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parishworks! 1Vol. 6 No. 51 March 26, 2011
March 14, 2011
Dear Bishops, Monsignori Reverend Fathers and the Laity:
Greetings of peace in the Lord Jesus Christ!
The fundamental love of Filipinos for family and life is under
serious threat today. Being the last country standing against the
vicious attacks of powers in connivance with Saw makers we see the
urgent need now to stop the attack by the proposed RH Bill on our
valued culture of life This orchestration instigated by those
against life, local and foreign, has to be stopped. We shall all
stand united against the assault on life and its values.
We all believe that you will be one to deliver the message that
our country will never allow the repressive RH Bill to be passed.
The CBCP has made it clear in its Pastoral Letter that the RH Bill
does not promote reproduction nor maternal health and destroys the
family.
In the love of Jesus, Mary and Joseph,
my paternal blessings.
Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales
Archbishop of Manila
www.saaparish.com and www.facebook.com/saaparish
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SAAP joins the Rally for Life
About 220 faithful parishioners of St. Andrew the Apostle Parish
went to Luneta for the “Filipinos! Unite Under God for Life! a
prayer rally. A mix group from the Youth Ministry, Lay Ministers,
Lectors and Commentators, Greeters and Collectors, some Sub Parish
heads were also present. The most number came from the Shepherding
Group, thanks to the Social Service Ministry. Rev. Msgr Dennis
Odiver together with Fr. Jeffrey Jamias were also present.
A program organized by the Archdiocese of Manila greeted the
attendees. From where we were, talks can hardly be heard, but that
did not stop our SAAP parishioners to cheer when the crowd cheered.
Thanks to Fr. Jeff who once in a while led the group.
Significant declration of opposition from some political leaders
were read, two of which were from Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile and from
Cong. Manny Pacquiao.
The mass started later at around 7pm which was
Lets join the rest of the world
as we turn off our lights tonight
@ 8:30 pm for the Earth Hour.
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Blessed John of ParmaFeast day: 21 March
He was born in Parma, Italy, in 1209. It was when he was a young
philosophy professor known for his piety and learning that God
called him to bid good-bye to the world he was used to and enter
the new world of the Franciscan Order. He became Seventh minister
of the Order. John was known for his attempts to bring back the
earlier spirit of the Order after the death of St. Francis of
Assisi.
After his profession John was sent to Paris to complete his
theological studies. Ordained to the priesthood, he was appointed
to teach theology at Bologna, then Naples and finally Rome.
In 1245, Pope Innocent IV called a general council in the city
of Lyons, France. Crescentius, the Franciscan minister general at
the time, was ailing and unable to attend. In his place he sent
Father John, who made a deep impression on the Church leaders
gathered there. Two years later, when the same pope presided at the
election of a minister general of theFranciscans, he remembered
Father John well and held him up as the man best qualified for the
office.
And so, in 1247, John of Parma was elected to be minister
general. The surviving disciples of St. Francis rejoiced in his
election, expecting a return to the spirit of poverty and humility
of the early days of the Order. And they were not disappointed. As
general of the Order John traveled on foot, accompanied by one or
two companions, to practically all of the Franciscan convents in
existence. Sometimes he would arrive and not be recognized,
remaining there for a number of days to test the true spirit of the
brothers.
The pope called on John to serve as legate to Constantinople,
where he was most successful in winning
officiated by His Eminence Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales. In his
homily he stressed the sanctity of life as God’s greatest gift to
man. He said: “If life is not given value at any stage, whether as
an infant, fetus, elderly, weak or strong, nobody would respect
life. Once life loses importance and respect, man will be cheated,
abused, lied to and robbed with impunity.”
He continued stressing that marriage is holy and sex is sacred a
means of procreation. Rosales asked why children should be taught
to use condoms to avoid disease when they are supposed to be taught
to value life and exercise self-restraint and discipline. “What
they should teach is the purity of conscience, cleanliness of the
heart, discipline and self-restraint,”
It was calculated that about 40,000 were present to show their
opposition to the RH bill.
St. James the Great Sub Parish (Santiago Village) Welcomes Msgr.
Dennis!
A Street mass on Saturday , March 12, 2011, was precided by
Msgr. Dennis Odiver for the community. It was well attended by well
wishers from Brgy Valenzuela Council and residents of the sub
parish. An agape followed the mass. It was a very heartwarming
evening.
reference: www. inquirerer.net,
www.gmanews.tv/100days/story/216232/
nation/manila-interfaith-rally-draws-40000-faithful-vs-rh-bill
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parishworks! 3
THE NOBILITY OF FAMILY AND HOME(Talk of His Eminence GAUDENCIO
B. CARDINAL ROSALES, Archbishop of Manila, delivered for him by
Manila Auxiliary Bishop
Broderick S. Pabillo (with power point accompaniment) at the
MAGPAS First Saturday Catechesis on March 5, 2011 at the Paco
Catholic School Auditorium).
Everything in Life Is Sacred.
Every life is sacred and its early receptacle or cradle needs to
be considered sacred, just like the Sacred Consecrated Host, the
Body of Jesus Christ is kept in a clean and consecrated ciborium.
The first task towards life, when one is alerted to its presence,
is to protect, preserve, nourish and defend it. And the first place
where to do these is in the family and the home. It is not right to
consider the woman as the only one tasked by the Creator to care
for the life of the yet unborn, simply because it is in her womb
that the feeble life seeks its sanctuary. The woman welcomes this
little life in her womb that within the next nine months she can
call her own --son or daughter. All-embracing motherhood is the
great privilege that can belong only to woman. It is a great gift
from God that a woman will especially partner with God (with the
help of her husband) to share life with a divinely chosen person
who one day will show great wonders, possibilities hope, grace, and
the ever-astonishing mystery of love. Without the loving care of
parents, the tragic opposite can happen.
The Gift of Motherhood Is Only for WomanWoman, because she has
partnered with man in a
most intimate and selfless trust and love, earns, above all, the
confidence, not only of her husband, but especially the loving
trust of and partnership with God, because she has lovingly
consented to be a mother. This gift of motherhood as given to
woman, was beautifully described by an author. “it is in fully
being a wife that a woman fully becomes a mother. There is no
motherhood without marriage, without the gift of elf and the
reception of the other … It is a wonderful blessing that is
bestowed upon the woman to carry a child in her womb, to
participate so intimately in Creation by giving her own flesh and
blood. Her entire being is designed according to her vocation of
motherhood. To deny it by attacking her biological rhythm, by
wanting to do away with anything that would be a handicap to the
female condition, so that she might
be equal to man seriously harms the woman as deeply as her most
subconscious part. It renders her sterile. But the woman was made
to be a mother, in her body and in her soul. She can only attain
fulfillment if she is faithful to her vocation. If she is not
granted the happiness of finding a husband, she can receive even
greater happiness through meeting the Lord and
becoming the spouse of God. Thus she will not give birth
physically but spiritually. It is awful to remain single all of
one’s life, to become an “old maid.” Every woman is called to be a
daughter, a wife and a mother: daughter of God, bride of Christ,
mother of mankind, mother of humanity, through a motherhood that
goes beyond that of the flesh and constitutes depth of her being.”
(Jo Croissant, Woman’s Unique Vocation, The Priesthood of the
Heart, pp. 91-92). This is the reason why a woman lives a more
sublime calling than man. Like Mary, the Mother of Jesus, in her
motherhood, a mother shapes the future of the earth by ensuring the
character of the person she receives as her child.
Man Is Co-responsible for Life. Both woman and man, wife and
husband, are co-
responsible for the life that they have both brought to birth.
It is true as we have seen, that the mother is closest to the
child, after having carried that “little life within her” for nine
months, nevertheless, the husband, the Papa, shares the
responsibility to care for and sustain that life and relate with
their child, not just as in a state of co-ownership, but the father
enters a relationship with as a child (son or daughter) to its
father, or as beloved to its lover. The Papa cannot only be a
simple provider. The feeding task can be provided by an institution
or a machine. He cannot just be a defender-protector of his family
and children; an agency can very well function as its security. But
the father of a family, husband to her woman (wife), father to his
children is the head of the family. He wields the authority in the
family. He makes definite and concrete corrections on every
occasion that
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a continuation from last week’s issue
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AnnouncementsBlessed John of Parma from page 2...
Ria Salvaña Matthew LizaresParish Works StaffEllie Medina,
Angelina Poe,Emilio Medina, Rochelle Pineda Announcements
CoordinatorPia SanedrinBulletin Board EditorEJ CarlosPowerpoint
CoordinatorGing Santos, JayR PaduaContributor: Bing Campos, Claire
Padilla
Spiritual AdvisorRev. Msgr. Dennis Odiver
PublisherSt. Andrew the Apostle ParishN. Garcia St. cor.
Kalayaan Ave.Bel-Air II, Makati CityPhones: (632) 890-1796 /
890-1743 [email protected]
Parish Works is the official weekly newsletter of Saint Andrew
the Apostle Parish. Media and Communications Ministry
Co-coordinators
FAST DELIVERYAUTHORIZED PETRON DEALER IN MAKATI
843-2207•886-0931843-8440•843-8691
487 J.P. Rizal St. Makati CityFirst ChoiCe
Sunday Mass Schedule 6:30am - Filipino
8:00am - English 9:30am - English 11:00am - English 12:15n.n -
English
3:30pm - Filipino 5:00pm - English 6:30pm - English 8:00pm -
English
1. Sponsorship and scholarship forms for Paeskwela ni San Andres
are now available at the Parish Office.
2. Adults who wish to be incorporated to the Catholic faith
through the reception of the Sacrament of Baptism may register at
the parish office.
3. Communal recitation of the Stations of the Cross will be held
here at our Church every Friday at 5:45 p.m. and every Sunday of
Lent, 2:45 p.m.; Stations of the Cross at the villages will also be
every Friday at 8:00 p.m.
4. “Kumpisalang Bayan” on April 14, Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
5. Lenten Recollection on April 18, 19 and 20 at 8:00 to 10:00
in the evening inside the Church. Recollection speakers are: Rev.
Fr. Francis Gustilo, Msgr. Matt Garcia and Rev. Fr. Dave
Concepcion.
back the schismatic Greeks. Upon his return he asked that
someone else take his place to govern the Order. St. Bonaventure,
at John’s urging, was chosen to succeed him. John took up a life of
prayer in the hermitage at Greccio.
Many years later, John learned that the Greeks, who had been
reconciled with the Church for a time, had relapsed into schism.
Though 80 years old by then, John received permission from Pope
Nicholas IV to return to the East in an effort to restore unity
once again. On his way, John fell sick and died in 1289. He was
beatified in 1781 by Pope Pius VI.
the young needs to be reminded about.
These are perhaps the reasons why so many of the young people
today behave as if there is no direction at all in life, act as if
there is no authority at all, and live as if there is no tomorrow
that will judge every act and conduct. The papa is the person who
can usher, with knowledge, experience and prudence, both son and
daughter into the cruel and deceiving ways of today’s world. He can
very well introduce the child into the struggles of adult life
(Enchiridion on the Family, No.3284). This is another responsible
task of the father.
As a consequence of this perspective on the family, it is within
the responsibility and influence of Papa and Mama that the children
first get their first lessons not only on truths but also on
values. The “rub on” effect of formation and instruction is picked
up by the child from his parents at home. If this interaction
between the elders and the youth does not take place now or has
been abandoned because of too much exposure to the video and
computers, then it will be sad to admit that mama and papa’s has
badly corroded them. to be continued next issue
The Nobility of Family ... from page 3...
