The Editor gladly gives this space to Fr Michael Sinnott, kidnapped in Pagadian City on 11 October and released 32 days later, who here thanks all who prayed and worked for his release.

By Sr Ashwena Apao SSC

The author is from Jimenez, Misamis Oriental, Archdiocese of Ozamiz. The town is named after a Recoleto friar and is one of the oldest parishes in Mindanao. For many years it was staffed by Columban priests. Sister Wennie, as she is known, has been in Myanmar (Burma) since 2003.

Have faith! With God nothing is impossible . . . These are the words that I hang on to when I start to dream and hope for something that is way beyond me. 8 May 2009 was a day of joy, a day of wonder, a day of celebration of a dream come true. On that day many youth from the different parishes came to celebrate the official opening of our new Diocesan Youth Centre in Myitkyina Diocese, Kachin State, Myanmar. Priests, Sisters and neighbors also joined us. Bishop Francis Daw Tang of Myitkyina blessed the Centre and we celebrated the Eucharist. Afterwards we were entertained by the youth who sang their own musical compositions before partaking in the traditional meal that followed.

We call our building the Centre for Learning Alternatives for Youth (CLAY). The purpose of this Centre is the advancement of the youth. We want to help and support them in their human development so that they will realize their gifts, deepen their self-worth and, in time, reach their full potential. We have taken the first steps to make this dream a reality.

Looking back, I asked myself how this dream started. When I was a novice in the Philippines, I visited a campus where I met young students who were warmly welcomed, accommodated and facilitated in their educational, emotional and spiritual needs. I was very impressed by the effective program. I kept that experience in my heart as I continued my missionary journey.

In September 2003 I arrived in Myitkyina, Kachin. It is located at the extreme north of Myanmar with an approximate land area of 78.000sq/kms. (Editor’s note: Mindanao has a land area of 102,423 sq/kms.) It shares borders with China to the east, Tibet to the north, and India to the northwest. Most of it lies on the west bank of the great Irrawaddy River. The country is rich in natural resources but only a few people benefit. People live in small villages scattered through the vast area.

My heart was drawn to the young people when I heard the stories of their lives. Many are deprived of education because from a young age they have to work to help support their families. Some go to mining and logging areas; some go to cities or big towns to work in factories and restaurants; some go overseas. The youth carry the burden of their family problems resulting in psychological instability leading to alienation, drug addiction, alcoholism, and prostitution. Many of these young people come back to their homes with contagious and serious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, TB, hepatitis, dengue fever and malaria. The mortality rate for that age group is very high.

I began to visit the young people in the parish, slowly getting to know them. I tried to join them in all their activities, to understand better where they come from, what their interests were. Despite my limitations as a foreigner – I was still getting to know the language and culture - I was able to organize youth camps, basic human development courses, leadership training and awareness courses. My dream was ignited again, a dream to help young people and provide them a space where they could feel free to express their own dreams and hopes. My hope was to train and develop them to become animators and leaders of the youth in their respective areas.

It was a slow process but I continued to journey with them. Gradually I introduced them to different ways of approaching and dealing with issues. Their willingness to learn encouraged me. Now, a few years later, we can see a big development. Many of the young people work with me, organizing and conducting activities and programs for their peers. They are able to give seminars and lead debates on various topics. One participant shared, ‘I am happy to know myself more, although it is confusing and painful’. Another, ‘It’s good to know where I come from and where I would go. I now have a sense of direction in my life’. With new awareness another young man said, ‘If I did not attend the youth programs maybe my life would just be drinking and drugs’. Many others admitted, ‘We gained self-confidence and it’s good to be aware of many things’. I was overwhelmed and energized by their sharing. I was more determined to look for a place for them.

People committed themselves to help us realize our dream. Generous people sent in donations and promised to help. I would like to thank all of you who support and help me to make this project successful. We are blessed by you. In particular I am grateful to Misean Cara, Ireland, for their generous help.

I recall a day the youth and myself were having a meeting in a rented small bamboo room, dreaming together of having our meeting in a large youth center. Now, thanks in no small part to your help and prayer, that dream has come true. Our two-storey building can accommodate around 150 youth. We still need to develop our grounds and outdoor sports facilities. We are also developing our programs and training courses. Our dream has not ended, but now that it is taking shape we will nourish and care for it as we face the uncertainties and big challenges here in this country. So may I ask your continued support and prayers.

I would like to end with the words of Pope John Paul II during the World Youth Day in the Philippines 1995: ‘My dear young people, be an agent of love. Be a communicator of peace.’ These words sustain me in my religious journey especially working with the youth. May they inspire you too. Thank you very much.

Sr Ashwena Apao, a Columban Sister from the Philippines, has been in Burma for six years.

CathNews Philippines published this story on 5 April: Myanmar children join summer catechism camp. The Archdiocese of Yangon has only about 82,000 Catholics, 0.5 percent of a population of 15,000,00 in the area it covers. The Diocese of Myitkyina, where Sister Wennie works, has nearly the same number of Catholics in a population just over one tenth that of Yangon, or 4.7 percent of the population. (Source: www.catholic-hierarchy.org).

CONGRATULATIONS to the following winners of 2009 MISYON Art Competition

Theme: "Peace - a gift from God."

Hannah Rivere
IV-Wisdom
Maryhill College
Lucena City, Quezon
GRAND Champion

Marielle Ferrera
4th Year
Stella Maris Academy Aguisan
Himamaylan, Negros Occidental
First Runner Up

Ciara Angelica Vibal
School of St Anthony
Lagro, Quezon City
Second Runner Up

By Sr Maura Gallahue SSC

The author is an Irish Columban Sister who worked in Mindanao for many years but is now in Peru. Sister Anne, the Director of the new clinic, is a Columban Sister from Cagayan de Oro City and is a psychiatric nurse by profession. She has appeared a number of times in Misyon, her most recent article being What’s on Their Mind in the March-April 2009 issue.

The 28th of September 2009 was a memorable and happy day for the Columban Sisters in Peru and particularly for the sisters working in Ayacucho. On that day the newly constructed Mental Health Clinic situated on Jirón Sol 637 was blessed by Archbishop Luis Abilio Sebastiana Aguirre SM of Ayacucho o Huamanga.

It was a joyful group of people who gathered for this special celebration. Present were people from Ayacucho, those who are availing of the services of the clinic, local politicians, priests, religious sisters and many Columban Sisters who work in other parts of Peru. Special guests included two members of the Leadership Team of the Columban Sisters, Sister Anne Ryan and Sister Patricia Quigley, and staff members from Noguchi Mental Hospital in Lima, among them Dr Luis Matos Retamozo and Nurse Miriam Cabra who with other staff of the hospital have been volunteering at the Clinic for the past six years.

After a serenata or serenade provided by a group of young people from La Tuna Universitaria – a ‘tuna’ is a rondalla/choir - from La Universidad Nacional de San Cristóbal de Huamanga, San Cristóbal of Huamanga National University, the welcome was given by Sister Anne Carbon, Director of the newly opened clinic who with Sister Mary Nolan has lived and worked in Ayacucho for the past seven years. The whole building was blessed, room by room,.and the plaques were unveiled. The Inauguration Address was given by Dr Luis Matos Retamozo.

Nurse Ruth Moises Rios, Executive Director of the Commission of Mental Health and Mrs Goya Perez de Morote, President of the Patients’ Family Association spoke. Both expressed their gratitude for what the Columban Sisters have made possible for those suffering from mental illness in Ayacucho. Two patients told of how the clinic has helped them in their recovery.

Then we had the Brindis de Honor (a toast) and the sharing of food by all present. Gifts were presented to the Columban Sisters and to Misean Cara of Ireland whose donations had helped build the clinic. Folk dances were presented by young people who volunteer at the Clinic, by some of the patients and by the children who attend the special school that is also a part of the Clinic. Of course, everyone was invited to take part in the fun. All of us had an opportunity to visit the various areas of the Clinic where the staff, who had done a wonderful job in organizing this special event, were on hand to explain the activities and services of their particular department.

The program ended with the guests and the staff sharing a celebratory lunch together followed by more dancing.

In the evening the Columban Sisters present for the occasion and two special priest friends, Columban Father Maurice Foley and Fr Edgar Valdevia gathered to remember another significant event of September 28 – the eve of the anniversary of the founding of the Columban Sisters in 1924, The original missionary vision of the Columban Sisters was to serve the poor, particularly women, in China. Since that time the mission has spread to many other places, and on this day in 2009, we gathered to celebrate once again God’s goodness to us in calling us to live and work with the people of Ayacucho.

You may email Sister Anne Carbon at annemusuq@yahoo.com

Videos of La Tuna Universitaria San Cristóbal de Huamanga:

By Fr Pat Sayles

Ninety-eight years ago Father Edward Galvin set out for China, paving the way for hundreds of Columban missionaries not only to China but to the Philippines and many other countries in Asia, in South America and in the Pacific.

It was a step into the unknown, a step taken in faith. God had called him, and he wanted so much to respond, to follow his Lord even to the ends of the earth. Yet he found it so hard to leave his loved ones, especially his mother. He loved her more than all the world and perhaps he was going to China never to see her again. Although heartbroken, he resolutely set his face towards China. So began one of the most exciting pages of modern mission history. His exploits inspired many talented young men to follow him along the trail to China that he had blazed.

Edward Galvin was born in 1882 on the feast of St Columban, at the Galvin homestead near Newcestown, a little village in Ireland four miles south of Clodah, County Cork, Ireland. 

As a young boy he dreamt of becoming a missionary. He did feel at the time that it was just a boyish thought, but as he grew older the thought persisted. Finally his parents advised him to go to St Patrick’s College, Maynooth, the national seminary, to become a priest for his home Diocese of Cork. This he did, and as it turned out it was the right decision.

He was ordained in 1909, only to find that there was no room in the Diocese of Cork for the newly-ordained men that year. Along with the other newly-ordained priests he volunteered for the Diocese of Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was assigned to Holy Rosary parish, and whilst there he twice asked to be accepted as missionary, first in Africa, then in Arizona. Strangely, no one seemed to want him. Yet still the missionary call within him would not die. Eventually his thoughts turned to China. He began to read every book on it that he could find. At that time there were only three English-speaking priests working in the whole of that vast land. He did not know any of them. Then out of the blueFather John Mary Fraser, a Canadian missionary working in China, came to visit the Holy Rosary parish. Father Fraser later founded the Scarboro Missions in Canada.

There and then he made up his mind that he would go with him to China. ‘I may never get another chance,’ he thought to himself. ‘I will go to China with you,’ he spoke out loud, ‘if you will have me.’ The offer was immediately accepted, but Father Fraser was leaving for China within three weeks. That did not deter Father Galvin. ‘I might change my mind if left behind,’ he responded. It was now or never, for in a few weeks he himself would be returning to Cork to work in the diocese. He had to hurry and ask the permission of Bishop Thomas Alphonsus O’Callaghan OP of Cork for this new venture. 

The reply came promptly. The reports that the Bishop had received about him were ‘the very best.’ He could follow his dream. 

So finally the missionary dream that would not go away was to become a reality. After a lifetime’s search he had found his way to follow the Lord. Now, at the age of 29, he was ready to face the rigors of the China missions.

Those last three weeks at Holy Rosary were topsy-turvy. A sad stream of friends called to say goodbye. The parish priest tried to persuade him to stay, saying that he had become like a son to him in his old age. Weeping parishioners thronged to Grand Central Station in New York to see him off. 

‘I still remember the pain of parting on that grey, dreary morning,’ he wrote many years later. ‘When the train got underway for Toronto, I crumpled up in the coach and cried as if my heart would break.’ 

Father John Blowick, who together with Father Galvin was to found the Columbans, and who had been inspired by a talk given by Fr John Mary Fraser in Maynooth, described that moment: 

‘He supported his head in his hands, and for two hours his mind was a blank. He had of his own election become a wanderer for Christ’s sake. For all he knew he was going to China to die.’ 

Bishop Patrick Cleary, one of the early figures in Columban history, also recorded that moment: 

‘It is no easy matter to part from home and friends under any circumstances: it was particularly trying in Father Galvin’s case. He was facing an unknown world; trials and hardship were before him – but these he regarded as nothing. The thought that almost unnerved him was the fact that never again, perhaps, would he see one of those faces he held so dear, never again get a glimpse of the land he loved. Was it any wonder then that as the train sped across the continent to Vancouver he flung himself into the corner of a carriage and wept like a child?’ 

As the train sped across Canada his thoughts turned to his mother. He had to write to her, but it was a letter he did not want to write. Mary Galvin was three thousand miles away across the Atlantic. She was looking forward to his next letter, which should have news of the date of his return to Cork. 

When he arrived in Toronto he stayed up all that night to write the letter to his mother that it broke his heart to write. He did not have the heart to mail it until much later, when they arrived in Honolulu. It was a letter that Mary Galvin would treasure until the day she died. 

‘My dear Mother, 

‘I am sorry, dear Mother, to have to write this letter, but God’s will be done. Everything is in His hands. Mother, don’t grieve, don’t cry. It is God’s will. God has called and I had to obey. 

‘I am not going back to Ireland. I am going as a missionary to China. May God’s will be done. God knows my heart is broken, not for myself but for you whom I love above all the world. 

‘Mother, you know how this has always been on my mind. But I thought it was a foolish thought – a boyish thought; that it would pass away as I grew older. But it never passed, never, never, never. 

‘Why should God ask me to do this thing that is breaking my heart to do? I don’t know. God knows best. May His will be done. “If any man will come after me let him take up his cross and follow me.” Oh yes, but oh my God I never thought that it was so hard to follow. I have tried to follow when you called. I ask you in return to console my poor mother, to comfort her, to help her to make the Sacrifice I am making and spare her until we meet again.’ 

It was a clear morning when Mary Galvin received her son’s long overdue letter. After she had read it she went out into the orchard and walked around in a daze. 

On 7 March 1912 they sailed from Vancouver on the Empress of India, a small steamer that carried only thirty passengers. It proved to be a very slow boat to China. They were hardly out of the harbor when a violent storm began to toss the ship about like a cork. They just managed to crawl back to the safety of the port. When they finally sailed again it was to be the worst voyage that the Empress had suffered in years. Father Galvin was sick throughout the month-long voyage. 

They arrived in Shanghai in the middle of April. That night they stayed in the house of the Vincentians. The meal was Chinese macaroni, and Father Galvin fumbled with his chopsticks, to the amusement of the others. He lay awake that night, unable to sleep on the plank bed. The next day they traveled to Hangchow (Hangzhou), and the day after Father Fraser left him. Suddenly he felt very lonely. All the priests there were French, and with no one to talk with in English he felt ‘as lonely as a small boy in a new school.’ The Vicar Apostolic, Bishop Paul-Albert Faveau CM, was very understanding, and he helped him to settle in. 

Despite the initial culture shock, he began to study the language in earnest. He had a musical ear, and was a natural mimic, and he progressed easily. On 12 October 1912 he heard his first confession in Chinese, and just a week later he preached his first sermon. 

In spite of the hardships he found immense joy in serving his poor flock. Leaving his loved ones had been difficult, but he would do it a thousand times over. He thanked God from the bottom of his heart for the great privilege of being a missionary. 

In doing God’s will he found himself and his joy was overflowing. He had put God’s will before all else in his life. When he became a bishop he took as his motto those words of the Father – ‘Thy Will be done’. He lived his motto all through his life. Through famines, wars, imprisonment and exile, he carried out God’s will with single-minded apostolic zeal. He faced all the dangers with courage, all the hardships with resilience. His spirit of endurance remained steadfast because the trail he blazed was opened not for his own but for the Lord’s glory. 

Father Pat Sayles is a Columban priest from England who has worked in Peru and who was editor of Far East, the Columban magazine for Ireland and Britain, for some years. He is currently working in a parish very near Stratford-on-Avon, the home of William Shakespeare. In 2000 he set up The Prayer Trust and his prayer booklets have become widely popular. You may write him at: Our Lady & St Benedict, Alcester Road, Wootton Wawen, Henley-in-Arden, B95 6BQ, England, United Kingdom. You may email him at olandsb@btinternet.com  or at enquiry@theprayertrust.org.uk 

By Josephine Mata

The author, a physical therapist by profession, is from Quezon City. She graduated from University of the East Ramon Magsayay Memorial Center (UERMMMC) in 1996 where she later taught, from 2004 till 2009. After graduation she worked for three years as a clinician at Metropolitan Hospital, Manila. She then entered the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary (FMMs) but left during the novitiate. She is a volunteer catechist in St Francis de Sales Parish, Beckley but sometimes attends Mass at Sacred Heart Parish, South Williamson, West Virginia, near where her brother lives and where the parish priest is a Filipino from Oriental Mindoro, Fr. Rey Landichio.

When patients get sick they are in their most vulnerable state. They are at the mercy of other human beings - mere mortals, limited but nonetheless gifted (or so they wish to think of themselves). I am talking about healthcare providers, doctors, nurses and allied healthcare professionals and the insurance companies.

I am a physical therapist (PT), a profession rooted in the caring services that enables persons to return to their functional, pre-morbid state. I am currently working in West Virginia, affiliated with a healthcare system the motto of which is to provide for the health needs of the people in the Appalachian region. I am thankful to have been ‘sent’ where I am now since I have always eluded the normal trend for PTs in the Philippines, which is to graduate from the grueling academic and clinical load, pass the Philippine and US board exams and of course work in the USA. It took me 14 years before I too trod this path, literally being dragged into it. This is because this was never the life I had envisioned for myself. But truly God knows best, so I let myself be guided to His will.

Being a physical therapist in the USA is a very fulfilling job: monetary wise as one is being paid more than adequately, and professionally one is able to fully execute one's theoretical and clinical knowledge as a physical therapist with referrals, and not just taking mere prescription orders from physiatrists in the Philippines.

A bonus for me is to be able to interact with patients, the majority of whom are elderly persons in nursing homes whose faces personify Blessed Mother Theresa of Calcutta's words: ‘the greatest poverty in the USA is loneliness’. The lolas and lolos I get to serve here literally break my heart as I remember how the elderly are being taken care of in the Philippines. I have even got into the habit of shaking an elderly patient's hand before donning gloves and beginning the treatment, making sure that the patient is free from contact with any possible infections, since prudence will always take precedence in the healthcare scenario. This is because I see the wonder of the warmth of a human touch in my profession, as the patient feels cared for and looked after.

As I see an array of depressed patients, elderly, frail persons at times left to themselves and living in nursing homes, and hard working coalminers whose bodies bear the marks of the hard labor of providing for the energy and economy of the region and perhaps even of the world. What keeps my heart from breaking are the times I can manage to sneak into a small room designated as an ecumenical chapel in the hospital lobby where a statue of Mother Mary, the one used by the Legion of Mary, surprisingly stands. Also there are times I can manage to be in silence before Jesus in front of the Blessed Sacrament bringing to Him all the people He asks me to serve and whom I bring back to His care. These moments of silence, praying the rosary and taking part in the Holy Mass whenever I can, sustain me, as there are times I feel the burden of the loneliness, weakness and frustration of my patients as well as my own personal struggles. God's grace alone prevents me from breaking down and enables me to continue to give of myself.

I am also fortunate enough to work with a group of people who truly care for the welfare of our patients who have got into our respective professions with the clear understanding that ‘It’s all about the good welfare of our patients’.

But I must admit there are good days and bad days in the healthcare professions and I just take one day at a time. I am thankful for the job and thankful for my prayers to be answered to do whatever, to go wherever and to be whenever God wants me to be. I want to think that I am a still a missionary . . . sent as a lay person, a physical therapist in the heart of USA mission territory. As a new saint said, ‘Better to be in a hole doing God's will than on top of a hill going against God's will’ – St Marie de Saint Just FMM, a missionary to China killed on 9 July 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion and canonized on 1 October 2000.

You may email Josephine at phine_mata@yahoo.com .

Our cover features Fr Michael Sinnott with the children of Holy Family Home, Bacolod City. The joy in their faces is so visible. These kids are a few of the many people who really prayed for Fr Mick while he was in captivity and were rejoicing on the news of his release. Fr Mick came here to Bacolod City upon the invitation of our editor to meet these kids.

‘But my wish would be to go back and to do the little I can for as long as I can’ are the words he lovingly repeats whenever he is asked if he still has the plan to go back to Pagadian. Such a missionary’s heart!

What is it that you can offer to God for Him to work on? What are you willing to commit in serving God?

True Happiness

By Vanessa T. De Guzman

‘There’s true happiness when you find your feet walking in your dream shoes.’

Happiness, according to Webster’s Encyclopedic Dictionary (1992), is the feelings of joy and pleasure mingled in varying degrees. But we can never define the true happiness of others, no matter how much we know them.

The true happiness of a person can only be spelled out when he sets foot in a situation or finds himself with a status that he has been longing for. True happiness can be attained when someone witnesses the paradise of his dreams, when he celebrates his achievements, or even when he experiences his dream status in life, simple though it may be.

True happiness cannot only come from our material longings or possessions. The meaning of the passage above is not merely materialistic and literal. Although there are material things that are vital in order to live a life of wellness, an excessive or significant attraction towards materialism makes our life meaningless. Our dreams can turn into nightmares if we focus on materialism and selfishness. This leads us to the tragic illusion that to selfishly have more material wealth is the road to true happiness.

Life requires balance. This balance does not demand perfection, it only encourages us to be aware of weighing up what is enough. It is the key to a peaceful flow of life. Attaining our moral dreams, as we follow God’s will, builds our beings. It gives us strength and inspiration. It makes us experience the wonders of our God-given life.

We are created in God’s image, and we are destined to be with Him in the everlasting life. True and lasting happiness comes from God’s blessing. We pursue happiness in our daily life when we become servants of the Lord, following His teachings as we strive to reach our own dreams.

Search for your dream shoes and walk faithfully and morally on the road as you carry ‘true happiness’ in your smile.

You may email Vanessa at vandegu_1220@yahoo.com

MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS
BENEDICT XVI
FOR LENT 2010

“The justice of God has been manifested through faith in Jesus Christ”

(cf. Rm 3, 21-22)

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

Each year, on the occasion of Lent, the Church invites us to a sincere review of our life in light of the teachings of the Gospel. This year, I would like to offer you some reflections on the great theme of justice, beginning from the Pauline affirmation: “The justice of God has been manifested through faith in Jesus Christ” (cf. Rm 3, 21-22).

Justice: “dare cuique suum”

First of all, I want to consider the meaning of the term “justice,” which in common usage implies “to render to every man his due,” according to the famous expression of Ulpian, a Roman jurist of the third century. In reality, however, this classical definition does not specify what “due” is to be rendered to each person. What man needs most cannot be guaranteed to him by law. In order to live life to the full, something more intimate is necessary that can be granted only as a gift: we could say that man lives by that love which only God can communicate since He created the human person in His image and likeness. Material goods are certainly useful and required – indeed Jesus Himself was concerned to heal the sick, feed the crowds that followed Him and surely condemns the indifference that even today forces hundreds of millions into death through lack of food, water and medicine – yet “distributive” justice does not render to the human being the totality of his “due.” Just as man needs bread, so does man have even more need of God. Saint Augustine notes: if “justice is that virtue which gives every one his due ... where, then, is the justice of man, when he deserts the true God?” (De civitate Dei, XIX, 21).

Full Text

The world is a better place to live in because it contains human beings who will give up ease and security and stake their own lives in order to do what they themselves think worth doing. They do the useless, brave, noble, the divinely foolish and the very wisest things that are done by man. And what they prove to themselves and to others is that man is no mere automation in his routine, but that in the dust of which he is made there is also fire, lighted now and then by great winds from the sky.

– Walter Lippman

Once people understand the strength of nonviolence – the force it generates, the love it creates, the response it brings from the total community – they will not easily abandon it. –

Cesar Chavez

If a single person achieves the highest kind of love, it will be sufficient to neutralize the hate of millions. – Mohandas Gandhi

KEEPING OUR LAMPS BURNING

Don’t think that love, to be true, has to be extraordinary. What is necessary is to continue to love. How does a lamp burn, if it is not by the continuous feeding of little drops of oil? When there is no oil, there is no light and the bridegroom will say: “I do not know you”. Dear friends, what are our drops of oil in our lamps? They are the small things from everyday life: the joy, the generosity, the little good things, the humility and the patience. A simple thought for someone else. Our way to be silent, to listen, to forgive, to speak and to act. Those are the real drops of oil that make our lamps burn vividly our whole life. Don’t look for Jesus far away, He is not there. He is in you, take care of your lamp and you will see Him.

– Blessed Mother Teresa (1910- 1997)

Is it alright if I skip Sunday Mass and just have my own personal reflection during the height of winter when it is extremely cold if I have no means of transport? .

(The question came from a Filipino studying in the USA but the situation is representative of many others, eg, having to travel, having to deal with an emergency such as the illness of someone in the family, etc)

I remember an incident when I was still at school. My father was the breadwinner and out the whole day working on a construction site while my mother was a housewife, taking care of everything at home. In those days there was clarity about roles in the family and there was nothing ‘second class’ about being a housewife, certainly not in our home. Both my parents took a quiet pride in their roles and work.

Every morning after coming home from Mass and before going to work my father would prepare my mother’s breakfast and bring it to her in bed. (Many consider breakfast in bed a luxury. I connect it only with hospitals and illness!) Without fail, my mother would have my father’s dinner ready for him when he came home in the evening. She, my brother and I used to have our mail meal at lunch time, the practice in those days.

One evening my mother was quite upset because she didn’t have my father’s dinner ready on time. Something had turned up and delayed her but she felt a real sense of kahiya. However, my father just laughed and wasn’t in the least upset. He knew that every single day of his married life my mother, his wife, had his dinner ready on time, except when she was sick. This was one of the ways she showed her love for him, just as he did by preparing her breakfast every morning, even when relations were a little strained.

If, on the other hand, my mother had seldom prepared my father’s dinner, even though he worked to bring home the money to buy the food, he might have had reason to question her love for him. But that was not the case. So on the one evening in his married life that his dinner wasn’t ready when he came home he happily waited and smiled.

I think that the way my father acted reflects how God the Father looks on us. When our normal practice is to make Sunday Mass central to our lives – and in my father’s case it was central to his daily life – when we miss it on occasion for a serious reason God understands.

We have a serious obligation to take part in Sunday Mass. Canon 1247 reads:
On Sundays and other holy days of obligation the faithful are bound to participate in the Mass; they are also to abstain from those labors and business concerns which impede the worship to be rendered to God, the joy which is proper to the Lord's Day, or the proper relaxation of mind and body. (Canon Law is the Church’s body of laws)

Canon 1248 reads: 1. The precept of participating in the Mass is satisfied by assistance at a Mass which is celebrated anywhere in a Catholic rite either on the holy day or on the evening of the preceding day.

2. If because of lack of a sacred minister or for other grave cause participation in the celebration of the Eucharist is impossible, it is specially recommended that the faithful take part in the liturgy of the word if it is celebrated in the parish church or in another sacred place according to the prescriptions of the diocesan bishop, or engage in prayer for an appropriate amount of time personally or in a family or, as occasion offers, in groups of families.

Here in the Philippines many places where there is no Sunday Mass have a liturgy of the word led by a lay person. The readings of the Sunday or holyday are read and sometimes a homily prepared by the bishop or priest is read also.

In the spirit of Canon 1248, 2, I would think that when you can’t go out to Mass a time of personal reflection and prayer should be set aside for the Lord. If there is Mass on TV or on the radio the person could tune in and be there in spirit.

I often wonder if Filipinos who employ domestic staff or who own businesses give proper time off to their workers to attend Mass. Since the obligation applies to all Catholics I would think that Catholic employers in particular have a serious responsibility to enable their staff to be free for Mass, though they can’t force them to go. They also have a serious obligation in justice to give their workers proper free time, apart from the question of Sunday Mass. Employers who deny their workers their right to their own time commit a serious sin against justice.

When we participate in Holy Mass we listen to God’s word being solemnly proclaimed to the community and, when we are free from mortal sin, that is sin involving grave matter, full knowledge that it is wrong and full consent, we can and should receive the Body of Christ in Holy Communion. We can hear the word of God proclaimed when we view Mass on TV or listen to it on the radio, but we cannot receive the Body of Christ.

Under ‘Sunday Reflections’ in our Online Forum we carry these two quotations: ‘We cannot live without Sunday’: Martyrs of Abitene, Italy, AD304. 'Without Sunday, without the Eucharist, the Christians in Iraq cannot survive': Fr Ragheed Aziz Ganni, Martyr of Iraq, 3 June 2007.

Here is a recording of Father Ragheed singing a hymn to our Blessed Mother, used as a background to a video of his funeral.

Photo by Lucille Arcedas

The soldiers twisted some thorns into a crown and put it on his head, 
and dressed him in a purple robe.
~ John 19:2 ~

For more information contact:
Father Jude Genovia, St Columban's Mission
PO Box 4454, 1099 Manila
Tel: 02-400-4765 / 02-523-7332
Email: columbanfathers@yahoo.com
Website: www.columban.ph

By Maria Riza J. Gallego

I am Maria Riza J. Gallego. Reading Misyon was my pastime in high school at the Sisters of Mary Girlstown School in Talisay City, Cebu. Back then, I used to keep it in my bag especially if there was a new issue. I really wanted to always be the first to read the magazine. (Sorry, dorm mates I was the one hiding it.) After our high school graduation I never had the chance to read the Misyon.

Now, after eight long years, here I am now reading the magazine without my 38 dorm mates to contend with, thanks to my college friend who lent me the magazine.

As I was scanning the March-April 2008 issue I was moved by Elena Ang’s article entitled God Cares. As I read the whole article I sympathized, was inspired, was moved and laughed at the same time. Her story is heartwarming and it made me realize how blessed I am by my God, how beautiful life is even if I experience pain once in a while. It made me see the positive side of life. I don’t have work at the moment but I am physically fit. Realizing that, I know I should not be really affected by the misfortunes in my life. They will help me become a better person. Challenges and trials are spices to make life beautiful.

Best regards to Ms Elena Ang. Thank you for inspiring me.

You may email Maria Riza at riza_gallego@yahoo.com  or write her at 76 Liamzon St, Blk 27 Lot 8 P3, Midtown Subd, Marikina City