Milaor, Camarines Sur, November 16, 2023. For three days, that is, from November 13, 2020 to November 15, 2023, the priests of the Diocese of Libmanan gathered once again in this municipality for the Diocesan Pastoral Planning, covering a period of six years, i.e., from 2024-2029. It should be recalled that earlier this year (on March 13-15, 2023), the same priests gathered in Milaor to formulate a Diocesan Pastoral Program that was meant to be implemented until the projected changes in parish assignments will have been effected by year-end. Unexpected turn of events, however, prompted the bishop, J. Rojas, to announce such changes much earlier, that is, during the clergy meeting in June—saying at the same time that the priests were expected to move out of their present assignments into their new assignments on August 21, 2023, the earliest. This meant that the program that was formulated in March would have to be momentarily halted, until a new one is put in place. Formulating a new program was precisely the reason for the most recent gathering. During the planning sessions, the priests recalled once again the vision of the diocese, which is to become “a Church journeying towards communion and living witness to the Kingdom” (Simbahan na nagbabaklay pasiring the kaboronyogan asin buhay na pagsaksi sa kahadean). They also recalled that during the last planning sessions, the priests agreed to put life into such vision through the “mission of shepherding”, after Jesus’ command to St. Peter in John 21, 15-17 and which the Diocesan Synod of 2014 had enunciated as the concrete way of carrying out the mission of evangelization in the diocese. Reviewing the Acts and Decrees of the Synod, the priests decided to adapt a five-dimensional pastoral program to carry out this mission, namely: a) renewal of evangelized and evangelizing community, b) renewal of life in holiness, c) renewal of the agents of change, d) renewal of social action, and e) renewal of responsible stewardship. It is hoped that the implementation of this five dimensions will usher the Saradit na Kristianong Komunidad (SKK) in the diocese into a life of faith characterized as: a) liturgical-worhshipping-participation, b) developmental-caring-communion, and c) liberational- evangelizing-mission—three perspectives from which the SKK’s could be seen as a new way of being church. It should be noted that while the first two set of characteristics of each perspective were identified in previous pastoral assemblies, the third, namely, participation, communion, and mission are themes of the concurrent Synod of Bishops initiated by Pope Francis in the universal Church that providentially fitted into the tripartite. During the three-day deliberations, the priests went through a process that involved needs-analysis and needs-identification on the first day, the formulation of goals and objectives on the second day, and the development of a plan of action on the third day—thus, to give concrete expression to the program, various activities have been lined up and calendared for the coming liturgical year that starts this December 3, 2023 and ends on November 30, 2024. All this, with the general objective in mind: “In the next six years (2024-2029), the Diocese of Libmanan aims to establish in every parish an SKK-oriented way of “feeding the Lord’s sheep” through a dynamic integration of the five-dimensional programs towards growth in the tripartite perspectives of every SKK. Clearly, such an objective envisions SKK-growth not as a movement of simply going through synchronic distinct stages, but rather one that is dynamically and spirally diachronic. The host of the event was the Vicar General, Fr. Alejandro Bisenio, while Fr. Ian Trillanes, Fr. Michael de la Rosa, and Fr. Edgar Abogado served as facilitators. The gathering concluded with a eucharistic celebration presided by the bishop, J. Rojas, and punctuated by the bishop’s homily that stressed the importance of gratitude.
