A Tribute To Bishop Fortich at Diocese of Bacolod, Philippines, Bacolod City, Philippines 6100 PH - Protector of the Poor

Fortich: Protector of the poor (The following is the homily delivered at the Sacred Heart Shrine yesterday by Bacolod Bishop Vicente Navarra during the Holy Mass commemorating the 36th episcopal anniversary of Bishop Emeritus Antonio Y. Fortich. - THE EDITORS) We have come today to offer this Holy Eucharist, as our tribute to a great man of God, whom we have learned to love as our Father in this diocese, to acknowledge as a statesman and politician in his own way, a great benefactor and protector of the poor and the abandoned. He is Bishop-Emeritus Antonio Yapsutco Fortich, who is celebrating today the 36th anniversary of his Episcopal Ordination, as the 3rd Bishop of the Diocese of Bacolod. And we are celebrating this holy man together with him in thanksgiving to the Almighty for the gift of his life, the gift of his vocation, and the gifts of his person and ministry, as bishop of Bacolod for 22 years, from 1967 to 1985. I received a book entitled "Sons of San Jose". It is a commemorative book on the occasion of the 400th foundation jubilee of the seminary of San Jose, run and administered by the Jesuits of the Ateneo de Manila University. Part IV is about Stories of the Eastern Vessels; this is about the personal life narration of twenty-two selected alumni of San Jose, both ordained and lay. One of them is our very own Bishop Antonio Y. Fortich. His ministry and his episcopacy was clearly delivered in his personal sharing and printed in that book. He is a "Josefino," an alumnus of San Jose, who was trained and has imbibed the spirit of "being married to the poor." He was emphatic in stating that, during his seminary days, the Jesuits were insisting in their lectures how precious the poor are in the eyes of God and that struck a deep interest in his whole being. Many of us who are here this morning are witnesses to how our dear Bishop tried to live up to his commitment to be a servant of the Lord and His poor. How he risked his own life, the good graces of some rich and powerful, even his own reputation, because of the program he espoused, the projects he initiated, like the ma-ong factory" in Sum-ag and the Dacong-Cogon sugar central in the far-flung barrio of Tabugon, Kabankalan City. Because of his steadfast stand in defense of the rights of the poor and the marginalized, he suffered a lot, he was maligned and misunderstood even by some of his close friends. He aptly described his being an earthen vessel, in the book I just mentioned a while ago, when he said: "If Christ was criticized or killed on the cross, why not me? . . . . we are ….. dedicated to the truth. . . . you have to suffer, but your suffering in a blessing from God, because that suffering will be rewarded later on." One very important thing which I would like the comment on was his sharing on his spiritual life: "About my spiritual life? Everyday I pray, everyday I say mass. Because of my prayer life I see Christ in the poor people in the farm - oppressed and underpaid, no food…" I believe this is the secret of his perseverance, his strength and his courage to continue and become undaunted in his crusade for the poor. He was courageous to face the perpetrators of injustice and to tell them the truth of their evils, but when his efforts were met with seeming failures, and even with disdain and open opposition, he was humble enough to accept the reality, but happy just the same that, at least, he has done his best and his part. His life of prayers made him realize that he was just doing the work of his Divine Master; he is His poor instrument. Hence he left all the outcome to the Divine wisdom and mercy of God. I believe that is Fortich, our man of God, man of the poor, our priest, our bishop, our dear great friend. And now, our dear bishop and friend, dear Bishop Antonio Y. Fortich, we are here to celebrate your 36th Episcopal Ordination anniversary. We are happy to be here with you, but how much happier we would be, if you were the one, you yourself, who is celebrating as main priest, also of this Holy Eucharist, on this, your very important day. But being a man of prayer, we are with you in your humble acceptance of the fact that God's ways are not our ways. Even as you sit in your special place concelebrating with us now, because of your physical impediment due to illness and age, God knows and we believe that you continue to be our inspiration and model. Years ago when you were still the incumbent bishop, physically well and able, you inspired your priests and lay leaders with your sufferings that accompanied your life and ministry dedicated to the poor. Your acceptance of those sufferings bred forth hope, trust and joyful confidence in the mercy and providence of God on all who were around you. At this same time your prayerful sufferings expelled the demons of pride, greed and avarice on those who were perpetrating injustice and oppression during those times, here in Negros. Truly your sufferings were fruitful and rewarded. Today, I can see, as your humble successor, that your physical sufferings due to your illness have taken a new dimension according to the divine designs of God. We all know how much you suffer because of your physical disabilities. You want to go around shaking hands, greeting loudly every one. But you simply can't do it now. You want to be enjoying the food and the drinks - soft drink only - prepared for the occasion, but you simply can't do it now - much as you would like it. I believe, as you do believe, this is the kind of limit-situation, a kind of dark night, the Good Lord has in His inscrutable ways sent along your way, but He Knows best. And today our greatest gift to you is that we pray that Your Excellency will be given the wisdom and the strength to take with all humility and generosity this "special Cross" the Lord has sent you. That, as a true Josefino, you will take it, for as long as the Lord wants, with the hearty and strong laughter, only a Fortich can give! Seriously speaking, if before your courageous acceptance of sufferings inspired us to go on with our crusade for truth and justice, we ask you, our dear father, to offer your sufferings now in behalf of us, the clergy and lay faithful of Bacolod, so that as the Book of Sirach states: we may obtain the wisdom that breath the salutary fear of the Lord and we may see clearly the will of the Lord in people we meet and in everything we do. If before your sufferings contributed so much in expelling the demons of pride, greed and avarice among the perpetrators of injustice and evils, please offer your sufferings now in the our behalf, the clergy and lay people of Bacolod, so that, as the gospel of today states, we may be able to cut out the demons of pride, greed and avarice first in our own life and thereby become worthy instruments of God's healing power in our people and in our society. Yes, let this Holy Mass and the Holy Communion, the prayers and the well wishes we extend to you today, become our firm and sincere avowal to Your Excellency that we are deeply grateful to you and to your episcopal motto "Insta" - that we will try our best to do the work of God in season and out of season. May the Good Lord bless you and show you His loving and merciful love and accompaniment today and always, as His Bishop, His priest, and His one and only Fortich. Mabuhay and God bless!*

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