Cardinal Jose Advincula, head of Archdiocese of Manila, exhorted thousands of devotees of the Black Nazarene to live according to the examples of a true follower.
In his homily during a Mass for the Black Nazarene feast in Manila on January 9, Advincula said following good examples is a sign of hope.
“What we follow is what we expect,” he told 230,000 devotees in Filipino at the Quirino Grandstand. “If we offer to the Señor, but we follow money, what we actually expect is money.”
The archbishop said that when a person practices devotion to the Black Nazarene but follows corrupt people, the person actually expects immorality.
“When we practice devotion to the Señor, but we follow vices, it means we actually expect vices,” he said. “And when we follow money, corrupt people, vices, or anything wrong, we will just fail.”
The theme for the feast of the Black Nazarene this year was hope in Christ and following Christ, the archbishop noted.
“Following is better than offering,” he said.
Advincula also invited the devotees to keep the flame of hope burning.
“We Filipinos have a proverb, ‘while there is life, there is hope,’” he said. “But the Señor has better teaching: instead of while there is life, there is hope, His teaching is ‘while there is hope, there is life!”
Men cannot live without hope, Advincula noted.
“My brothers and sisters, we have hope because Jesus of Nazareth is alive,” he reminded the devotees. “Every time we shout “Viva!” to the beloved Señor, we affirm that He is alive. Our hope is alive because our beloved Señor is alive. He lives in our hearts. He lives around us. He lives among us. Let us not yield. While there is hope, there is life. Let’s live in our hope in Jesus. Viva Hesus Nazareno!”
The Mass saw the attendance of Antonio Tobias, bishop emeritus of Diocese of Novaliches; Teodoro Bacani, bishop emeritus of Diocese of Novaliches; Rufino Sescon Jr., rector at Minor Basilica Minor and National Shrine of Jesus of Nazareth and bishop of Diocese of Balanga.
The Mass was also attended by Manila Mayor Honey Lacuna, Manila Vice Mayor Yul Servo, Police General Rommel Francisco, and other church and government officials.
The Feast of the Black Nazarene is one of the largest religious observances in the country. It is celebrated annually on the 9th of January.
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