Santuario de San Antonio Parish

Christians esteem humility as the highest of human virtues, considered to be a lofty ideal, like a queen virtue. But if humility is an ideal to be lived, why do we spurn being humiliated? What is our response to a situation of humiliation?

A Case in Point

Last August 16, 2016, we were invited by the DENR to present our case opposing a known company operating within the Upper Marikina Water Basin Reservation, and another well-known developer constructing a subdivision in the same place (along Infanta-Marikina Highway, Brgy. Pinugay, Baras/Antipolo). This was one of several meetings we had with DENR officials. This time they have invited the company in question to face us. At one point of the discussion, the lady President of the mining company stood up and faced us (stockholders and complainants), and begun to lambast and to castigate especially two of us priests, Fr. Jovar Vergara and myself. She rebuked us of our involvement to stop their quarrying, saying they have the legal right to do so, and that we have destroyed the name of their company. She added that it is a shame for us to distribute Holy Communion during the mass, and warned us at the same time that “kung ano man ang mangyari sa kapatid ko” (the older sister is said to have cancer) may pananagutan kayo..!” Our lead counsel, Atty. Chris Monsod was present to witness the show of arrogance.

Analysis

Fr. Jovar and I humbly accepted those reviling words in the midst of a conference room packed with government officials and stockholders like us. What was our response to such public humiliation? We were calm and unperturbed in the midst of the deafening silence. I signaled to Fr. Jovar not to rebut, though I must admit I was perspiring amidst a freezing room. In our hearts we knew the truth of what we were doing and westood firm on our commitment to environmental justice.

How do we relate the experience of being humiliated to Humility? Is that the kind of experience within the concept of a virtue? To the modern mind it is contrary to the natural disposition of man. But history will show that Jesus silently endured the physical, mental and moral affront of his enemies. Matmaha Gandhi demonstrated the ironic silence of non-violence (words or physical resistance).

Humility may require of us acts of passivity or self-limitation in response even to the basest affronts, degrading or shameful acts to which the most the most natural reaction of any “self-respecting person” would be to fight back and feel justified in doing so.

The virtue of humility may be said to have lost much of its religious or philosophical basis, but it remains silently active in the heart of our moral life. For it iswritten: “. . . humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, and he will lift you up” (James 4:10).

As published in the March 26 issue of the Parish Bulletin.

When I first thought of becoming a priest, my motivation was simple: I wanted to serve God. In the course of my seminary studies and Franciscan formation, the idea of serving God became more concrete: to serve God is serve the less fortunate (Mt. 25: 34-46). Over time, I came to better understand my priestly Franciscan calling and ministry through my exposure to and immersion with farmers, construction workers, indigenous peoples and urban poor communities.

Through the years of my Franciscan-priestly life, I was privileged to have been entrusted with several provincial offices/positions. The downside to these developments is that it made ministry more complicated and challenging. Over time, I realized that, given a choice, I preferred being
an ordinary friar-member of our communities. I particularly enjoyed my teaching ministry.

But the reality of community life and ministry is multifaceted and perplexing. I am reminded of what Jurgen Habermas once said of “moral sensitivity”, i.e., that in the context of ministerial humility, “one must have the ability to listen, the willingness to be emotionally involved, and the capacity to accept, even encourage, personal uniqueness.” Authentic service allows the minister to accept the person/s whom God has delivered into our care; open and willing to learn from the other and to have the courage to be surprised (Mt. 15, 21-28). I came to realized that God opened the door for me, sometimes into rooms that I had not originally planned on entering.

In my ministry today, I have to humbly acknowledge that I am being ministered as well by the community I am serving and living with, being nurtured and healed by the ministry of others. After all, as a minister, I too have my own weaknesses and vulnerability. I need to allow myself to be challenged, inspired and transformed by the people. For an authentic Christian mission brings out self-transformation.

As published in the March 26 issue of the Parish Bulletin.

This month we are privileged to feature articles written by our parish clergy.
Our parish priest, Fr. Reu, speaks candidly about what called him to be a priest, and his abiding desire to serve God through his teaching charism. As the saying goes, sometimes we make plans, and God laughs. Instead he called Fr. Reu into positions of leadership in his order.

Fr. Baltasar writes about how the very foundation of the Franciscan order is about humility; about how leaders are called to be servants of the community. There is, of course, no better example of this than their very own leader, St. Francis!

Fr. Efren humbly shares a personal experience of how he and a fellow priest were called to respond humbly to personal attacks heaped upon them by an irate person. Can you relate to their experience?

Most people believe that humility is the antonym of pride. While likely true, I prefer to think of humility as being antonymous with self-centeredness, but I can appreciate how description seems to somehow miss the mark. I think that the Latin phrase “Incurvatus in se” describes the relationship better – it is a theological phrase describing a life lived “inward” for self rather than others.

It is said that references to humility occur 35 times in the Bible – perhaps not as many as “be not afraid”, but a significant amount nonetheless. One things is clear from these scriptural passages – humility is a heart attitude, not merely an outward demeanor. One may put on an outward show of humility but still have a heart full of pride and arrogance. Jesus said that those who are “poor in spirit” would have the kingdom of heaven. Being poor in spirit means that only those who admit to an absolute bankruptcy of spiritual worth will inherit eternal life. Therefore, humility is a prerequisite for the Christian. If we believe this to be the case, it is most certainly true for those of us called to be clergy.

While humility may not be sufficient to enter the kingdom of heaven, it is certainly a necessary condition!

As published in the March 26 issue of the Parish Bulletin.

R A N D O M T H O U G H T S
by Peachy Maramba

When one thinks of HUMILITY (the state or quality of being humble – lowly, modest, unpretentious) one invariably thinks of our dear St. Francis of Assisi. This is because he is considered by many, if not the whole world, to be the humblest man in Christendom.

But this is not because like Jesus he was born in a humble stable. This just happened in 1182 when Donna Pica, the wife of a rich cloth merchant Peter Bernardone was about to give birth. A stranger came and said, “If you wish everything to be fine, ask Peter’s wife to go to the stable at once.” When this strange command was carried out the baby boy was born.

While the boy had black brilliant eyes full of mildness and modesty he grew to be a young man who was vain, exhibitionist, rather snobbish and a fastidious dresser. He was certainly far from being humble maybe due to his indulgent parents who never denied him anything.

Yet it was from this proud pretentious boy that God chose to teach the world about the meaning of true humility through a “steady process of giving up to God, little by little, every joy he found.”

It all began when Francis found God in an ancient chapel south of Assisi, Italy virtually in ruins dedicated to San Damiano. When the crucified Christ on a Byzantine wooden crucifix hanging down from the ceiling said to him, “Francis, you see that my house is falling down. Go and repair it for me.” Francis then and there became a totally poor and humble workman.

This happened because his father was upset with him for stealing his richest cloth in the shop and selling it in order to get funds for his repair job. Francis realized then that the only way he could fulfill his promise was to beg from his rich friends. This generous, high spirited and fashionable man became the butt of all jokes. Many laughed but many gave and many began to listen to him.

Francis became one with God in the only way he knew how: by humbly following in the footsteps of Jesus and humbly saying yes to everything the Lord asked of him.

Ever the leader Francis convinced his friends to join him in a renewed religion and he did it with the strength of his humility, a humility that derived from his love and imitation of Christ.

Since for Francis poverty and sister humility were the only way to witness to the love of Christ he called his Order the Humbler Brethren or Friars Minor which he founded in 1209. He desired that his brothers should really be below their fellows and seek only the last and lowly places. It was dedicated to absolute poverty, humility and the love of all created things. Seeing himself before God as the least of men he never aspired to be a priest – only a deacon.

While his order started out as a humble missionary order it grew and radiated through the Christian world and touched men and women of every generation up to this day and age.

On October 4 the Church prays, “O God, You enabled St. Francis to imitate Christ by his poverty and humility.”

The opening prayer of the mass states that God helped St. Francis to reflect the image of Christ through a life of poverty and humility.

St. Francis in his letter to the faithful said, “We must not be wise and prudent according to the flesh. Rather we must be simple, humble and pure. We should never desire to be over others. Instead, we ought to be servants who are submissive to every human being for God’s sake.”

St. Francis said while dying: “My work is finished. May Christ teach you to carry out yours.”

As published in the March 19 issue of the Parish Bulletin.

The ABC’s of Catholic Doctrine
by Lianne Tiu

A famous painter once showed Blessed Pope Pius IX a picture of heaven. The pope greatly admired it. There were the Holy Trinity, Our Lady, the angels and the saints. But he noticed someone missing and asked, “Where is St. Joseph?” No one can blame the painter for forgetting the patriarch. For there was nothing special about Joseph to attract our attention. The Bible hardly mentioned about him. Not a single word was spoken by him in the Gospel. By world’s standard, he had no achievement which was worth recognizing.

God, however, chose Joseph to take care of two greatest treasures—Jesus and Mary. He chose this craftsman of Nazareth to be the husband of Mary and the legal father of Jesus. He was given one of the most difficult and responsible missions. It was not easy because of the exceptional qualities of Mary (who was daughter of God the Father, mother of God the Son, and spouse of God the Holy Spirit). Besides, the child whom he had to care for was the Creator of the universe. This meant that he was inferior to the persons subordinated to him. Yet he worked well and carried out his duties as a family man with love intending to please God. He was always obedient to His plans.

Joseph was not, after all, such an ordinary man as he seemed. He went completely unnoticed because of his humility. No wonder when the artist told Pope Pius IX that he would put St. Joseph almost hidden among the saints, the Holy Father pointed his finger close beside our Lord and said, “No, you will put him there, for that is his place in heaven.” In 1870, he declared St. Joseph the Patron of the Universal Church. Joseph is the greatest of the saints after Our Lady.

Reference: Joseph of Nazareth by Federico Suarez; A Vademecum of Stories by Rev Mauricio Rufino; “St. Joseph: The Greatest Male Saint Who Ever Lived” by St. Josemaria Institute; Catholic Treasury: http://www.catholic treasury.info/joseph.php

As published in the March 19 issue of the Parish Bulletin.

A Taste of Silence
by Conchitina S. Bernardo

Psalm 131:
My heart is not proud, Lord,
my eyes are not haughty;
I do not concern myself with great matters
or things too wonderful for me.

But I have calmed and quieted myself,
Like a child in its mother’s breast.

This beautiful psalm addresses our topic of HUMILITY as a means to contemplative prayer. One has to be truly humble in order to really pray. Not the self-denigrating kind of “humility” which is really laced with pride, but the true and basic, simple humility of self-forgetfulness while focusing on God. The beautiful little book on Contemplative Prayer by an anonymous monk, ‘The Cloud of Unknowing” says it clearly, as does this psalm: ” Everything you are thinking of is between you and God. And you are furthest from God when there is anything but God in your mind.” In other words uplifting thoughts and even theories no matter how sublime are really blocks to prayer. Only HUMILITY, in its most basic form can translate to prayer. “When you heart is not proud” as the psalm says, ” nor is it concerned with things too great for me, ” only then can you find your way to God. One prayer word and nothing else establishes your path. A “calm and quieted soul” becomes the venue to Contemplative Prayer. Then you rest in God, “like a child quieted in its mother’s breast.”

Verse 2 brings us to SILENCE .

Contemplation is all about silence, letting go of the clutter in the mind, internal dialogues, random insights. In Centering Prayer you simply rest in God, like a baby rests on its mother’s breasts. The silence brings about calm and peace, and eventually clarity of mind, helping you deal with daily life’s problems, leading to their resolution. It starts with the premise that God knows all your needs even before you ask for them. Just spend precious quiet time with Him.

Because this prayer is humble and down to earth, meaning uncluttered and simple, we begin to find God in everyday life events. The bible becomes a channel of conversation between you and God, and a relationship is initiated and eventually established and deepened.

Silence, Centering Prayer and Lectio Divina have become a pattern in the lives of the members of Contemplative Outreach Philippines (COP.) We are a community of people who meet weekly to pray together . We are true friends, bonded, and non-judgmental of one another . We are supportive and available. Our weekly COP group is a priceless gift.

We invite you to join us every Monday from 10 AM to 12 noon at St . Elizabeth room at the Convento of our Parish Church

Visit us at the Contemplative Outreach Philippines web site. Go to http://www.cophil.org.ph

As published in the March 19 issue of the Parish Bulletin.

I haven’t been part of the Parish for a long time. I joined Single Young Adults (SYA) in March 2009 and Faith in Action upon its inception in 2016. I have teamed in SYA, joined the Hospital and Prison Ministries in their outreaches, and other activities that have peaked my interest.

I work five jobs. One of which doesn’t even pay me. That’s aside from being a daughter, a granddaughter, a sister, a sister in law, a ninang, a cousin, a friend, etc. I also volunteer in two organizations, SSAP being one of them and I am President of the other.

I work for the family businesses and I have a business with my friends from community. At one point in time the load of handling all these business wore me down heavily. My only other sibling has his own medical profession and I had to accept the fact that there was no one else but me. That’s when I had a change of perspective.

I looked at aspects of the business that aligned with my personal beliefs and went from there. I look at the business in these ways: first, I am helping the economy; second, I am helping people get out of poverty by providing jobs; third, I am helping the environment. One thing my parents give importance to is to treat our employees like family. Embracing this ethic has given me a new sense of stewardship beyond the business lines and because of this, we have maintained low employee turnover.

Being a daughter/employee has its pros and cons. I have a little more flexibility but I work at odd times. I am constantly aware that my parents are getting older, and that one day the employees’ livelihoods will depend on me. Knowing that has kept me grounded. Flexibility gives me time to work on giving back and to have a work-life balance. It gives me the ability to drop things when I am needed. It also gives me time to rest.

I pray for strength, wisdom and knowledge to keep my beliefs alive and that our businesses may prosper so that we may serve Him more. “You earn your living by working, you earn your life by giving.” – George L. Graziadio

As published in the March 19 issue of the Parish Bulletin.

As we celebrate the beginning of Lent, I want to express my deepest
gratitude to all the ministries and organizations who participated in our
Buling-Buling 2017. Once more, members of our ministries and mandated
organization rallied and took our yearly revelry to the next level. As the
pictures in today’s bulletin will attest, our members gave their best.

Another thank you to our Execom and Pastoral Team for organising our
annual event.

Truly, we are a Eucharistic Community of different families serving Our
Lord in Solidarity, Sharing our Time, Talent and Treasure.

May we all have a meaningful Lenten celebration. Please join us in all of our
Liturgucal activities leading to the Paschal Triduum this April.

As published in the March 12 issue of the Parish Bulletin.

(As seen on page 3 of the June 12 issue of the Parish Bulletin)

In our daily lives, we unconsciously isolate ourselves from the realities around us. We tend to simply be focus on pursuing our own personal interests, whether in terms of advancing in our own careers, materially enriching ourselves or establishing our place in society.

But as we are able to attain these achievements, we eventually come to realize that these are all temporal. Our inner beings are then drawn to search for a deeper sense of our existence. What next?

We are then programmed to open ourselves to experience the realities around us and these are not necessarily the most pleasant of kinds. Personally, the challenge really is to find a way to use our God given gifts for His greater glory. At the end of our lives as we face our Creator, the question we all will be asked is, “How well did you love Me (God) and your neighbors?”

In our quest to be deserving recipients of our eternal boarding passes to Heaven, we can surely follow the teaching of St. Anthony on what it really means to love God and our neighbors. We are not here to judge anyone nor be selective as to who we help, yet we are called to open our hearts especially to those in need.

Each day, more than 3,000 patients are being treated at PGH and a good number of them happens to be innocent children with some of the most serious of medical cases from the marginalized sector of our society. We, at the Hospital Ministry, on a weekly basis, get a glimpse on how these innocent children experience the most painful physical pain imaginable with no certainty of recovery as their families have little to none to provide for their ever-compounding medical expenses. Statistically, the odds seem like a losing proposition and very discouraging. However, how can we turn our backs on these innocent children when their zeal to live is ever so strong as they endure all these at such a tender age?

During one of our regular Tuesday visits, I came across a very sick child who was so weak and frail that my greatest fear was that he will not be around anymore on my next visit. Nevertheless, I was moved to spend some time with him and share some words of encouragement. While I fear for what might be in store for him, he surprised me with his most beautiful gesture when he said, “mahirap talaga ang aking kalagayan ngunit dasal ko kay Papa God na pagaling niya ako, alagaan niya ang mahal ko sa buhay at biyayain niya lahat ng tumutulong sa aking pagaling”. Glad to report, that this is one of the patients which we are providing medical assistance to and while his battle is far from over, he is happily recovering and safely home with his family.

While our resources are ever so limited given all these sick children in need, your genuine acts of generosity and love which you share with the SSAP Outreach Hospital Ministry are certainly most welcome and encouraged. Apart from your financial contributions, we are also open to receiving any kind of donation (i.e., clothes, toys, books, medicines/medical equipment, etc.). For check donations, kindly make your checks payable to SSAP Foundation for PGH Outreach Hospital Ministry. All donations may be forwarded to the SSAP Parish Office, c/o Ms. Nimfa Dumaga.