ARCHBISHOP Jose Palma reminded the laity of the importance of life and hoped threats to life would end. Palma said this in his homily during the mass to cap the Walk for Life with Mary yesterday dawn.
“Ang atong Walk for Life karong buntaga (our Walk for Life this morning) is a declaration that life is a gift and it is a precious, sacred gift,” he said.
“We have to protect life from the womb to the tomb,” he said.
“Mao nga una sa tanan ang atong pagpasalamat sa Diyos kay siya man ang sinugdan ug siya man ang katumanan sa atong kinabuhi (First of all, we must thank God as the origin and fulfillment of our lives),” Archbishop Palma said.
He said, “Unta kining atong naeksperyensyahan nga threat to life, killings, unta maundang because we love our country and God loves us as a people (We hope these threats to life, like killings, will stop).”
“Yes, we support the campaign against drugs, but no, we question kining pamaagi for we know nga daghan ang nangamatay with questionable motives and circumstances (Yes, we support the war on drugs but we question the way it is being fought because so many people have died),” he said.
“This may not be the will of God for them.”
He said that “the next certain thing in life after we are born is that we will die.” He said death is easier to accept when it comes from the will of God rather than a product of man’s decision or action.
“Kung kining kamatayon, pagkuha sa atong kinabuhi kabubot-on sa Diyos pananglit tungod sa edad o mga masakit, mas sayon dawaton. God’s will hangtod na lamang kita diha pero kung sa atong pagtan-aw dili pa unta panahaon sa kabubt-on sa Diyos pero sa lain-laing mga rason labi na kung atong pagtan-aw kabubot-on sa tawo ug sa rason nga dili matarong magdala kini og kasubo, magdala og kamingaw (We can accept death if it’s the will of God. But death that is the will of man brings pain and sadness),” he said.
Palma called on the public to be cautious with some of the proposed laws because they may not bring good to the people. He cited as an example the approval on first reading of the Divorce Bill.
He called on parents to consider how this would affect their children. The Walk for Life with Mary was organized by the Archdiocese of Cebu Commission on the Laity, in cooperation with the Sangguniang Laiko ng Pilipinas and with the support of other Marian organizations. (USJ-R Intern John Paul Fajardo)