USING FREEDOM to justify a life without service would only hurt communities, a prelate said, as he warned Thomasians against “living in the flesh” or self-indulgence.
In this year’s Misa De Apertura, Alaminos Bishop Fr. Napoleon Sipalay, Jr., O.P., said the Holy Spirit has given the gift of freedom to do good, not to exercise dissension, sexual depravity and idolatry.
“Nowadays, our freedom, people would like to have no control at all, self-centeredness, but that is not the kind of freedom the Lord is asking us…Our freedom is to build the community. Our freedom is to serve one another,” Sipalay said on Friday, Aug. 2, at the Santisimo Rosario Parish.
“It’s not only a ministry of service but it’s really a ministry of serving one another in humility. Literally, we’re called by Paul to live in humble service, not because we achieve a kind of position,” he added.
Sipalay, a former vice rector of the UST Central Seminary, emphasized the need to sacrifice one’s pride and indulgence, noting the inevitable presence of disagreements in communities.
“That’s why the antidote for this is to live in the spirit, and the gifts of the spirit are something that would help us to counter this living in the life of the flesh. Because the life of the flesh is centered on one’s freedom that is unbridled,” he added.
The prelate said the Thomasian community has a role in raising awareness of the state of the environment, citing the recent onslaught of super typhoon “Carina” that flooded various Metro Manila areas and nearby provinces.
“Our environment is coming to a stage of degradation, and what is our role in this environment that the Lord has given us? I believe we have to raise this awareness in the university,” Sipalay said.
UST administrators must also live in spirituality to “allow the Word of God” to shape their actions in leading the University, he added.
“If people who are in authority are in high spiritual standard, the one below will follow. The other way around is true, if you don’t live a high standard [of] spiritual maturity, we don’t have authority to say and correct others below us,” the bishop said.
Sipalay encouraged Catholic administrators of the University to emulate the mother of Saint Dominic de Guzman, Blessed Joan of Aza, who fed the marginalized community of Caleruega.
“She offered her life in service as [an] expression of following the Word of God. So I hope and pray for all of us working in the University, [who are] here offering your life. If you live the gospel, let us offer a life of sacrifice to the Lord,” he said.
The Misa de Apertura is part of the University’s annual onboarding activities that mark the opening of the new academic year. F
