it and by the witness of each one of us, we must allow others see that we try to live faithful lives.?
Part of that faithfulness is the effort that Christian women exert in understanding and living the teachings of the Catholic Church as regards issues pertaining to the culture of life ? specifically that of protecting human life at any stage, preserving the institution of marriage and of the family.
Palma stressed also the duty to impart this understanding ? and transmit faithfulness to the Magisterium ? to others who may still regard legislative measures that disregard the eternal value of each human life or the sacredness of matrimonial union as possible solutions to the nation?s problems.
?Part of our life as Christians is continued openness ? we are being exhorted to pray that they may be open to the light of the Spirit, the light of the Lord, and therefore discern and know God?s design,? he said.
?[The Scriptures are] not a piece of literature written 2,000 years ago,? he continued. ?It?s a light and it has its message for us now, and therefore the continued listening and discernment, and being open to doing [what] the Spirit [teaches], ?is part of our duty. In this regard, anybody who wants to really live a good baptismal life must be open to the prodding of the Spirit.?
He pointed out that this finds its practice even in dealing with anti-life legislation such as the RH bill by way of study and discernment, ?but above all, have that docility to the mind of the Church. And this we can do in prayer.?
?As Catholics, we need to believe what Mother Church believes, and reject what She rejects. This is not to say that we can no longer disagree with one another on any issue,? he explained. ?As St. Augustine has taught us? in the one thing that is necessary, which means our Faith in Christ, we should have unity. In whatever is doubtful, we can have plurality. But in everything, there should be charity.?
Among the attendees at the conference were representatives of Good Citizenship Movement, Mother Earth, Christian Family Movement, East Asian Pastoral Institute, Martha?s Vineyard, and Philippine Alliance Against Pornography. (CBCP for Life)
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Source: http://cbcpforlife.com/?p=5887
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