The resurrection of Christ is not only anticipated by the faithful in the future but is also experienced through challenges, Diocese of Alaminos Bishop Napoleon Sipalay, Jr. said on Monday, Jan. 27, at the Santísimo Rosario Parish.

In his homily for the Mass marking the end of the double jubilee celebrating St. Thomas Aquinas’s 700th canonization anniversary and his 800th birth anniversary, Sipalay said, “the experience of the resurrection is not only in the future judgment but also in the present, that, in the midst of suffering, one can experience the resurrection.”

Sipalay related this to the observation of the Holy Week, which culminates in Easter.

“We know that in this life, the last statement in our experience is not the Good Friday, but Easter Sunday,” he said, emphasizing that challenges are not the final chapter of life, but part of a journey towards hope.

Sipalay hoped that the faithful may experience the power of the resurrection in their lives, just as St. Thomas Aquinas did.

“This is my prayer for all of us this afternoon, that we can experience that kind of experience of St. Thomas. That we can see a glimpse of Christ’s life, a life of resurrection. That is to be experienced here and now,” the presider said.

After Sipalay’s homily, new theology instructors of the University received the academic mandatum, while current faculty members took a renewal of their vows.

A mandatum.) is an acknowledgement by the Church that a Catholic Theologian instructor is teaching “authentic Catholic doctrine.”