A LETTER TO POLA FROM FR. EYMARD
This 82nd issue of the Provincial Update opens with the following letter by Fr. Manuel Barbiero, sss, which was read in silence by the participants of the 2018 Eurocamp Retreat in Thy-le-Chateau, Belgium just after receiving Jesus in Holy Communion. The participants wanted to share it to more people thus they included it in the article they submitted for publication in the 270th issue of the SSS International.
Fr. Barbiero made it seem as if Fr. Eymard is the letter-writer sharing with the ‘Eurocampers’ a different kind of adventure ─ a spiritual adventure he would also like them to experience.
The letter was adapted for us Sacramentinos of Our Lady of the Assumption to reflect upon as we prepare for our forthcoming 8th Provincial Chapter.
“God made me understand what he really wanted from me: the gift of my self.” With these words, the Provincial Update is temporary signing off. Thank you for your support.
My Dear Sacramentinos of POLA,
You are at the height of your preparation for the forthcoming celebration of your 8th Provincial Chapter this coming October 22 to 27. Let this celebration of who you are, of what you are and of what you do be a real adventure, especially for the Capitulars.
I will take advantage of this occasion to share with you an adventure I lived some years ago.
Throughout my life I always desired to do great things for God. At a certain point I thought It would’ve been nice to found a community in Jerusalem, inside the Cenacle itself, there where Jesus celebrated the Last Supper with his disciples and instituted the Eucharist.
I didn’t think it was going to be so complicated and that it was going to take so long.
I went to Rome to handle the matter and while I was there I decided to make a spiritual retreat, that lasted 65 days.
It was during this retreat that God made me understand what he really wanted from me: the gift of my self.
Sometimes we have the impression of giving God many things, even important ones. God, through the Holy Spirit, made me understand that if we don’t give our heart completely to Him we haven’t done a thing and we haven’t given a thing. He revealed to me another cenacle: the Interior Cenacle.
What is this interior Cenacle?
It means that Jesus has completely taken over my life.
I had the impression that he was waiting for me there, in Rome, to tell me that he wanted to live in me, develop his life in me, grow in me, share with me his love for the Father and for all humankind, sharing with me until the end his Paschal Mystery of death and life.
In the moment in which I allowed Jesus Christ to take shape in me, I realized that it wasn’t anymore I who lived, but he, Christ who was living in me.
I discovered, in a new and more profound way, that God loves me personally, as I am, with an infinite and eternal love.
I accepted to remain in this love, in all its simplicity, like a child. I made myself available entirely to the Holy Spirit, for him to guide me, for him to shape me. It was the Holy Spirit who lead me make the gift of my self.
I felt as if I had begun a new relationship with Jesus, a union of love and friendship so strong that in this bond my actions became, so to speak, the actions of Christ.
The life of Jesus, his thoughts, his feelings, his desires, his way of acting have permeated me and have become my thoughts, my feelings, my desires.
I took the decision then to let him control of my existence, to put myself under his guidance, to live in his Spirit.
In him I find everything. Jesus Christ is my interior master, the guest of my soul and my body, my guide, my model. In a word, the God of my heart. I love him and want to be like him in everything, to experience the same attitude as him, to identify myself with him.
But, my dear friend, pay attention, to live this life of union you must give up everything: heart, mind, understanding, judgment, thought; to work in union with God, to become spiritual, to abide in him as he abides in us, to live in thanksgiving in order to find joy in him.
This is possible thanks to the Eucharist, which is the very gift of Jesus Christ, a concrete gift, incarnated, a gift of his body and of his blood, an expression of the depth of his love.
Thanks to this gift, which is offered as nourishment, everyone can learn to give and receive.
I simply responded to the “Gift of God” through the gift of myself, with love and thanks for love.
Maybe you will like to know, concretely, what this gift produced in me, in my life.
During the retreat I wrote to a nun – who had provided me with daily bread during the first days of the foundation of the Congregation – that on my return home I would like to give her “a new bread”. I saw myself as if I would’ve become a “new dough, like the Paschal bread” (1Cor 5:7), like another Eucharist, with Jesus, bread broken for the life of the world.
I entrusted myself completely to God, to his will. And when I received the negative answer from Rome regarding the Cenacle at Jerusalem I regarded this as being the design of God and I blessed his holy will.
My relationships with people also changed. How much criticism from some of my religious brethren! But I didn’t judge them, I forgave them, I chose silence and patience, gentleness and charity, service and prayer.
Jesus enabled the new man in me to take over, the interior spiritual man, who lives by the strength that comes from love.
My wish for you, dear brother-Sacramentinos, is that you may be enabled to have the same experience that I had especially during your Chapter.
I pray for you and ask for you the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Letter written by
Fr. Manuel Barbiero, sss
CANONICAL ERECTION OF ST.VINCENT FERRER PARISH
During the scheduled budget hearing of our parish at the diocese in November 2017, the Most Rev. Mylo Hubert C. Vergara, Bishop of the Diocese of Pasig, told Fr. Arnel Martinez, SSS, our Parish Priest, that Saint Vincent Ferrer Quasi Parish will be elevated into a full-fledged Parish. This was three years after we were placed under the administration of the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament. Sis. Gler Marzo, Parish Finance Council treasurer, suggested that the declaration be held on September 15, 2018.
The good news was shared by Fr. Arnel to all the servants and the whole community. Everybody was filled with joy and excitement and eagerly awaited the day to come. A series of meetings took place to discuss the preparations for a momentous celebration. One of the primary considerations was how to raise funds for the event. Fr. Arnel suggested having a “Dinner for A Cause”; this was held on February 2018. He also came up with the idea of a Souvenir Book not only as a fundraiser but more importantly, as a reminder of the Canonical Erection that can be read by future generations. As the months passed, all servants of the parish worked together to carry out such tasks as cleaning and making the inside and outside of the church beautiful, and doing major repairs including carpentry, masonry, electrical and repainting works, and building of perimeter fence. Different committees were created to handle specific tasks including the Parish Media representatives who graced radio and television programs to announce the Canonical Erection. Invitations were sent out to government leaders of the immediate cities and barangays as well as the church leaders of both the Diocese of Pasig and Blessed Sacrament Communities. The big event was announced in all Sunday Masses preceding the actual date of the celebration.
However, three days before the big event, the weather bureau warned the public of the super typhoon “Ompong” (Mangkhut) that was about to make landfall in the northern part of the country on the very day of our celebration. The news didn’t dampen our spirit. We proceeded with our Triduum Masses on September 12 – 14, 2018. On the big day, September 15, 2018, all servants gathered at the Parish at 4:00 a.m. amidst the very strong winds and rain, for we were supposed to have our community procession in honor of our Patron, St. Vincent Ferrer. We still proceeded with the procession around the parish and prayed the Holy Rosary after.
It rained the whole morning, but amazingly it stopped in the afternoon. We were blessed with good weather from the start until the end of the celebration except for a heavy rain shower when everybody was already inside the church. We had a very meaningful, solemn and beautiful celebration of our Canonical Erection and the installation of our first Parish Priest, Fr. Jose Arnel A. Martinez, SSS.
We were truly grateful for the great blessing our community received from the Lord, but we were also saddened by the severe impact of the typhoon in the northern part of the country, including the loss of lives, on the very same day. And as part of our thanksgiving, Fr. Arnel mobilized the Parish 12 Apostles to go around the community to solicit donations for the victims of the typhoon.
Ms. Babylyn M. Buhat
BSVC-MAPANDAN’S 1ST YEAR ANNIVERSARY
The Blessed Sacrament Vocation Club (BSVC) was founded on July 16, 1978. From that time on, BSVC Chapters have continued to flourish in different Blessed Sacrament communities, produced numerous Blessed Sacrament religious and became a portal in guiding young men seeking their vocation in life. In view of this, BSVC Mapandan, Pangasinan, under the Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Parish (OLBSP), was conceived on July 8, 2017 with six (6) young men as collaborators. On September 24, 2017, BSVC Mapandan Chapter was born and officially launched with nine (9) valiant young men who ardently committed themselves as its first members.
BSVC Mapandan Chapter just turned one-year old, and it now has 15 committed members. The anniversary festivity started with the celebration of the Holy Eucharist. There was an exhibit of the Patron Saint of each barangay. Games were conducted in collaboration with the Parish Youth Ministry. In the afternoon, the BSVC members had their adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. In the evening, they enjoyed each other’s company with various games and a boodle fight.
These young men bonded together with one common aspiration: to know oneself, others, and God. Various formations are conducted to help them grow in their discernment and in the maturity of their faith.
Their life of commitment embodies a Life of Prayer, Brotherhood, and Service. Congratulations BSVC Mapandan!
Fr. Marco Divine Pangilinan