pro ecclesia et pontifice

This Tuesday (April 13) some lay men and women will be given the prestigious pontifical award, pro ecclesia et pontifice, the highest award which the Church can give to a lay person. That ten persons were accorded such award by Pope Benedict XVI is an honor not just for the persons who were chosen but for the whole diocese – a recognition that our Archdiocese has contributed something worthwhile for the whole Church.
Two things are brought to mind with this awarding ceremony.
First, whatever good we do for the church whether local (by generously contributing one’s expertise, profession and resources to the work of the diocese) or very local (by working as a catechist in a humble parish), or especially local (by working diligently in the seminary kitchen) affects the whole church of Jesus Christ. We are building the church, the universal church of Christ (and not just a little enclave of our own making), and each one contributes to that building bringing his own brick that would rise from the foundation who is Christ. For this St. Paul has very well insisted that “we must choose with care how to build on it.” (1 Cor. 3:10)


I remember one story told to us when we were young . . . while working on a magnificent gothic cathedral, some masons who were busily chiselling boulders and big blocks of rock said when asked what they were doing, “I’m building part of the doorway . . . I’m building the left wall . . . I’m building a window . . .” Coming now to a lowly mason bent by years of labor working on a small stone, he was asked, “what are you working on?” He straightened up, looked up the towering building with eyes aglow and with outstretched arms said, “I’m building a magnificent cathedral!”
Yes, the little contribution we do for the church, known or unknown, recognized or unrecognized, small, medium, large or extra-large is your little brick that would build up the magnificent cathedral!
Second, we are all doing the good that we do for God and not for anyone and anything else. Let’s admit it, some of us are green with envy and some of us, to put it quite feebly, are hurting and bitter that we are not given the recognition that we deserve for working silently through all these years for the church. Frankly, you have the right to feel that way. Hey, you’re only human! But let this solemn awarding ceremony be a looking inward to the workings of our human heart, closely examining its motives, giving ourselves that chance to purify our oftentimes muddled intentions.
When I was given my time as a seminary formator I resisted the idea of giving awards to seminarians though God knows all of them deserve one or two or even three. But I wanted to inculcate among seminarians then the fact that if there is one person who must learn to appreciate the self, it should be oneself – an appreciation based on the belief that one has given his best in the work or responsibility done, and the satisfaction that one has done what God wanted him to do. A good deed dependent on the affirmations and even on the negative criticisms of another can be fatal in the long run especially when your boss is an invisible God. I believe that is what ails our church, especially our priests today. Do it instead for God who sees what no man sees, and do not even think of the reward that awaits you in kingdom come, but do it because you love God and the satisfaction of doing things in love.
At times I would tell the seminarians that service itself is its own reward. One should be very thankful for the opportunity given to be of service to the community or to a person in need. It is always an honor and a privilege to serve. The fact that I was given that opportunity is a reward in itself because I cannot imagine ending my life with the thought that all the worthwhile things that I did in life was just for myself and my own aggrandizement.
Actually I’m thankful that this award is given especially at this time in the parish of Jaro when we find ourselves stuck up every now and then because of some people who work for their egos rather than for God and the church. I always get suspicious with people who think (and who act) as if the parish (and the church for that matter) would be less without them. I am averse to people who love to surround themselves with loyalists, building up followers whom they expect to hate what they hate, love what they love and oppose what they oppose. It is too childish, too selfish, and too unchristian. I am saddened by such attitudes because most often these are the people who are also very creative, they are the ones who would perseveringly see a parish program to its completion, they are the most active in fact . . . but for what purpose, with what motivation and for whom? Real intentions begin to show up when the same people are relegated to the sidelines or cut off from an activity they have found themselves indispensable. And that is when trouble begins, when childishness appears and when real intentions show. Nevertheless I believe that things like these happen for a purpose – the hurt of being sidelined is essential, the pain may even be salvific for I would not have done my job well if one of our good parishioners will one day die, leave this world and face the judgment seat still wallowing and still shackled and enslaved by his ego-centric and megalomaniac state of mind.
Let us work for God and his church. At times we will be permitted by God to enjoy the rewards of our labors – a little affirmation here and there, and as an added perk, a little vanity perhaps. (In my case I would always prefer cash over titles and medals so that in the little time allotted for me I may yet see what I can while I still have full use of my limbs.) But in all things let us do it for God and the church we love!