A significant part of the intervention of the Apostolic Nuncio Bernardito Auza at the beginning of the Plenary Assembly of the Spanish Bishops was dedicated to remembering and expressing gratitude for the evangelizing work of Spain in the Philippines 500 years ago.
It was on March 31, 1521 that the first Mass was celebrated on Philippine soil; fourteen days later the first baptisms were administered there. Today the Philippines is the main Catholic country in Asia, and one of the most numerically significant and dynamic.
Was it a gesture of kind deference to the audience, or the specific sensitivity of a diplomat of Philippine nationality? Of course, it probably responds, in part, to both realities and also to the recognition of the historical merit of the Spaniards and the allusion to the gratitude expressed by St. John Paul II in Saragossa in 1984. However, the expressiveness and length of the mention -more than a third of the Nuncio's speech- indicate a different and properly ecclesial intention: that of encouraging Spanish Catholics to be eager to evangelize even today.
It is the commission received from Jesus Christ and the joyful impulse of a transformed life; an impulse that cannot be conceived except in freedom, both in the one who announces it and in the one who receives the news of it. As the Gospel of Matthew 10:8 says, "Freely you have received, freely give".
And the joy of evangelizing is stimulated by the joy of being evangelized. The Philippine bishops declare in their Pastoral Letter written on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the presence of the Gospel in their islands that "our hearts overflow with joy and gratitude" for the gift of faith, which they say is "marvelous".
Now it is we who are obliged to be thankful, since we have seen in these people the joy of believing. The naturally joyful character of the Filipinos is linked to the joy of faith. With it, gratitude for what we have received becomes a driving force.
Pope Francis translated this with an invitation on March 14, when he celebrated the anniversary with the Filipino community in St. Peter's: "Bring the faith, that proclamation that you received 500 years ago, and that you now bring"; and he underlined the joy that "is seen in your people, it can be seen in your eyes, in your faces, in your songs and in your prayers. The joy with which you bring your faith to other lands".
Indeed, in many countries where Filipinos work and live, they become a major element of the Christian community. "Because where they go to work, they work, but they also sow the faith. This is... a hereditary disease, but a blessed disease!".
