SW News: Cardinal Jose Advincula, Archbishop of Manila, on August 06, urged Filipino Catholics in the US to be missionaries in their own sphere of activity. He made this statement while addressing his countrymen during a gathering organized by the Devotees of Our Lady of the Rosary of Manaoag in New Jersey.

While speaking to the Marian devotees, he prayed that let every faithful be courageous enough to boldly profess their Christian faith and be living testimonies in every situation of life. The cardinal advised them to be “bearers of life and hope” especially for those people “who feel alone, abandoned or alienated”. “Let us bear Christ to one another, especially those among us who are forlorn, discouraged, and distressed,” he added.

He expressed hope that faithfulness sets the shape and mission of the devotee's everyday life. In his address, the top prelate also implored the intervention of Mother Mary to bring “reconciliation and solidarity” to reign over “political, regional and economic divisions”.

In Edison district, New Jersey, Filipino believers were celebrating the 500th year of the advent of Christianity in their home country.

For Archbishop Advincula, New Jersey is not a strange place. For him, the place is like a “home”. He was blessed enough to serve in at least three parishes of New Jersey in 1980 while he was a young priest. “Coming to this part of the US is like coming home,” he added.

He was there at St. Cecilia Parish Church-Kearny in 1984. From 1985 to 1989 he served St. Mary’s Immaculate Conception Parish Church-Jersey City, and also rendered his service at Star of the Sea Parish Church in Long Branch in 1988.