Category: OFS

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OFS

Christmas, the Giving of Self OFS Advent Recollection By Cristina Teehankee

P1140860We refer to Christmas as the season of giving and party celebrations. Most of us try hard to prepare party food that we often like to eat rather than the food friends and family would want to eat, say our Recollection Master, Fr. Reu Jose C. Galoy, OFM Parish Priest during the OFS Advent Recollection held November 17 at Munting Kanlungan, the Prayer House of OFS professed member, Sis Lily Manalo in Tagaytay City.

Fr. Reu summarized our Advent preparation for the coming of Christ in key words that allowed the Secular Franciscans to grasp its meaning:
1) Prayer – is being aware of God. Every creature is a representation of God. We therefore must be authentic and sincere to where God assigned us to be to be Christ to others.

2) Listen – When we listen, we are not an empty space. The way we listen is normally picked up by who we are and the way we are. But rather we should listen to the way God wants His message to be conveyed to us in an atmosphere of prayer.

3) What is it that our Lord Jesus wants us to give – not necessarily material things but may be time, attention, forgiveness, visiting the sick, talent, treasure, service, self.
4) Move out of our comfort zone where necessary as our blessed Mother Mary set up herself serving Elizabeth.

In summary, prayer leads us to listen to God as He invites us to give the highest form of giving, the giving of self. The Theology of the Incarnation is the expression of God’s love for us in giving Himself to us through Jesus.

God is the one who is at work in us. We open our head – heart – hand in preparation for Advent and welcome Jesus to do His project and work through us. Our life is a continuous preparation to receive Jesus using our head-heart-hand.

There is an invitation for us to provide a home for Jesus. Jesus did not have a home and was born in a manger. Can we create a home for Jesus in our heart, Jesus’ home? How are we going to prepare our heart to be a home for Jesus? What’s in our heart to make it a most precious place?

Our home needs hospitality that will include the hand. It is our hands who do the job. Work collectively to make the environment of our home hospitable and respectable in the spirit of friendship. Our code of conduct in the Parish should be a hand of hospitality to be a helping hand to others. Doing this gives hope to humanity. The Manger is our hope.

The Manger reveals that we all are not perfect. The coming of Jesus is not because we are sinful. But because of God’s love for all of us. Jesus is the crowning glory of God’s creation. If we are not perfect, I can still be a better person.

Let us prepare our head-heart-hand for the coming of Jesus “fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.” (Colossians 1:10)

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OFS

Francisfest 2015 Beneficiaries: St. Francis Friendship Home Livelihood & Spirituality Center

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The St. Francis Home Livelihood & Spirituality Center is a safe haven where the Secular Franciscans (OFS) of our Parish serve needy mothers and their children living in the poor communities of West Rembo, Makati City. The OFS and involved parishioners of Santuario de San Antonio support, animate and encourage spiritual growth as well as provide livelihood opportunities to its constituents. The Center now serves 12 mothers and their children aside from occasional members and other community residents who drop in.

Following in the footsteps of our Patron St. Francis, the Center encourages members to live the Franciscan way of life by providing a venue where they learn to serve God and their community, and to care for and enhance the environment whenever possible. They also learn and share how to simplify lifestyles, develop compassion for one another by listening and understanding, thus becoming brothers and sisters in Christ.

The Center maintains the twin projects of Santuario de San Antonio Parish Foundation (SSAPF) organized on September 10, 1991: the St. Francis Friendship Home and La Ermita de San Nicolas de Tolentino, often referred to simply as the Center or the St. Francis Friendship Home. The compound was once used to house the Trichet Learning Center for handicapped children who were taught basic hygiene and education. When the Learning Center transferred to a bigger venue in Taguig in the summer of 2011, the Center immediately started its new mission, the St. Francis Friendship Home Livelihood & Spirituality Center on September 9, 2011.

The Center welcomes members of all ages, from infants to the elderly, making a vibrant interactive community that enriches physical, spiritual and character value formation. It now tends a veggie malunggay mini-garden, a modest National Bookstore Library for the young, and a Friendship Home Library for all ages. The Center conducts Bible study and sharing sessions, summer activities for mothers and the youth, holds feeding program, provide other means of community support as well as participates in Franciscan and community based fiesta celebrations. Very important too are the counselling services, the livelihood and job placement opportunities.

The Center also maintains a Thrift Shop where donated items are available at affordable prices – used clothing, various household articles, office equipment and other useful, miscellaneous goods. We encourage our parishioners to rummage through their closets, kitchen cupboards and office equipment for useful items that they can donate.

Above all, the St. Francis Friendship Home Livelihood & Spirituality Center can enrich our own lives when we listen with compassion and genuinely understand the common problems faced by the poor. We cannot always provide solutions to many of life’s problems but with the Spirit of Christ guiding us, we can truly share a willing ear, an understanding heart and a helping hand.

The Center needs financial and moral support to keep the St. Francis Friendship Home Livelihood & Spirituality Center going. Our urgent need is to provide more livelihood opportunities and a medical care assistance program for our community of poor families.

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OFS

OFS Feeding Program at the Friendship Home By Cristina Teehankee

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It was the 29th day of May, 2015, Friday before the last weekend of Summer Vacation. The day was special for the families that gathered in St. Francis Friendship Home Livelihood & Spirituality Center, composed of the underprivileged mothers, fathers and children of West Rembo and its surrounding communities in Makati. It was the Recognition Day of the Order of Franciscan Seculars OFS Summer Feeding Program at the Friendship Home.

The air was filled with happy anticipation that something good was going to happen . . . each one hoping to be given an award for their dedication and presence in the Feeding Program. The La Ermita de San Nicolas de Tolentino was filled with Secular Franciscans, parents and children as early as 7:45AM, ready to start the day’s Agenda with prayer and thanksgiving. Fr. Tasang’s homily moved the hearts of mothers and children to be more involved and caring.

Immediately after Mass, the Program started with games for the children and mothers to build up their appetite for the nutritious Vita-Pro breakfast and lunch after. Thereafter, the children waited in anticipation to be weighed and attendance checked for the Best in Weight and Attendance categories; listened intently to their mothers as they told their life stories and eyes and ears glued to the Emcee to hear the winners for the Most Attentive and Family Awards.

In all these, the Secular Franciscans were beginning to form the parents and their children the good habits that parents should teach their children as part of their instructions for life . . . the value of prayer and thanksgiving . . .which can be a powerful resource for them in the years ahead.

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OFS

BETTER WITH AGE . . . OFS NEWLY PROFESSED MEMBERS by Tina Teehankee

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Many of us fear aging with all the trouble it brings. The older we get, the worse we get physically. Our bodies keep ticking away in inevitable decline in spite of daily workouts, vitamins, organic food. Let’s face it . . . the decades that follow our twenties and thirties can no longer ensure long lasting physical health . . . our eyesight starts to go, then the knees, then the mind . . .

But believe it or not, it is possible to get better with age. While it is true that the older we get the worse we get physically, it doesn’t have to be that way spiritually. In 2 Corinthians 4:16, St. Paul tells us that “Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.”

When we are gradually stripped of everything that props us up . . . wealth, independence, health, dignity, beauty, power, authority, control, self-esteem or all of the above . . . we are left more and more to rely on the power the Spirit within . . . the Spirit of Jesus who dwells in us . . .

We are happy to announce that in our Parish, there is a fraternity that gathers brothers and sisters no matter their age to understand a deeper meaning and purpose of life. The Secular Franciscans of our Parish spend time in God’s Word and invest in their spiritual well-being . . . Just recently, on the Feast of St. Anthony of Padua, June 13, five Candidates who have undergone a series of Formation were admitted as Professed Members: Rowena Fierro, Maxie Sindiong Martinez, Dolly Mejilla, Helena Joy Pabalate and Gerry Reyes. They see the payoffs of time well spent . . . then . . . now . . . and later.

The lay Franciscans realize that although our outward shell decays, renewal come each day. Commitment to God’s Word and prayer give strength that does not fade away. The older we get . . . the better we can become . . .

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Lectors and Commentators OFS

OFS and LeCom Ministries Celebrate By Cristina Teehankee


We thank our Almighty God for the Christmas gathering last December 4, 2014 of the Order of Franciscan Seculars (OFS) and Lectors and Commentators (Lecom) Ministry. God’s Hand made it happen … for a purpose … and for a reason. The last minute changes of schedule beyond anyone’s control marked the entry of a new beginning … joining the living stones of the Church to put their resources together … paving the way to share and give … more love … peace … joy … and generosity … to our Franciscan circle of friends and brothers in Christ … our Franciscan Friars and the Our Lady of the Angels Seminarians that made the Christmas celebration a wonderful and joyful experience…

The Christmas celebration started with Spiritual thanksgiving: … praying the Franciscan Crown Rosary, Liturgy of the Hours and the joint celebration of the Holy Eucharist by Fr. Tasang Obico, OFM, SSAP Guardian and OFS Spiritual Assistant, and Fr. Jesus Galindo, OFM, MMC Chaplain & Lecom Spiritual Adviser.

The whole evening was filled with energetic pace of parlor games, carolling, eating, dancing and gift giving. The Secular Franciscans and Lectors were happy to have the OLAS Seminarians in full force, together with the Postulants, Student Friars, and OLAS Franciscan Friar Heads: Fr. Cris Pine, Fr. Ireneo Tactac, III and Fr. Mark Adam. We were happy to have the presence of SSAP Parish Priest and Pastoral Team: Fr. Reu Galoy, Fr. Tasang, Fr. Jesus Galindo, and Fr. Serge Santos and other priests and our Parish Pastoral Council Officers Jayme Blanco, President and Edmund Lim, Vice President. Most especially, we were happy to watch Fr. Tasang join the OFS dance number and for being our Santa Claus for the night.

On a similar note, the Secular Franciscans gathered to celebrate Christmas with the friends of St. Francis in the St. Francis Friendship Home Livelihood & Spirituality Center, December 12, 2014. It was good to let our friends experience God’s love through us … loving them.

Our group of friends composed of young families living in West Rembo and surrounding communities started their program understanding God’s Word in their life and with the celebration of the Holy Eucharist at the La Ermita de San Nicolas de Tolentino with Fr. Tasang Obico, OFM presiding. Then after, they started the program prepared for us revealing their singing and dancing skills with gusto … combined with games and gift giving.

We would like to thank the following for making these special Christmas gatherings possible: Unilever Philippines, Sisters Nenette Jalandoni, Loretta Galang, Cecile Tan Teng, Dee Jalandoni Chan, Ria Vergara, Uwa Tambunting, Carms Mantecon, Baby Barba, Fely Dingle, the Lectors and Commentators and the Secular Franciscans.

Indeed … the joy of Christmas is being together and working together … with Jesus…

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OFS

Celebrating the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi by Cristina Teehankee

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In celebration of the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the Secular Franciscans of our Parish invited as their guests of honor their brothers and sisters in Christ . . . the blind . . . the deaf . . . and the disabled . . . gathering them together last Sunday, September 28, 2014 in celebration of the Holy Eucharist.

During this time of the year, the Secular Franciscans look forward to share their time and service and rekindle their friendship with their little friends through the kindness and mission of the family of Bro. Ernie Chua Chiaco, OFS. The gathering in prayer that Sunday, celebrated the Feast of St. Lorenzo Ruiz who like St. Francis of Assisi was proud to be a Catholic, being centered on Christ in doing God’s will. The homily of Fr. Baltazar Obico, OFM, OFS Spiritual Assistant was timely and appropriate, sharing the message of the Gospel to humbly regard others more important than ourselves, looking out for the interests of others.

That day, the Secular Franciscans prayed to our Almighty Jesus to continue to fill the hearts and minds of their little friends with love, peace and joy. That day, the Secular Franciscans were on active duty, opening their arms, joining their friends in Christ for brunch with warmth, hospitality and love at the Convento Garden. That day the Secular Franciscans were moved to action, doing their best . . . serving their disadvantaged brothers and sisters in Christ with love. That day we thanked our Almighty God for His blessings . . .

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