5,000 first communicants attended Mass at the Cebu City Sports Center with parents, guardians and delegates of the 51st International Eucharistic Congress. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)
Cardinal leads 5,000 children in their first taste of the ‘Bread of Life’
At age 10, Marvin Sordilla ran away from home.
He chose to live with friends on the streets of Digos City in Davao del Sur, where he sniffed Rugby and got hold of a gun.
A volunteer of a church-based group befriended him. Slowly, he began to see his life in a new light.
Four years later, he was in a crisp white long-sleeved shirt tucked in black pants, waiting excitedly for his turn to receive first Communion with 5,000 other children and teenagers at the Cebu City Sports Center, a highlight of the 51st International Eucharistic Congress.
“Dili man diay maayo nga mosukol sa ginikanan, molayas, og unya magsige og pabadlong. (It’s not good to quarrel with your parents, leave your family, and get into trouble),” he told Cebu Daily News, half an hour before marking a milestone in his life as a young Catholic.
Born without a right leg, Marvin carefully tucked his prosthetic limb into black leather shoes. He was accompanied by a guardian.
“Mangayo ko sa Ginoo nga iyang lamdagan ang akong huna-huna. Kon sa una nagtuo ko nga wala koy pulos, karon ang Ginoo mao ang akong paglaum. (I’m asking the Lord to enlighten my mind.
If before I thought I was useless, now I put my hope in the Lord),” he said.
About 450 of the youths who came for Holy Mass and their first experience of direct union with Jesus Christ through the sacrament of the Eucharist, are street kids from various dioceses in the Philippines.
The event, which had Osmeña Boulevard partly closed for the ceremony, was part of the weeklong celebration of the 51st IEC which ends today with a closing Mass called Statio Orbis at the South Road Properties.
Vidal was 6 years old when he received his first holy communion during the 33rd IEC held at Luneta Park in Manila in 1937, the first time the country hosted the congress.
“Yes, I’m old already but I cannot say that I am sad. I am happy despite my old age because I believe. I believe in God, the goodness of people, and the real presence of the Lord in our midst,” he said.
One thing Vidal said he would never forget about this milestone was the regal presence of the pope’s representative.
“I was amazed to see the papal legate looking like a queen in his long red robe,” he quipped.
Like Vidal, 86-year-old Rosita Arcenas, also received her first communion during the 1937 IEC in Manila.
“I was only seven years old. I hope these kids here will cherish this moment, and take care of themselves so they will witness another IEC,” she said in an interview.
The retired bank manager of Sugbuanon Rural Bank urged the first communicants to love the Holy Eucharist and do good works.
“We should live the life of Jesus. That was what I learned during the catechesis made before our first communion,” she said.
Both the cardinal and Arcenas were brought in wheelchairs to the venue.
The cardinal, however, left his wheelchair and rose to officiate the Mass which was attended by parents, guardians and delegates of the IEC. There were at least 13,000 registered delegates from 72 countries who signed up for the congress.
Five cardinals as well as several bishops and priests concelebrated the Mass.
Many families had arrived earlier at 2 p.m. and sat in the hot sunshine. Some parents were fanning their offspring to cool them down.
Children walked down the aisle with their parents before the Mass started. The girls wore white dresses and veils. The boys came in white shirts, black pants and leather shoes.
Young voices echoed throughout the ceremony.
They were chosen to read the scripture readings at Mass. The hymns were sung by the renowned Loboc Children’s Choir from Bohol.
During the renewal of their baptismal promises, the children were asked whether they would “reject Satan and sin,” and do God’s will.
“I do!” they said in unison.
Some were accompanied by their parents to the altar to offer gifts : fruits and vegetables, a guitar, and two live native chickens.
Bishops then sprinkled holy water on the congregation as the choir sang “Come Holy Spirit.”
The children, aged seven to 31, came from dioceses of Pasig and Novaliches in Metro Manila, Isabela, Talibon in Bohol, Dumaguete city, Calbayog, Naval, Pagadian, Malaybalay, Dugos, and the Archdioceses of Palo and Cebu.
Fr. Carmelo Diola, chairmen of the IEC Solidarity and Communion committee, said the street children in the batch underwent an eight-session seminar about the basic teachings of the Church.
“This is a very special day for them. Poverty has hindered them from receiving the Eucharist. And now, they could receive holy communion. This has been a beautiful journey for them,” he told CDN.
Dilaab Foundation Inc, a non-profit organization formed by Diola, prepared the clothes and shoes of the street children donated by benefactors.
It was a Dilaab volunteer, a Davao-based lawyer, who befriended Marvin the street child two years ago, after noticing the boy hanging out near his office.
Last December 2015, Marvin finally returned home to his parents – his father, a farmer, and his mother, a market vendor.
The climax of yesterday’s eremony was the children’s first reception of the Eucharist, which Catholics believe is the actual presence of Jesus Christ in body and blood.
Taking turns, each child approached the front of the altar where padded kneelers were arranged.
Bishops in white vestments spread out in the venue.
“Body of Christ,” the bishop said to each child, who responded with “Amen” and kneeled to receive on their tongue the sacred host consecrated earlier in the Mass.
Each child was accompanied by a parent or both parents, or a guardian. The adults also received communion.
The bishop administered what would be the child’s third sacrament in life. Baptism and confession of one’s sins are two earlier sacraments required of each child.
Fifty boys and girls later offered flower bouquets to an image of Mary, Our Lady of the Rule, placed at the side of the altar.
Two children led the congregation in saying a prayer of thanksgiving.
The day ended with everyone singing the 51st IEC theme song “Christ in us, our hope of glory” as young ones on stage interpreted the song in dance.
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