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Marcelo Adiong said he felt like he was back at home in the Philippines as he listened to Archbishop Charles Brown celebrate a Mass of thanksgiving at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Middletown.
The Oct. 23 Mass was part of a celebration organized by the Fil-Am Catholic Community of the Hudson Valley to mark the 500th anniversary of Christianity in the Philippines. Pope Francis celebrated a Mass earlier this year to mark this year-long celebration being marked by Filipino Catholics around the world.
Archbishop Brown, a New Yorker who was ordained for the archdiocese by Cardinal John O’Connor in 1989, is the apostolic nuncio for the Philippines. During Mass he shared stories of his time witnessing vibrant Filipinos celebrating their Catholic faith.
He was joined on the altar by Auxiliary Bishop Gerardo Colacicco and Father Mario Esposito, O. Carm., prior provincial of the Carmelite friars.
“His experience in the Philippines brought me back home,” Adiong, a 45-year-old parishioner of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Middletown, told CNY.
Christianity was introduced in the Philippines by European settlers in the 16th century. In 2019, the Philippines had the third largest Catholic population in the world behind Brazil and Mexico, and the number of baptisms in the Philippines was essentially the same as all European nations combined.
“The Philippines are a powerhouse of faith now. You’ve been gifted to give,” said Archbishop Brown in his homily.
“What do we celebrate tonight? We celebrate the gift of faith. The ability to say I believe. I believe that God exists. I believe that Jesus Christ is true God and true man that he has died on the cross and risen to save me. I believe this. The ability to believe and that opens our eyes and then we are able to see.
“We’re able to see spiritually where to go, where to live, how to treat others. This is the essence, the foundation of our Catholic faith.”
Archbishop Brown said Filipinos should continue to share this gift of faith by the way they live, adding Filipinos can share this gift with people all over the world because there are Filipinos bringing the faith to all corners of the world.
Archbishop Brown witnessed vibrant Filipino Catholics during his time as apostolic nuncio in Ireland and Albania, and now in his 11 months in the Philippines. He added his sister lives in Turkey and that half of the congregation at Mass in Ankara is Filipino.
“So the first thing you want to rejoice about now is the richness of Filipino Catholicism, but as I say in the Philippines when I preach about the 500th anniversary of the arrival of the Catholic faith in the Philippines, we cannot rest on our laurels as we say how wonderful it is that the faith came,” he said.
“We have been gifted but we need to give. We need to evangelize in our own way by the way we live, by the way we treat other people. By the fact that we go to Mass on Sunday, people see that. The way we live has an influence, has a radiance that converts people.”
The Mass was just part of the Filipino celebration at the shrine in Middletown. A week earlier came the arrival of the pilgrim statue of Our Lady of the Rosary of Manaoag, patroness of the sick, helpless and needy. The statue remained at the shrine through the weekend celebration.
Before Mass, an outdoor procession with an image of Our Lady of Antipolo, Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage, was postponed due to weather, and an indoor crowning and Rosary were held. Following Mass, there was a formal Filipino dinner and culture night.
Rolly and Sharon Mangonon, both 51, are parishioners of Sacred Heart in Monroe, who have been married 25 years. They arrived in the United States from the Philippines in 2001. They attended the celebration with their daughters Brianna and Bianca, who read the second reading.
“It was a beautiful celebration,” Sharon said. “Wherever we are in the world, we bring our devotion and faith. Our faith helped us cope with being in a new land knowing the Lord has blessed us with this opportunity to better our lives. By doing so, we look out to him to help us in our struggles and challenges in living our life in a new land.”
Rolly added, “It’s just proper to celebrate and be thankful of the many blessings in our life. We look forward to the next 500 years. It’s a big deal, the culmination of our faith and the many blessings we had as a family, country and community.”
Adiong said the Catholic faith is an important part of life for Filipinos.
“We rely on our faith,” he said. “We became resilient due to our faith. We know God is there and it is very important.”
Speaking of the 500th anniversary celebration, Brother Von Erick M. Sandoval, O. Carm., coordinator of the Fil-Am Catholic Community of the Hudson Valley, said, “It was very well attended, very well coordinated. The Spirit was alive. God was certainly with us.”
