Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle urged Catholics to share God’s word with everyone, not only those who seem ready to listen, saying no heart is beyond God’s reach.
Preaching during a Mass marking the 30th ordination anniversary of 10 priests in the Archdiocese of Palo on July 12, he said Christians should imitate God, who scatters the seeds of his word generously instead of limiting them to people who appear welcoming or easy to convince.
“Let us join Jesus in spreading the word of God,” said Tagle, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization’s Section for the First Evangelization and New Particular Churches, during the Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Tacloban City. “Let us not choose only those who are easy to talk with.”
Drawing from the Gospel parable of the sower, he encouraged Catholics to reach even those whose hearts resemble rocky, thorny or hardened soil, trusting that God can transform lives in ways people cannot foresee.
“Go share the word of God with them,” he said. “Be the messengers of God and show people that the word of God will create in us a new humanity, a new creation, a changed person. But let us first be living witnesses to them.”
Tagle said God “shows no favorites” in sowing his word, continuing to offer hope even where faith appears weak or difficult to grow.
Addressing the jubilarians, he reminded them that every priestly vocation begins with people who patiently planted seeds of faith in families, schools, parishes and communities.
“Every priest needs sowers, beginning with the families, beginning with friends, beginning with the schools. So, each one, each institution, each person should be a sower,” he said.
Among the jubilarians was Msgr. Erwin Jose Balagapo, undersecretary of the Vatican dicastery where Tagle serves. The others were Fathers Arnold Aurillo, Romeo Gomez, Raymund Ciprian Mazo, James Jubal Meneses, Pastor Carreon Jr., Alvin Nicolasora, Edwin Perito, Carlos Rodriguez Jr. and Ronel Taboso.
Speaking on behalf of the jubilarians, Balagapo said their priesthood was never the result of personal merit but of God’s mercy and grace.
“We were ordained not because we were worthy, but because God in his infinite mercy and love called us,” he said. “Everything we are, and everything we have accomplished comes from God.”
Reflecting on three decades of ministry, Balagapo said every life touched through their priesthood was the work of God’s grace, not their own efforts. He also reminded the faithful that priests “belong to Christ and to his people,” called to walk, pray, suffer and journey toward holiness alongside those they serve.
Before concluding, he appealed to Catholics to continue supporting their priests through prayer, friendship and, when needed, loving correction.
“Please continue to pray for your priests,” Balagapo said. “Help us become the priests that Christ desires us to be. Never grow tired of loving your priests.”
Closing his homily, Tagle recalled meeting a young woman in Poland whom he jokingly asked why she was “not yet” a religious sister. Years later, she wrote to tell him she had entered a Benedictine monastery.
The story, he said, showed that even a simple conversation, smile or joke can become a seed that God uses to awaken faith and inspire vocations.
“So, let us let us sow seeds. And let God be the real sower. Sometimes we forget, but God has created the earth. God has created human beings. God knows the soil of which we are made and God will take care of his seed,” Tagle said.
