WHAT'S GOING ON...









































NEW PARISH CONVENTO

The newly-built parish convento of St. Gabriel Parish, Marikina

When the said parish was canonically erected a couple of years ago, there was hardly a decent place for the priests to stay.

There was this little space behind a chapel and for a number of years it was converted into temporary quarters for the priests. But since everything, from kitchen to offices, were also put into that tiny space, there was not really enough space to move around for those who lived there .

But now, even the pastoral students would have enough space to lay their heads! Big THANKS goes to all who made this new parish convento possible. May you be blessed a hundredfold! (click picture to enlarge it)
Posted by: mableela Date: 02/19/2009
ON SECOND NATIONAL RURAL CONGRESS


"Indigenous People : They demand the recognition of the customary laws and culture of the indigenous people (IP) communities, the intensified implementation and review of the Indigenous People’s Rights Act (IPRA), the recognition of the continuing threat to their communities posed by destructive mining and logging activities, by armed conflict between the rebels and the military and by the entrance of companies causing their displacement, the watered-down application of the Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) process, and the strengthening of the National Commission of Indigenous People (NCIP) so that it truly represent the interests of the indigenous peoples and not the foreigners and big business enterprises."
Posted by: mableela Date: 02/19/2009
FR. CLEMENTE BARRÓN, CP VISITED US


Fr. Clemente, one of the general consultors, opened up his canonical visitation with a brief quote from Mark’s gospel: “The apostles gathered together with Jesus and reported all they had done and taught.” (Mk 6:30).

Then he went on to explain that, yes, the apostles were sent out; yes they did a lot of things Jesus asked them to do. But it was not enough for them to go out; what was also required, what Jesus required of them was to report.

This is the context of Fr. Clemente’s canonical visitation; it is a reporting, it’s a time of looking back- what have we done, what have we experienced…

Then, Fr. Clemente introduced himself by saying “I was born in the US, I have an office and a bedroom in Rome, but I live in an airplane; live in an airport; I go from place to place….”

He went on to share with us what’s going on in our Congregation. When asked what happened to the planned, congregational restructuring, he readily said that “congregational restructuring is very much alive…we’ve been taking the steps in order to make it happen…. to bring about greater life and vitality to passionist life…”

He went on to explain that the synod in Mexico came up with new structures (four of them), but three of them really have major impact for us, namely solidarity in personnel, solidarity in finance and and solidarity in formation. We need these for us to be able to help each other.

On the other level, there is a structure on the level of new configurations. These structures are now being developed all over our congregation. Within these new configurations, they will have the task of creating these new structures of solidarity..

By the end of this year we shall have working models of those solidarity structures.

After the group conference, Fr. Clemente, proceeded to talk to the professed members of our community, individually.

Posted by: mableela Date: 02/19/2009
SOLEMN COMMEMORATION OF THE PASSION


The annual celebration of the Solemn Commemoration of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ will gather, once again, the members of the family of St. Paul of the Cross, namely, the passionist priests, brothers & sisters, and lay partners. The said gathering will be held on February 20, 2009 (Friday before Ash Wednesday) at the Passionist Spirituality Center in Labu, Bawing, General Santos City. Its theme is "THE PASSION OF JESUS UNITES US"

The affair begins with a Holy Eucharist at 8:00AM, with Fr. Vic Supranes, CP (the regional coordinator) as the main presider and Fr. Bert Alegre, CP as the homilist.

After the Eucharistic celebration, merienda will follow and then a short program with group presentations from the participants, like the CONFRATS, PAYO, PARISH & MISSION WORKERS, CP PRIESTS & BROTHERS, CP SISTERS nad CPP.

Finally, at 12:00 noon, there will, of course, be an agape, where everybody shares the food they bring in. Then, HOME SWEET HOME, soon after - for those who will be in a hurry, and SWIMMING UNLIMITED for those who will stay for a long while! See you there! -

Posted by: mableela Date: 02/18/2009
HARANA FOR THE IPs

Catholic Church of Malmö, Sweden

We are excited about our new Harana project. It's a little song group with Fr. Robert (FR. BITOY, CP) as the leader. We sing Tagalog and English love songs to different homes or gatherings and collect donations for the B'laan people. We plan to do this throughout the year, no limit...

We have our first performance in Skurup on March 6, same time with a house blessing. The guests are from Ystad, Trelleborg and other neighboring communities. Nakakanerbiyos!

The responses to our invitation are very positive, ang dami ng nagpa- book. Kami lang ang kapos sa oras. This is a nice idea dahil walang limit ang occasions like birthdays, anniversary, thanksgiving, etc. Hope we can reach our target budget (5 million pesos) someday. -Miriam Hilario

Posted by: mableela Date: 02/16/2009
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, FR. EDWARD!!!

Last February 07, 2009 was Fr. Edward Loberiano, CP's natal day. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, FR! May you have many, many more birthdays to come. God bless!

And then at noontime today (February 10), the members of the Southern Passionists Communities enjoyed the belated birthday treat of Fr. Edward. The delayed gratification (as we waited for the roasted piglet to be ready) was certainly worth the while. Since hunger is indeed the best appetizer, everybody had their fill pretty soon after the celebration began.

Other than the lechon, there were lots of fruits, and salads too. There were also two, big, grilled katambak fish, crispy buttered chickens, beefsteaks, sasemi and many more! And it could have been incomplete without the cake and ice cream as their dessert!

And so, with all the extra energy they just have had, they were able to finish discussing the contents of the draft manual for the Province, in preparation for the forthcoming Provincial Chapter on May 2009.

Posted by: mableela Date: 02/10/2009
FR. WILLIAM PONDO, CP CONFINED

Fr. William is confined at General Santos Doctors' Hospital since yesterday morning (Feb 06). It all started with a simple colds which he caught after attending the joint diocesan-religious clergy recollection in Kiamba, South Cotabato, last February 2-3, 2009.

But it grew worse; he has fever and sore throat that makes it painful to shallow even small amounts of food. Fr. Vic urged him to see a doctor. Hesitant at first, he finally went with Fr. Vic to the said hospital. Initial diagnosis indicates that his two tonsils are inflamed and infected

He is scheduled for more laboratory tests and scan. Let's pray for his immediate recovery.
Posted by: mableela Date: 02/06/2009
FR. BERT ALEGRE, CP HOSPITALIZED

At first, Fr. Bert( one of the former directors of the Missions) thought it was just a simple case of stomach upset; that thing that one feels when one overeats! The intestines can't simply cope with the overwhelming demands for digestion.

But the stomach pain that he felt last Thursday evening, January 29th, didn't go away. It lingered on even until the following day and the day after. Worse, its intensity was increasing to the point of causing sleepless nights for Fr. Bert. It was becoming more and more excruciating and unbearable and so the last recourse was to bring Fr. Bert to General Santos City Doctors' Hospital for laboratory examinations and observations.

Thank God, the diagnosis was quick and accurate. Fr. Bert's appendix was acting up; swollen, and almost to the point of being ruptured. And so Dr. Daniel Yap, MD, right there and then performed an appendectomy on Fr. Bert.

By Saturday evening, Fr. Bert was already spared from possible fatal complications of a ruptured appendix. Hopefully, in three-days' time, he'd be released from his hospital confinement. In the meantime, he's enjoying watching Nadal vs. Federer match over cable TV, at the on-going Australian Open. Get well soon, Bert.

Posted by: mableela Date: 02/01/2009
OATH TAKING HANDS-CMIP EB ALUMNI

Last December 2008, Mrs. Tomiko Yamazaki, the president of HANDS, encouraged previous educational beneficiaries of HANDS-CMIP scholarship program to have a reunion. It did materialize sometime towards the end of December last year, 2008.

But to Mrs. Yamazaki's pleasant surprise, it turned out to be more than just a simple reunion. The former beneficiaries felt the need to organize themselves. And it was then that they decided to elect officers for their group.

Due to some prior commitments, the officers were not able have their oath taking right away. It was only last Saturday, January 31, 2009, that they were finally sworn in.

The following are the names of the EB ALUMNI OFFICERS:

President : Dory Dalamban VP : Edwin Aknaban Secretary : Mary Ann Pula Asst. Sec : Jimmy Daniel Treasurer : Francis Laco

AREA REPRESENTATIVES:

Kiame : Henry Mangarang T’murok : Megrilyn Barol Lambusong : Jose Malayang Balite : Janessa Montong Bolul : Mary Ann Salape Auditor : Snuria Barol Asst. Auditor : Rowenda Pondo PIO : Bonifacio Tampolok Jr Asst. PIO : Analiza Labuayan

We wish them success, and may their association be of help to the mission communities where they belong.

Posted by: mableela Date: 02/01/2009