This homily is based on Mark 6:30-34.
In today’s Gospel reading, the sight of the crowd summoned the shepherd in the Lord. What did it, we are told, was that they were like a shepherd-less flock of sheep. Nothing, after all, moves the heart of the Lord as much as his desire to gather his scattered flock.
This homily was delivered at the blessing of the Oratory of St. Francis Xavier on 09 March 2013 in Xavier School Nuvali built in memory of John Gokongwei Sr. and Juanita Marquez-Lim Gokongwei.
We’ve never had a chapel before. I mean in all its 57 years of existence, Xavier School has never had a full-blown school chapel. Neither of our first two campuses–not the first one in Echague nor the one in San Juan–had the benefit of an entirely separate structure just to house a chapel. But today, thanks to our benefactors, we finally have an oratory for the very first time in the history of Xavier School, here in Nuvali.