Far from retirement, recently appointed Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David is committed to the Pope’s call for the new members of the College of Cardinals to be cultivators of prayer and closeness with God’s people in order to fully remain at the service of the church and the faithful.

The 65-year-old former Kalookan Bishop is set to receive at a consistory scheduled on December 7 (the current year) the red hat or zucchetto that is symbolic of his office and a cardinal’s willingness to shed their blood in defense of the Catholic faith.

In a letter addressed to the 21 new ‘princes’ of the Church, Pope Francis quoted Argentine poet Francisco Luis Bernárdez who once characterized Saint John of the Cross, namely: “eyes raised, hands joined, feet bare.”

“Make every effort as a Cardinal to embody the(se) three attitudes,” Francis had told his new cardinal appointees.

Francis also encouraged the new cardinals to keep their feet bare so that “they touch the harsh realities of all those parts of the world overwhelmed by the pain and suffering due to war, discrimination, persecution, hunger and many forms of poverty; these will demand from you great compassion and mercy.”

In reaction, Cardinal David has expressed devotion to the commitment of serving God’s people by following the pontiff’s request.

“Prayer is the realm of discernment that helps me to seek and discover God’s will for our people, and to follow it,” he echoed from the Pope’s letter.