SCJ Philippine District

Father, we thank you for revealing yourself to us in Jesus the Christ, we who once were not your people but whom you chose to adopt as your people. As ancient Israel confessed long ago, we realize that it was not because of our own righteousness, or our own superior wisdom, or strength, or power, or numbers. It was simply because you loved us, and chose to show us that love in Jesus.

As you have accepted us when we did not deserve your love, will you help us to accept those whom we find it hard to love? Forgive us, O Lord, for any attitude that we harbor that on any level sees ourselves as better or more righteous than others. Will you help us to remove the barriers of prejudice and to tear down the walls of bigotry, religious or social? O Lord, help us realize that the walls that we erect for others only form our own prisons!

Will you fill us so full of your love that there is no more room for intolerance. As you have forgiven us much, will you enable us with your strength to forgive others even more? Will you enable us through your abiding Presence among us, communally and individually, to live our lives in a manner worthy of the Name we bear?

May we, through your guidance and our faithful obedience, find new avenues in ways that we have not imagined of holding the Light of your love so that it may be a Light of revelation for all people.

We thank you for your love, praise you for your Gift, ask for your continued Presence with us, and bring these petitions in the name of your Son, who has truly revealed your heart. Amen

Lord, we ask you to help all the victims and their families to survive this disaster. Be with them and comfort them. Help them get food and shelter. You are a loving Father and want Your children to be comforted. Let Your will be done.

Amen.

Today, on January 1, 2005, the father of Fr. Indra Pamungkas, scj passed away. Let us pray for his soul and for his family. May he rest in peace!

Our sincerest condolences to Fr. Indra and his family!

Father most holy,
in your Son Jesus Christ
you have given all creatures salvation and forgiveness:
look upon us, whom you have consecrated
in the name of your Only-Begotten Son.
In a world often restless and violent,
may we to be messengers of glad tidings to the poor,
heralds of mercy and reconciliation,
makers of peace.

Today let us not harden our hearts
as our fathers did in the desert,
but receiving the fire of your Holy Spirit,
may we welcome the Word of life
with the docility of Mary, the Mother of the Lord,
of Francis of Assisi
and of countless other witnesses of faith.

May your word
penetrate us like a sharp sword;
may it help us to know the paths of mutual forgiveness
more than "seven times seven";
may it teach us to build communities of faith
open to ever greater communion;
may it teach us to be peacemakers
so that the civilization of love
will bear witness to the Kingdom that is and that will come.
Through Christ our Lord.

R. Amen.

John Paul II

Best wishes for Fr. Alosio Back, SCJ, who on December 31,2004 celebrates his 22nd Anniversary of Ordination to the Priesthood. May the Lord contine to bless you and be your strength!

On December 29, 2004, the General Curia in Rome received information regarding the beatification of Fr. Leo John Dehon. The Founder of the Congregation of the Priests of the Sacred Heart will be proclaimed "Blessed" by the Holy Father John Paul II on April 24, 2005. It will take place during the Eucharistic Celebration at the Saint Peter Square in Rome.

According to the letter of the General Superior, Fr. Josè Ornelas Carvalho, this is a very important momemt for the whole SCJ Congregation and the entire Dehonian Family. The time left before the beatification should be for all the members a time of spiritual preparation and reflection.

My Lord and my God, you are Love itself, and the source of all love and goodness. Out of love you created me to know you, love you, and serve you in a unique way, as no one else can. I believe that you have a plan for my life, that you have a task in your Kingdom reserved just for me. Your plan and your task are far better than any other I might choose: they will glorify you, fulfill the desires of my heart, and save those souls who are depending on my generous response.

Lord, grant me the light I need to see the next step in that plan; grant me the generosity I need to set aside my own plans in favor of yours; and grant me the strength I need to put my hands to your plough and never turn back. You know me better than I know myself, so you know that I am sinful and weak. All the more reason that I need your grace to uphold the good desires of my heart, O Lord!

Show me your will for me, O gentle and eternal God, and help me to say with Mary, "I am the servant of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word," and to say with Jesus, "Let not my will be done, but yours."

Lord Jesus, as You once called the first disciples to make them fishers of men, let your sweet invitation continue to resound: Come, follow Me! Give young men and women the grace of responding quickly to Your voice. Support our bishops, priests, and consecrated people in their apostolic labor. Grant perseverance to our seminarians and to all those who are carrying out the ideal of a life totally consecrated to Your service. Mary, Mother of the Church, the model of every vocation, help us to say "Yes" to the Lord Who calls us to cooperate in the divine plan of salvation. Amen.

-John Paul II

75 candidates from different places in Mindanao attended the "Search-in Seminar" in Cagayan de Oro organized by the SCJ Vocation Team. Majority of them come from high schools and the others are either 4th year college students or college graduates. They are from the following provinces: Zamboanga Sibugey, Zamboanga del Sur, Misamis oriental, Misamis Occidental, Agusan del Sur, Agusan del Norte, Surigao del Sur, Davao del Norte, Camuigin Island, Bukidnon and Cebu.
During the three days of activities they will discern their personal vocation and learn more about the Congregation of the Priests of the Sacred Heart, its founder and spirituality. Those who will apply to the congregation will proceed to the next step which is individual interview. All accepted canditates will pass through the personal follow-up and hopefully next June 2005 will start their studies and preparation to the religious life at the Sacred Heart Formation House in Cagayan de Oro.

For more details, please see our Vocation Promotion Photo Album

Dear Lord, bless our family. Be so kind as to give us the unity, peace, and mutual love that You found in Your own family in the little town of Nazareth.

Saint Joseph, bless the head of our family. Obtain for him the strength, the wisdom, and the prudence he needs to support and direct those under his care.

Mother Mary, bless the mother of our family. Help her to be pure and kind, gentle and self-sacrificing. For the more she resembles you, the better will our family be.

Lord Jesus, bless the children of our family. Help them to be obedient and devoted to their parents. Make them more and more like You. Let them grow, as You did, in wisdom and age and grace before God and man.

Holy Family of Nazareth, make our family and home more and more like Yours, until we are all one family, happy and at peace in our true home with You. Amen.

National Catholic Rural Life Conference