Sunday Ecumenical Service
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12th Igorot Cordillera BIMAAK-Europe (ICBE) Conference
ULB Campus du Solbosch, Bâtiment S, Salle Dupréel, Avenue Jeanne 44,
1050 Bruxelles, Belgium
29 May–1 June 2025
Sunday Ecumenical Service
Liturgy written by Ric Cuyob & The Rev. Cesar T. Taguba (MABIKAs Foundation); Service officiated by The Rev. Father Lyster Sajonia & The Rev. Cesar T. Taguba)
Ecumenical Service to Celebrate and Conclude our 12th ICBE gathering in Brussels, Belgium
Prepared by: Rev. Cesar T. Taguba, UCCP Migrant Ministry/Ecumencial Ministry for Filipinos Abroad (EMFA) and Ric Cuyob, Cordi-Bel with the help of Father Luther Dalang from the Bontoc-Lagawe (Bon-Lag) Diocese and Father Lyster Santa Sajonia from the Diocese of Baguio
(Uprooted People are those who are forced to leave their communities and country; those who flee because of persecution and war, those who are forcibly displaced because of environmental devastation and those who are compelled to seek sustenance in a city or abroad because they cannot economically survive at home. In this sense we, Cordillera People who are in Europe and other parts of the globe, are part of the Uprooted People or Modern Day Diaspora).
Gangsa music to signal the start of the prayer celebration.
Call to Worship (in Ugayam style if it can be done): Let us remember and be comforted with the words of Jesus who said, “where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of them.” (Matthew 18:20).
Liturgist (L): We are gathered here in the presence of God, who ask us to choose between life and death, wholeness and blindness.
All: We are gathered here / like the people of Israel / of the Old Testament, / who were challenged / to choose the way of life.
L: But like them, we often follow the way of death.
Men: Yet, like them, / we have freedom each day / to begin anew / by the grace of God.
Women: Let us rejoice in the Lord / for He has opened our eyes and hearts / to be in solidarity with each other / as Cordillera people / and with the more than 800,000 Filipino compatriots in Europe. / Let us rejoice in God’s guidance and sustenance / as we sacrifice so many things in life / just to have a decent and secured future / for ourselves and our children.
L: In this way, we have enough reason to celebrate, to remember and continuously struggle to address in our society every inhumane treatment to the Uprooted People.
All: let us praise our God of life and love, / who has called us / to this 12th ICBE gathering in Brussels.
Panawagan ng Pagsamba (Priest/Pastor):
Makapangyarihang Diyos / lahat ng aming mga puso ay nakahayag sa Iyo / narito ang inyong sambayanan / kaming mga taga-Cordillera kasama ang mga kababayang Pilipino sa ibayong dagat / mula Austria, /Belgium, /Germany, /Luxembourg, /The Netherlands, / Switzerland, /Spain, /Scotland, /United Kingdom, / New Zealand, / America, / Canada at Pilipinas / at ang aming pamilya at kaibigan.
Nagpapasalamat kami / sa Iyong biyayang aming natatamasa / at nananalangin kaming magkaroon ng katuparan / ang aming mga pangarap sa buhay / masagana at mapayapang pamumuhay / sa sambayanang Pilipino. / Linisin mo ang aming mga puso / sa pamamagitan ng Inyong Espiritu Santo / upang kami’y tapat na umibig sa Iyo / at sa aming kapwa/ masigasig at masigla/ na maghanap-buhay / at tapat sa aming paglilingkod sa Iyo/ sa aming kapwa tao / at sa aming bayan. Amen.
Song of Praise:
GARAIT (Benguet Ibaloi)
Evadeg dja iyaman We are immensely grateful
Sikatedjon wara niman That we are here at this moment
Tayo ga selebraran To celebrate
Akew dja nan-aspulan. This day of coming together.
Aama tan iina Fathers and mothers
Aanak tan natengan Children and elders
Garait tan bisita Fellow villagers and guests
Niman i pantatavalan. This is the time to talk.
Garait dja tribo Kindred tribes
Ishawat tayo ni Apo Let us ask the Lord
Pansaksakey to kitedjo That he makes us one
Mangidavan pangkep tayo. to fight for our cause.
Khamon kitedjo mengalsa Listen to the beat of the gongs!
Kasta met no mansadda Look at the dance!
Sadiay i mangibinsha They reveal to us
Umidin nakasakana. The people’s preparedness.
Tak-oy tayon umidi Our people’s beckoning cry
Senjas dja mangishuki Signals that it is time we begin
Dja man-ekhad ni aravi To venture far
Maakew tan madevi. Through darkness and light.
(Lighting of six candles to represent the Uprooted People in Europe namely: migrants/immigrants, refugees, seamen/seafarers, victims of sex trafficking and those who died entering and being deported from “Fortress Europe” and for the martyrs of the struggle for land, life and self-determination in the Cordillera. It also represents the six provinces of the Cordillera region, including the City of Baguio because it is situated in the Province of Benguet.)
Call to Confession: (Priest/Pastor): We have sinned against God and our neighbors. We have failed to concretize God’s love in action. We have been insensitive to the lamentations of the Uprooted People in Europe. Let us seek God’s forgiveness (silence).
Assurance of pardon (Priest/Pastor): God shows His love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. If anyone is in Christ, He is a new creation: the old has passed away; behold the new has come. Almighty God have mercy on us. Create in our hearts a spirit of love and concern. Strengthen us, as we commit ourselves to the care and empowerment of the Uprooted People. Guide our second- and third- generation Igorots, who are born and raised in the diaspora as they navigate their indigenous identity.
Readings: (Taken from the Catholic Online Sunday Readings. But reading could be chosen according to the theme.)
Reading 1, Acts 7:55-60
But Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at God's right hand.
'Look! I can see heaven thrown open,' he said, 'and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God.'
All the members of the council shouted out and stopped their ears with their hands; then they made a concerted rush at him,
thrust him out of the city and stoned him. The witnesses put down their clothes at the feet of a young man called Saul.
As they were stoning him, Stephen said in invocation, 'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.'
Then he knelt down and said aloud, 'Lord, do not hold this sin against them.' And with these words he fell asleep.
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 97:1-2, 6-7, 9
Our Response: Yahweh is king! Let earth rejoice, the many isles be glad!
Cloud, black cloud enfolds him, saving justice and judgement the foundations of his throne. (Response)
The heavens proclaim his saving justice, all nations see his glory. (Response)
Shame on all who serve images, who pride themselves on their idols; bow down to him, all you gods! (Response)
For you are Yahweh, Most High over all the earth, far transcending all gods. (Response)
Priest/Pastor : Proclamation of The Gospel according to Saint John.
(John 17:20-26)
“I pray not only for these but also for those who through their teaching will come to believe in me.
May they all be one, just as, Father, you are in me and I am in you, so that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe it was you who sent me.
I have given them the glory you gave to me, that they may be one as we are one.
With me in them and you in me, may they be so perfected in unity that the world will recognise that it was you who sent me and that you have loved them as you have loved me.
Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, so that they may always see my glory which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
Father, Upright One, the world has not known you, but I have known you, and these have known that you have sent me.
I have made your name known to them and will continue to make it known, so that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and so that I may be in them.”
Priest/Pastor: This is the Gospel of the Lord.
All: Give thanks to the Lord, our God.
(Few moments for personal reflection while the 10000 reasons, Bless the Lord, by Matt Redman will be played as background)
Intercessory Prayers: The worshiping community is encouraged to bring forward prayer requests about our individual and common concerns.
Uprooted Peoples demand (women and men alternately)
1. The right to stay.
2. The right to family reunion
3. Free movement within the EU.
4. Full social and political rights
5. Full legal rights
6. No to racism, fascism.
7. No to force repatriation and deportations.
8. No to discrimination and inequality.
9. Amnesty for all undocumented migrants.
All: “We dream of a society / where families are not broken up /by urgent need for survival. / We dream and will actively work / for a homeland where there is opportunity / for everyone to live a decent / and humane life.”
Priest/Pastor: Hear our prayers o Lord and grant us your peace.
I now call on all to turn to your neighbor to extend the greetings/embrace of peace, solidarity and community.
Affirmation:
L: We affirm that we worship one God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, in whose image we are made, to whose service we are summoned, by whose presence we are renewed.
All: This we believe.
L: We affirm that it is God’s will that mother nature should be saved and not despoiled by transnational corporation; plunder; violence; apathy; oppression; pollution or any other mask of human greed.
All: This we believe.
L: We affirm that it is central to the mission of Christ to participate, by word and action in the struggles of the poor for justice, to share justly the earth’s land and resources and social wealth, to rejoice and celebrate the diversity of human culture; to preserve human life in all its beauty and frailty, to witness to the love of God for all people of the earth and to invite all to share that converting experience.
All: This we believe.
L: We affirm that through the power of the Holy Spirit, the persecuted shall be lifted and the wicked will fall, the hesitant prayers and hidden actions of God’s people shall change the course of human history, the ancient words of the Scripture shall startle us with fresh insights.
All: This we believe.
L: We affirm that God has called the church into being, to be servant of the Kingdom, to be the sign of God’s new order, to celebrate in the streets and fields of every land the liturgy of the Kingdom on earth.
All: This we believe.
Song: Pananagutan
Walang sinuman ang nabubuhay para sa sarili lamang,
Walang sinuman ang namamatay, para sa sarili lamang.
Koro:
Tayong lahat ay may pananagutan sa isa’t isa,
Tayong lahat ay tinipon ng Diyos, na kapiling niya.
Sa ating pagmamahalan at paglilingkod sa kanino man,
Tayo ay nagdadala ng balita ng kaligtasan.(Koro)
Sabay-sabay ngang mag-aawitan ang mga bansa,
Tayo’y tinuring ng Panginoon bilang mga anak. (Koro)
Our Conviction:
All: We are saddened and outraged/ by the physical and emotional violence/ and injustices against Uprooted People/ and by the human sufferings it causes. / As Christians, / we hold these convictions:
Men: We affirm the sacredness of all human life/ and the sanctity of creation:/ “In the beginning, / God created the heavens and the earth…/.and God saw it was good…/So God created humankind in His image…” (Genesis 1)
Women: The Biblical values of love, justice and peace / compel us to renew our Christian response / to the marginalized and the excluded. / “You shall love the Lord your God / with all your heart, / and with all your soul, / and with all your mind. / This is the greatest and first commandment. / And the second is like it: / You shall love your neighbors as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37-38).
Men: The Biblical challenge to build inclusive community / requires us to accompany/ the Uprooted People / in service and witness. / “So, then you are no longer strangers / and aliens in a foreign land, / but fellow citizens with God’s people, / members of God’s household.” (Ephesians 2:19).
All: We therefore call on ourselves / and all Christians to:/ Uphold the life and human dignity / of the Uprooted People; / Work for peace with justice /and create a loving and caring community.
(Note: Here, the ICBE Declaration and important resolutions can be read if ready).
The “Our Father” or The Lord’s Prayer.
(From the Traditional ecumenical version)
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
Prayer of Dedication:(Lahat):
Mahal na Diyos / nagpapasalamat kami / sa pagtanggap Mo sa amin / at pagturing bilang bahagi ng Inyong kaharian. / Kami po ay Iyong pinalakas / sa pamamagitan ng prayer celebration na ito / pagkatapos ng tatlong araw na aming pagsasama-sama / sa konperensyang ito. / Iniaalay namin sa Iyo / ang aming Filipino community dito sa Europa / pati na rin ang aming ICBE. / Patnubayan Mo po kami / upang kami ay magkakaisa / at magtutulungan. / Basbabasan Mo sana ang aming paggawa. / Iadya Mo po ang bawa’t panganib sa aming pamilya. / Patnubayan Mo po ang aming mga mahal sa buhay, / saan man sila narorooon. / Sagipin Mo po kami / sa bawa’t kagipitan at pagsubok. / Sa ngalan ni Hesuksristo. Amen.
Song:
Pass It On
(*Kabunyan’s love was inserted at the end to fit in with this ICBE’s celebration)
It only takes a spark,
to get a fire going,
And soon all those around,
will warm up in its glowing,
That's how it is with God's love,
Once you've experienced it,
You'll want to spread, to everyone,
You'll want to pass it on.
What a wondrous time is spring,
When all the trees are budding,
The birds begin to sing,
The flowers start their blooming,
That's how it is with God's love,
Once you've experienced it,
You'll want to spread, to everyone,
You'll want to pass it on.
I wish for you my friend,
this happiness that I've found,
You can depend on Him,
it matters not where you're bound,
I'll shout it from the mountain top,
I want my world to know,
*Kabunyan’s love has come to me,
I want to pass it on.
Benediction:
L: The grace of God goes with us, and God’s mercy meets us in times of need.
All: We leave behind our burdens and cares, to face life’s challenges with renewed strength.
L: It is through responding concretely to the cries and agony of the powerless, the Uprooted People, and by recognizing and respecting the differences in every culture that we would truly experience the blessings and empowerment of God who is known for His saving act in human history. He is the same God who reveals himself as Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer of life. Go forth in the strength of Christ. Seek peace with justice and pursue it. Strive to build a just, humane society. Amen.
Song: We Shall Overcome
Ugayam Solo: We shall overcome, we shall overcome, we shall overcome someday
O deep in my heart, I do believe, we shall overcome someday.
All: We are not afraid (2x) we are not afraid today
O deep in my heart, I do believe, we are not afraid today
Ugayam solo: We shall live in peace (2x), we shall live in peace today
O deep in my heart, I do believe, we shall live in peace today.
All: We are full of strength (3x), we are full of strength today
O deep in my heart, I do believe, we are full of strength today.
(Bebsat San Kaigorotan (written by Francis Cayasen; performed by Fr. Samuel Maximo and Sendong Salvacio. Translation to English: Genevieve Balance Kupang with some changes and addition by Ric Cuyob)
Bebsat san Kaigorotan
Nilaylayad en Kabunian
Manipud pay laeng sin kaysan
Babaen din kaapuan
Si Kabunian inted na san ugali
Pakailasinan di puli
Duwan sursuro ay nasudi
‘Di ibaen wenno ipakni
San sursuro ken adal
Moderno man ken kadaanan
Adi na kuma dangranan
Kultura ay kapintasan
No bay-bay-am din kultura
Mapukaw mo ladawan dadama
Malipatam to met no sinnu ka
San rugin di istorya
Ad-adu ay ugali
Ayug, sala, panang-sangaili
Kooperasyon ken bud-budong
Alikam di biag ay nabanor
San ugali entako piliin
Namnama’y entako aywanan
Nangruna no maiparbeng
Isnan layos din panawen
Edwani ay kakadwa
Entako mankaykaysa
Mangilaban si kultura
Isnan Kaigorotan ay daga
Dongdong-ay Si Dong-ilay
Insinalidumma-ay
Dongdong-ay Si Dong-ilay
Insinalidumma-ay
Ay-ay
Folks of the Cordillera mountains
Beloved of the Supreme Being
Since time immemorial
All the way through our ancestors
God endowed us with living traditions That identify our Igorot tribe
And the profound indigenous wisdom
might we disposed of or safeguard it
The wisdom and instructions
Modern or that of the ancient past
Should not hold in ill repute to our cherished culture so true and delicate
Should you disregard your culture
You lose your distinctive identity
And forget who you are truly
Right at the beginning of the story
Multitudes of customs and traditions
Chants, dances, hospitality to guests
Cooperation, pact,and kinship ties
Are precious elements of one's life
Customs and traditions, we must filter
But optimism & hope, we must nurture More so for those that stir up questions
That go along with the flow of time
Now, my beloved kindred
Let us join and be one
In championing the Igorot culture
As passed to us by our ancestors
Chanting the indigenous melody Dongdong-ay Si Dong-ilay
Insinalidumma-ay
Dongdong-ay Si Dong-ilay
Insinalidumma-ay Ay-ay
Gangsa music to announce end of Prayer Celebration.