Building a church

Tucked somewhere among the remote hills of Antipolo is this modest church which serves as a venue for an ongoing CFC Christian Life Program where I was invited to deliver a talk yesterday. It is located in the Lower Antipolo area where the last stretch leads one through bumpy, rough roads. Having been accustomed to well-appointed churches and formation centers in the city, I was quite awestruck by the bare simplicity of this church and its verdant surroundings. The building is quite unfinished, unpainted and unfurnished. The lower floor serves as the main church-cum-formation center, while the upper floor serves as the priests' modest quarters. The parishioners are mostly from the nearby relocation settlement areas, composed of former squatters who were forcibly relocated from the city. CFC has established GK communities in the area, started around 6 years ago. I heard that more displaced settlers have been recently hauled into the site by the government, poor victims of the recent Ondoy storm devastation. These are people that need the most pastoral care.

I did not get to talk with the parish priest although an incoming assistant priest dropped by and we had the chance for a little chat. It appears they are missionary priests from the Augustinian order, and I guess they chose the right assignment. God bless them. They may have bare facilities, but they certainly know how to build the church.