Treat life as a gift, not a commodity – Cardinal Tagle

Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle on Saturday asked participants of the Walk for Life to treat life as a gift from God and not as a commodity.

“Life is a gift from God, but if we don’t look at it as a gift and just something that we can use, it is easy for us to do away with it,” he said in his homily during a Mass at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila Saturday.

“We think if this material is not useful to me, I will get rid of it, I will throw it away, I will eliminate it because it has become useless,” he added. And because of such mentality, the Cardinal said one loses the sense of the gift that God has given – something one should be thankful for by taking care of it.

“We don’t notice it, but we suddenly look at everything as a commodity, thing,” said Tagle.

“A gift should not be taken for granted. A gift is something that we should be thankful for because that is a fruit of the love of the one who gives it,” he stressed.

His Eminence blamed such mentality to a culture that has become pragmatic and materialistic.

An estimate crowd of 2,000 joined the event which aims to uphold human life, the dignity of life and to also denounce the culture of violence in the country.

The event which started at 4 a.m. yesterday was also held simultaneously in the Archdioceses of Cagayan de Oro and Cebu, as well as in the Dioceses of San Pablo and Tarlac.

In his earlier message, the cardinal urged participants to offer their walk to those whose lives are being threatened.

"Let us walk for our brothers and sisters whose lives are not only encountering problems but also being threatened," Tagle said.

Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillourged everyone to remain vigilant amid the killings.

“Regardless if the killings are few... it’s still happening. There is also the death penalty. These are threats to life. That’s why we have to remain vigilant as a people,” he said.

Donate to charity Meanwhile, as Christendom marks the Second Sunday of Lent today, San Jose (Nueva Ecija) Bishop Roberto Mallari called on the faithful to make their Lenten observance more meaningfulby donating to charity the money that they will save fromfasting and abstinence.

“Whatever amount that we will save from fasting and abstinence may be donated to charity that can help fund theeducation of poor but deserving students as well as feed undernourished children. Such is the invitation of dioceses through the Church’s ‘Ponto ng Pinoy’ Lenten fund-raising initiative,” Mallari, chairman of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines – Episcopal Commission on Catechesis and Catholic Education said over Church-run Radio Veritas.

The bishop said the Church has several organizations andgroups that lead feeding and scholarship programs where donations may be coursed. “The help that we give is very important as it is also for the future of our country,” he added.

Cardinal Tagle likewise called on the faithful to support the Church’s Fast2Feed program, which targets malnourished children.

Catholic Church officials also continue to encourage the faithful “to examine their conscience, to repent of any sin, and to observe the Sacrament of Penance” as the observance of theHoly Week nears.

The confessional will be open for longer hours today, the Second Sunday of Lent, to enable more churchgoers to go to confession. Catholics are also reminded to observe the three tenets of the observance of the Lenten season: alms giving, prayer, and fasting as forms of sacrifices and in accordance withPope Francis’ call for Christians to observe “mercy and compassion” towards others.(With a report from Christina I. Hermoso)