IN the course of interviewing a new domestic helper, I was told that she was a Cornerstone Christian. I had never heard of that religious sect before, so I asked her more questions. She said an “evangelist,” and she used that term precisely, came to their house and converted her. She told me that she was told that if she accepted Christ, she would be saved. And so she did under the auspices of that church.

Now, many of us who are Catholics are often heard deploring the fact that so many kinds of sects have proliferated over the past two decades or so. Some of them have obviously been for profit or other dark motives. Some of them are cults which have victimized many.

Perhaps the Catholic Church should go out and reach out to more people, to the masses, to the marginalized, the poor, the ignorant, the down-trodden, the have-nots. Perhaps Catholics should evangelize more aggressively and instead of waiting for people to go to church, perhaps the Church should go out more to the people, seek them out, and share their faith with them.

When you go to church on Sunday (I’m addressing Catholics here), check out the people in the church. I’m pretty sure you’ll discover most of them belong to the A, B, or C classes. You will very rarely find the D’s and E’s there. Where are they? I think that’s a question for Catholic Church leaders to answer. And if they want a stronger, more vibrant, more diverse, and more representative church, they should think of ways to reverse what seems to be a snowballing trend.

issue on 16 Nov,2003

by Manila Bulletin