MATUNA SI YU’OSR O M A N C A T H O L I C N E W S P A P E R O F T H E A R C H D I O C E S E O F A G A Ñ A , G U A M

SUNDAY, JUNE 19, 2011 VOL.65 NO. 025

MATUNA SI YU’OS THE MOST HOLY TRINITY

Monsignor Brigido “Bibi” Untalan Arroyo, Pastor of the St. Anthony-St. Victor Catholic Church in Tamuning and for-mer Director of Communications for the Archdiocese of Agana, was ordained a priest along with Bishop Emeritus Tomas A. Camacho of the Diocese of Cha-

lan Kanoa by the late Archbishop William Apollinaris Baumgart-ner on June 14, 1961 at the Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral in Hagåtña. This year marks his 50th Anniversary of his Ordina-tion to the Priesthood.

On Friday, June 10, 2011, at 5:00 p.m., numerous close fam-ily, friends, and parishioners surrounded Monsignor Bibi as he celebrated a Mass of Thanks-

giving for his Golden Jubilee of Ordination at the St. Anthony-St. Victor Catholic Church. As the main celebrant, Monsignor Bibi was joined among many of Guam’s clergy in union with Most. Rev. Archbishop Anthony Sablan Apuron, OFM, Cap. D.D. for a Eucharistic Celebration inappreciation and gratitude to our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ.

Monsignor David I.A.

Quitugua was the homilist for the liturgy and thanked Monsignor Bibi for saying “Yes” to the Lord 50 years ago and also recognized and thanked Monsignor Bibi’s Mom, Olivia Untalan Arroyo, who will turn 100 years old this year, for saying “Yes” to the Lord for giving birth and nurturing a son who became a priest. In his homily, Monsignor Quitugua

AVISOHis Excellency, the Most

Reverend Anthony Sablan Apuron, OFMCap., D.D., Metropolitan Archbishop of Agana, announces the following appointments effective:

Monday, June 20, 2011Rev. Fr. Paul A.M. GofiganDirector of Vocations

Monday, June 13, 2011Mr. Jeffrey L. FitzgeraldEditor, U Matuna Si Yu’os

Trinity Sunday Celebrated“As soon as we have celebrat-

ed the Advent of the Holy Ghost, we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Trinity in the office of the following Sunday.

“The time is well-chosen, for, immediately after the descent of this Divine Spirit, began the preaching and belief and Bap-tism and confession in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.”

This brief reflection of St. Rupert, found in the 1962 Mis-

sal for Trinity Sunday, reminds all the Catholic faithful of the profound importance of the Trinity and our knowledge of Him for our entire life of faith.

It is only after the outpour-ing of the Holy Spirit on the Church that we truly began to see that God is not simply God, but in fact something quite more: He is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Not three gods.Not one God who acts in

three different functions. One God in three Persons.

The Father and Son with perfect love as their Divine relation: the love that transcends all under-standing.

This is the profound rea-son for our celebration today: it is a celebration of the love of God for His Church who has re-vealed Himself as He is in His fullness.

Today’s readings in the Lit-urgy of the Word remind us that

this love of God, which not only forgives but actively seeks the reconciliation of humanity to Himself, is the very love that is the inner life of the Trinity. It is the reason for the Incarnation of Christ. It is the reason for our very existence.

Let us today give attention to this glorious mystery of our faith and come to a deepen-ing understanding of Him and greater love for His Church.

By Jennifer Louise Dulla For the U Matuna Si Yu’os

Monsignor Brigido “Bibi” U. Arroyo graciously accepts an Apostolic Blessing on the occasion of his 50th Anniversary of Ordination to the Priesthood from The Holy Father Benedict XVI dated on June 14, 2011, which was presented by Archbishop Anthony Sablan Apuron, OFM Cap.D.D. during the reception dinner which followed at the Hyatt Regency Hotel on Friday, June 10, 2011.

Photo by Martin Estabillo

Monsignor Bibi Celebrates 50th Golden Jubilee of Ordination to the Priesthood

SEE CELEBRATION PAGE 4

Register for 2011 Summer Vacation Bible School Today!

The Cathedral-Basilica is host-ing its 3rd Annual Catholic Vaca-tion Bible School from July 25 to July 29. This summer, participants will put on their flight wings as they

“Parachute with Guardian Angels” through God’s heavenly skies. Kids will pick up their flight plans and learn about St. Catherine Laboure and other Bible characters whose lives were changed because of an-gels. Chances are they’ll get to meet the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of the Angels!

Registration is open to all chil-dren ages 5 thru 5th grade. There’ll be so many activities, fun lessons, art sessions, and much more. Par-ticipants will also be treated to deli-cious snacks each day. Registration is open to the first 50 applicants. Vacation Bible School is totally free!

However, if you’d like to make a donation on behalf of you, your fam-ily, business, organization, please contact Mary Kidd at 472-6201 or email mkidd@agancathedral.org.

A list of items that can be do-nated is available on the website at www.aganacathedral.org.

2 SUNDAY, JUNE 19, 2011GUAMMATUNA SI YU’OSC A T H O L I C N E W S P A P E R

is an entity of theArchdiocesan Development Group

207 Archbishop Felixberto C. Flores StreetHagåtña, Guam 96910

PublisherMost Reverend

Anthony Sablan ApuronO.F.M. Cap., D.D.

DirectorReverend MonsignorJames L.G. Benavente

Editor-in-ChiefJeffrey L. Fitzgerald

Graphic ArtistSedrick S. Serisola

Jeffrey Fitzgerald, a professor and former high school teacher, has been named the new editor of the U Matuna Si Yu’os.

Mr. Fitzgerald, who left his classroom career as an instruc-tor at Notre Dame High School, Inc. in Talofofo, will oversee the operation and production of Guam’s only Catholic newspa-per, a newspaper that has been through some exciting changes in the last few months. He for-mally assumed his duties with the Archdiocesan Development Group early last week.

Before taking the helm of the paper, Mr. Fitzgerald served in Notre Dame’s Theology Depart-ment as an instructor in church history, Sacred Scripture, and moral theology.. He’s also cur-rently an adjunct professor of philosophy at the Blessed San Vitores Institute for Oceania, located at the Redemptoris Ma-ter Seminary in Yoña.

“Together with Archbishop Anthony Sablan Apuron, I am excited that Mr. Fitzgerald will continue to serve the Archdio-

cese of Agaña in this new ca-pacity,” said Msgr. James L.G. Benavente, director of the de-velopment group that oversees the newspaper in the archdio-cese.

“I am confident that he will continue the hard work and re-sponsibility necessary for com-municating and sharing the Good News with our people in the archdiocese.”

He holds a Bachelor of Sci-ence degree in Sociology from the College of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina, and more recently, a Master of Art degree in Theology from Ave Maria University in Ave Maria, Florida.

In the coming weeks, Mr. Fitzgerald will be working to familiarize himself with the changing and challenging world of communications. He’ll also be sharing his plans to continue the exciting growth and de-velopment of Guam’s Catholic newspaper.

As the new editor, Mr. Fitzgerald now ranks among the numerous contributors of the newspaper’s 60-plus year history.

Welcome aboard, Mr. Jef-frey Fitzgerald!

ContactPhone: 671.989.6391

Fax: 671.472.1729E-mail: news@umatuna.org

The office of the U Matuna Si Yu’os is now located on the second floor of the

Dulce Nombre Maria Cathedral-Basilica in Hagåtña.

INSIDE

MISSION

From the Editor............................4Sunday Gospel.............................5Commentary & Reflections..4 & 6Catholic Charities Appeal...........6

The U Matuna Si Yu’os is published every week by the Archdiocese of Agaña, Guam. Our mission is to print and

distribute a true report of the Roman Catholic Church’s ministry of changing lives though the proclamation of the

Gospel of Jesus Christ. By offering news and commentary about

issues impacting the Catholic Church, it aims to serve as a focal point for the

expression and discussion of the Catholic faith on Guam.

News DeadlineDeadline for news stories and photos is noon Tuesday prior to the date of

publication. Please note that theU Matuna reserves the right to select

and prioritize content based onrelevancy and editorial discretion.

Ad DeadlineDeadline for reserving advertising space

is noon Tuesday prior to the date of publication. Camera-ready copy is due at the U Matuna Si Yu’os office no later

than noon Wednesday prior to the date of publication.

StaffLuz S. Oberiano

Mr. Jeffrey Fitzgerald named new editor

By Jon Junior M. CalvoFor the U Matuna Si Yu’os

Notre Dame High School Explores Talofofo Caves

As part of Notre Dame High School’s Summer Enrichment Program, students and instruc-tors hiked to the Talofofo Caves early Thursday morning, June 9. Science and History instruc-tor, Roland San Nicolas, provided a combined General Science, Ge-ography, History and Chemistry lesson, which also included bits

of the natural history of Guam, as he explained the formation and significance of the Talofofo Caves. This hike is part of the Summer Enrichment Program that Notre Dame provides for students, so that they may continue to advance in their academics during the sum-mer break. For more informa-tion about registration and other school programs, please contact Notre Dame at 789-1676 or you may visit their website at ndhs-guam.com.

Students in the Summer Enrichment Program take a break after exploring the Talofofo Caves with science and history instructor, Mr. Roland San Nicolas.

Photo courtesy of Notre Dame High School

By Jessica Perez-Jackson ‘96For the U Matuna Si Yu’os

3SUNDAY, JUNE 19, 2011 PARISHES & SCHOOLS

50 receive Gifts of the Holy Spirit at Mt. Carmel Church

50 candidates received the Holy Sacrament of Confirmation on Tuesday, June 7 at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Catholic Church in Agat. The Eucharistic celebration was led by Most Rev. Archbishop Anthony Sablan Apuron, O.F.M. Cap., D.D. and concelebrated by Fr. Jason A. Granado, pastor, and Deacon Frank Tenorio. The 2011 Confirmation Class of Agat are pictured with Archhbishop Apuron, Fr. Jason, Deacon Tenorio, CCD Coordinator Felix Chaco, Confirmation teacher Lester Witley and RCIA Coordinator Aurora Lowe after the Mass. Not pictured are confirmation teachers Reuel Drilon and Kevin and Joann Susuico.

Photo courtesy of Jennifer Louise Dulla

4 SUNDAY, JUNE 19, 2011GUAM

recollected the day Monsignor Bibi prostrated himself before the Lord during his Priestly Ordina-tion Mass

at the Agana Cathedral. Quitu-gua noted how that was a beauti-ful day as the Litany of the Saints was being sung, the angels and

saints in heaven were in communion with us on Earth as prayers were asked from each of them to send the Holy Spirit through Monsignor Bibi as he opened himself to serve the Lord.

A dinner recep-tion followed at the Hyatt Regency Hotel as the special evening for Monsignor Bibi continued full of en-tertainment. Many family, friends, and parishioners enter-tained the crowd

with many of Monsignor’s favor-ite songs. A special presentation was made by Archbishop Apu-ron as he presented an Apostolic Blessing from The Holy Father Benedict XVI dated on June 14, 2011. That same evening was the launching of the book signing of

“50 years of Priestly Stewardship” by Fr. Carlos S. Vila, Katherine Salas Diaz, and Mark Anthony F. Arbis, which is a Coffee Table Book full of historical and memo-rable photos of Monsignor Bibi and messages from many who have been touched by his gentle and loving spirit.

A few days later, Monsignor Bibi and Monsignor Quitugua made their way to Susupe, Saipan to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Ordination of Bishop Tomas Camacho in the Diocese of Chalan Kanoa. A Eucharistic Celebration was held in Bishop Camacho’s honor at the Our Lady of Mt. Car-mel Cathedral in Saipan followed by a luncheon at the Fiesta Resort and Spa.

Celebration: He opened himself to serve the Lord CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Whenever I go to Eu-rope for our yearly Guam Divine Mer-cy pilgrim-age during summer, I always enjoy

the breathtaking kaleidoscopic view of the countryside with blos-soms of colorful flowers in spectral fashion. The scenery of the variety of plants and trees indulges your soul with nature’s best and your passion with endless satisfaction. Then there’s an array of Spanish wheat fields swaying in grand dis-play of their golden stalks in per-fect rhythm with the gentle blow of summer wind. This carnival of nature’s wonder and beauty are made possible by God’s breaking of the soil underneath to make these plants and flowers bloom and grow.

Looking up the summer blue sky in Israel like a dome hovering the earth adorned with cumulus clouds, you feel spellbound as if in the midst of the mystery of cre-ation as the rays of the desert sun warm up your senses. And in con-trast, as we were passing through Czechoslovakia on our way to Vi-enna, Austria, in what seems to be an endless spectacle of the East-European summer sky, suddenly it changed its color from blue-gray to black with the convergence of nimbus clouds in the atmosphere, signaling that a downpour was imminent. God breaks the clouds to pour down rain to wash off the dust from the road and quench

the thirst of the animals and ferns.As the day was settling down,

Jesus was looking for a place to rest after a day’s hard work min-istering to the needs of the poor, preaching God’s kingdom, teach-ing the ignorant and healing the sick. But when He looked back and saw a multitude of people fol-lowing Him and His disciples, He felt pity for them and He didn’t want them to go home, instead He fed them numbering about five thousand out of five loaves and two fish.

God breaks bread to nourish our souls at Mass. He breaks our silence to teach us lessons of good living through the sacred scrip-tures. He breaks our routine so we can diversify our attention and time to help others. He breaks our hearts to teach us how to be strong and resilient in the face of life’s turbulence and challenges. They say that in the classroom lessons are taught first and the tests follow afterwards. In life, tests are given first, and lessons are learned later.

We must then be thankful when God breaks things in our lives-our rhythm, our securities,

plans and dreams. He must be on to something great. As it has been said many times in many ways in that past that when God closes a door, He opens a window. If He can raise a dead person, He can raise a broken relationship. He can raise a career that has no direction, He can raise a situation that seems to be failing and He can turn things around that you think are hopeless. In times of stress, remember you are in good hands with God. You only need to have deep faith in Him and trust in His Divine Mercy. Yes, when

God breaks, He makes. Amen on that folks!!

In her Diary no. 327, St. Faus-tina wrote Jesus’ words; “ I am of-fering people a vesselwith which they are to keep coming for graces to the fountain of mercy. That ves-sel is this image with the signa-ture; “ Jesus I trust in You.”

Tune in to KOLG 90.9 FM for the Divine Mercy prayer at 3 p.m. daily. Recite the Chaplet of Mercy for peace in the world and conver-sion of sinners.

Thanks to the Barretto family for the presentation and venera-tion of the sacred relic of St. Faus-tina in their home in Talofofo last Sunday afternoon, June 12, 2011. Likewise, to the Divine Mercy prayer team for your faithfulness in our Sunday afternoon Divine Mercy home apostolate. May the

good Lord continue to bless you and your families with the abun-dance of His love and mercy.

To arrange for Divine Mercy home presentation, prayer and veneration of the sacred relic of St/ Faustina, please call Amy Bor-ja at 472-7778. Thank you.

I’ll be conducting a Divine Mercy Symposium at St. Anthony Church spiritual center on June 25, 2011, from 1-4 p.m. Please come at 12:00 noon for potluck lunch. Thank you. welcome.

When God Breaks He MakesBy Fr. Joel De Los Reyes

For the U Matuna Si Yu’os

Today with the kind permis-sion of His Excellency, Arch-bishop Anthony Sablan Apuron, OFM, Cap., DD., and the support and guidance of Msgr. James LG Benevente, I assume the duties of Editor-in-Chief at Umatuna Si Yu’os. Following the hard work and dedication of Jon Ju-nior Calvo and his efforts these past several months to begin the transformation of Umatuna, our staff hopes to continue the task already well-begun to make this newspaper not only work for the continued growth of its circulation, but also its contri-bution and vision. We intend by the grace of God and some hard work to help expand the breadth of Catholic communications on Guam such that we all may be informed, educated, edified, and challenged in a more fully Cath-olic way.

To help brings this about, you will see many changes—some major, some minor—com-ing in the near future. New and varied sections are to be added

to better reflect Catholic life on Guam—north and south, la-ity and clergy, manhoben and man’amko. The sacramental life, the spiritual life, the parish and community life, the academic life, and even our recreational life, are all opportunities for the expression of faith. This should certainly be expressed in our pages.

We are also set to welcome additional contributors to Uma-tuna Si Yu’os, some with regular columns, that we hope will cause us all to give thanks for the joys of our Catholic faith on Guam as well as the cause us to reflect thoughtfully on the frustrations we also endure.

This inevitably means that political and economic events on Guam—particularly in their implications for the Church and Catholic life in general—will be a part of Umatuna Si Yu’os. Some stories and columns may chal-lenge us personally on occasion, and there will be both agree-ments and disagreements.

Though the tenets of our faith are beyond dispute, it is my hope that these challenges will open a richer conversation on how we apply our faith in a real-istic and yet genuinely Catholic, way. To facilitate this, and to en-courage a greater participation from those who want to join the conversation, we hope to renew a “Letters to the Editor” section each week for the expression of thoughtful opinion and for re-spectful debate.

I would also like to encour-age you to share your private comments with me, if you would like, at jeff@umatuna.org. Your input, opinions, and concerns are important for the Umtuna staff and myself that we may provide you the best authenti-cally Catholic newspaper we can.

Again, I am very honored with this chance to serve you. I wish you the blessing of the Most Holy Trinity, whose solem-nity we celebrate today.

From the Editor

Monsignor Brigido “Bibi” U. Arroyo kisses the cheek of his mother, Olivia Untalan Arroyo as she, Sr. Marian (sister) and Raymond Arroyo (brother) bring up the Offertory Gifts during a Eucharistic Mass for Monsignor Bibi’s 50th Anniversary of Ordination to the Priesthood on Friday, June 10, 2011 at the St. Anthony-St. Victor Catholic Church in Tamuning.

Photos by Martin EstabilloBook cover of “50 years of Priestly Stewardship” by Fr. Carlos S. Vila and Katherine Salas Diaz, which is a coffee table book full of historical and memorable photos of Monsignor Brigido

“Bibi” U. Arroyo. The book launched the same evening as Mon-signor Bibi’s 50th Golden Jubilee Eucharist and Reception on Friday, June 10, 2011.

5SUNDAY, JUNE 19, 2011 GUAM

Archbishop Anthony Sablan Apuron, O.F.M. Cap., D.D.Sisters and Brothers,

Tun Jose and Tan Maria had just celebrated their golden wedding anniver-sary. They shared with their guests that since

their youngest son got married and started his own family fif-teen years ago, they have been left alone by themselves. They stay at home most of the time. They start their day by going to daily Mass, taking a light break-fast, reading the newspapers, and tending their own garden.

When asked why they still en-joy each other’s company after all these years, Tun Jose replies: “Ev-ery day I discover something new about my wife. And the more I get to know her, the more I love her.” The more we live with people, the more we grow to realize how little we know about them. We are al-ways surprised to know that some of our friends are not what we

thought them to be. Getting to know a person is a lifetime task.

When it comes to understand-ing God, a lifetime is not quite enough. We are awed by the mag-nitude of his mystery. The Trinity is the mystery of one God in three persons. Because he is a mystery we do not have the final word on God. He is unfathomable to the human mind.

But this does not mean that we cannot know him. He is not an “unknown God,” as St. Paul re-minds the Athenians. There is al-ways more to discover about God; there is always more to experi-ence and to share. As we celebrate Trinity Sunday, we are challenged to reflect on the life of God. Our key to the mystery of God is Jesus Christ himself, the Way, the Truth and the Life. He is the image of the invisible God. He is the Word made flesh. In Jesus we experi-ence the love and compassion of the Father.

In him we hear the Father. To go to the Father we pass through the Son and to understand Je-sus, we need the Holy Spirit, who guides us to all truth. The more we try to know God, the more we love him. This certainly applies to our relationship with other people.

And it is in love that we grow more as Tun Jose points out on his fifti-eth wedding anniversary.

May your day be filled with love and may Almighty God bless you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Refleksion Ibangeliu ginen Atsubispo

Manelu-hu, i dos amko as Tun Jose yan Tan Ma-ria masilebra i mina’singkuenta

anos na umaka’mo’-niha ya masangangani i manmatto gi gipot-niha na annai i mas paton na famagu’on-niha umassaga mas ki kinse anos esta maloffan sisiha ha’ i dos meggai na tiempo.

Ma tututhon i ha’anen-niha yan i Santa Misa, sisiha ha’ uma-motsa, manaitai gaseta yan ma’ atietiende i hatdin-niha.

Annai ma faisen hafa na ma-magof siha sisiha ha’ na maisa, ilek-na si Tun Jose, “Ke sa kada diha husodda guaha nuebu put i asagua-hu. Ya yanggen mas hu ke’tungo’ put guiya mas hu guaiya gue’.” Kulan magahet na yanggen mas manla’la’ hit yan taotao, mas ta ri’alisa na didide’ ha tatungo’ put siha. Ha ho-hon-gang hit tenga para ta tungo’ na i man-atungo’-ta ti siha i hafa

ta suponi siha. I para ta tungo’ put i taotao che’cho’ apbmam gi lina’la’-ta.

I para ta tungo’ lokkue put si Yu’os, ti nahhong ha’ i tiempon lina’la’-ta. Mansennina’manman hit ni dinangkulon i misteriu-na. I Santisima Trinidat i misterion un Yu’os gi tres na petsonas. Sa’ put guiya i misteriu ti sina ta chule’ i uttimu na finiho’ put si Yu’os. Ti sina i hinasso-ta ha menhalumi este.

Lao ti kumeke’ilek-na este na ti sina ta tungo’ gue’. Ti guiya i

“timatungo’ na Yu’os,” ni si San Papblo hana’hasso i manao-tao Athena. Guaha ha mas sina madeskrube put si Yu’os; guaha ha mas para ma ekspiriensia yan ma patte. Mientras ta silel-ebra i Damenggon Trinidat, manma’u’uga hit para ta haso i lina’la’ Yu’os. Ya i yabi para i misteriun Yu’os si Jesu Kristo mismo, i Chalan, i Minagahet yan i Lina’la’. Guiya i espehos i

tili’i’on na Yu’os. Guiya i Betbo ni mama’sensen. Gi as Jesu Kristo ta ekspiriensia i guinaiya yan yine’ase’ i Tata.

Giya guiya ta hungok i Tata. I para ta hanague’ i Tata ta fanis-gen i Lahi-na. Ya i para ta kum-prende si Jesu Kristo, ta nisisita i Espiritu Santo, ni gumigiha hit todu gi mina-gahet. Yang-gen mas ta chagi para ta tungo’ si Yu’os, mas siemrpe ta guaiya gue’. Este lokkue sina ma’aplika yan otro taotao siha. Ya gi guinai-ya na sina hit mas mandangkolo ni si Tun Jose ha sangani hit gi mina’singkuenta na kumple’aos-niha umassagua.

Ohalara ya u bula guinaiya i ha’anen-miyu ya i todu hana’sina na Yu’os infambinendisi gi na’an i Tata yan i Lahi-na yan i Espiri-tu Santo. Amen.

Gupot Santisima TrinidatIBangheliu (Juan 3:16-18)

Ilek-na si Jesus as Nicode-mus, “Sa’ put ha sen guaiya si Yu’os i tano’ na ha in-trega I uniku na Lahi-na, kosaki ayu I manhongge giya guiya ti u matai, in lu-

gat para u la’la’ taihinekkok. Ti hana’hanao si Yu’os i Lahi-na

para i tano’ para u kondena i tano’, sinoki para u masatba ginen guiya. Maseha hayi ni manhongge gi la-hi-na ti u makondena, lao maseha hayi ni ti manhongge pues esta gue’ monhayan makondena, sa’ put i ti manhongge gue’ gi uniku na Lahen Yu’os.”

6 SUNDAY, JUNE 19, 2011COMMENTARY & REFLECTIONS

As we celebrate the feast of the Holy Trinity, our beings should be moved in wonder and awe to contemplate the impor-tance of this great mystery, it is the source of all other mysteries of the Christian faith, it is the mystery of God himself, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Paragraph 234 of the Cat-echism of the Catholic Church reminds us

“the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith and life. It is the most fundamental and essential teaching in the hierarchy of the truths of faith.” St. Augustine in his book On Chris-tian Doctrine summarizes the Doctrine of the Trinity in these terms. The Father is not the Son, but generates the Son for all eternity and the Son is eternally begotten. The Holy Spirit is neither the Father nor the Son, but a distinct person having the same divine nature from the Father & Son by eternal procession. Hence in the one divine nature, there are three persons per-fectly united, co-equal, co-eternal, equal in majesty and power. Even with this articula-tion from this great Doctor of the Church we should keep in mind that this reality of the Triune God has always existed for all eternity, and that man’s understanding and grasp of this truth is dependant on God revealing this truth.

In the fullness of time and by the ex-pressed will of God, Jesus through the mys-tery of the Incarnation revealed this truth to the Church. Although we can say this mystery is beyond the capacity of complete human understanding, the Holy Spirit, the teacher of Truth, guided the Apostles and eventually the Church throughout time to penetrate into this Divine mystery and to articulate this teaching of the triune God for the purpose of man’s Salvation. Je-sus affirms this as accounted in the Gos-pel of John. “Now this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God,

and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ.” (Jn17:3 NAB)

But is our Lord’s revelation of Himself as Trinity of persons just academic knowl-edge or an intellectual accent of who God is? Perhaps the answer lies also in God’s inspired word. Sacred Scripture affirms that we are created in the image and like-ness of God (see Gen 1:26). Reason then would dictate that if we are to understand anything about ourselves, we should first have to look to and understand the source from which we originated. And if the Tri-une God is our origin, is He not also our final destiny?

St. John tells us “God is Love” (1Jn 4:1-16). Flowing from the doctrine of the Trin-ity, we can see that God is an interpersonal relationship of three Persons in perfect Love, who invite us to a personal and in-timate participation in his inner being, an encounter of Love at its highest level and a sharing in His divine nature. (2Ptr 1:4) In the Trinity, God is giving of Himself totally to us. He manifested this Love on the cross at Calvary. Only when we accept his invi-tation and participate in His divine nature can we know what Love really is. Only then can we fully love in our marriages, our fam-ilies, our communities. Only then can we truly love our enemies, as He commands us to. Only then can we learn to give of our-selves to our neighbors. Jesus tells us “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (Jn 15:9-14). Surely our Lord will only prescribe for us holy and life-giving gifts--the gift of Him-self. He also assures us that the reason He came is that we have Life and have it more abundantly (Jn 10:10).

As we celebrate this feast, keep in mind the immeasurable gift that is being offered to us. In the Trinity God is giving us Him-self. He is giving us perfect Love, and Sa-cred Scripture tells us that this is how we can tell if we have the indwelling of God, and are therefore considered children of God.. When we Love.

God’s greatest gift is our knowledge of Him

By Roland Mondia,St. Francis Parish, Yona

For the U Matuna Si Yu’os

Catholic Charities Appeal

T he plane was moving ahead smoothly when the captain made an announce-ment on the audio system. “I have to announce to you that a series of

inconveniences just happened to our plane. The passengers on the right side would no-tice, if they look out of the window that one of the engines is burning, and the other has died out. Those on the right side would per-ceive that one engine is missing; it fell off about ten minutes ago. But do not worry, technology today has developed to such an extent that this plane can continue flying even on the one engine left.

I would also like to call your attention to something somewhat more serious. Along the center aisle all the way down the plane a crack has developed. Those on the aisle can look through the crack and may even notice a small lifeboat that was thrown down from the plane. Well, ladies and gentlemen, you will be happy to know that your captain is keeping an eye on the progress of the plane from that lifeboat below.”

This is just a funny story but we Chris-tians can comfort ourselves knowing that this kind of unpleasant situation will never happen to us. Even when everything around us seems to be crumbling, the Person in Charge would never parachute himself away from our plane and try to guide us from a raft on the ocean far below. Jesus Christ defines himself as our Shepherd and a good shepherd always remains with his flock. Al-ways is always.

Mentioning sheep and shepherds, there

is the story of the American tourist who was touring the Middle East. Once he came upon some shepherds whose flocks had intermingled while drinking water from a creek. Water is scarce in that part of the world and so it happens often that various flocks approach the same source. After some time one of the shepherds turned to-ward the sheep and called out, “Ejja,ejja!” (“follow me” in Arabic). Immediately his sheep separated themselves from the rest and followed him.

A few minutes later, another shepherd called out his sheep and sure enough they left the joint flock to follow him. Rather in-trigued, the traveller asked the third shep-herd, “I would like to try that. Let me put on your cloak and headdress and see if I can get the rest of the sheep to follow me.” The shepherd smiled knowingly as the trav-eler wrapped himself in the local shepherd’s cloth and started calling the sheep. Not one of them budged! “Will the sheep ever fol-low someone other than you?” The trav-eler asked. “Oh yes,” the shepherd replied,

“sometimes a sheep gets sick, and then it will follow anyone.”

I always find this story true! How many of us, troubled by so many alien and deceit-ful voices urging us to go this way and that, lose our bearings and so do not know where we are heading towards. Like the sheep that are sick, we follow anyone who promises us a fleeting moment of pleasure or a moment of forgetfulness. Obviously, not following a good lead can only lead to hopelessness.

There is only One who said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” There is no better way, no greater truth, no happier life.

JUST STORIES Leading the WayBy Fr. Pius Sammut, OCD

For the U Matuna Si Yu’os

7SUNDAY, JUNE 19, 2011

Because The Esperansa Project does not engage the abortion issue from a particular religious perspective, Tim Rohr of the Catholic Evidence Guild of Guam, was asked to address abortion relative to the teachings of the Catholic

Church. His comments follow.

On procured abortion, the teaching of the Catholic Church is un-equivocal: “a grave offense...a

crime against human life” (Catechism of the Catholic Church), “an unspeakable crime” (Gaudium et Spes), the “most unjust of dis-criminations” and “murder...particularly se-rious and deplorable” (Evangelium Vitae).

The Church is just as clear as to what to do about it. Catholics essentially received their marching orders in Pope John Paul II’s encyclical The Gospel of Life ( Evangelium Vitae). The U.S. Catholic Bishops focused the Pope’s instructions on American Catho-lics in Living the Gospel of Life and subse-quently updated a previous document en-titled A Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities.

These three documents along with a re-view of what the Catechism says about abor-tion should be required reading. In addition Catholics need to be prepared for the three common counter arguments to pro-life ac-tivities, especially in the political arena: 1) the alleged “separation of church and state”, 2) the “we have no right to impose our per-sonal religious beliefs on others” argument, and 3) the retort “if you don’t want an abor-tion don’t have one”.

Let’s work backwards. The “if you don’t want an abortion, don’t have one”, is not just the flippant quip of smart-aleck hecklers. Essentially it is street slang for the so-called

“right to privacy” upon which Roe v. Wade rests. In other words: “it’s none of your busi-ness.” But it is our business. John Paul II ad-dresses this in Evangelium Vitae: Abortion, because it targets the most helpless and de-fenseless of human beings, damages all of us and undermines the essential principle of a free society: the right to life.

Saying “if you don’t want an abortion, don’t have one” is like saying “if you don’t believe in running red lights, don’t run them”. We don’t run red lights not just be-cause we might get hurt, but also because somebody else might. Red lights are every-body’s business, and so is abortion...for the same reason.

In its Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities the American Bishops advise further that “a

policy and practice (legalized abortion) that result in well over a million deaths from abortion each year cannot but diminish re-spect for life in other areas.” What are some of those other areas?

Recently, much was made about Guam’s epidemic suicide rate which is 66% higher than the rest of the United States. Might such a statistic be related to that fact that Guam, relative to the rest of the nation, has the least regard for life in the womb in terms of legal protections? While no stone is seem-ingly left unturned in the search for a solu-tion to Guam’s shameful suicide rate, the Catholic Church, as usual has the answer: disregard for the life at its most defenseless

“cannot but diminish respect for life in other areas.”

Another one of those areas is child abuse - which is at crisis proportions. Guam Child Protective Services reports an annual av-erage of 2118 cases of child abuse and ne-glect, and a 2009 Bureau of Planning and Statistics Report demonstrates that 75% of reported rape crimes are committed against children aged 0 -15!

Experts in the field of child abuse advise us that probably only 10% of such crimes are ever reported. So multiply those numbers times ten, and then add in for good measure the cultural proclivity to keep such things in the family. The abuse of children on this is-land is statistically absolutely staggering.

Should we be surprised at this horrific disregard for children when we allow their unborn counterparts to be slaughtered in the womb at will? It’s not just the Church which tells us that there is connection be-tween abortion and the cancer that eats away at the rest of our society. The data speaks clearly as well. So yes, running red lights is our business, so is child abuse, so is suicide, and so is abortion. Everyone’s life is lessened with the destruction of each de-fenseless child every 1.2 days.

To be continued next week.

Abortion on Guam - What’s Next? A Catholic view

By The Experansa ProjectFor the U Matuna Si Yu’os

USED WITH PERMISSION

8 SUNDAY, JUNE 19, 2011

As the Church moves forward this week from Trinity Sun-day to Corpus

Christi, we have the chance to ob-serve some notable celebrations.

St. Vincent Kaun was a Korean brought to Japan in the 16th Cen-tury who converted to the faith and like so many others like St. Paul Miki and St. Philip of Jesus, were tortured and martyred for their faith at the turn into the 17th Century. They are today collective-ly called the Nagasaki Martyrs.

Born to a noble family, St. Aloysius Gonzaga renounced any claims of inheritance to his fam-

ily’s wealth or title as a young man and joined the Jesuit Order in the 16th Century. Although too sickly to continue long in formal study, he was renowned for his as-ceticism and purity. Having been told in a vision by the Archangel Gabriel that he would die soon, St Aloysius prepared himself with his confessor, St. Robert Bellarmine. He died soon after during the Oc-tave of Corpus Christi at the age of 23.

Sts. John Fisher and Thomas More are the two great Catholic martyrs of the “Reformation” in England. John Fisher was a bishop who resisted the pressure of Hen-

ry VIII on the Church and eventual-ly forfeit his life. Similarly, Thomas More was the Chancellor of Eng-land at the time of the Henry’s break from Rome, and like Fisher, was martyred for his refusal to re-nounce his Catholic faith. More’s endurance and martyrdom have been immortalized in the 1966 film A Man for All Seasons.

St. Joseph Cafasso was a priest who was a popular lecturer in moral theology in Italy in the 19th Century. He worked diligently to keep civil authorities out of the affairs of the Church, but became perhaps more memorable as a guide and close friend of St. John Bosco in his decision to concen-tration his vocational work on de-velopment of young men.

We find our glorious source for the Nativity of St. John the Baptist in Luke 1:57-80. In these verses we read of the Baptist’s birth and the miraculous events surrounding his circumcision eight days later.

Called by our Blessed Lord the “greatest of men,” the Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist is a cause for joy mid-way through the year before our Lord’s own na-tivity.

The staff of Umatuna Si Yu’os wish you a safe and blessed week!Fuga. Illaborianto isquian-tinti quis alia dolupta tibusda eca-bores quodis rem digendit vendi-atem dipsa voluptu ribusciatia sim evellab orerit magnis acearchicae velesed et aut harchilisit maiones que es molorepro minctiusdae eatioris sundit et et a pore cus alibeat este la verum que voleni-hillam natque doleste pe cuptur sitis eaquaeperum et est am sitem. Sed quossit, si inum quis delliqui rest quoditibus sitiis expe dolla-mus exerum qui a dit faccus ipid quis aut erio es andi delenis imo-luptatin rersperero era volorep tatur? Quiatem essit eatectatur, isqui cus, odi comnis digent.

LOOKINGforward...

June 20

June 21

June 22

June 23

June 24

June 25

June 26

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

(Memorial)

(Solemnity)

St. Vincent Kaun*

St. Aloysius Gonzaga

Sts. John Fisher andThomas More

St. Joseph Cafasso*

* Saint’s feast day but not a celebrated memorial on Guam.

Nativity of St. John the Baptist

Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ

Memorials This Week

It being Trinity Sunday, it seem fitting to end our edition with a gentle reminder of what might be called “the cost” of knowing that our God is indeed Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Like anyone else, it is easy for me to rest easy in the knowledge that God is Triune and that Love—the Holy Spirit—is the relation between the Father and the Son. Unfortunately, this easy rest can turn into complacency.

I’m not one for stories about myself, and though I would not say I’m a man of courage, the Trinity has a way of giving it.

The following is an abso-lutely true story. I have a priest, a deacon, and at least a hundred Catholics as witnesses.

It was that a little more than two years ago that fliers were post-ed throughout Guam, advertising meetings to talk about “What Catholics Believe about the Trin-ity?” These fliers, placed through-out areas of Umatac, Yigo, and particularly Dededo, invited inter-ested hearers to come and learn about the Trinity. Little did any-one know that these were posted by Iglesia ni Cristo, an Arian sect that is dedicated to the destruc-tion of the Catholic faith.

Arians were heretics who grew to power at the end of the 3rd Cen-tury under Arius, who taught that Jesus was not divine, but instead merely a creature. He is, accord-ing to them, not the Son of God. Iglesia ni Cristo and the Jehovah’s Witnesses are the two notable

“arian” sects on Guam today, and if you deny Jesus as Lord, then you deny the Christian faith.

One Catholic observer at the first meeting in Dededo reported that the speaker from Iglesia ni Cristo was well-spoken, could cite

Scripture, and appeared to be an expert. He had seemed to trounce all dissenters with his command of material, and this in turn seemed to intimidate others from questioning him. Otherwise un-challenged, he had spent an hour planting the seed of doubt in the minds of sincere believers in the Trinity. He had done his damage.

And that was his mission: not to convince that he was right, but to destroy the Catholic faith.

So it was that a Catholic priest asked me to attend in Umatac the following week to offer a defense of the Trinity. The “meeting” in-volved a well-lit stage, but the audience seating was dark (no notes could be taken nor Bibles read). Men in the audience were separated from women (a hus-band cannot simply leave with his wife). Several busses were on the edges of the parking lot, while at-tendees’ vehicles were crammed inside with no obvious exit. Curi-ous attendees’ names were taken and written on lists, and Iglesia ni Cristo members were in lines that encircled the audience members. We were not going anywhere soon. We were quite literally a captive audience.

As the lecture began, the speak-er introduced his argument with a phrase from a Scriptural citation from the Gospel of John that (ac-cording to him) showed that Jesus was not God and therefore the Trinity was false. He mocked the Trinity and the Catholic faith. He mocked Catholics’ lack of knowl-edge of their faith.

All in the audience kept silent. Those of you who know me will not be shocked to learn that as time went on, I became more an-noyed by this display of hubris and intimidation. Not being able to help myself, and perhaps against my better judgment, I chimed in.

“Please put up the entire verse,

not just a phrase,” I called to him. “What?”“Sir,” I continued, “you are only

using a phrase from the verse. Put up the rest of the verse and the next two verses, and your entire argument falls apart.”

The speaker looked at me with a hard stare, which then turned to a sneer, as he “invited” me to the stage. The combat was on, but in-stead of debate, I got the uneasy feeling that I was in for spiritual warfare.

Without recounting the whole experience for you, he asked me if I could prove the Trinity with Scripture. With microphone in hand, I assured him I could.

He turned to the crowd and with a chuckle said, “Everyone, he is going to prove the Trinity for you in one verse only.” That is not what I had said at all, and I said so. He took the opportunity to tell the crowd of perhaps 150 that I could not in fact do it because there was no Trinity.

“But I thought you knew your faith!” he taunted, chuckling. “I thought you believe the Bible! You see! Catholics believe their leaders and don’t believe in God!” Many in turn began laughing at me as well.

The question is now posed for each of us: how then would you have dealt with this? The vast ma-jority of us would probably have been smart enough to not have taken the bait and so never have engaged him at all. Alas, I’m a de-bater by training and know what snares to avoid. This man was tricky, and he played with words. There was nothing sincere about his approach, and he did not seek the truth of the matter; he sought to make the Catholic faith appear a sham and sought only that vic-tory. Nothing more.

But in my position, what would you have said? Honestly?

I could never have imagined it before, and can scarcely believe it now, but my reaction can only in hindsight be seen as inspiration by the Holy Spirit but in an ab-surd, ridiculous way that reminds people of, well, me. I did what I do best when threatened and made jokes at his expense. It is said that “sarcasm is the recourse of the coward,” but since this was no real debate and no truth would emerge, I could only do what I could to stop the assault on the faith of well-intentioned mem-bers of the audience. The sincere approach had handed him the

“victory” in Dededo. Not this time.So I teased him. I made fun of

his verbal slight of hand. I com-pared him to the professor in The Wizard of Oz (“Don’t look at that man behind the curtain!”). It didn’t take long for him to ask me to leave the stage and the meeting.

But I rather felt like pressing the advantage. I left the stage and took a seat to the side. With each statement he made, I challenged him. I gradually escalated the at-tack on his heresy. He began more and more flustered until finally my final statement to him came out.

“You have no power here, sir. You speak with the words of your father, the devil. These good peo-ple will not believe you.”

He was, quite simply, stunned.Now why mention this to

you? Because with each of my at-tacks, other Catholics in the crowd seemed to begin to be roused from their slumber. As if recog-nizing that there is nothing here to intimidate, he became instead only comic. He had come into a southern Chamorro village and at-tempted to divide the faith against itself. He had come to declare his superiority over these good people, and they saw him for what he was.

After a while, Father, Deacon,

and myself simply left; more im-portantly, many in the audience left as well. They weren’t fooled, and this charlatan made few, if any, converts that night.

The moral of the story is that we need to support and encourage each other in the declaration of our faith. This is the essence of the word “catholic:” it is universal, but that universality also means that it is not simply an individual faith. It a communal faith as well. It is a faith that is lived in community: our island, our villages, our fami-lies. It is grounded in and perfect-ed by love—a love that in its fullest sense is God Himself.

This love must be the source of our courage as Catholic Christians. Courage after all is not an absence of fear; it is the willingness to en-dure the fear to do what is good for the sake of the right. A mother defends her children with cour-age because she loves. A husband defends his wife courageously be-cause he loves.

And so we must defend our Church with courage out of love. This means not just strange events like that night, but in our daily lives when we see corruption, abuse, neglect, or injustice.

Since that time I have received many responses about that night. Needless to say, Iglesia ni Cristo characterized it as a Catholic be-ing hurtful to peaceful, prayer-ful Christians minding their own business. The video that went up on YouTube proves otherwise. But many in the southern villages have remarked that they appreci-ated the courage of all there who refused to be quiet under the threat of intimidation.

May all of us pray that when real courage is required—and not just some teasing, as I did—we may all rise to the occasion to defend our Blessed Lord and His Church from attack.

Parting Thoughts: The Courage of FaithBy Jeffrey L. Fitzgerald

U Matuna Si Yu’os