Category: Fr. Reu Galoy

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Fr. Reu Galoy

“TRUST THE GRAND DESIGN”, SUNDAY GOSPEL REFLECTION 4th Sunday of Advent by Fr. Reu Jose C. Galoy, OFM

One of the most important questions we can ever ask ourselves is, “Does life have meaning over and above our own designs?” Does life have purpose beyond our making? How we answer this question has significant ramifications for our happiness and peace of mind. Is there a divine blueprint for how life unfolds or are we just random players in a blind universe where everything happens by chance?

Micah is clearly a prophet of the grand design. He announces that God has great plans for the little town of Bethlehem that will have wondrous implications even “to the ends of the earth.” The reading from Hebrews assumes that God has great designs for the world in Jesus Christ and encourages our participation in those designs by submission to God’s will. Elizabeth, in the reading from Luke, proclaims Mary as “blessed” because of her trust in the fulfilment of God’s plans for her.

Believing in a “grand design” or trusting in “the big picture” is not always easy to do. There are times when we are in love, or when everything is going our way, and we feel that all’s well in God’s world. We may look up into the clear skies on a romantic evening and the dazzle of stars reinforces our belief that, “there must be something behind all this.” But there are other times when this belief is severely challenged. Infants die of genetic disorders; children perish in floods or from famine. Innocent bystanders are gunned down by a madman, and calamities befall the most underserving. We get sick for no reason, lose a job without cause, watch a loved one pine away and die in the prime of life. Life can become so filled up with confusion and problems that all we see is chaos.

And yet we are assured by the readings today that there is a grand design. The problem is we don’t want to accept “the big picture” in its entirety. We don’t want to believe that God’s will embraces the bad with the good, that everything that happens is part of God’s design, whether we understand how that can be or not. If we accept God’s will, however, we need to accept it wholly, without breaking it into pieces according to our particular demands and expectations. We gain great peace of mind when we embrace the belief that there is a divine blueprint for the universe that is good, loving, true, and perfect. Effective living is empowered by a belief that we are part of a “big picture,” that there is a purpose and fulfilment for each of us in the grand scheme of things. With Mary we are “blessed” in our trust of the fulfilment. Our joy is increased the more we accept God’s will in its fullness. This means that we accept both the sweet and the sour of life as part of God’s plan, that even tragedy has its purpose even when it is not presently clear to us what that purpose might be.

As Christmas approaches and we celebrate God’s grand design unfolding in the birth of Jesus, trust that God has a grand design for your life too. God willed for you to be, and your life has a special part to play in God’s plan. Pray, as did Christ, “Lo, I have come to do thy will, O God.” Embrace God’s will as fully as you can. Say to yourself often: “Everything in my life has meaning.” Everything! You are never a “victim,” and nothing happens to you purely by chance. Accept your sorrows as well as your joys, your suffering as well as your successes, as all part of God’s will. Your life continues to unfold as a magnificent with God as Director.

(Kent, Micheal, R. Bringing the Word to Life. Mystic, CT: Twenty-Third Publication.)

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Fr. Reu Galoy

SUNDAY GOSPEL REFLECTION 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time by Fr. Reu Jose C. Galoy, OFM

Our Gospel reading this Sunday has two major divisions. Jesus provides warning on the first part and lessons on the second part. Let me share with you William Barclay’s thoughts and reflection as we try to collectively make the message of the Gospel alive in the midst of our community.

A warning against:

1. It warns against the desire for prominence. It is still true that a person accepts office in the church because he/she thinks he/she earns it, rather than because he/she desires to render selfless service to the house of the people of God. Many may still regard office in the church as a privilege rather than a responsibility and ministry.

2. It warns against the desire for deference. Almost everyone likes to be treated with respect. And yet a basic fact of Christianity is that it ought to make a person wish to obliterate self than to exalt it.

3. It warns against the attempt to make a traffic religion. It is possible to use religious connection for self-gain and self-advancement. But this is a warning to all who are in the church for what they can get out of it and not for what they can put into it.

A lesson to learn in giving:

1. Real giving must be sacrificial. The amount of the gift never matters so much as its cost to the giver, not the size of the gift, but the sacrifice. Real generosity gives until it hurts. For many of us it is a real question if ever our giving to God’s work is any sacrifice at all. Few people will do without their pleasures to give a little more to the work of God. It may well be a sign of the decadence of the church and the failure of our Christianity that gifts have to be coaxed out of church people, and that often they will not give at all unless they get something back in the way of entertainment or of goods. There can be few of us who read this story without shame.

2. Real Giving has a certain recklessness in it. The woman might have kept one coin. It would not have been much but it would have been something, yet she gave everything she had. There is a great symbolic truth here. It is our tragedy that there is so often some part of our lives, some part of our activities, some part of ourselves which we do not give to Christ. Somehow there is nearly always something we hold back. We rarely make the final sacrifice and the final surrender.

3. It is a strange and lovely thing that the person whom the New Testament and Jesus hand down to history as a pattern of generosity was a person who gave a gift of half a farthing or the least possible amount. We may feel that we have not much in the way of material gifts or personal gifts to Christ, but, if we put all that we have and are at his disposal, he can do things with it and with us that are beyond our imaginings.

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Fr. Reu Galoy Reflections

POPE FRANCIS: JESUS IS THE BREAD OF LIFE, SUNDAY GOSPEL REFLECTION By Fr. Reu Jose C. Galoy, OFM

(Pope Francis has urged the faithful to look beyond material needs and turn to Jesus who is “the bread of life.” The Pope’s words came as he addressed the crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the Sunday Angelus.)

Taking his cue from the Gospel reading which tells of the crowd that went looking for Jesus, not because they saw the signs but because they had eaten the loaves of bread and were filled, Pope Francis pointed out that those people gave more value to the bread than to He who gave them the bread.

He explained that before this spiritual blindness, Jesus highlights the need to look beyond the gift and discover the giver. God himself – the Pope said – is the gift and is also the giver.

Jesus invites us – the Pope continued – to be open to a perspective which is not only that of daily preoccupation and material needs; Jesus speaks to us of a different kind of food, food which is not corruptible and that we must search for and welcome into our lives.

He exhorts us not to work for food that perishes but “for the food that endures for eternal life which the Son of Man will give us,” he said.

With these words – Pope Francis continued – He wants us to understand that beyond a physical hunger, man has a different kind of hunger – “we all have this hunger” – a more important kind of hunger that cannot be satisfied with ordinary food.

“It is the hunger for life – the hunger for eternity – that only He can satisfy because He is the bread of life,” he said.

And pointing out that the true meaning of our earthly existence is to be found at the end, in eternity, Pope Francis said that to be open to meeting Jesus every day of our lives will illuminate our lives and give meaning to small gifts, sufferings and preoccupations.

And quoting from the Gospel of John, the Pope said “Jesus said to them: I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”

“This – he said – refers to the Eucharist, the greatest gift that fulfills body and soul.”

To meet and to welcome Jesus, “the bread of life” – Pope Francis concluded – gives meaning and hope to our lives that are sometimes tortuous; but this “bread of life” – he said – also gives us the duty to satisfy the spiritual and material needs of our brothers.

To do this – he said- we must announce the Gospel everywhere, and with the witness of a fraternal attitude of solidarity towards our neighbor, we can make Christ and his love present amongst men.

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Fr. Reu Galoy SSAP Foundation

A Samar-itans call to Mission by Hannah G. Roa

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The following write up describes Hannah’s experience working on the Housing project in San Antonio, Basey, Samar.Hannah is a member of the SYA or Single Young Adults ministry and the LeCom ministry. The project is a beneficiary of FrancisFest 2015. – Ed.

Living in the 4 walls of a concrete jungle and trying to survive in this fast paced life gets a toll on you after a while… You’d dream of your next beach destination to just unwind and relax or your next out of the country trip for a solo adventure. I so definitely wanted to get out of the city so bad and just not think of surviving in it even for just a little while. I wanted to escape from the hustle and bustle of the city.

Killing time I checked my Facebook app and saw a post on our SYA Facebook page about helping in building homes of those that have lost theirs and loved ones in the storm called Yolanda, in Samar. As I was reading the post I wanted to jump to the chance to do so. I was hesitant because I didn’t know if I could be able to travel a 20- hour bus ride all the way to the site with strangers I didn’t know and cross seas from one island to the next on ferries. Yes the trip would be free of charge if I did join on the bus but the long hours sitting would be quite a challenge. I’ve already experienced a 10-hour bus ride from New York, NY to Pittsburgh, PA and I know the feeling of your derrière being numb as well as your legs from sitting down the whole time. I also wanted to be sure with whom I would be traveling with. So I didn’t grab the chance when I wanted to, just yet.

As part of the current team in SYA, a team member of mine announced in our Viber chat group about helping on Samar’s rebuild, about the post on our FB page. This time we didn’t have to travel with the bus and we could actually travel via plane and have shorter workdays. So I grabbed the chance then and was thrilled that there was an opportunity to go for shorter days than a 10-day build and not travel on the bus. I was excited to be able to give my time and be physically able to help in building the homes of those who have lost theirs in the storm. I wanted so much to do this ‘cause I know I won’t be able to give any financial aid. This was my way of serving for the church of SSAP, for SYA and for myself to give to those less unfortunate.

When the day came that 6 other SYAers and I were to travel to Tacloban we were all nervous because we don’t know what to expect; our sleeping arrangements, the mosquitos, the bugs, every city slicker’s nightmare. Though we were excited as well. This was our first trip to go help build homes and didn’t know a thing about building, but we were all pumped and thrilled to be part of this adventure and service for the people of Samar.

I thought of this trip to be my charity work cause I am not as active with the other ministries of the church than I should be. I just can’t find myself wanting to be active in them unlike being a part of this opportunity. This was to me a calling to serve, to be able to do the work of the Lord and be part of God’s army in rebuilding lives. This I was capable of doing.

As soon as we arrived at the airport of Tacloban, native dancers were there to greet us passengers. What a sight to see with all their smiling faces and energetic dancing. It didn’t feel like a place that has gone thru devastation. We made our way to one of our SYAers’ home near the airport, who which was part of the organization committee. We were all welcomed with open arms by her family and of course with a hearty breakfast to start the day. Then we headed off to the pier to catch a 15-min boat ride to San Antonio, Basey, Samar. As soon as we docked there was Fr. Reu to welcome us to the Barangay and show us where we would be spending our nights at, in the Parish Center of San Antonio.

We settled in nicely and we even got surprised that we would actually be having the air-conditioned office as our sleeping quarters. What a blessing we all thought, ‘cause this whole time we were prepping ourselves that we would be sleeping in quarters where only an electric fan would be given to us or even none, just the breeze of the province and mosquito nets as refuge from mosquitos. We didn’t expect to be sleeping in an air-conditioned area. So when we heard A/C we were all so happy knowing that after a tiring day at the work site we would be coming home to this. Sleeping on the floor we didn’t mind anymore.

Bags were all positioned neatly, we prepared and got into gear and set out to head to the site. It was a nice leisure walk from the parish, less than a kilometer. Lunch was served and we started to help out in steel work together with the other Franciscan brothers. Work wasn’t that bad because we had great company, good conversations, and delicious food to nourish us. All we did was laugh a lot, bonded with the Franciscan brothers also with the mothers and lolas who gave their time preparing our food every single day; from breakfast, snack, lunch, snack and dinner they were there to keep us healthy☺we were well fed.

For 3 days we did manual labor: steel work, digging, transporting hollow blocks from the manufacturing station up towards the houses and tree planting. But we never forgot to say morning masses before we started our days. Our days would start at 630am for mass and would end at 6pm to clean up then dinner at 7pm onwards. Come the 3rdday our bodies were tired since we weren’t used to this kind of physical work. But the tiredness was worth every pain especially knowing that you are doing this for the families that lost a lot and even everything. Just seeing the smiles on their faces and hearing their ever non-stop “Thank you’s” was just so heart warming. Mobile reception there was sparse that I forgot about the city. Not having signal helped because I was so involved in the building and didn’t mind any more if I got a message or not.

Conversations were also being shared rather than everyone being busy checking out the news on their mobiles. I felt connected.

On the 4th day, Sunday, there was a medical mission planned and it was our last day before we, SYAers headed back to Tacloban and the friars and brothers back on the road to Manila. It was sad because all the mothers and lolas that had prepared our food were teary eyed to see us leave. It was also sad to know that we were going back to civilization and to the concrete jungle we call Manila. We all felt a little bit of separation anxiety (sepanx) leaving cause it meant that we wouldn’t be waking up early in the morning to go to the site to hear mass and work and laugh around and help out. Even if it was a short time of service work it was such meaningful service that we were doing and it meant so much to each and every one of us that it was sad to leave.

Back in Manila I’d be thinking and reflecting on what had happened during this charity work that I did. As Fr. Reu asked us, what was a striking memory for you; I would say that during the whole experience we all felt that everything was striking and memorable ‘cause everything was a first for all of us. But as we were reminiscing on what we did during the whole experience one thing came to mind that was very meaningful to me. It was when we had our sharings with the beneficiary families. We were all divided into groups so that time would be more efficient. There were stories told that some of them were all safe and intact as a family and some were devastating ones with one or two or three that had died during the storm. Some were miraculous stories too.

Hearing each and everyone’s experiences in my group kept me thinking that they are all so strong and that their faith has grown so much. Devastating news like this would make me think how can I move on? I’d probably even question the Lord why it happened. I would wonder how they can just look at life and be positive about it. No grudges on what happened to them. No ill feelings towards the Lord on the devastation that haunts them even until this very day. Where do they get this optimistic view in life? How can they just move on without being a bit negative about the experience?
There was one member in my group that even before she started sharing her story she started crying. She explained herself to the others in Waray, in which I could not understand. I could only figure out the context of what her explanation was about her crying and what I got from it was it’s either been a while or it was the first time she ever spoke about her experience. It made me tear up cause she was so brave to even go forward and share what had happened to her even if it was hard to do so. She lost her mom, her sister and another member of her family to Yolanda but if you see her now she seems happy and optimistic. Ready to take on the world.

There was also a mother who shared about their arduous incident on how she almost lost her child. Her child’s lips were already blue because of being swept by the water but she never let go of her in her arms and she kept on telling her daughter not to give up. Breath. Breath. She survived but had such a traumatic experience that she does not want to be left alone at home and when the rains start she would murmur to her mother “anjan ulit ang tubig” in their native tongue. How sad to hear these stories and feeling helpless not to be able to do something for them. What uplifts me though is the fact that all of them have been thanking God for keeping them alive and blessing them with people like us that helped them through moving on. In hearing them speak about what they went through and seeing how they are now, optimistic and happy, makes me realize that life is just simple if you make it to be and that if you have faith anything is possible in the Lord.

From hearing mass in the mornings, working the whole day, to bondings after dinner I would say this was a fun and meaningful experience for me. I’ve made friends, learned from the locals about life and faith, solidified my friendships with my co-SYAers that were there with me during this Franciscan Solidarity Camp and I realized that, as Jolly [Gomez] said it best (rephrased a bit), when you work with a community that works together the task is easier than doing it alone. So for those that seem to see the world as being difficult or challenging remember to ask for help from your community or faith family, ‘cause someone and maybe even everyone will definitely give a helping hand. We are all called to mission, whether to be disciples to spread the word of the Lord or to be carpenters to use our hands and help build lives. This is our mission.

Another mission trip to Samar will be done at the end of August. This project is a beneficiary of FrancisFest 2015. Your donations and support through FrancisFest will help raise more funds to finish the houses. – ed.

The Basey Samar Housing Project is one of the beneficiaries of 2015 Francisfest. Pls. support Francisfest 2015, featuring world renowned Filipina pianist, Cecile B. Licad, on October 2, Friday at 7PM in the Main Church.

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Fr. Reu Galoy

CONGRATULATIONS, FR. REU!

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THANKSGIVING MASS, TESTIMONIAL DINNER AND OATH TAKING
The friars of the Franciscan Province of San Pedro Bautista, Philippines hosted a thanksgiving mass and testimonial dinner last June 22, 2015 at the Santuario de San Antonio parish. The occasion installed Fr. Cielito R. Almazan, OFM as the new Minister Provincial and Fr. Reu Jose C. Galoy, OFM (our very own parish priest) as the new Vicar Provincial of the OFM province of San Pedro Bautista. The event was also a despedida for Fr. Lino Gregorio V. Redoblado, OFM or Fr. Greg as we know him. Fr. Greg was elected the new General Definitor for Asia, Australia and Oceania.

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Fr. Reu Galoy homily

Making Change Possible by Jack Finnegan, A SUNDAY GOSPEL REFLECTION By Fr. Reu Jose C. Galoy

Each of today’s readings raises serious issues for the person who wishes to follow Jesus along the way. A few phrases strike me in a particular fashion and I would like to reflect on these against the background of God’s call in Christ to all of us to live according to His way of love, justice and compassion. Ezekiel says that the Spirit of God “set him on his feet.” This reminds me that without the Holy Spirit, without grace, without the energy that is God’s gracious gift, faith-life is not possible, inner transformation is not possible, change is not possible, the movement into the wholeness that Yahweh-Shalom offers is not possible.

In saying this I remind myself that it is easier to do nothing than to do something, it is easier to be negative than positive, easier to be destructive than creative, and that I am an amalgam of these contradictory tendencies. That is why I have so often been stiff-necked, stubborn and rebellious, even cynical–because free-wheeling refusal to be responsible takes little effort and less understanding. To live the covenant, however, demands awareness; it calls for a commitment to be conscious of grace and of the practical implications of grace that must find expression in real, practical, reconciling, forgiving, growth oriented patterns of life and relationship.

If today’s gospel means anything, we must confront any tendency to judge others, take hurt and offence from them, reject them, and make the scapegoats of our own unrecognized, unaccepted aversions and resentments. We must become acutely aware of how we spread negativity at home, among our friends at work–or wherever–lest we become like Pharisees or Herodians, or those of Jesus’ own people who so readily rejected him. We must realize how easy it is to confuse reality with our own ingrained prejudices and preferred viewpoints. We need to see that every story has another side, every person has his or her own reasons for what they do.

With St. Paul I need to acknowledge my own “thorn,” my own complex, shadow, inferior function, potential for neurotic behavior; call it what you will, each of us has it! If I really want to be a disciple I must learn to rebuild the center of my existence on God’s terms lest I scatter myself and lose myself because I have no ground of coherent meaning on which to base my relationship with reality. This is spirituality, this is what psychology so often discovers we need. May we remember God’s grace, may we remember that it precedes us along the way, may we allow it to set us on our feet and make us courageous. May we permit it to energize us for the next few steps on the perilous, wonderful, bright, dark journey to abundant life.

Reflection Guide Questions (rjcg):
1. What where the opportunities I miss in life due to my negative perception and judgmental attitude toward others?
2. Why is it that I cannot appreciate the goodness in others and good things around me?
3. In what way does my faith in Jesus help me live for and like Jesus in this changing and challenging world?

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“Love one another as I have loved you.” A Sunday Reflection, 5th Sunday of Easter B By Fr. Jesus Galindo, OFM

During the early centuries of the Church, when Christians were being persecuted and martyred, some of them offered to die in place of others (just like St. Maximilian Kolbe did during World War II in the concentration camp of Auschwich). The pagans were amazed at this and remarked, “See how they love one another.” Reading today’s papers or watching the news on TV, all we can say is, “See how they kill one another. See how they cheat one another. See how they insult one another.” (Wait till the electoral campaign begins.)

The great Mahatma Gandhi, when asked to express his views about Christianity, said: “ I have great respect for Christianity. I often read the Sermon of the Mount and have gained much from it. I know of no one who has done more for humanity than Jesus. However, the trouble is with you, Christians. You do not being to live up to your own teachings.”Another Hindu monk who read the story of Jesus in the gospel said to a Christian: “If you can live what is taught in this book, you will convert the whole of India in five years.”

Of course, not everything is dark and negative about us. There are also some good things going for us. Fr. Joseph Dau Vu, SVD, chaplain to Vietnamese refugees in Morong, Bataan, tells how the “boat people” were abused, robbed and even killed by fishermen from neighboring countries. But when Filipino fishermen spotted them, they offered them food and shelter. Why – they wondered? Because they are Christians. (Cf. Bel San Luis, SVD, Word Alive, Year C. p. 57)

“I give you a new commandment: love one another.” Jesus made this pronouncement in his farewell discourse, during the Last Supper. Hence, it is his last and most urgent wish. As if he were saying: “I am going now. You might forget all the other things I did and said. Just don’t forget this one. This is the summary of everything I have told you.” And so it is indeed; for this is what our final “exam” will be about: Not about doctrines, not about catechism, not about the Bible, but about LOVE: “I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me drink.” Etc.

Why is this commandment called new? What is new about it? Love of neighbor is found in the Old Testament: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Lev.19:18) All other religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam) teach about love also. What, then, is new in Christ’s commandment? “As I have loved you,” that’s what is new. Our love has to be like Christ’s, that is, sacrificial. Not emotional, not romantic, but self-sacrificing – to the point of death.

Love means different things to different people. It is perhaps the most used and abused word in the dictionary. In the name of love, young lovers elope, or steal. In the name of a newly-found “love” some spouses abandon home and children. That might be passion, infatuation or lust; but certainly not Christ’s love.

“This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. ”We usually recognize people by their uniform or attire, by which we can tell whether a person is a doctor, a policeman or a security guard. In church we wear habits, pins or crosses. We know well, however, that these external symbols can be quite deceiving. We often hear stories about truants disguised as priests, policemen, collectors etc. whose sole purpose is to extort money.

Christ did not choose any external mark or symbol to identify his followers. Love is, or should be, the mark of our identity, our uniform and our habit. We may wear crosses or pins, recite rosaries and novenas, receive holy communions, etc. If then we go home and abuse or insult our household help, our yayas, our drivers…we simply are not true disciplesof Christ. Discipleship is not a matter of external attire; it is a matter of a loving heart.

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THANK YOU FROM FR. REU

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With the culmination of the Lenten and Easter Celebrations, Fr. Reu would like to thank the following that helped in the preparations and implementation of our activities:
1.) Mike Julian and Alvin Lacambacal for organizing our Parish Visita Iglesia.
2.) Crissy Castillo and Grace Padilla for organizing our Seder Meal; the Galvez Family for agreeing to be the Head family and Nonon Baang for being our Cantor during the meal.
3.) CWL for organizing the palms sold during Palm Sunday.
4.) Our volunteer apostles during the Washing of the Feet.
5.) SYA heads and members for supporting our priests during the Chrism Mass.
6.) Javier Gomez for arranging the prayers during the Thursday Vigil.
7.) All the Ministries and their members who participated in the Thursday Vigil.
8.) Arch. Anton Mendoza for donating flowers and decorating the Altar of Repose.
9.) Sharers from the JPIC, OFS, CWL, Prison & Hospital Ministries and the CCD.
10.) Mrs. Entang Carballo for Organizing our Village Stations of the Cross on Good Friday Morning and Jun Rodriguez & Family for leading the songs and prayers.
11.) Mrs. Dora Cantada for organizing the Good Friday procession in Dasmarinas Village; Danny Dolor for the flowers in the Mater Dolorosa Carroza, Ramon Pastor of San Ramone flower shop for the Carroza of the Sto. Intierro and Gili Gallego for the flowers in the Mary Magdalen Carroza used in this procession and to Fely Kintanar for Sponsoring the refreshments provided at the end of the procession.
12.) To Alli and Alla Raval for organizing the SSAP Stations of the Cross at the Taguig City Jail
13.) Lester Delgado, Karen Blanco and our Family Life Ministry for teaching and organizing our little angels for the Easter Salubong.
14.) Maria Tanjuatco for the flowers in the carroza of the Risen Christ, Carmen Garcia for flowers in the Mater Allegria; Mia Cabawatan of Bloomwoods Flowershop for the flowers in our Church Altar during Easter and Mr. John Carovich for the flowers at the side altar.
15.) Our very own Mother Butler Mission Guilds for providing the clean linens and cloth used in our services.
16.) Our altar servers who participated during the Holy Week.
17.) The hard working ladies in the Altar environment ministry especially heads Wilma Huang and Zari Poe for all the decorations and arrangements during our Holy Week services.
18.) All the Titas who although have retired from active ministry work continued to support and guide us especially Mrs. Auring Villanueva, Mrs. Lulu Goquingco from the Altar Environment ministry and Mrs. Babing Abella for writing the guide book on our Liturgical activities used by the Worship Committee for the year.
19.) Mrs. Amelita Guevara and Coro de San Antonio for providing the music during all the services in Holy Week and to all our music ministers, accompanist, choirs and song leaders who sang on Easter Sunday.
20.) All EMHC Lay ministers and Lector & Commentator members who served during the Holy week as well as our PPC president Jaime Blanco for helping organize the events.
21.) Mrs. Dee Jalandoni Chan and Mrs. Amelita Guevara for combing through the liturgies from Palm Sunday all the way to the Saturday Vigil and making sure it went smoothly.
22.) Bernadette for taking care of all the important back room work
23.) All the members of the Worship Committee and its head Mr. Edmund Lim who is serving his last year as our Worship Coordinator this liturgical year.
24.) The Pastoral Team members Fr. Serge, EJ, Fr. Tasang and Fr. Laurian

And special thanks to all of you for participating in our Lenten and Holy Week observations.

Fr. Reu Jose C. Galoy, OFM

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Fr. Reu Galoy

SUNDAY GOSPEL REFLECTION By Fr. Reu Jose C. Galoy, OFM

untitledAs We Celebrate the Feast of Divine Mercy, Let Us Listen to the Top 10 Mercy Quotes of Pope Francis:
1. I think we too are the people who, on the one hand, want to listen to Jesus, but on the other hand, at times, like to find a stick to beat others with, to condemn others. And Jesus has this message for us: mercy. I think — and I say it with humility — that this is the Lord’s most powerful message: mercy.

2. It is not easy to entrust oneself to God’s mercy, because it is an abyss beyond our comprehension. But we must! … “Oh, I am a great sinner!” “All the better! Go to Jesus: He likes you to tell him these things!” He forgets, He has a very special capacity for forgetting. He forgets, He kisses you, He embraces you and He simply says to you: “Neither do I condemn you; go, and sin no more” (Jn 8:11).

3. Jesus’ attitude is striking: we do not hear the words of scorn, we do not hear words of condemnation, but only words of love, of mercy, which are an invitation to conversation. “Neither do I condemn you; go, and do not sin again.” Ah! Brothers and Sisters, God’s face is the face of a merciful father who is always patient. Have you thought about God’s patience, the patience He has with each one of us? That is His mercy. He always has patience, patience with us, He understands us, He waits for us, He does not tire of forgiving us if we are able to return to Him with a contrite heart. “Great is God’s mercy,” says the Psalm.

4. In the past few days I have been reading a book by a Cardinal … Cardinal Kasper said that feeling mercy, that this word changes everything. This is the best thing we can feel: it changes the world. A little mercy makes the world less cold and more just. We need to understand properly this mercy of God, this merciful Father who is so patient. … Let us remember the Prophet Isaiah who says that even if our sins were scarlet, God’s love would make them white as snow. This mercy is beautiful.

5. God’s mercy can make even the driest land become a garden, can restore life to dry bones (cf. Ez 37:1-14). … Let us be renewed by God’s mercy, let us be loved by Jesus, let us enable the power of his love to transform our lives too; and let us become agents of this mercy, channels through which God can water the earth, protect all creation and make justice and peace flourish.

6. Together let us pray to the Virgin Mary that she helps us … to walk in faith and charity, ever trusting in the Lord’s mercy; He always awaits us, loves us, has pardoned us with His Blood and pardons us every time we go to Him to ask His forgiveness. Let us trust in His mercy!

7. In today’s Gospel, the Apostle Thomas personally experiences this mercy of God. … Thomas does not believe it when the other Apostles tell him: “We have seen the Lord.” … And how does Jesus react? With patience: Jesus does not abandon Thomas in his stubborn unbelief … He does not close the door, He waits. And Thomas acknowledges his own poverty, his little faith. “My Lord and my God!” with this simple yet faith-filled invocation, he responds to Jesus’ patience. He lets himself be enveloped by Divine Mercy; he sees it before his eyes, in the wounds of Christ’s hands and feet and in His open side, and he discovers trust.

8. Let us … remember Peter: three times he denied Jesus, precisely when he should have been closest to him; and when he hits bottom he meets the gaze of Jesus who patiently, wordlessly, says to him: “Peter, don’t be afraid of your weakness, trust in Me.” Peter understands, he feels the loving gaze of Jesus and he weeps. How beautiful is this gaze of Jesus — how much tenderness is there! Brothers and sisters,let us never lose trust in the patience and mercy of God!

9. I am always struck when I reread the parable of the merciful Father. … The Father, with patience, love, hope and mercy, had never for a second stopped thinking about [his wayward son], and as soon as he sees him still far off, he runs out to meet him and embraces him with tenderness, the tenderness of God, without a word of reproach. … God is always waiting for us, He never grows tired. Jesus shows us this merciful patience of God so that we can regain confidence and hope — always!

10. God’s patience has to call forth in us the courage to return to Him, however many mistakes and sins there may be in our life. … It is there, in the wounds of Jesus, that we are truly secure; there we encounter the boundless love of His heart. Thomas understood this. Saint Bernard goes on to ask: But what can I count on? My own merits? No, “My merit is God’s mercy. I am by no means lacking merits as long as He is rich in mercy. If the mercies of the Lord are manifold, I too will abound in merits.” This is important: the courage to trust in Jesus’ mercy, to trust in His patience, to seek refuge always in the wounds of His love.

Source:http://www.thedivinemercy.org/news/story.php?NID=5380

About Fr. Reu and his reflections…

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Fr. Reu Galoy Reflections

“TRANSFIGURATION: A MOMENT OF GRACE TO LISTEN, LEARN, LIVE LIKE JESUS” SUNDAY GOSPEL REFLECTION By Fr. Reu Jose C. Galoy

“No One Lives ‘on Tabor’ While on Earth”

Pope Emeritus Benedict the XVI said – When one has the grace to sense a strong experience of God, it is as though seeing something similar to what the disciples experienced during the Transfiguration: For a moment they experienced ahead of time something that will constitute the happiness of paradise. In general, it is brief experiences that God grants on occasions, especially in anticipation of harsh trials. However, no one lives “on Tabor” while on earth.

Human existence is a journey of faith and, as such, goes forward more in darkness than in full light, with moments of obscurity and even profound darkness. While we are here, our relationship with God develops more with listening than with seeing; and even contemplation takes place, so to speak, with closed eyes, thanks to the interior light lit in us by the word of God.

This is, therefore, the gift and commitment for each one of us in the Lenten season: To listen to Christ, like Mary. To listen to him in the word, preserved in sacred Scripture. To listen to him in the very events of our lives, trying to read in them the messages of providence. To listen to him, finally, in our brothers, especially in the little ones and the poor, for whom Jesus himself asked our concrete love. To listen to Christ and to obey his voice. This is the only way that leads to joy and love. (Vatican City, March 13, 2006 – Zenit)

“We Need to Climb the Mountain, But We Cannot Stay There”

Pope Francis spoke on the importance of listening, of being attuned and attentive to the Word of God; and the movement of ascent and descent that characterizes the Gospel episode (Mt. 17:1-9), in which the Lord takes Peter, James and John to the top of Mt Tabor, reveals Himself in His glorified form, and returns down the mountain with them, with grave warnings to the disciples who accompanied Him not to speak of what they had seen.

“The mountain is the site of the encounter intimate closeness with God – the place of prayer, in which to stand in the presence of the Lord,” said Pope Francis. “We, the disciples of Jesus, are called to be people who listen to His voice and take his words seriously.” He added, “To listen to Jesus, we must follow Him.”

The Holy Father went on: “We need to go to a place of retreat, to climb the mountain and go to a place of silence, to find ourselves and better perceive the voice of the Lord.” We cannot stay there, however. “The encounter with God in prayer again pushes us to ‘come down from the mountain’ and back down into the plain,” he said, “where we meet many brothers and sisters weighed down by fatigue, injustice, and both material and spiritual poverty.”

Pope Francis said that we are called to carry the fruits of the experience we have with God to our troubled brothers and sisters, sharing with them the treasures of grace received. (Vatican City, March 16, 2014 – VIS)

About Fr. Reu and his other reflections.

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