Around 800 Franciscans in the Philippines celebrated the 8th Centenary of Christmas at Greccio with a 3-day gathering in Cebu City from December 1 to 3, 2023. Organized by the Inter-Franciscan Ministers Conference of the Philippines (IFMCP), the umbrella organization of the Franciscans in the country, the national gathering was participated by all the Franciscan congregations representing the Three Orders of the Seraphic family.
The fraternal get-together had a series of activities and kicked off with the IFMCP National Assembly, where the new Board of Trustees was elected to animate the Conference for the next three years. The gathering became an occasion to incarnate the spirit of the Greccio Event by holding activities that are profoundly Franciscan, including a "Walk for Creation" and Tree Planting Activity on December 2, participated by around 400 Franciscans planting about 1,200 hardwood and fruit-bearing trees in a mountainous village.
Conscious of the plight of the marginalized, the gathering also held a Medical and Dental Outreach. Thanks to our volunteer doctors, dentists, nurses, and medical practitioners, around 1,240 individuals received medical and dental services. Simultaneously, a nutritional feeding program was enjoyed by about 500 children in a secluded village in the city.
The concluding day of the Centenary Celebration was slated for the National Gathering of the Franciscans at the Aznar Coliseum. The whole day’s event started with a Talk entitled “The 8th Centenary Events: Inspiration and Challenges Today” by an authority on Franciscan literature in the Philippines, Br. Antonio Maria L. Rosales, OFM. In his input, Br. Antonio emphasized that “the first Crib was a lesson of love and poverty…of God’s self-emptying for the love of all creation.” Inspired by the insights in the Talk, the whole assembly gathered in groups and shared their reflections.
Where Franciscans are gathered, joy is always present. And so, the day continued with activities meant to foster Franciscan joy, including the Agape Meals of Filipino food, which was shared in festive mode. In the afternoon, sharing and intermission numbers sustained the spirit of a joyful fraternity. Committed to following the Lord through the inspiration of St. Francis, the assembly crafted the 8th Centenary Statement, reaffirming, among others, to “re-live the mystery and experience at Greccio. Deepen our personal and communal prayer and devotion, strengthen the foundation of our communal life, ministries, and ways of being in the world.”
One of the highlights was the faithful and moving theatrical re-enactment by the young Franciscans of Thomas of Celano’s account of St. Francis’s Christmas at Greccio. The remarkable day was capped with a Eucharistic Celebration, celebrated together for the assembled Franciscans by the clerics of the First Orders. Acknowledging the varied contributions of the Franciscan families in the Philippines, the organizers were grateful for the resounding success of the Christmas at Greccio Centenary celebration.
The IFMCP and mission partners are grateful to the main organizers of this spirit-filled and joyful celebration, in particular, the Cebu Inter-Franciscan Communities and the two OFM Provinces in the Philippines: the Province of San Pedro Bautista and the Province of San Antonio de Padua – Philippines, ministered by the respective Minister Provincials, Br. Lino Gregorio R. Redoblado, OFM and Br. Renee C. Dean, OFM.
In its primer for the Franciscan Centenaries, the Conference of the Franciscan Family says, “The centenaries offer us a valuable opportunity to invigorate the richness of our charism with a prophetic vision toward the future.” Suppose the success of the Filipino Franciscans’ celebration of the Greccio Centenary is an indication, it becomes clear that the Franciscans in the Philippines have indeed concretized the richness of the Franciscan charism as prophets to the world where Greccio’s message of hope, humility, and joy become incarnated in the people’s lives.
