I would like first of all to congratulate you dear people of Bolinao for your faith well nourished and your church well preserved in this last 400 years of your life-faith journey. But 400 years is not a joke, is not just a number, and much less is not just an event. It is a pilgrimage of faith, a holy journey of life, a covenant with God. It is a deep relationship of love with God and with St. James the Great accompanying us in all of our life’s ups and downs.
Indeed, we have all the reasons to celebrate with great jubilation this very historic quadri-centennial anniversary of our beloved church dedicated to Señor Santiago. For our hearts tell us how much we are blessed with this gift of faith bestowed upon our chosen town Bolinao. But since every gift is a responsibility, we are therefore challenged to enter into the fifth century of our faith with commitment in giving witness to our life as Christians and as true disciples of St. James the Great. So that like him, may we become the first martyr by being always the first to love, the first to serve, the first to say sorry, the first to sacrifice and the first to lay down one’s life for our brothers and sisters out of greater love for Jesus.
May we then ask Jesus to make us all instruments of His love to others so that we can continue building His true church which is the people, the community, the big family of St. James.
I pray then for all of you that you may try to live up faithfully to your calling in doing God’s will radically like the apostle St. James the Great.
Rev. Fr. Jeremiah M. Ofo-ob
Parish Priest
