Author: Santuario de San Antonio Parish

In the Franciscan poverty of St. Anthony, I, a member of the order of the Secular Franciscan, give everything to the Lord for nothing is my own, but the Lord’s.

God created us to love, to serve him and one another and all creations. Serving our parish the past four decades was indeed a privilege, a fulfillment and a blessing. It started when I joined Coro in 1974 and CWL in 1980, which I look back to with gratitude for it prepared and sustained me spiritually for my widowhood. I served for 3 terms as president in the Parish. Eventually I got into the Archdiocese and National Board. As president, I invited my vice-presidents to share with me in presiding the meetings thus training them to take over. Through CWL, I was called to serve in the different ministries: Temporalities (now Finance), Social Services, Education and Worship. I was heading all these while parenting as a widow to my six teenaged children and attending to the family business here and abroad. Recognizing that I am just a servant of God and that my church co-workers are also gifted with their particular talents, I trained and delegated responsibilities to them. I opted to stay at the background as consultant and adviser when needed in humble admission that I own nothing. Everything is the Lord’s.

At one breakfast after mass, I noticed that most of us in the table were my former co-church workers. To my question why they were not involved anymore and only I am there, they replied that they are not needed anymore. The whole day after that I discerned of my role in the church, if I were still to continue, even kneeling in my private chapel at home. The next day was Sunday and I asked the Lord to give me a sign with respect to my discernment. The readings were about the talents. After mass, while waiting for my car at the front exit driveway of the church, the vehicle before my car stopped and a lady came out hurriedly towards me asking me to sign a copy of the Parish Bulletin because her brother liked my singing and wanted my autograph. I was stunned and could not move. An older lady nearby saw what just transpired and asked what happened. I told her about my discernment. She said, “I am much older than you but I do what I can to serve the Lord because there is no ending in serving Him in any capacity as long as we are alive and able.”

Yes, God created us to love, serve Him and one another and all creatures, through the talents and gifts He gave us for those are not ours to own but the Lord’s.

“I’ll lend you a for a little time, a child of Mine,” He said,
“For you to love the while he lives
And mourn for when he’s dead.
It may be six or seven years or twenty-two or three,
But will you, till I call him back,
Take care of him for me?”
(excerpt from the poem “A Child Loaned”)

The Lord gave me and my family 22 colorful years with Paolo. It was Mother’s Day, May 13, 2012. We received that fateful call that my son, Pao, was in a car accident.

At the wake, droves of people from all walks of life came to take a glimpse of Pao. Everyone was in disbelief, seeing him lying there lifeless. He was a charmer, the life of the party, and a natural athlete. He lived making everyone believe that he was “invincible”. On the other hand, he was very sensitive to the needs of the people around him. He used his gift of music to be of service to our parishioners, playing the guitar and singing for Sunday masses, as well as for retreats of different communities. His happiness was making the people around him happy in his own simple ways.

“In His time, He makes all things beautiful in His time.” As a grieving mom, listening to the endless stories of Pao helped lift my spirits. He experienced failure, but learned to get back on his feet. He experienced hurts, but learned to love even more. Growing up, he may have been a little bit on the mischievous side, but at the end of his 22 years on earth, everyone who knew Paolo had only good words to say. Reflecting on all the stories told about Pao, we believe that the Lord took him back at the perfect time, in His time.

At this point, my husband, Philip, and I can say “we did take care of him for You, dear Lord, until You called him back.” We did our job, nurturing and loving Paolo who was loaned to us by God, together with all the other characters in his life. Though we miss him so, so much, we take joy in knowing that he had lived and celebrated a life of Christ to its fullest.

It was Mother’s Day four years ago, May 13, 2012, also the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima. I am sure Paolo was embraced by our dear Mama Mary, and in her loving arms took Pao back to our dear Lord. What better way is there to leave our earthly life than that image of Pao in Mama Mary’s embrace? So, we return Paolo to you, dear Lord. Thank You for the 22 years with him and the beautiful memories we can hold on for all of us to treasure.

It will be Pao’s birthday tomorrow, May 16. Please join our family in prayer of thanksgiving, celebrating his life and death.

God calls and invites His children to serve him in different ways. For those individuals who have chosen the married life as their vocation, serving Him through active participation in a Church ministry is indeed a special calling.

When Jesus Christ instructed husbands to love their wives just as He loved the Church, this love was not purely meant for the benefit of the married couple alone. Our Lord also wants married couples to share their love to the church or community where they belong and more importantly, to offer their love and service to a “much important master, the one Lord.”

Serving our Lord through a church ministry not only requires a deep commitment, but more importantly, humility, selflessness and service.

As with all earthly organizations, there will be “high and low” points that can contribute to frustration or even disillusionment. Occasionally, couples may feel that they are doing all the “heavy lifting” in their ministries and lose sight of the sacred purpose. However, it is important for couples to realize not to rely on themselves in dealing with frustration
and disappointment.

To sustain and constantly experience God’s love and inspiration, both husband and wife have to create their own “individual” spaces on a daily basis and establish their own personal and loving relationship with God. This “space” and personal relationship with God will help them “to carry on” in serving Him through their respective ministries despite difficulties and tribulations.

Fr. Reu Jose C. Galoy, OFM

To All My Beloved Servants and Co-journeyers in the Lord:

Peace and every blessing!

Our 2016 fiesta celebration is another grace-filled occasion for our parish to be simply grateful for all our life’s undeserved blessings; to humbly recognized God’s untiring guidance as we go through life’s challenging journey and; to trustingly surrender our best endeavor to God’s life enhancing and changing plan as well. Similarly, this fiesta celebration calls on every member of our parish to charitably contribute in deepening our spiritual communion, strengthening our fraternal bonding, mobilizing our human and material resources to serve those have less in life.

Since our fiesta is coming sooner than we might expect, the theme we selected to give a meaningful direction to all our religious, social, pastoral events and activities is: A Eucharistic Community of Families Guided by the Virtues of St. Anthony. Our traditional fiesta activities such as novena masses, procession, free breakfast, medical-dental mission, mass baptism and wedding, fiesta diner to name a few, hopefully, will provide the venue to facilitate the realization of our theme and that which will be extended throughout the year.

In line with our celebration, I am honored to personally request you and your family to actively participate with your presence and support. Solicited donations activities will go to our fiesta outreach programs, digital scanning of the as-built plans of the parish church and other existing physical structures.

May St. Anthony of Padua, our patron and guide us as we start in all our fiesta preparations, plans and projects. May St. Anthony intercede for us that we have wisdom and compassion in all we do and to do all for God alone in loving service of our sisters and brothers; and mother earth, our common home.

Your co-journeyer in faith and life,

Fr. Reu Jose C. Galoy, OFM

Magandang araw po! Ako po si Fe Manahan na lubos na nagpapasalamat sa pamunuan ng Hospital Ministry ng Santuario de San Antonio Parish sa napakalaking tulong na naibigay nila sa aking asawa na si Alexander Manahan noong siya ay nagdadialysis pa. Ang aking asawa ay nagkaroon ng sakit na Chronic Kidney Disease na umabot na sa end stage. Nang dahil po sa tulong ng inyong ministry sa mga gamot at pang – dialysis ay nadugtungan ang buhay ng aking asawa. Ngunit marahil ay hanggang doon na lang ang kanyang buhay at s’ya ay kinuha na ng Maykapal.
Nasabi ko sa aking sarili na sa lahat ng kabutihang nagawa sa aking pamilya ng ministry na ito, ako ay babalik sa PGH upang kusang-loob na magvolunteer sa mga taong tumulong sa amin. Mula noon hanggang ngayon ako ay tumutulong bilang volunteer sa pamunuan ng Hospital Ministry bilang pasasalamat ko ng buong puso. Tuwing martes kasama ng mga heads o committees ng Hospital Ministry tumutulong ako sa pamimigay ng mga gamot, pagkain at iba pa. Lagi akong umaatend ng mga activities sa PGH.
Muli ang taus puso kong pasasalamat sa Hospital Ministry ng Santuario de San Antonio Parish.

Lubos na nagpapasalamat,
Fe Manahan

31 March 2016

Dearest Amelita,

What would I give for words if only words would come.I followed the passion, the death and the glorious resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ through the expressive singing of the choir. Each song is a prayer, each song tells a story. My heart inflamed with love and my cheeks were wet with tears. Long, long shall the radiance and melodies of our Easter Triduum linger in my heart.

Thank you Amelita. Thanks to the choir. Their songs enhanced the Easter celebration and they increased our fervor. It is a trained choir with the most exquisite repertoire under the baton of Amelita D. Guevarra.

Affectionately Yours,

Eda

Communities all over the world gathered in darkness. In that darkness, a fire was lit and that flame was shared around until candle lights filled the church. Our parish priest, Fr. Reu, for his part, lighted a new Easter candle. Acting in the persona of Christ, he carried the newly lit paschal candle and brought the light of Christ. It is Jesus Christ alone who dispels the darkness of our lives. He is the source of love, light and goodness in our lives. A song of exultation was then sung proclaiming that Christ is the light. There in the light of Christ we read the story of salvation how God rescued us from the power of sin and death. The God who created us, who led a chosen people out of slavery raised Jesus from death. Alleluia! He is Risen!We rejoice! The church bells rung as mighty drums rolled to proclaim the glory of the Resurrection.

The Easter vigil celebration in Santuario de San Antonio was truly awesome. It conveyed a message of joy, love, hope and gratitude in the context of God’s mercy and compassion. The music lovingly selected by our choirmaster, Amelita Guevara, added more depth and solemnity to the celebration. Father Reu, not to be outdone, had his share of shining moments. His initiative to bring in new members to our church, the body of Christ, through the liturgy of the word and the liturgy of baptism elicited gratitude from parishioners.

My congratulations to the parish pastoral council and all the ministries and other volunteers involved in staging such a celebration. The festivities would not have been possible in a manner worthy of the greatest feast of our faith were it not for hard work, dedication and support. The experience of the Resurrection left in us a feeling of gratitude for God’s unconditional love, caring, mercy and compassion.

We are an Easter people and Alleluia is our song. Let us now sing Alleluia in this life so that we can sing it one day with gratitude and love in the life to come.

As Catholics, we are all humbly called to serve. But never have I imagined that serving in prison will ever be in my list.

Before the first day of our service, we were given precautionary instructions which made me feel more scared than secured—instructions that reminded me that they are criminals, thieves and sinners. In my mind, they are individuals behind bars who have gotten too greedy or too selfish to think of what is right. My preconception is that these are individuals who have thought only of themselves, robbing their sons and daughters of a father, robbing husbands and wives of a life partner.I entered thedetainment grounds thinking that these individuals need to be converted. One incident changed all my preconceptions and converted me.

I attended mass at Makati City Jail for the first time in 2013. The volunteers, me included, went to the chapel ahead of time to prepare for the mass. Line by line, in an orderly manner, the inmates started to arrive. As the room started to fill, I could feel the mix of emotions in the chapel masked by the smiles on the inmates faces. The mass started out solemn, just like any other until we sang the Lord’s prayer. When it got to the part where they asked for forgiveness, tears rolled down their eyes as they raised each other’s hands.

Louder, stronger and full of love, they sang:
“At patawarin mo kami sa aming mga sala,
Para nang pagpapatawad namin sa nagkakasala sa amin
At huwag mo kaming ipahintulot sa tukso,
At iadya mo kami sa lahat ng masama.
Amen.”

I am surrounded by inmates who are vulnerable, afraid, and who are seekingGod. At that point, I heard God’s call to serve. To share my time, talent and treasure to those who not only need food, but more importantly need God in their lives. I am grateful to be God’s instrument of his love in prison. Every smile, every “thank you, po”, and every conversation has been meaningful and had touched my life in ways no other experience can give.

As a form of gratitude for the invaluable experiences, I had spent most of my birthdays (which fall on December 24) with inmates. For there is no greater gift I can receive than the graces of untainted love, sharing and compassion.

In today’s world of instant gratification, do we accept the difficulties of life as something we should be grateful for?

The first words we learn to say aside from “mama” and “papa,” are “please” and “thank you.”Feelings of gratitude are triggered off by the receipt of something good. We are grateful for the food we eat, the things we accumulate ,the children we have, and the success we achieve.

But is gratitude limited to the good things we receive in this world? When you lose someone you love, or work under oppressive conditions, or suffer from an illness, can you be grateful?

1Thessalonians5:18 says “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” To give thanks for pain or tragedy is something we cannot do without the power of the Holy Spirit. The natural response to difficult situations is angeror bitterness. But with faith, even ifit be as small as a mustard seed, we will be able to endure all with the light of hope.

So when you feel that things are not working out in your life, pray and if you are praying, pray even more and be grateful for all experiencesin life – even the most difficult ones.

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of gods, for his steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures forever; to him who alone does great wonders, for his steadfast love endures forever; to him who by understanding made the heavens, for his steadfast love endures forever (Psalm 136:1-26)