Author: matthewlee10

Virtue: Love of Solitude

by Hannah Roa

Everyone knows that Solitude is about being alone, but what else is it all about? Why would Saint Anthony choose a life in solitude when we know that being alone could be lonely, boring, depressing and maybe even make you go crazy.

St. Anthony had riches growing up for his family was wealthy, but he had a calling in his heart to know more and more about our Lord, Jesus Christ. So at an early age he asked to enter into the Monastery. When his father died he sold his inheritance and all his possessions and gave them to the poor. He took the Bible reading, (Matt. 19:21) “If you want to be ‘perfect’, go sell all you have give to the poor and come follow me”, seriously which was said by a deacon during a church service and considered every word he heard as directed to him personally. He wanted to live as Jesus and His disciples lived, a life of poverty. Because of his quest for spiritual excellence and perfection he chose to live in solitude.

In his quest for spiritual closeness to the Lord he learned quietness, humility, silence, continuous prayers, asceticism and keeping vigil from examples of ascetics he met; all the virtues that are connected in living a life in spiritual perfection in solitude. He sought out these virtues in every person and learned from them, not imitating one but learning lessons from many. From years of practicing and learning about the virtues he taught others his wisdom, to meditate on the scriptures not to rigidly interpret them.

With living the life in solitude he found peace and the Lord and went on to teach and guide other monks his examples. He may have sold his riches and not marry, but in the end he received more than he gave. For the land and properties that now belong to the monasteries of St. Anthony greatly exceeds 300 acres he had given up and now has thousands of monk-sons in every generation who call him “father”. Because of his determination to know more of our Lord and follow Him, his love of solitude had made his name eternal that we call him “St. Anthony the Great”, a symbol of a life of solitude, meditations and prayers and a symbol of the life of a monk with all its virtues and spiritualities.

So when you find yourself wanting to know more about the Lord look at the life of St. Anthony and follow on his footsteps. Don’t be scared of being in solitude for who knows you may one day be as great as he.

We welcome the Marian month of May with our veneration to Our Lady. Continuing our annual tradition, children are invited to offer flowers to Our Lady during the 6:00pm daily masses. The Flores de Mayo procession will be on May 31st, 5pm at the parish grounds.

It was only 11 months ago when we installed the Relic of St. Anthony into our church. Like previous Fiestas, our ever hardworking local Catholic Womens League will be spearheading different outreach programs such as Pan de San Antonio (libreng almusal), Mass Wedding, Mass Confirmation, Mass Baptism and Medical Mission.

Fundraising efforts for this year’s Fiesta is focused on reconstructing the architectural “as built plans” of the Church which are no longer available and all other physical structures in our Parish compound through digital scanning. These scans will allow us to determine areas requiring structural restoration. It is our vision to extend all structures of our parish for the next 60 years.

We enjoin all parishioners to help us secure the future of our church through donation pledges in the Novena envelopes and sponsorships for our Novena Masses and the Fiesta Mass. Our Fiesta Masses to St Anthony shall commence on June 4th. Procession for Saint Anthony will be on June 12th. The Fiesta Mass and Fiesta Dinner will be on June 13th. We invite all parishioners to join us in our outreach programs, Novena masses, Procession in honor of Saint Anthony, Fiesta mass and Fiesta dinner and all the other Fiesta activities as we pray for our community.May St. Anthony continue to pray for us all…..

Edmund Lim, KHS
PPC President

Between May 13 and October 13, 1917, three Portuguese children received
apparitions of Our Lady at Cova da Iria, near Fatima, a city 110 miles north of Lisbon.

Mary asked the children to pray the rosary for world peace, for the end of World War
I, for sinners and for the conversion of Russia. The third visionary, Lucia dos Santos, became a Carmelite nun and died in 2005 at the age of 97.

Mary gave the children three secrets. Since Francisco died in 1919 and Jacinta the
following year, Lucia revealed the first secret in 1927, concerning devotion to the
Immaculate Heart of Mary. The second secret was a vision of hell.

Pope John Paul II directed the Holy See’s Secretary of State to reveal the third secret in 2000; it spoke of a “bishop in white” who was shot by a group of soldiers who fired bullets and arrows into him. Many people linked this to the assassination attempt against Saint John Paul II in St. Peter’s Square on May 13, 1981.

The feast of Our Lady of Fatima was approved by the local bishop in 1930; it was added to the Church’s worldwide calendar in 2002.

American Catholic.org

To God we give thanks

By

Letty Jacinto-Lopez

            As a child, my parents held my hand, literally and figuratively, towards the righteous path. I wouldn’t know any other way, right? Everything fit into a pattern that hardly raised any quiver of doubt.

       When I grew up, what I believed and stood for was challenged. Different customs and beliefs offered seemingly logical alternatives that were better than my faith. Many tests came in dribs and drabs.

       In school, for example, we were taught never to yield to the lure of the flesh. That’s easy to say when burgeoning hormones were jumping in droves arousing our curiosity and drive. “Take the lead in keeping the boy you love chaste.”

         How?        I held on to my rosary and kept Mary like my chaperon. And, voila! The friendship stayed wholesome, a matter of sound reasoning overruling feelings.

       At work, more tests arose. Should I plot, scheme and conspire for fame and fortune? A gentle voice remarked, “And conquer the world at the expense of your soul?” I opted to work diligently, guarding the truth with courage.

       The tests further escalated when I settled down. Why? I had this mammoth task of nurturing young minds who will either draw inspiration from me or horrors! Brand me as the hardest/baddest lesson they’ve ever encountered in their lives.

Who do I run to?

I run on my knees.

To our Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, while whispering to Mary, my guardian angel and the blessed phalanx of saints, “Pray for me, pray with me.”

       My faith has untiringly fed me with graces and blessings so that this life, as I know it, will someday culminate in one devoid of dark shadows, pain and tears. Over pitfalls and costly mistakes, our God sees beyond my weak and falling self.

Such is His love.

Thank God, I am not alone. Neither should anyone be.

“You may have defects, be anxious and sometimes live irritated, but do not forget that your life is the greatest enterprise in the world. Only you can prevent it from going into decadence. There are many that need you, admire you and love you.

I would like to remind you that being happy is not having a sky without storms, or roads without accidents, or work without fatigue, or relationships without disappointments.

Being happy is finding strength in forgiveness, hope in one’s battles, security at the stage of fear, love in disagreements.

Being happy is not only to treasure the smile, but that you also reflect on the sadness.

It is not just commemorating the event, but also learning lessons in failures.

It is not just having joy with the applause, but also having joy in anonymity.

Being happy is to recognize that it is worthwhile to live, despite all the challenges, misunderstandings and times of crises.

Being happy is not inevitable fate, but a victory for those who can travel towards it with your own being.

Being happy is to stop being a victim of problems but become an actor in history itself.

It is not only to cross the deserts outside of ourselves, but still more, to be able to find an oasis in the recesses of our soul.

It is to thank God every morning for the miracle of life.

Being happy is not being afraid of one’s feelings. It is to know how to talk about ourselves. It is to bear with courage when hearing a “no”.

It is to have the security to receive criticism, even if it is unfair.

It is to kiss the children, pamper the parents, have poetic moments with friends, even if they have hurt us.

Being happy means allowing the free, happy and simple child inside each of us to live; having the maturity to say, “I was wrong”; having the audacity to say, “forgive me”.

It is to have sensitivity in expressing, “I need you”; to have the ability of saying, “I love you.”

So that your life becomes a garden full of opportunities for being happy…

In your spring-time, may you become a lover of joy. In your winter, may you become a friend of wisdom.

And when you go wrong along the way, you start all over again. Thus you will be more passionate about life.

And you will find that happiness is not about having a perfect life but about using tears to water tolerance, losses to refine patience, failures to carve serenity, pain to lapidate pleasure, obstacles to open the windows of intelligence.

Never give up. Never give up on the people you love. Never give up from being happy because life is an incredible show.

And you are a special human being!”

A Holistic Preparation Before Saying I Do

By Maria Monica D. Hipolito

A couple’s ultimate preparation for a Catholic marriage involves getting the right spiritual and emotional guidance and support from family, friends, and more importantly, from the couple’s parish through its Pre-Cana Program. This program enables couples to get to know more about one’s self and their partners, about marriage and the importance of communication, and about planning and raising a family.

Although our wedding celebration is set to happen sometime in 2017, we had the privilege to be part of Santuario de San Antonio Parish’s Pre-Cana Program as early as March 2016; and while attending a Pre-Cana Program is mandated by the Catholic Church, we nevertheless deemed it important and necessary to attend one as soon as possible in order to profoundly and holistically prepare us for our marriage (which is a lifetime commitment), and more important than preparing and getting the right suppliers for a one-day celebration.

Fortunately, SSAP’s Pre-Cana Program is administered by real-life couples, who have devoted their time to share with us their experiences as married couples and as parents. It was during this program that we were able to discern and understand what marriage entails, its complications and how to resolve marital problems, as well as the different techniques in planning a family and raising children.

As in every relationship (in whatever form it takes – family, romantic, friendship, business etc.), we all know that communication plays a great role, not just in resolving conflicts and problems, but also in making our relationships work and grow. However, sometimes it is what we know that we tend to forget and practice; and this Program allows us to realize just that—that proper and continuous communication between couples (and among parents and children) is key to building a healthy relationship.

So for couples who are engaged to be married, while we make an effort to prepare the physical aspects of the big day, let us not forget to also make a conscious and serious effort to prepare spiritually and emotionally for marriage, a lifetime commitment not just with our spouse but with God as well.