Last Saturday, August 7, amidst the cold and wet evening of torrential rains from typhoon Ester, the PPC hosted dinner for Father Luke in celebration of Parish Priest Day. It was a novel dinner that warmed the hearts of everyone in attendance as the group ate at Mang Jimmy's, an offbeat eatery inside Balara's recreational park at the back of UP Diliman campus. According to word-of-mouth stories, the place serves delicious home-cooked food at very affordable prices and a regular hang-out of varsity basketball players, students, daily wage earners and the hoi polloi.
The group arrived at the venue almost 9pm already and dinner was served immediately, thanks to Ate Josie who went early that day and had the venue reserved. Food fare for the evening consisted of bulalo, grilled marlin (in butter sauce), inihaw na pusit, beefsteak, grilled pork chop, sauteed vegetables and leche flan for desert. But what was most enjoyable were the carefree and free-flowing conversations, stories, jokes and laughter about many topics that had nothing to do with parish work. One of the most hilarious discussions centered on a puzzle about beef and pork. The question was "Bakit ang sabaw ng bulalo ay mas masebo kaysa sa baboy na ang damo naman ang kinakain ng baka 'di gaya ng baboy na lahat kinakain?" The debate went on for a while with no definite conclusion. No one cared for the answer as long as each went home fully satiated.
The dinner ended with the group giving Father Luke a small token gift of a t-shirt, a paperweight and a small pillow.
Last July 31, Fr, Luke initiated a Senior Citizens Day which started with a Holy Mass at 6:30 am. There were about 30-40 senior citizens who attended the mass together with the regular church goers. Fr. Luke blessed everyone with holy water after the mass as he went around the massgoers.
A hearty breakfast meal of delicious macaroni soup, pandesal and coffee courtesy of Fr. Luke, was served by Fr. Luke himself. Ate Thelsa Tongol brought lugaw and Ate Lulu Visaya brought bananas too. Some of the pastoral workers helped serve the food as the elders enjoyed their meal.
For their entertainment, Ate Cora Pangyarihan serenaded them with songs of yesteryears accompanied by Anjo Santiago on keyboards. Both are from the Gospel choir. The senior citizens loved the music as they themselves joined in the singing of our popular Filipino love song “Dahil Sa ‘Yo.
The activity included bible/faith sharing facilitated by Ate Lulu Visaya, a senior citizen herself. There was also a film showing of the works/paintings of the late artist, Joey Velasco, with Fr. Luke explaining the meaning and relevance of his works.
Towards the end, Ate Fe Abarado shared her time by taking blood pressure readings of those who wished. She also distributed pedometers to the participants for healthy walking purposes.
This activity is just the start for them to enjoy their senior years as they eagerly await Fr. Luke's announcement of their next scheduled get together.
It's so good to see them all smile and enjoy one another's company!!!!
The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven at the end of her earthly life is a defined dogma of the Catholic Church. The Feast of the Assumption, celebrated every year on August 15, is a very old feast of the Church, celebrated universally by the sixth century. It commemorates the death of Mary and her bodily assumption into Heaven, before her body could begin to decay--a foretaste of our own bodily resurrection at the end of time. Because it signifies the Blessed Virgin's passing into eternal life, it is the most important of all Marian feasts and a holy day of obligation.
The feast was originally celebrated in the East, where it is known as the Feast of the Dormition, a word which means "the falling asleep." The earliest printed reference to the belief that Mary's body was assumed into Heaven dates from the fourth century, in a document entitled "The Falling Asleep of the Holy Mother of God." The document recounts, in the words of the Apostle John, to whom Christ on the Cross had entrusted the care of His mother, the death, laying in the tomb, and assumption of the Blessed Virgin. Tradition places Mary's death at Jerusalem or at Ephesus, where John was living.
On November 1, 1950, Pope Pius XII, exercising papal infallibility, declared in "Munificentissimus Deus" that it is a dogma of the Church "that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory." As a dogma, the Assumption is a required belief of all Catholics; anyone who publicly dissents from the dogma, Pope Pius declared, "has fallen away completely from the divine and Catholic Faith."
While the Eastern Orthodox believe in the Dormition, they object to the papal definition of the dogma, seeing it as unnecessary, since belief in Mary's bodily assumption, tradition holds, goes back to apostolic times.
Last Thursday, July 29, amidst strong rains and flash floods, the Vicariate of San Isidro Labrador held its vicariate orientation as part of the overall diocesan initiative to streamline the organization and communication within the diocese, its vicariates and parishes.
The orientation was conducted by Rev. Fr. Tony Labiao, the Vicar General for Pastoral Affairs of the Diocese of Novaliches. He gave an overview of what a parish is and its interrelation with the larger communities such as the vicariate and the diocese itself. He also expounded on the direction of the diocese in creating and fostering more effective and parish-attuned pastoral teams. Foremost in Fr. Tony's presentation was the focus of the diocesan pastoral setup on the creation and sustenance of Basic Ecclesial Communities (BECs) throughout the diocese. He also emphasized the diocesan direction-setting role in guiding the pastoral projects and activities of the parishes. He then presented the various recommended organizational setup (ministries and organizations) for the vicariate and pastoral teams.
A workshop immediately followed after Fr. Tony's presentation. Breaking up the participants from the different parishes in the vicariate into eight groups ( the Worship Ministry, Educational Ministry, Youth Ministry, Family Life Ministry, Temporalities, Social Services Ministry, BEC and PPC Leaders), they were asked to look at their particular ministry, discuss its current status and identify programs and projects that can be jointly pursued in line with the vicariate pastoral objectives. A representative from each ministry was asked to present these to the body after which they were submitted to the diocese for consolidation and reporting.
It was a successful and productive meeting for all representatives of the different parishes in the vicariate, especially with the full support and presence of all of the parish priests. PPC officers and ministry representatives from the parishes of Our Lady of the Annunciation, Jesus Lord of Divine Mercy, San Isidro Labrador, San Lorenzo Ruiz and the host, Our Lady of Consolation were in attendance.
On July 24, 2010, the parish of San Lorenzo experienced a first in its history. Two members of the Priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (SCJ) Bro. John Phong Qouc Tran and Bro. Joseph Quang Tran were ordained as deacons in a ceremony presided by his Most Rev. Antonio R. Tobias, D.D., bishop of Novaliches. He was assisted by Fr. Benedito Machado, SCJ head of its Theologate here in Tierra Verde and Fr. Vincentius Sri Herimanto, SCJ, Formator assigned in their Formation Center in Cagayan de Oro.
Reverends John and Joseph are both from the Diocese of Nha Trang in Vietnam and finished their studies here in the Philippines. Their parents and other relatives came all the way from Vietnam to share in the happy event.
The occasion was also graced by the presence of around 25 other priests from SCJ and other religious orders who concelebrated at the mass. Our parish priest, Fr. Luke Dobles, took on the role of acolyte for the bishop. Fr. Nonong Cabaluna, SCJ, served as photographer. Seminarians of the Dehon House here in Tierra Verde joined members from the SLRP Gospel Choir to complete the liturgy.
Being a first in its history, preparations by the parish to make the event as successful and meaningful as possible were intense, thanks to the efforts of Kuya Cesar Tiongson, Ate Josie Cruz and Ate Aida Arines who worked closely with Fr. Nonong and Fr. Luke. After the ceremony, the congregation was invited to a sumptuous lunch at the multipurpose hall.
Last July 17 at around 7:00AM, six representatives from San Lorenzo Ruiz Parish headed for the Oblates of Mary Immaculate in Bgy Holy Spirit for a vicariate youth workshop. These were Kuya Cesar Tiongson, Ate Karen Yap, Ate Mavic Montañez, Kuya Jet Yap, Kuya Anton Mamawag, and me. Our Vicar Forane, Fr. Nonette Legaspi opened this two-day workshop with Rev. Fr. Mario Baclig, SDB, acting as our facilitator. The seminar-workshop focused on the youth of today, the youth ministers, and the youth ministry.
As defined by Kalakbay: Directory for Catholic Youth Ministry in the Philippines, the Filipino Catholic Youth are family-directed, highly-inter-personal, not very service-oriented, personal but individualistic in relating with God, nominal in their faith, decreasing in their traditional appreciation of the sacraments, distant from the Church’s teachings and life (in spite of their feelings of belongingness to Her). Given this outline of the youth of today, our first group dynamics was defining the youth in the parish and the youth of today, and closing it with challenges and strategies that will address the issues that came out during the session. The workshop also led us to a step-by-step process for planning strategies that will lead to our goal of uniting the youth and becoming more committed to serving the young as youth leaders and youth ministers(parents, priest, church leaders).
The Second Plenary Council decreed: “The Youth Ministry should be assured of the FULLEST ATTENTION and HIGHEST PRIORITY in EVERY WAY BY ALL in the Church.” (PCP II, Art. 50, no.2) Driven by these new words of hope , the group was more than enthusiastic to re-structure our Youth Ministry in the parish by looking at its different contexts. First was defining the Social Context: Political, Economic, and Cultural Situation of the youth. Second, defining the Ecclesial Context of the youth in the church. We then looked at the effects, both positive and negative, of these contexts on the youth and the challenges these situations present to the 3rd millennium youth ministry. The day ended with a Taize Mass, where all of us participated in as readers in addition to setting up of the altar and the icon. It was a very intimate and solemn mass of the youth, for the youth and by the youth.
The next day Kuya Al Yap joined us. The day started by drawing up a vision-mission statement for our youth ministry which was based on the visions for the society and the church, for the children and the youth, for the youth ministers and the youth ministry and the challenges that were listed during the previous sessions. Before lunch time, we had a Youth Mass where the entrance song and the Hosanna were animated. We were also tasked to prepare the prayers of the faithful for the youth and the thanksgiving prayer. It was a fun experience to be guided and corrected during the Mass, but also very inspiring. After lunch, we continued with our workshop. Deriving from the vision, we came up with a mission statement that hopefully, will address the vision statements.
The last part of the session started with a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis of the youth and the youth ministers where we chose our PRIORITY GROWTH-OBJECTIVES, the issues that we saw needed immediate attention for establishing and consolidating our youth ministry. From these PRIORITY GROWTH-OBJECTIVES, we then identified the programs and activities in forming the young that can address the issues that were raised. The day ended with our final test - singing and animating the song “Youth Serving Youth”. “Youth serving youth, moving out to those who need us, shaping a world that will soon be all our own. Youth serving youth, not afraid to take the challenge, to be the bearers of love and signs of all that we believe.” (Vilbar SDB)
We believe that through these exposures, we will understand more our situation - where we are now, what we lack, and why we are not able to sustain a ministry that is defined now as a growth-enabling relationship between the youth (the special treasures of the church and society) and the youth ministers (elders who have been chosen and sent by the Christian community). The youth are called to serve their fellow youth, but the youth ministers (the parents, priests, church leaders) are also called to openness, trust, dedication and service, to journey with us and lead us to Jesus Christ.
The Youth Ministry will be an effective ministry ONLY when there is awareness and understanding of the young of today. (KALAKBAY: Directory for Catholic Youth Ministry in the Philippines)
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