Sunday, July 24, 2011
1st Reading: 1 Kings 3:5, 7-12, 2nd Reading: Rom 8:28-30
Gospel: Mt. 13:44-52
Memorable Sunday.
At 8:30 A.M. on a muggy summer Sunday morning, I was awakened by a cell phone call. Immediately, I swept the cobwebs of sleep, went to meditating moment, paused for greetings to the Great Provider, and welcomed the inevitable coming of the day. I am one of the MOCs, Minister of Care. We are lay ministers sanctioned by the Parish Pastor to minister to the sick at hospitals, nursing homes, and homes; to those people who have no luxury to be at their Sunday's best to go to the cathedral, church, or chapel. I was on a schedule that Sunday. ( either I lost my schedule or I was not sent one; this is not new to my lector-minister's lexicon. ) I told Glynda, the one who called me to bring the things needed - the host and copies of the church's bulletin. So she did and we three MOCs met at Swedish Covenant Hospital.
I was assigned to the East Wing of the hospital's 3rd, 4th, and 5th floors.
I knocked on the door and introduced myself with greetings. This male person lying on his bed was hesitant to welcome me and told his tale of woe; the reason why he had not been in the church for over ten years. There was a tragic incident in his family life; a child died. I told him I was sorry for what had happened. Then I unfolded a story of a man who migrated to America, found a decent job, got married, and realized the American dream meaning a single-family home with a big backyard and garage, loving wife, dear child, latest model car. He even bought another car for his wife's birthday gift. In a nutshell, he was successful. He made it, so to speak. He loved his job but he loved his wife and children more. His family was a frequent churchgoer. He was up to date in his church's contribution and donation. He was living a typical, happy American life until tragedy struck. His beloved wife died in a car accident. He was hurt. He saw suffering and hopelessness. His life turned upside down. He blamed and cursed God. The wheel of a fortunate, happy life screeched to a stopped.
One day while walking on his way home, a sudden strong rain fell hard that it lasted over an hour. He was cornered and nowhere to go except to find shelter while the rain was pouring vehemently. By a fluke of circumstance and beyond his control, he found himself in a Sanctuary. He found a corner pew to rest his tired body and maybe his weary soul. What he heard from the pulpit was comforting and consoling. His heart was softened; his mind enlightened. Was this the Holy Spirit's light "amidst the encircling gloom?"
He came home attired with a smile and whistling. He played his favorite songs. He totally changed the way he looked at life. His attitude is more of gratitude.
The man with his lovely young wife was now willing to take communion. And I encouraged him to always pray especially that America needs the prayer of our Lady of Fatima. That prayer is very powerful. The world witnessed how and what prayer had done for Russia and Germany. And that man was very grateful that I came.
I knocked on another patient's door. This time a lady was happy to welcome me but she told me that she cannot receive the Holy Communion because she was not married in the church. I respected her wish. I gave her the church's bulletin, anyway.
I looked at my cell phone. It's quarter to eleven and I was a scheduled lector at eleven o'clock. I drove home to get my wife for the eleven o'clock mass. We arrived in the nick of time. My wife went to the Choir side and I sat at the lector's chair. Rev. Peter Fernandes, the pastor was ready to proceed together with the acolytes to the altar to commence the celebration.
"Those whom God predestined he called, and those whom he called he makes righteous, and to those whom he makes righteous he will give glory."
The second and third verses of St. Paul's letter to the Romans have the complex concepts of foreknowledge and predestination. These concepts have been the subject of intense theological debates over the centuries. St. Paul using the language of divine foreknowledge teaches us that God has been at work even before the creation of the world. Psalm 139 clearly tells everything. We can't hide or run away from God. He knew us before we were born. He foresees our thoughts and actions...
1 "Oh Lord, you have searched me and you know me... 4 Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord....16 All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be...
Even before the beginning of time, God's plan for the redemption of the world began.
After the eleven o'clock Mass, St. Timothy's choir members gave Manny Lucero a good-bye lunch at a Chinese Buffet on Howard and Western. Fr. Peter Fernandez was present. Manny took over the music directorship temporarily when Julie Demerath, the music director passed away. He did a good job together with his pianist/singer-wife, Lorna Buenconsejo Lucero. Their last day in the choir is on Sunday, July 31, 2011, which coincided with the last mass of Fr. Peter D'Mello, SFX who is leaving for Goa, India for a new directorship position.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Lector at Transfiguration church
Friday, July 22, 2011
Reading: Song 3:1-4b (or Cor 5:14-17) Gospel: Jn 20:1-2, 11-18)
I was the scheduled lector at Transfiguration Church where there is a novena every Friday at 7:00 PM.At precisely every seven o'clock on a Friday evening, the Holy Rosary starts followed by a novena to Jesus, the Nazarene. After that, is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. (This devotion is made popular in Quiapo Church, Manila, Philippines.It had helped weary travelers and ambitious students from the provinces.)
The first reading was on Song 3:1-4b. "On my bed, at night I looked for the one I love, I sought him without finding him; I called him and he did not answer. I will arise and go about the city, through the streets and the squares; I will seek the love of my heart... I sought him without finding him, the watchmen came upon me, those who patrol the city."
"Have you seen the love of my heart?" As soon as I left them,I found the love of my heart. I held him and I would not let him go till I have brought him to my mother's house, to the room of her who conceived me."
Love's recognition is unfolded in the encounter of Jesus and Magdalene. A name when uttered makes one feel something as did Mary come to her senses. Magdalene's eyes were opened seeing her beloved, Jesus. Likewise, our acknowledgment of God's presence will be awakened when in the sanctum of our hearts we intensely missed Him. When our whole being is geared and focused on that obsessed encounter with the Lord, we will truly know and love Him. And that love for the Lord comforts us to that enduring wait for Him.
Jesus (addressing to Mary Magdalene) said, "Touch me not, for I have not yet returned to my Father."
The gospel of John, particularly verse 17, reminded me of Dr. Jose Protacio Rizal's title to his controversial and immortal novel, Noli Me Tangere (Touch me not). Rizal was shot at Bagumbayan now the Luneta because of the prevalence practices of those in power like social cancer that was plaguing the country. And today, the Palace has not found a cure to that social cancer of graft and corruption that spread throughout every bureau, private and government offices, and business enterprises. Politics' strong tentacles are powerful.
The rich are powerful; the poor are pitiful.
(Note: Jose P. Rizal is the Philippines' national hero. He is a doctor, linguist, surveyor, writer, novelist, poet, lover, and patriot.
Reading: Song 3:1-4b (or Cor 5:14-17) Gospel: Jn 20:1-2, 11-18)
I was the scheduled lector at Transfiguration Church where there is a novena every Friday at 7:00 PM.At precisely every seven o'clock on a Friday evening, the Holy Rosary starts followed by a novena to Jesus, the Nazarene. After that, is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. (This devotion is made popular in Quiapo Church, Manila, Philippines.It had helped weary travelers and ambitious students from the provinces.)
The first reading was on Song 3:1-4b. "On my bed, at night I looked for the one I love, I sought him without finding him; I called him and he did not answer. I will arise and go about the city, through the streets and the squares; I will seek the love of my heart... I sought him without finding him, the watchmen came upon me, those who patrol the city."
"Have you seen the love of my heart?" As soon as I left them,I found the love of my heart. I held him and I would not let him go till I have brought him to my mother's house, to the room of her who conceived me."
Love's recognition is unfolded in the encounter of Jesus and Magdalene. A name when uttered makes one feel something as did Mary come to her senses. Magdalene's eyes were opened seeing her beloved, Jesus. Likewise, our acknowledgment of God's presence will be awakened when in the sanctum of our hearts we intensely missed Him. When our whole being is geared and focused on that obsessed encounter with the Lord, we will truly know and love Him. And that love for the Lord comforts us to that enduring wait for Him.
Jesus (addressing to Mary Magdalene) said, "Touch me not, for I have not yet returned to my Father."
The gospel of John, particularly verse 17, reminded me of Dr. Jose Protacio Rizal's title to his controversial and immortal novel, Noli Me Tangere (Touch me not). Rizal was shot at Bagumbayan now the Luneta because of the prevalence practices of those in power like social cancer that was plaguing the country. And today, the Palace has not found a cure to that social cancer of graft and corruption that spread throughout every bureau, private and government offices, and business enterprises. Politics' strong tentacles are powerful.
The rich are powerful; the poor are pitiful.
(Note: Jose P. Rizal is the Philippines' national hero. He is a doctor, linguist, surveyor, writer, novelist, poet, lover, and patriot.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Sonnet
On Wisdom, A Sonnet
(Dedicated to Msgr. Salvador Mora)
Remember the music, the dance.
The meeting of the minds, the touch,
Of medicine, the legal parlance,
Of Tanduay rum, fisherman's fresh catch?
That words turned to action uttered
Were not written in the white sand
But fully engaged to be heard;
Was a profound message of the land.
The distractions of today's world
Lead us to hostile disregard
For the great Treasure unexplored
Have found no place in our innards
Yet hidden in the everyday strength
Is the power of the greatest of Bards.
N.B. (This poem is about the memorable moments of my bachelor's days in the Philippines with Msgr. Salvador Mora. We were able to befriend non- Catholics and also non - Christians. Msgr. Mora ( an honorary title) is not a bishop but a non-ivory tower priest and a good friend. He is a San Jose' Seminary, Manila, Phil graduate run by the Jesuits. I, once upon a time, have been a part of the campus of that Seminary along Highway 54 at (EDSA ) Epifanio de los Santos Ave., Metro Manila where the historic People Power Revolutions of Feb.22-25, 1986 (3 days) took place that leads to the unbloody replacement of a nation's top leader; paving the way to a woman's occupancy.
(Dedicated to Msgr. Salvador Mora)
Remember the music, the dance.
The meeting of the minds, the touch,
Of medicine, the legal parlance,
Of Tanduay rum, fisherman's fresh catch?
That words turned to action uttered
Were not written in the white sand
But fully engaged to be heard;
Was a profound message of the land.
The distractions of today's world
Lead us to hostile disregard
For the great Treasure unexplored
Have found no place in our innards
Yet hidden in the everyday strength
Is the power of the greatest of Bards.
N.B. (This poem is about the memorable moments of my bachelor's days in the Philippines with Msgr. Salvador Mora. We were able to befriend non- Catholics and also non - Christians. Msgr. Mora ( an honorary title) is not a bishop but a non-ivory tower priest and a good friend. He is a San Jose' Seminary, Manila, Phil graduate run by the Jesuits. I, once upon a time, have been a part of the campus of that Seminary along Highway 54 at (EDSA ) Epifanio de los Santos Ave., Metro Manila where the historic People Power Revolutions of Feb.22-25, 1986 (3 days) took place that leads to the unbloody replacement of a nation's top leader; paving the way to a woman's occupancy.
Greg In. Trabanca
(07/19/2011)
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Met Fr. Rodrigo "Eric" Zafra & some Labasonians
July 14,2011, Thursday
Not An Ordinary Day...
Met town-mates and high-school-days friends after over a score plus years and of course that "those were golden memories" permeated the air. You'll figure these are people of the retired level mark in life. And you'll readily recognize the physical changes- the slow gait, the missing-tooth smile, the composed way of talking as these are grandparents who came to be with their grandchildren to do their "apostolic mission." (apo in the local lingo means grandchild). But they are immigrants. In the birth country, a mother is always a source of perpetual succor. Then, the "very long-time hugs", together with smooches; meantime the e-cameras kept on ticking.
They were our townmates and schoolmates who are daughters of the town's pioneers- Norma Cabading Balais and Linda Galea Valeros, whose children are nurses and doctors. We are proud to be born and raised in the coastal town of Labason, Zamboanga del Norte. Labason, ZDN is the only town during the '40s that has two citadels of higher learning. It has one private Catholic high school, Ferrer High School with a tinge of a secondary Jesuit education when a San Jose' Seminary diocesan priest, Fr. Anacleto Pellano, took over the directorship but left and turned it over to the RVM sisters. It has also one private Protestant college, Southern Philippines College with a western touch as manifested in its gala Founder's Day celebration, a replica of California's annual parade of roses. The founder-director was a Col. Leodegario Orendain, who sojourned in America during the sacada era wave of immigration.
Labason, Zamboanga del Norte with a mark of many diverse professionals, has produced 28 priests to date, which is truly a record. The Catholic church is now sporting a new look; it's bigger and wider. Thanks to the generous donors and combined ideas of priests who had ministered to the sanctuary. The town proper has a wide area and well-planned roads and streets. Thanks to its first mayor, Mr. Gil Sanchez.
And now the memorable moment came. The background music was subdued; the forks and spoons were stilled. The conversations commenced interspersed with guffaws and "what we all need" laughter. Yarns of good old days and the high-tech world were woven to blanket the atmosphere.
I am a firm believer in love at first sight, to animate or inanimate objects, persons, or panoramas. I met a person whose visage is familiar. It turned out that he is a man in the Roman collar sans the collar. He nonchalantly introduced himself as Fr. Rodrigo Zafra. Fr. Eric, that is. We talked about schools. We glimpsed of those seminary moments. My short-lived seminary days. My linkage of that ilk- seminarians, nuns, and priests. We talked of his uncle, the first Bishop of Dipolog, ZDN., the late Msgr. Felix S. Zafra, our good friend. And also of my students of Ferrer High School, who are now priests "sowing the seed" of Catholicism in the snowy ground of the East Coast, Fr. Faron and Fr. Edito Amora who is I presumed at Davao, Mindanao, Philippines.
Thoughts of priests and religious and nuns cascaded intermittently, in my mind. What was this priest's mission? Is he a roaming pilgrim priest, an itinerant preacher or just want to break the solitude of being a parish priest to find meaning and definition on the unfolding will of God? Is he on a mission appeal, on a vacation seeking for the "aha" moment or the feeling of Eureka?
In the priest to a layperson talk, I bared out what his Bishop's uncle intimated to me that the binding force of priesthood and the pillars of Christian faith are the Rosary and the Holy Eucharist. That a priest who is negligent in saying the Mass and the Rosary is prone to the temptation of leaving the robe. And that the seed of spirituality finds fertile soil in the silence of the sanctuary.
We parted. I said goodbye. And when his sight was swallowed by the balmy Chicago summer night, I silently muttered to myself "til we meet again Fr. Eric."
An addendum - On July 27, 2011, Wednesday afternoon, Fr. Eric called on his way to Baltimore, Md. for "thanks for that memorable chat." Truly, I muttered to myself this young priest had in mind that "gratefulness, is the heart of prayer." And, there was the spark of joy. He made my day. Brother David Steindl-Rast-O.S.B. wrote "Joy is that extraordinary happiness that is independent of what happens to us. Good luck can make us happy, but it cannot give us lasting joy. The root of joy is gratefulness. Yet even bad luck will give joy to those who manage to be grateful for it. We hold the key to lasting happiness in our own hands. For it is not joy that makes us grateful, it is gratitude that makes us joyful."
Not An Ordinary Day...
Met town-mates and high-school-days friends after over a score plus years and of course that "those were golden memories" permeated the air. You'll figure these are people of the retired level mark in life. And you'll readily recognize the physical changes- the slow gait, the missing-tooth smile, the composed way of talking as these are grandparents who came to be with their grandchildren to do their "apostolic mission." (apo in the local lingo means grandchild). But they are immigrants. In the birth country, a mother is always a source of perpetual succor. Then, the "very long-time hugs", together with smooches; meantime the e-cameras kept on ticking.
They were our townmates and schoolmates who are daughters of the town's pioneers- Norma Cabading Balais and Linda Galea Valeros, whose children are nurses and doctors. We are proud to be born and raised in the coastal town of Labason, Zamboanga del Norte. Labason, ZDN is the only town during the '40s that has two citadels of higher learning. It has one private Catholic high school, Ferrer High School with a tinge of a secondary Jesuit education when a San Jose' Seminary diocesan priest, Fr. Anacleto Pellano, took over the directorship but left and turned it over to the RVM sisters. It has also one private Protestant college, Southern Philippines College with a western touch as manifested in its gala Founder's Day celebration, a replica of California's annual parade of roses. The founder-director was a Col. Leodegario Orendain, who sojourned in America during the sacada era wave of immigration.
Labason, Zamboanga del Norte with a mark of many diverse professionals, has produced 28 priests to date, which is truly a record. The Catholic church is now sporting a new look; it's bigger and wider. Thanks to the generous donors and combined ideas of priests who had ministered to the sanctuary. The town proper has a wide area and well-planned roads and streets. Thanks to its first mayor, Mr. Gil Sanchez.
And now the memorable moment came. The background music was subdued; the forks and spoons were stilled. The conversations commenced interspersed with guffaws and "what we all need" laughter. Yarns of good old days and the high-tech world were woven to blanket the atmosphere.
I am a firm believer in love at first sight, to animate or inanimate objects, persons, or panoramas. I met a person whose visage is familiar. It turned out that he is a man in the Roman collar sans the collar. He nonchalantly introduced himself as Fr. Rodrigo Zafra. Fr. Eric, that is. We talked about schools. We glimpsed of those seminary moments. My short-lived seminary days. My linkage of that ilk- seminarians, nuns, and priests. We talked of his uncle, the first Bishop of Dipolog, ZDN., the late Msgr. Felix S. Zafra, our good friend. And also of my students of Ferrer High School, who are now priests "sowing the seed" of Catholicism in the snowy ground of the East Coast, Fr. Faron and Fr. Edito Amora who is I presumed at Davao, Mindanao, Philippines.
Thoughts of priests and religious and nuns cascaded intermittently, in my mind. What was this priest's mission? Is he a roaming pilgrim priest, an itinerant preacher or just want to break the solitude of being a parish priest to find meaning and definition on the unfolding will of God? Is he on a mission appeal, on a vacation seeking for the "aha" moment or the feeling of Eureka?
In the priest to a layperson talk, I bared out what his Bishop's uncle intimated to me that the binding force of priesthood and the pillars of Christian faith are the Rosary and the Holy Eucharist. That a priest who is negligent in saying the Mass and the Rosary is prone to the temptation of leaving the robe. And that the seed of spirituality finds fertile soil in the silence of the sanctuary.
We parted. I said goodbye. And when his sight was swallowed by the balmy Chicago summer night, I silently muttered to myself "til we meet again Fr. Eric."
An addendum - On July 27, 2011, Wednesday afternoon, Fr. Eric called on his way to Baltimore, Md. for "thanks for that memorable chat." Truly, I muttered to myself this young priest had in mind that "gratefulness, is the heart of prayer." And, there was the spark of joy. He made my day. Brother David Steindl-Rast-O.S.B. wrote "Joy is that extraordinary happiness that is independent of what happens to us. Good luck can make us happy, but it cannot give us lasting joy. The root of joy is gratefulness. Yet even bad luck will give joy to those who manage to be grateful for it. We hold the key to lasting happiness in our own hands. For it is not joy that makes us grateful, it is gratitude that makes us joyful."
Tuesday, July 05, 2011
June 26, 2011 Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ
Reading 1 Deut: 8:2-3, 14b-16a Read 11 1 Cor 10:16-17
Moses addressed his people as they approached the Promised Land after wandering in the desert for 40 years, reminding them with encouragement what the Lord has truly done for them. That going with out food and drink humbled them. Their only sustenance was: manna from heaven and water that flowed from the rock which leads them Israelites to know God's love and care; that every word that comes from the Lord's mouth provides sustenance.
There is a connection here to the solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ. The manna is linked to the bread of the Eucharist and the water to the wine. In addition, it also relates to the deeper liturgical truth that it is the one table of the Word and Eucharist from which we partake every time we participate in the Mass. (Dei Verbum, Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, 21)
Being a lector on this Sunday, I came face to face with the reality concerning all the Lord has done for me and my family. And as I prepare to proclaim this reading memories flood my mind like when I felt I have been tested, when my preparations were not enough, when I sensed being criticized, or when I felt alone sans God's presence. Yet, recalling those moments brought me to my knees in humility, especially some sincere feedbacks from the assembly. Then I think of how great and good God is, how He fed me and enabled me to go on the task of proclaiming His Words that feeds and gives life to the congregation.
" I am the living bread which has come from heaven; whoever eats of this bread will live forever."
Jesus gives Himself to us totally, not only to sustain us day by day but for us to attain the fullness of life. Then the question, What do we really need in life? Pause, ponder and be silent for a moment. Search in the deepest center of your being.
Forget self and focus on what you can share with others that would really satisfy the greatest desire of their hearts.
Reading 1 Deut: 8:2-3, 14b-16a Read 11 1 Cor 10:16-17
Moses addressed his people as they approached the Promised Land after wandering in the desert for 40 years, reminding them with encouragement what the Lord has truly done for them. That going with out food and drink humbled them. Their only sustenance was: manna from heaven and water that flowed from the rock which leads them Israelites to know God's love and care; that every word that comes from the Lord's mouth provides sustenance.
There is a connection here to the solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ. The manna is linked to the bread of the Eucharist and the water to the wine. In addition, it also relates to the deeper liturgical truth that it is the one table of the Word and Eucharist from which we partake every time we participate in the Mass. (Dei Verbum, Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, 21)
Being a lector on this Sunday, I came face to face with the reality concerning all the Lord has done for me and my family. And as I prepare to proclaim this reading memories flood my mind like when I felt I have been tested, when my preparations were not enough, when I sensed being criticized, or when I felt alone sans God's presence. Yet, recalling those moments brought me to my knees in humility, especially some sincere feedbacks from the assembly. Then I think of how great and good God is, how He fed me and enabled me to go on the task of proclaiming His Words that feeds and gives life to the congregation.
" I am the living bread which has come from heaven; whoever eats of this bread will live forever."
Jesus gives Himself to us totally, not only to sustain us day by day but for us to attain the fullness of life. Then the question, What do we really need in life? Pause, ponder and be silent for a moment. Search in the deepest center of your being.
Forget self and focus on what you can share with others that would really satisfy the greatest desire of their hearts.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)