John Quincy A Caballo SDB BPM27a – Basic Ecclesial Communities 12 March 2019

Concluding Paper on Basic Ecclesial Communities

I have always thought that Basic Ecclesial Communities

are old people’s organizations responsible for the smooth running

of the “BEC” chapel. But this course has given me a more

comprehensive and more “evangelization-driven” view of this

very important and effective way of being Church.

Among the many models presented, I have found the model present by Msgr Manuel

Gabriel and the BEC in the Classroom by Jimmy Tablan made quite an impression to me. These

are quite vat but at the same time close to heart.

The experience of Msgr Gabriel in organizing the BECs is quite broad. He found himself

involved not only on a purely parochial context. He also found himself in a parochial-academic

setting especially in his UP-Dilliman experience. There were initial reactions to the way the parish

or the initial pastoral ministry that went on then. In the UP experience, Msgr Gabriel had to grapple

with the fact that his parish is both academic-institutional and territorial-residential in nature. To

make sure that his pastoral work with the students of UP and other students and residents in the

area had to be in place. His experience is unique as it not only had to deal with the reality of liberal

academics but also with the needs of the wider community.

What makes the BEC in the classroom unique is that it is primarily a BEC in the academic

context involving students, parents, and the academe. It begins with the initial research and

discernment face, utilizing both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. The employment of

randomly selected respondents gave the research quite an objective manner of gathering data and

getting the real pulse of the people. This discernment basically deals with the first, the spiritual
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needs as perceived by the respondents themselves and in the light of the Church’s three-fold

sources of the faith: Scriptures, Tradition, and Magisterium.

What are my three take-aways from this course:

First, the work of building faith-communities must be undertaken primarily by the Church.

The Church here is both the hierarchy, the religious, and the laity who work hand-in-hand for the

realization of Christ’s vision of the Kingdom coming among us and reigning in our hearts and

communities. The Church’s ministers pave the way for the people to find the right tune and timing

to be active agents of evangelization while being themselves brought to a greater knowledge of

Christ and His Church.

Second, the continuation and growth of these faith-communities lie in the empowerment

and initiatives of the faithful themselves. The initial start-up of these communities must enable and

empower the community to take on a more active role in the upkeep and growth of these base

communities. While the pastors are most needed for the direction and sacramental celebrations,

these ministers must encourage the faithful to take more active roles of service and animation such

that the Holy Spirit is better able to set the world afire by God’s love with the presence of such a

multitude of empowered Catholics in the Church and in the sphere of social transformation.

Third and finally, the BEC is not limited to a sense of activism, that is, a sense of activity

that does not find its rootedness in Christ and the Kingdom that He is building. If one will forget

the sense of Christian rootedness in the BEC life and mission, it will find itself disintegrating into

a merely social enterprise. The social action and outreach of any BEC or ecclesial organ for that

matter, must not be limited to mere philanthropy. Because of the greatness of the love and mercy

of God, we are able to draw from His source and strain ourselves to the point of selflessness in our
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efforts to help the Kingdom be-come here in our homes and communities. If we fail to remind

ourselves of our rootedness in Christ, we will yield to unheard-of ideologies and give in to petty

conflicts thus ushering a degradation of the Church, of the Family of God, that so many have tried

so much to build.

May this effort to build Basic Christian/Ecclesial Communities be our own contribution to

building the Kingdom of God, not just with our own hands, but with the grace of God who is the

source of every blessing and the author of every basic community, faithfully listening to God just

like Mama Mary. Amen.