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It takes a lot to handle everything going on the parish. After all, San Antonio wants to make room for everyone who wants to serve the Church and the community. Done right, the parish becomes a place where people can come and work together productively. Pope Francis has this vision for the parish as well. At an audience last year he said, “The parish must work the miracle of a more communal life for the whole of society.”

This is what the different ministries aim to do. And everyone worked for it during the parish planning session. Even though each person had different ideas on what could be done to improve San Antonio’s missionary spirit, everyone was united with a sense of identity as a Franciscan parish.

St. Paul addressed this in the early Christian communities, when he wrote,

For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us. (Romans 12: 4-6)

Edmund Lim, the parish president echoed this in his closing prayer for the planning session. Reading a homily of Father Tacky, he said “A parish should not be a place where we are constantly looking over our shoulders, protecting our backs, anxious about anything we might say. Our Family should not be like that and neither should our parish be like that. It should be enough that we are authentically CATHOLIC CHRISTIANS and proud to be CATHOLIC. Like a family, a parish embraces many people. People from all walks of life. At its heart are one Lord, one faith, one Baptism.”

As the year continues, may we serve Christ more. May God send his spirit to each of us to work for his Kingdom.

The Catholic Bishop’s Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has called 2016 the Year of the Eucharist and the Family. The theme is part of a nine-year preparation period for the Jubilee of 2021. We shall then celebrate the 500th anniversary of the first Mass on Limasawa, which also witnessed the first Filipino baptism of Rajah Humabon and his wife. Begun in 2013, each year called us to focus on one of the Nine Pastoral Priorities of the Church in the Philippines for the New Evangelization.

For this year, the focus is on the Eucharist and family. In a CBCP Pastoral Exhortation last November 29, 2015, CBCP President and Archbishop of Lingayen Dagupan Socrates Villegas called us to reflect on the coming year through the act of kneeling. He explained that during this year, “we are invited to kneel down to bring renewal to the family. We kneel to serve like the Lord. We envision every Filipino Catholic family to be missionary disciples of the Eucharist.”

“Our generation seems to have lost the religious gesture of kneeling; we have become more a clapping generation. We seem to have compromised the virtue of humility with a culture of self-security and independence. Our throw away consumerist culture can hardly imagine kneeling down before one another, like the Lord who washed the feet of His beloved ones…If we want renewal, let us learn to kneel again in body, in heart and attitude.”

Finally, Socrates called everyone to kneel as one family. “The family that prays together stays together. The family that kneels together will be refreshed and renewed together. The family that kneels together will remain young and fresh and new. Kneeling empowers families to stand up against the storms of life. Kneeling is strength.”

Aside from 2016 being the Year of the Eucharist and the Family, the Church is also observing this year as a Jubilee Year of Mercy as decreed by Pope Francis in the papal bull Misericordiae Vultus and Cebu shall be host to the 51st International Eucharistic Congress this January 24 – 31, 2016.

In this year of Mercy, Eucharist, and Family, let us find again that humility of service and that centeredness on Christ in our hearts and with those most in them.

References: “Nothing can stop God’s mercy – not even sin, Pope says” by Elise Harris (CNA); “Christ, the face of the Father’s Mercy”- Pastoral Letter of His Beatitude Fouad Twal (Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem)

December 8 (Immaculate Conception)
Misa de Gallo
Regular Sunday Masses

For most people Mission Sunday is just a fund-raising activity: a second collection at Mass, a piggy bank or an envelope to contribute some money. Needless to say, Mission Sunday is much more than that. This year, the celebration of Mission Sunday will be enhanced by a very important event, namely, the canonization in Rome today of the parents of St. Therese of the Child Jesus, Patroness of the Missions. (Read more on this in the attached feature).

First and foremost, Mission Sunday is a day to thank the Lord for the gift of our faith; for indeed, our faith is a precious gift from God which none of us could ever earn or deserve. For some mysterious design of God, it was given to us and not to others. We have been richly blessed by the gift of Christian faith. Through it we have come to know the true and triune God, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the origin and purpose of our life, and our eternal destiny.

Two thousand years after Christ sent his apostles to preach the Good News to all nations, but only one third of the world population has so far received the gift of faith. This means that two out of three persons in the world—a great majority—have not heard or have not received the Good News of the Gospel. We are lucky to be in the minority of believers.

It is this awareness of being lucky, of being blessed and enriched, by God’s mercy, with the gift of faith that impels us to do mission work in order to share with others the beauty and the richness of our faith. It is not that we want to proselytize and engross our ranks for the sheer joy of being the largest religious denomination. Rather, it is the desire to share with others the treasure of our faith. We want others to enjoy the blessings we have received from God. That is our understanding of mission–and Mission Sunday.

The fact that, after 2000 years, only one third of the world’s population has received the Christian faith should make us think: Why so few? Why so slowly? Have we not perhaps been remiss in our task of proclaiming the Good News, as commissioned by Christ? An old Chinese lady, when told by a foreign missionary that he was visiting her because that is what Jesus had told us to do two thousand years ago, replied: Two thousand years ago? Where have you been all this time?

A good question indeed to ask ourselves on Mission Sunday: Where have we been all this time? You might say: But Father, you said earlier that faith is a gift from God. So, it is something we cannot give; only God can give it. You are right there. But faith is like a seed that is sown in the heart and mind of people. And Christ, in his goodness, has chosen us to help sow the seed of the Gospel. He has also told us to “ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers to his harvest” (Lk. 10:2). God produces the yield, yes, but we have to do the sowing.

When I was sent to the missions (before Vatican II), it was widely believed that mission work was reserved for priests and religious. However, Vatican II made us aware that all Christians share in the mission of Christ. All Christians are missionaries, by the fact of being baptized into Christ.

Another important change to take place during the last 50 years has to do with mission territory. Before Vatican II, missionaries were sent from first world countries into third world countries. After Vatican II, the practice of religion has weakened considerably in first world countries and the number of vocations to the priesthood and religious life has dwindled. As a result, missionaries from the third world (especially Latin America and the Philippines) are now being sent to first world countries.

Today, as we appeal for material and financial support for the missions, and as we thank God for the gift of faith, we also pray that the missionary spirit and awareness may always be kindled and alive in all of us!

Parents of St. Therese of the Child Jesus, Be Canonized October 18, 2015

The parents of St. Therese of Lisieux will be canonized Oct. 18 at the Vatican during the Synod of Bishops on the family.

Louis Martin (1823-1894) and Marie Zelie Guerin Martin (1831-1877) will be the first married couple with children to be canonized in the same ceremony. Other married couples are among the blesseds of the church.

Pope Francis issued the decree approving their canonization Saturday during the public consistory on canonizations at the Vatican; more than 40 cardinals attended. During the consistory, Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes, said the couple lived an “exemplary life of faith, dedication to ideal values, united to a constant realism, and persistent attention to the poor,” according to Vatican Radio.

The cardinal said the French couples serves as an “extraordinary witness of conjugal and family spirituality.”

Married in 1858, the couple had nine children; four died in infancy and five entered religious life. During their 19-year marriage, the couple was known to attend Mass daily, pray and fast, respect the Sabbath, visit the elderly and the sick, and welcome the poor into their home.

They will be canonized along with Italian Fr. Vincenzo Grossi (1845-1917), founder of the Institute of the Daughters of the Oratory, and Spanish Sr. Maria of the Immaculate Conception (1926-1998), a member of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Company of the Cross, whose canonizations the pope also approved Saturday.

About Fr. Jesus and his reflections…..

In preparation for the coming feast of St. Francis of Assisi, allow me to share with you this article that identifies the main messages ofLaudato Si – Pope Francis’s groundbreaking new encyclical on the environment.
1. The spiritual perspective is now part of the discussion on the environment.
The greatest contribution of Laudato Si, to my mind, is an overview of the environmental crisis from a religious point of view. Until now, the dialogue about the environment has been framed mainly using political, scientific and economic language. Now, the language of faith enters the discussion — clearly, decisively and systematically.
2. The poor are disproportionately affected by climate change.
The disproportionate effect of environmental change on the poor is strongly highlighted in almost every page of the document, and the Pope provides many baneful examples of the effects of climate change, whose “worst impact” is felt by those in developing countries (25).
3. Less is more.
Pope Francis takes aim at the “technocratic” mindset, in which technology is seen as the key to human existence. He also critiques an unthinking reliance on market forces, in which every technological advancement is embraced before considering how it will affect our world. Christian spirituality, by contrast, offers a growth marked by “moderation and the capacity to be happy with little” (222).
4. Catholic social teaching now includes teaching on the environment.
Against those who argue that a papal encyclical on the environment has no real authority, Pope Francis explicitly states that Laudato Si “is now added to the body of the Church’s social teaching” (15). It continues the church’s reflection on modern-day problems that began with Leo XIII’s encyclical RerumNovarum, on capital and labor, published in 1891.
5. Discussions about ecology can be grounded in the Bible and church tradition.
In Chapter Two, Pope Francis introduces “The Gospel of Creation,” in which he leads readers through the call to care for creation that extends as far back as the Book of Genesis, when humankind was called to “till and keep” the earth (67). But we have, sadly, done too much tilling and not enough keeping.
6. Everything is connected — including the economy.
Laudato Si is a “systematic” approach to the problem. First, the Pope links all human beings to creation: “We are part of nature, included in it, and thus in constant interaction with it” (139). But our decisions have an inevitable effect on the environment. A blind pursuit of money that sets aside the interests of the marginalized and the ruination of the planet are connected.
7. Scientific research on the environment is to be praised and used.
Pope Francis does not try to “prove” anything about climate change. Rather, his encyclical accepts the best scientific research available today and builds on it. SoLaudato Si draws on both church teaching and contemporary scientific findings from other fields to help modern-day people reflect on a contemporary crisis.
8. Widespread indifference and selfishness worsen environmental problems.
Pope Francis strongly critiques those who ignore the problem of climate change, and especially its effects on the poor. Why are so many of the wealthy turning away from the poor? Not only because “some view themselves as more worthy than others,” but because frequently because decisions-makers are “far removed from the poor,” with no real contact to their brothers and sisters (90, 49). Selfishness also leads to the evaporation of the notion of the common good.
9. Global dialogue and solidarity are needed.
Perhaps more than any other encyclical, Laudato Si draws from the experiences of people around the world, referencing the findings of bishops’ conferences from Brazil, New Zealand, Southern Africa, Bolivia, Portugal, Germany, Argentina, the Dominican Republic, the Philippines, Australia and the United States. The pope invites into dialogue and debate “all people” about our “common home” (3).
10. A change of heart is required.
This encyclical, addressed to “everyone living on this planet” calls for a new way of looking at things (3). We face an urgent crisis, when the earth has begun to look more and more like, in Francis’s vivid image, “an immense pile of filth” (21). Still, the document is hopeful, reminding us that because God is with us, all of us can strive to change course. We can move towards an “ecological conversion” in which we can listen to the “cry of the earth and the cry of the poor” (49). To use religious language, what the Pope is calling for is conversion.

James Martin, SJ, is a Jesuit priest, editor at large at America and author of Jesus: A Pilgrimage. This is an abridged version of an essay appearing today in America.

About Fr. Reu and his reflections…..