“Now be pleased to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever in your sight; for you, Sovereign LORD, have spoken, and with your blessing the house of your servant will be blessed forever.” - 2 Sam 7:29
19 June 2018 would remain a day of thanksgiving for the Claretian Community in Hong Kong. It saw our dreams come true when Superior General, Fr. Mathew Vattamattamblessed its community house in Shatin, Hong Kong and celebrated Mass together with the members of the Claretian communities of Hong Kong and Macau and our friends and associates.
The purpose of the House is to serve as the Community House of the Claretians in Hong Kong; we hope that more members will join the community in Hong Kong in the coming years.
While maintaining its identity and specific mission, the House integrates itself into the pastoral projects and mission of the parish of St. Benedict. It will be utilized in support of the mission of the Church and serve as the centre for the Congregation’s China Mission.
It will also be the Centre for the Claretian Youth Ministry and service to migrants. The House is also the office of the Pastoral Bible Foundation and its ministry of the Word of God – Promotion of the Word of God through biblical literature and Bibles through media – print, online, audio and video.
Fr Mathew Vattamattam, Superior General of the Claretians, presided over the Mass after blessing the Claretian Residence in Hong Kong
The House will work as the centre for social projects of the Congregation in Hong Kong, Macau and Mainland China. A lay-movement called Candle Light is a charity organisation established in 2016 under the aegis of the Claretians in Hong Kong and Macau and this group takes care of the social welfare projects in China and rest of Asia: Some of the major projects already being handled by this charity group are:
- Help for the leprosy affected in China
- Sponsoring the educational needs of over 200 poor children in Nepal
- Assisting several projects of the Claretians and the Franciscan Sisters of St. Elizabeth in the Philippines.
Looking for a fresh start after a break for almost two years! Of course, this does not mean that the missionaries had a break for two years! A lot have happened since the end of 2017 and my previous entry in this page was in the beginning of 2018, wishing you New Year blessings. The reasons for the long break could be mere excuses, so wouldn't want to list them!
To have a recap of what had happened with the Missionaries here would be a way to keep you abreast with your beloved friends and their mission in this region.
January 2018
1. Fr. Jose is appointed the Deputy Editor in Chief of Sunday Examiner, the Catholic Newspaper of the Diocese of Hong Kong
7. Epiphany Parish in Mui Wo celebrated the Solemnity of Epiphany with Cardinal John Tong officiating the liturgy and Celebrations. Fr. Jojo from Macau together with a group of pilgrims joined the celebrations
11. Hiking expeditions with the youth group, covering 14kms.
28. Celebration of the Feast of Santonino - but in a much subdued fashion. The celebration was held in the Mui Wo chapel instead of having it in Bui O
May words of strength, courage and hope accompany our journey through the year opening up before us. “The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.”
Wish you a joyous and prosperous
New Year 2018
----------------------------
CANTATA MACAU-2017
The 2nd Edition of the international Choral Festival was celebrated on 6 - 10 December in Macau. “Macau has a rich and ancient Catholic tradition. In the last quarter of a century, however, it has come to be designated as the haven of gamblers, unholy wealth and even as ‘the sin city’,” Fr Jijo Kandamkulathy, the Director of the Claretian Publications and one of the coordinators of the event.
“Unfortunately, this designation does not suit most people living here, Catholics or otherwise who are in general God fearing. So, the intention of holding this event is to begin reinstating our territory for its Catholic traditions and regain its appreciation for what is holy and sublime,” he added.
The opening ceremony was held on December 6, Wednesday, with a concert in St Dominic’s Church at 7:30 PM. Eight teams from five nationalities participated in the four-day Catholic Music Festival. Cathedral Schola, Fundação Rui Cunha Chorale (Macau), Bishop Hall Jubilee School Choir (Hong Kong), Chorus Vocales Philippines, Parañaque National High School Glee Club (Philippines), Medan Community Male Choir (Indonesia) and Noche Lirica (Mexico) were the performing groups.
On December 7, a solemn Mass was celebrated at the Nativity of Our Lady Cathedral, Macau at 7:15 PM, followed by the sacred concert in the same venue at 8:30 PM. The grand concert on December 8, Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, was held in the Cineteatro Macau.
On December 9, the friendship concert was be held at St Joseph’s Seminary and Church at 5:00 PM. On the last day the closing concert was conducted at the Cathedral of Macau. The Music Festival was also made available for the public through live streaming of the events through social media networks.
-------------------------
Christmas
Christmas was a time of celebrations as usual but this time with a difference. A few pictures from our mission centers to share the story with you.
Fr. Jojo and his parishioners began to provide food for needy in the parish premises every evening. It all began when a couple of poor people came to Fr. Jojo asking for alms. He took them to a nearby shop to buy them dinner. Next evening there were more people at the door. In a couple of days time, he began to get 20-30 people every evening. During the Christmas eve, there were around 100 people at the parish premises for the free meal.
Pictures from Nepal: The "Candle Light" charity group that take care of a school in Nepal was also involved in providing food for the poor in the Christmas season. These visuals show the gleaming faces of kids in the Nepalese village when they had their "catch"!
From Nepal
Getting their meals ready!
Bro. Sid spent the Advent and Christmas season in Indonesia with a few aspirants from the Mainland, training them in English.
Fr. John who hails from Inner Mongolia and his friends were involved in bringing electric light to one of the poorest villages in Yun Nan province in the Mainland. By 24 december, they had the electric lines reaching the village. "A festival of lights" in the season of the birth of Jesus, the Light!
Fr. John was also involved in food distribution to the homeless. On the Christmas Eve, he gathered the kids in the parish in Yokohama in Japan and set out in search of the homeless, bringing them food packets. They met over 70 homeless on the streets.
--------------------
Our Visitor
Fr. Manuel Ezhaparampil from India, a Claretian Missionary working in South Korea for over 20 years has visited the Claretian Communities of Hong Kong and Macau. Fr. Manuel serves as a professor at the Incheon Catholic University.
Hospitality is
the practice that keeps the church from becoming a club, a members-only
society. —Diana Butler Bass
Practical,
practice-based Christianity has been avoided, denied, minimised, ignored,
delayed, and sidelined for too many centuries, by too many Christians who were
never told Christianity was anything more than a belonging or belief system.
Now we know that there is no Methodist or Catholic way of loving. There is no
Orthodox or Presbyterian way of living a simple and nonviolent life. There is
no Lutheran or Evangelical way of showing mercy. There is no Baptist or
Episcopalian way of visiting the imprisoned. If there is, we are invariably
emphasising the accidentals, which distract us from the very “marrow of the
Gospel,” as St. Francis called it.
We have made this mistake for too long. We
cannot keep avoiding what Jesus actually emphasised and mandated. In this most
urgent time, “it is the very love of Christ that now urges us” (2 Corinthians 5:14).
Pastor
Philip Gulley superbly summarises how we must rebuild spirituality from the
bottom up in his book, "If the Church Were Christian". Here I take
the liberty of using my own words to restate his message, which offers a rather
excellent description of Emerging Christianity:
Jesus is a model
for living more than an object of worship.
Affirming
people’s potential is more important than reminding them of their brokenness.
The work of
reconciliation should be valued over making judgments.
Gracious
behaviour is more important than right belief.
Inviting
questions is more valuable than supplying answers.
Encouraging the
personal search is more important than group uniformity.
Meeting actual
needs is more important than maintaining institutions.
Peacemaking is
more important than power.
We should care
more about love and less about sex.
Life in this
world is more important than the afterlife (eternity is God’s work anyway).
If this makes
sense to you, you are already inside of Emerging Christianity.
Gateway to
Silence:
Rooted and growing in Love.
----------------------------------
Fr. Marquez helps in Mui Wo
Fr. Jose Ruiz Marquez, a Claretian Missionary based in the Philippines was in Epiphany Parish, Mui Wo for over a month helping in the parish. While two of the priests from the parish were away on studies and vacation, Fr. Marquez made himself available to serve the English community.
Epiphany parishioners had the opportunity to listen to a series of classes on liturgy and Bible as Fr. Marquez is a Professor of Theology and a priest with wide reading. During his Bible Study classes in Mui Wo and Pengchau, he challenged the enabled the parishioners to look beyond the traditional understanding of devotions and practices of faith, in order to make the scriptures more relevant and meaningful in our daily life.
----------------------------
Claretian Family reach out - Candle Light
In the past couple of years, the Claretian lay associates - "Candle Light"- from Hong Kong and Macau have been making huge strides in their reach-out programme for the needy: leprosy affected people in the Mainland China and for the educational aid for the children in Nepal. All this was possible with the help of generous assistance from our friends and well wishers.
Candle Light volunteers participating in the Caritas Charity Sale in St. Benedict Parish, Shatin
Over the past year, the Parishioners of Epiphany parish, Mui Wo have been sending used clothes, toys and house appliances to help the informal settlers in the Philippines.
Fr. Lito CMF, the parish priest of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish, UP Village, Metro Manila distributing utensils and rice for the fire tragedy victims
Recently there was a fire accident in one of the informal settlers area where in over 150 houses went up in flames. Many of them belonged to the Claretian Parish in Quezon City.
Fr. Lito, CMF with the volunteers of the Claret Urban Poor Apostolate (CUPA)after distributing the basic necessities for the fire tragedy victim
Hearing the news of the fire tragedy, a group of our friends from Macau - "Grace Educare" - made some generous contributions to provide immediate relief for the affected families. Relief materials were distributed by Fr. Lito, the parish priest of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish, Quezon City.
The generous help from numerous well wishers in Macau and Hong Kong for the surgery and medical help for the Children has gone a long way!
We have been assisting a group of Sisters - Franciscan Daughters of St Elizabeth - in the Philippines in their medical mission programme for the children. The Sisters have come across a large number of children who are badly in need of medical help. This time too, a lot of our friends from Macau and Hong Kong have done generous contributions that we were able to raise more than a million pesos for the surgery and treatment of children.
Waiting for the Vice President Ms. Leni Robredo at Saklay Centre
Another project in the Philippines where generous contributions from Hong Kong and Macau is reaching is for the treatment and rehabilitation of drug addicts.
Fr. Arnold with the Vice President of the Philippines, Ms. Leni Robredo at Saklay
With the now infamous 'war on drugs' by the Government forces and having over 13,000 people already gunned down in just over a year, the Claretian Missionaries in the Philippines responds to the need for 'giving them another chance' and opened a centre for the addicts. Fr. Arnold Abelardo collaborates with the Police forces and the health department to spread the message of 'No to deaths, Yes to Life'.
"Boodle Fight" at Saklay!
The Saklay Centre for the drug dependants is located in the Province of over 100 kms north of Manila. On 28 November the third batch of drug dependents completed their recovery treatment programme and the Vice President of the Philippines, Ms. Leni Robredo herself was present on the occasion. According to Fr. Arnold, over 500 drug dependents have benefited from the Centre.
The Volunteers and staff at Saklay
We missionaries are greatly indebted to all our friends and benefactors who joyfully responded to share in this ministry. We pray for the heaven's choicest blessings on all of you!
The Participants in EAPI this time were from 21 Countries
I have been attending a renewal programme for the past four months in the East Asian pastoral Institute (EAPI) in Ateneo de Manila University. The programme was titled "Pastoral Renewal and Updating for Leadership and Mission".
With Fr. Bruno, who's visit to the Philippines was a pleasant surprise
Together with the 19 participants from the stream of Sabbatical Pilgrimage Experience, and 35 in the Pastoral Renewal stream, we were 54 participants, mostly priests and religious from 21 nationalities participated in the renewal programme which started in August 2017. 15 modules on varied themes spanning from Spirituality, Psychology, Pastoral leadership, Ecclesiology, Interfaith relations, etc. were conducted during a period of 18 weeks. The programme served as a platform for renewal of vocational commitment as it was well structured with opening and concluding retreats and an eight-day Ignatian retreat in the middle.
Although the life in the Ateneo campus was pleasantly away from the harsher realities of life in the out, the time in EAPI was tailored for ample exposure to the struggles of the less fortunate. A visit to the informal settlers area in Navotas and my personal involvement with the mission projects of the Claretians and Franciscan Missionary Sisters in Manila was helpful in identifying my responsibilities.
The generosity and commitment of the ordinary people is a huge lesson which no university or institute would teach and has often put me to shame! How little have I done! How much more am I called to be!
Certification on completion of the Course in EAPI by Fr. Peter Pujol, the Director of EAPI
During our Missioning Mass on 30 November, Fr. Antonio SJ, the President of the Jesuit Asia Pacific Conference, wished all the participants "Couragio"! That's what I aspire for! But for the time, thanks to my Community in Hong Kong for sparing me for the past six months and thanks to EAPI for accommodating me for the past four months!
------------------------
Claretian Day Celebration in Taiwan
21st October 2017 marked a unique day in the life
and mission of Claretian Missionaries in Taiwan. The Claretian Community in
Taiwan ventured herself into dedicating the whole of this year (2017) for
helping the recipients of our missionary service know more about the Claretian
Congregation, its founder-St. Anthony Mary Claret, its various missions and
missionary initiatives around the globe etc.
Thus, beginning from the month of
May until October, we dedicated each month for various themes and programs,
such as, prayer of initiation, pilgrimage, Power-Point Presentation on the
Congregation and her mission, Claretian movies, Marian Spirituality etc.
As a
culmination of the whole celebration, on 21st October 2017, we had a
joined Claretian Mission Day Celebration at Keelung Assumption Church, with a
distinct participation of nearly 150 of our well-wishes from all the missions
and parishes we are rendering our services-such as, Keelung, Ruifang, Qidu,
Wulai and Zhonghe Aboriginal Pastoral Centre. The final day celebration
enormously made an impact on everyone to know mutually and particularly our
missionary commitment in this region. ----------------------------------
2nd International Choral Festival, Macau
The
second edition of Cantata Macau will be plugged in on December-6, 2017. Eight
choirs from Indonesia, Hong Kong, Macau, Mexico and Philippines, will flood the
Cathedral and Saint Lawrence vaults with their distilled musical extravaganza
for 4 days in a row. The highlight of the event is the Grand Concert on 8th
December at 7.30 pm in the Cineteatro,
Macau.
Add caption
The
Cantata Macau, the International Music Festival Macau started last year with an
intention to offer an alternative signification to Macau, which is known to the
world as a land of casinos.
Paradoxically, the negative synonyms showered on
this city do not suit the natives of Macau who generally, cherish their
religious identity and enjoy what is holy. The Music Festival is an attempt to
redeem this sublime past of Macau. ------------------------------------------
