March 22, 1993

To all Parishes and Chaplaincies in the Archdiocese:

“Walang sino man ang nabubuhay para sa sarili lamang.

Walang sino man ang namamatay para sa sarili lamang.

Tayong lahat ay may pananagutan sa isa’t isa.”

The beautiful song “Pananagutan,” inspired by Paul's letter to the Romans (14:7-8), refrains Vatican II’s Gaudium et Spes which declares: “The joy and hope, the grief and anguish of men of our time, especially those who are poor and afflicted in any way, are the joy and hope, the grief and anguish of the followers of Christ as well.”

We, as followers of Christ, cannot live in isolation... apart from the rest of society. Our coming and going, our presence and absence, touch the lives of others as theirs ours. Christian solidarity demands that we be not only responsive to but be responsible for each other as well. This is possible only if we recognize Christ’s presence in others and be His presence to others.

Today, we, who have been blessed with the amenities of life and who have mercifully been spared of the stings of natural disasters, cannot remain unaffected by the great suffering of so many of our people. How can we be comfortable and be at peace with ourselves when we see so many people hungry and naked, sick and broken, homeless and abandoned? I speak not only of those in Pinatubo, Ormoc or Mayon but also, and more so, of those in our streets, in our slums and in our neighborhoods.

The Church, the Mystical Body of Christ, of which you and I are integral part, is but one body. When a finger is pricked, the whole body reacts in pain. It must be attended to if the body is to be whole again. To attend to others in need is to attend to ourselves; to attend to Jesus Himself.

During this season of Lent, especially today, I ask you to give generously of yourselves. Today’s second collection will go to CARITAS MANILA, your instrument in touching the lives of people in need; in feeding the hungry; in clothing the naked; in sheltering the homeless; in healing the broken.

Give generously. Give to CARITAS MANILA and help build lives again. “Tayong lahat ay may pananagutan sa isa’t isa.”

(SGD.) + Jaime L. Cardinal Sin, D.D.

Archbishop of Manila

Palm Sunday 1993