Posts made in March, 2008

BROTHERHOOD: A REFLECTION

Posted by on Mar 26, 2008 in Reflections, VOCATION | 0 comments

The religious brother has a unique vocation, he is a Christian responding to a call from God to deepen his baptismal consecration by professing public vows of chastity, poverty and obedience within a community setting; doing so he expresses more fully/concretely what it means to be baptised[1]: Person consecrated to God Follower of Christ Life lived in communion with others. VOWS : what are their purposes? They are a positive response to a call from God and help us demonstrate that the relationship we have with God is to be paramount. These freely entered into commitments don’t make us ‘superior’ Christians, rather they reinforce the original relationship made at Baptism and express this by assuming new obligations from which others are free. The religious’ relationship with Christ and his involvement with the kingdom Christ came to establish are primary and, for the one called, worth renouncing other important human values. Religious Life makes no sense without reference to God, to Christ and his kingdom. The consecration by vows is folly unless it leads to an authentic relationship with God, with Christ and a sincere effort to live the values taught by Christ – engagement with others that is selfless. A religious brother is not defined by what he does but by whom he is, a man dedicated to God by vow. Understanding the identity and mission of the religious brother begins with acceptance of this consecration by vow. : What a brother is – a religious – is far more important than what he does: a concept hard to appreciate in today’s society, with its emphasis on function and position. The Blessed Sacrament Religious Brother This man consecrates his life to God, centring his life on the Eucharist. He exercises his gifts and talents with other men in a community that fosters and encourages inter-related activity. (Some of these men are called to priesthood or deaconate and express this in the particular style of mission of the Congregation.) Both priests, deacons and brothers seek by complementary and collaborative endeavours to articulate the special vision of the Congregation founded by St. Peter Julian Eymard and expressed in the Rule of Life. They develop a life-style of common spirituality that includes an apostolate of prayer, both liturgical and personal, a living and sharing of life in common which embraces ministerial activity: reaching out to the people where thy find themselves and also service to the community itself. Loved by God, a brother responds completely – loving God and neighbour.[1] Catechism C.C. 915 – 932 numbers dealing with the Church’s teaching on consecrated...

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FRATERNAL RELATIONSHIPS IN RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES

Posted by on Mar 26, 2008 in Reflections, VOCATION | 0 comments

We are gathered here to study fraternal relationships in our Religious Communities and I have been asked for some insights arising from the Word of God. For these insights, I want to focus on the spirituality of St. John. For fifteen years I taught the Gospel of St. John at the Jesuit University in Bilbao. There, I shared my knowledge in a technical manner. This will not be the case to-day. I would like to share with you a Johannine synthesis which will help us in our fraternal relationships. St. John conveys to us a very important and solid message so that fraternal relationships may be authentic. To better understand the atmosphere in which St. John breathes, it must be put in context, and so a short introduction is necessary. Introduction We all know that once Jesus, the Saviour, had left us to finally return to Heaven, many Christian Churches were born, with very different ways of presenting the message of Jesus. The Church of James (in Judea) is very different from the Church of Paul (in Asia Minor). The Church of Peter (Rome) is very different from these two Churches. The Church of John has a completely unique vision of the Lord Jesus. The Gospel of John is the fruit of a long, serene and profound meditation on what Jesus said and did. Sixty years had passed between the life of Jesus and the publication of the Gospel of John. During these years, they could absorb what Jesus was and is. The Synoptics, those that we have to-day, have seen the light thirty years after the death-resurrection of Jesus. When we enter the Gospel of St. John, the first question which comes into our head is: Why did the Church of St. John write a Gospel on Jesus when there were already three of them? 1. John insights Part of the answer lies in the fact that for the Church of John the vision and the experience of Jesus which they had, was not in line with the Synoptics and they thought it necessary to pass it on to us. Here are some examples in order to better understand what I’m trying to say: * The Synoptics say very little about the Father, whereas according to John the most important thing to Jesus was His Father (in John’s Gospel we find the word “Father” 118 times and 50 times the expression “The One Who sent Me”). * The Synoptics say very little about the Holy Spirit, whereas in John the Holy Spirit is, according to Jesus, a fundamental theme of highest importance. * In the Synoptics there is no analysis of why Jesus did what He did or why He said what He said, whereas in John it is clear, and how! In John why Jesus did what He did is highlighted. * In the Synoptics, it’s not truly known Who Jesus is. It’s true that He’s given titles, but these are titles arising from His Mission. Whereas in St. John we know that it is Jesus Who introduces Himself with seven titles which begin with I AM (I am the Bread of Life – 6.35 – 51; I am the light of the world 8 : 12; I am the gate 10 : 7, 9; I am the Good Shepherd 10 : 11 – 14; I am the Resurrection and the Life 11 : 25, I am the Way, the Truth and the Life; I am the true Vine 15:1). * There is nothing in the Synoptics about the importance of the Hour of Jesus, whereas in...

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New SSS Priest

Posted by on Mar 6, 2008 in Congregation | 0 comments

The Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament is blessed with one more priest, Rev. Fr. Nelson de Jesus Roque SSS, who was received into the order of presbyters in a gracious liturgical rite of ordination presided over by the ordaining prelate, His Excellency Bp. Jose F. Oliveros, D.D., bishop of Malolos, on the morning of February 4, 2008 in St. Peter the Apostle Parish Church in Balagtas, Bulacan. Fr. Nelson was born on the 13th of March 1970, the 5th of the seven children of Mr. Luis Roque and Mrs. Conception de Jesus. He took his elementary education at Burol Elementary School and his secondary education at St. Laurence Academy, both in his native town of Balagtas. He earned his Degree in Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education major in Bio-Chemistry at Mecauyan College in Mecauyan, Bulacan. He was a classroom teacher for 10 years at Garden Angels Integrated School prior to his entrance to the congregation in May of 1998. He finished his theological studies at Loyola School of Theology. He had his profession of perpetual religious vows and diaconal ordination on September 8, 2007 at Sta. Cruz Church, Manila. After which, he was assigned deacon in the Blessed Sacrament Shrine and Parish, while at the same time community treasurer, in Tigbao, Tacloban City. All these among others, complete his years of formation to the ordained ministry. Welcome! It’s a banquet more with your coming to serve in the vineyard of the Lord. We wish you blessed ministerial years...

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New Icon of St. Eymart

Posted by on Mar 6, 2008 in Congregation | 0 comments

This is the new icon of Saint Peter Julian Eymard the founder of the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament. According to Fr. Tom Weise, the new icon of Saint Eymard “was commissioned by the Provincial Administration of Saint Anne Province. The Russian iconographer Alexander Stoljarov took much time and asked many questions before he began his work which took him nearly two...

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