Change of heart vital for better Philippines--CBCP head

Calling the change of heart a gentle revolution, vital for the common good of the country, the head of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) urged every Filipino to make the dream of a better Philippines a reality in their lives and in others.

“The heart of change is the change of heart for the common good,” CBCP president and Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo said in his Easter message.

Lagdameo said there is a need “to celebrate the dream of a better Philippines in our lives and in the lives of fellow countrymen around us.”

But that is only possible, he said if one changes for the better and “to see or help that change also happen in others.”

Lagdameo said every year Christians celebrate Easter and proclaim that Jesus Christ has triumphed over suffering and death, yet they do so as if “nothing has happened with us in the past.”

“Is it because we fail to rise from our “tombs” and help others to “easter” in their life?” he asked.

Lagdameo said everyone needs to play a positive role in building a better nation since nobody can do it alone.

He pointed out that it is impossible to move the country ahead if every sector shifts in different directions.

“We can only build a better nation if all of us will do all we can all the time… No one group can build a better country in contraposition with other groups, neither the executive alone, nor congressmen alone, nor senators alone, nor
supreme court alone, nor any group of civil society alone, nor church people alone. They need to affirm and confirm the potential of one another,” said the prelate.

In working together for the common good and celebrating the positive things people have done for others and for the good of the country, the message of Easter is being realized, he said.

“We can do this by commemorating the good that others have done in support of truth versus lies; by consecrating our present in the works of justice and peace; and by celebrating the small acts of victory in the campaign to build a better nation,” said Lagdameo.