December 6, 2025 | Libmanan, Camarines Sur — Clergy, the religious, and parish representatives from across the Diocese of Libmanan converged at St. James the Greater Cathedral on Saturday to mark the 36th Foundation Anniversary of the local Church. The gathering also became the venue for presenting the plans for the third year of the diocese’s ongoing pastoral program.
Anchored on Jesus’ words to Peter—“Feed my lambs, feed my sheep” (Jn 21:15–19)—the diocesan pastoral program is characterized as a Mission of Shepherding, a long-term effort to strengthen the faith community through renewal at various levels. The plan identifies five core dimensions: a renewed evangelized and evangelizing community; renewed agents of change; renewed life of holiness and service; renewed social ministry; and renewed responsible stewardship.
Diocesan leaders explained that these dimensions are meant to take concrete shape in three central domains of Church life: liturgy, development, and liberation. Within these areas, the plan envisions a Church that is worshipping and communional in its liturgical life, caring and participatory in its development initiatives, and missionary and evangelizing in its work of liberation.
For the third year of the pastoral program, the focus shifts to integrating these dimensions within selected pilot Saradit na Kristiyanong Komunidad (SKK) across the parishes. A key component of this effort is TaGaMa, an acronym that carries multiple interpretations, including Tanganing an gabos mag-ako kan pagkaherak kan Dios, a call for the faithful to fully respond to God’s initiative of love. Literally, tagama means something that given or apportioned to someone as a share or task. In Bicol, it is something that is deliberately saved or set aside so it could be used profitably in the future. In the context of the stewardship program it is something that is deliberately set aside so it could be shared to someone in need.
Diocesan officials expressed hope that this integrated approach will advance the vision of the Diocese of Libmanan: journeying toward communion and becoming a living witness to the Kingdom of God. They added that the process is intended to help shape the local Church into a more genuinely synodal community, marked by participation, communion, and mission.
The crowd was thinner—not for lack of enthusiasm, but because the approaching tropical depression “Wilma” threatened to drench everyone. Still, for those who came, the effort proved worthwhile. They gained a deeper understanding of the diocesan pastoral program, thanks to the thorough explanation given by Fr. Edgar Abogado, the Episcopal Vicar for Synodality. A glance at the flowchart printed on the tarpaulins offers little clarity on how the boxes and triangles connect, but with Fr. Abogado’s guidance, the dots were — quite literally — connected.
The gathering was designed to conclude by lunchtime. A paraliturgy presided over by the Vicar General, Fr. Alejandro Bisenio Jr., served as a prelude to the meal, after which all participants headed home.
To be continued….
