Message from the Pastor

We live in a world where we encounter many personalities. These personalities might fit with our own unique personality or may not. There is this real fact that spirituality experts say, that even two saintly persons living in the same place will surely have some disagreements, big or small. That whether lay or clergy, we are not exempted from this, and we are all vulnerable to this kind of pitfall.

I remember when I was in my Novitiate (introductory years to seminary life), there  was this incident when I had a little “quarrel” or misunderstanding with one of my co-novice. Our novice master learned about it. The two of us were called and were reminded that we need to strive to lower our PRIDE in order to be reconciled. We shook hands before we left the novice master’s office, but it was more for formality’s sake. In the succeeding days after that, there was no retaliation, but it yo-yoed to the other extreme end. We found ourselves not talking to each other. Either the reason was out of shame or we felt awkward, but the atmosphere we created was more of “silent treatment”, and this continued for some months! Maybe we were contended with the saying, “no talk, no trouble”. And due to that quarrel incident, we had been extra careful not to let the incident happen again by being “silent” and avoiding each other.    

    

Then came our 30-day Retreat when , on the first day, our novice master announced that there will be ten in our class who will share room. He intended to do this by drawing lots. All our names were written in small pieces of paper, 54 of us, and were placed in a box and the first four pairs were called. And when the last pair of names were drawn and announced, guess whose names were called??? My name and that co-novice’s name (the one I had not been talking for a while)!       

When we entered our shared room, of course, there was awkward silence. When we sat on our respected beds, something funny happened sincethat we both burst into laughter at the same time! Why? We both were thinking the same thing: EVEN HOW MUCH WE TRY TO AVOID EACH OTHER, GOD WILL MAKE A WAY FOR US TO RE-ENCOUNTER EACH OTHER AGAIN and BE LED TO RECONCILE. That very moment, we started talking and even realized how long we have not been talking to each other. This resulted to our being reconciled at last. Praise God, the Reconciler!

In our life - to repair, restore, mend a damaged, broken, injured relationship - is to reach out. If we decline or postpone to do this, God will do it for us or will create the occasion. In the gospel, Jesus’ prescription is to speak directly in private and to avoid brooding over our grievance. And if this fails, then we must still not give up. If ever we give up, God won’t give up on us. For the Lord Jesus wants to set us free from resentment, ill-will, and unforgiveness. We must not give up on PRAYING for those who cause us offense. With God's help we must seek to make every effort to win them with the grace and power of God's healing love and wisdom.

There was once a touching liturgy I celebrated when I was in Papua New Guinea (PNG), during the time of the Penitential rite within the Mass, when two “warring” groups of villagers would come forward in front of the sanctuary to BREAK THEIR BOWS and ARROWS as a gesture of reconciliation or to cease fighting each other. Very touching!

We can conclude then, for TRUE RECONCILIATION to happen, REPENTANCE and FORGIVENESS need to come about. For to “FOR-GIVE” is actually to “GIVE-FOR” the other.

Fr. Ted

Message from the Parochial Vicar

Ice bucket Challenge

In the last few weeks there has been hype on the social media about the ice bucket challenge as a fund-raiser into a research for the cure and treatment of ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis). I have followed with keen interest the caliber of people who have carried out this challenge and have challenged others to it. These people include the high and mighty; the crème-de-la crème of our society, even celebrities, and this challenge has found itself outside the shore of America to other countries.

The most interesting thing is how this has spread so fast with 99.9% compliance. While this is praise-worthy and a show of commitment to charity for the “unknown sufferer”, it is capable of teaching us invaluable lessons as Christians to challenge one another to faith.

There is a seeming complacency when it comes to matters of faith these days among many Christians but I think we need to constantly challenge one another not with an ice bucket with the practices of faith like going to Sunday mass regularly, morning prayer, night prayer, saying the rosary, visiting the blessed sacrament,visiting the sick, weak and the broken, and all other forms of charity.

So I am throwing a faith challenge to you who is holding this bulletin in your hand right now and reading this article. Pray at least five decades of the rosary before the end of this week for a breakthrough in the ALS research and challenge your friends to do the same. Please don’t be afraid to challenge them even on social media. Remember the physicians do the treatment but the healing itself comes from Jesus who is the master healer. The researchers expend their energy seeking to know and find a cure but the knowledge and wisdom comes from Jesus who is the wisdom of God. Let us therefore join the rest of the world in contributing and praying for a breakthrough into the cure of ALS as we hold in our prayers all who are already suffering from ALS. Jesus speaks to them today and indeed all of us who suffer from incurable sicknesses and even curable ones, that we should surrender to His will and take up our crosses and come after him the source of true life that lasts for ever.

Back to School:

We welcome all our beloved kids back to school. School opened on August 27^th and full activities have since began. As we welcome back our kids we also welcome back all the parents, the mother’s club and men’s club. We welcome especially the Principal and faculty and we pray that God will bless them bountifully in this new school year.

Back to Life:

With the reopening of the school the parish life has gone back to normal with most parishioners back from their summer holiday to join the many parishioners who were around. We are very happy to have all of you back safe and sound and we hope you had a nice time. Many of our students were excited to report to me that they attended masses while away on summer and that they carried out the recommendation of Fr. Dan. They said they went to the priests and told them that: (1) I am from St. Brendan (2) I am here to pray for you (3) and to pray with you. This is a clear indication of the fruits of faith.

May God keep our faith alive, AMEN.

Fr. Theo

Pastor's Corner

In my July 20 bulletin message, I mentioned about the accident that happened to me on June 6, 1970. Many years have already passed but the events are still fresh in my mind. Let me elaborate the details of this incident. As I’ve mentioned, “I was rushed to the hospital, diagnosed with broken thigh bone, had surgery, and was confined for some weeks in the ward”. The healing process did not come that quick. Recuperation was difficult and had to be dealt with gradually.

During that time, as I had mentioned also, my parents’ loving care and fervent prayers to God became the source of my strength. This was where I witnessed how grounded they were in their faith, which later on had a great impact on me.

After my series of treatments at the Orthopedic Hospital in the city and each time we went home to the province, we would stop at a famous Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help (in Baclaran, Manila). My parents would leave me inside the car since my leg was still in a cast , and they would spend some time in prayer. And here is the thing, I would see them from afar , crying while walking on their knees in prayer from the entrance of the big church all the way to the sanctuary, pleading and begging for God’s mercy for my recovery. Like the woman in our gospel it seemed they were telling God, “Our son is severely injured, Lord help us, help our son to recover, have pity on us.” For them, this gesture of sacrifice by walking on their knees was a way to show how sincere they were in what they were asking from God. You may call it devotional, but it was a unique gesture of their faith.

Their pleading for God’s help involved patience, persistence, perseverance, insistence or fighting spirit. They were really determined to “knock on the doors of heaven with prayers or to storm heaven with their knocking”. I understood their feelings since this involved their only boy who is also their youngest child. Little did they know at that time that this child will become a priest of God.

At the latter part of my recovery, there were some coincidences that happened. I was confined again in a hospital with a name, Perpetual Help Hospital. One of my aunts suggested that instead of going back and forth from the province to the city, why don’t we look for a temporary residence in the city. And we were offered to stay in a residence where the nearby parish’s name is Perpetual Help Church. Many relatives and friends who sent me some cards for my recovery would insert prayer cards (stampitas) bearing the picture of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. We may call it coincidence, but it can turn out to be a providence. Thanks to the intercession of our Blessed Mother with her Perpetual Help. It is also a good occasion to remember her, especially last Friday on the Feast of her Assumption, August 15.

After all the prayers and professional medical treatment I had, I finally regained my health, strength and ability to walk. Praise God for his kindness.

We can conclude then, when God sees how great the faith of people, it will be done for them as they desire. Though both of my parents are now deceased and are not saints due to human imperfection, what they did for me in the spirit of prayer can be considered as “saintly”. Their faith and their love is what mattered after all.

Fr. Ted Magpayo

Pastor

Praying On A Rough Sea

During my missionary work in Papua New Guinea (PNG), I was once assigned in a small volcanic island called “Manam”. If you will search it on the internet, it is now an abandoned island due to a massive volcanic eruption in the late 90’s, just about the time I left PNG in 1997. The island people here are typically conservative and even ‘preservative’; for no matter what happens, even in an eruption, they won’t leave “their” island.

People in mainland PNG have a play of words/letters: MANAM, read straight or backwards spells the same, as its people remain the same and won’t change. Wow… that sounds challenging to any missionary whose work is to be an agent of change. But I heard the government was able to convince them to evacuate to a safer place in mainland PNG during one major

eruption.

Nevertheless, this preconceived information did not discourage me from doing apostolic-missionary work there for I found the people welcoming and they value very much family and friendship. I first learned their language and then their culture which is rich in songs. They love music and singing! Their local songs are still in my head up to this time.

The trip from the mainland to this island takes only about an hour and 15 minutes by boat, if the sea (Bismarck Sea) is calm. But when the sea is rough (“Maasi igoala”) it can take three hours! There was a frightening incident, it was March 25 then, when returning to the island riding a small boat, with 3 companions, one of them a nun, we experienced a “white squall”(a whirlwind at sea or a violent disturbance of small radius indicated by whitecaps and turbulent water). That was one incident in my life where I thought would be the end of me. We were holding our wet rosaries in prayer until we disembarked. During the trip, our boat was beaten/ tossed by strong waves and winds. It sounds the same like the disciples’ experience in the gospel. I remember when a turbulent wave would hit us, our voices too become louder in prayer. So frightening! And when we finally reached the port of the island, people flocked to us, not only to welcome us but asked, “How were you able to make it, it is a rough sea?! (Bakaraka Kupura, Maasi igoala?!). Even the local people were wondering how we made it.

I recall, in the middle of the trip, the motor man was asking me if we need to go back to cancel our trip, but I felt that we were ALREADY travelling and ALMOST close to our destination. Why QUIT? Though I knew it was RISKY, this was the time to show FAITH and TRUST in God.

In our gospel, Peter was distracted, he was already walking on water, and he almost reached where Jesus was… When trials, temptations, adversities, troubles, difficulties, calamities, struggles come our way like a “life-threatening storm”, how do we take it?

While Jesus was not with them in the boat, he watched for them in prayer. The Lord keeps watch over us at all times. When calamities or trials threaten to overwhelm us, do we respond with faith and hope in God's love, care and presence with us?

Fr. Ted Magpayo

Pastor

From Disgrace to Grace

I remember the story of a boy who at an early age of 8 had a traumatic accident and broke his thigh bone (femur) while playing. He was rushed to the hospital, had surgery, and was confined for some weeks. It was then a summer vacation and this brought worries and stress to his parents. For almost three months, the boy wasn’t able to walk. His parents’ loving care and fervent prayers to God for healing became the source of strength in that debilitating condition. Finally, the boy recovered and life went on for him. He returned to school, though a little behind with lessons , but was able to catch-up.

That incident brought the conclusion that the boy would not be able to play any rough sports anymore. But God has His own reasons why “certain doors would close and other doors will open”. The life of the boy then was diverted to some endeavors involving more on arts. When this boy became a young man and finished his college career, he decided to pursue his special calling to serve the Lord in the priesthood. In his first mission assignment while working abroad, he again contracted a disease of the throat where he lost his voice for a certain period of time. Can you imagine a “voiceless priest”? And so he ended up saying Mass in Sign Language for three months . It was a “blessing in disguise” because  he became more understanding of people with speaking disabilities.

Another obstacle that came his way was the development of a heel spur on his foot which was a painful condition. All these things can pose as obstacles to not pursue one’s aim and just be discouraged, but this ‘servant of God’ bore all of these thinking that these things will pass anyway and trusting in God always. We can appreciate more the value of health when we have experienced ourselves the conditions of sickness-illness-disease.

I guess you know who the person mentioned above is…he is writing this article.

Development and recovery takes a while, like the mustard seed that still has to grow. We just have to be patient with the situation and with ourselves.

The saying goes: “Many are the sorrow of a just man.” Sometimes, we appear to be injured, but in the end we see the hand of God in the course of our lives”.

“Even though the enemy would come and sow weeds among the wheat… in the end the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father…”

With blessings!

Fr. Ted Magpayo

A MISSIONARY LIFE IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA

My PNG Adventure: Scattering the Seed in the LAND of the UNEXPECTED

It was a great joy last week to be introduced to the St. Brendan’s community as initiated by Fr. Theo. In my short address, I invited you to look on an overview of my life’s timeline. Let’s check on those years in 1991-1997 in Papua New Guinea…

As a young missionary then (barely 2 years ordained), I braved the many threats coming from people’s comments and even true experiences that going to Papua New Guinea is a ‘risky job’. It is noted as the “Land of the Unexpected”, people were known for practicing cannibalism, there was the possibility of contracting malaria or typhoid fever, and also many incidents wherein even priests were stopped by rascals (highway robbers) on the road and left half-naked.

In my six years of missionary life, I had a chance to scatter the “seeds of faith” in certain areas in Papua New Guinea. I worked one year each in Madang, Bogia, Manam Island and the last three years at Divine Word University of Madang where most members of my congregation reside.

My first three years were thrilling and full of adventure. I was appointed by the Archbishop of the place to climb the highest mountain in PNG which was Mt. Wilhelm. And so, it was then “back-pack” time for me! In this place, people would see a priest TWICE a year only! So, after hours and hours of walking and climbing, it was time to stop at a village to say Mass with just five families attending. But I did not mind the number, for it is the “reaching out” to them that mattered.

I was trying to avoid contracting malaria, but a popular comment of missionaries was, “if you don’t contract malaria, you are not a true missionary”. I finally got it too in the end. Being introduced in this new culture meant “changing clothes” for me, like learning a new language (Pidgin), eating exotic food that the people eat like processed crocodile steak, turtle meat and others. Although during my time in PNG, cannibalism was not anymore practiced (until 1958 I was told), we could still hear incidents where this was secretly being practiced.

My last three years was more of “indoor” pastoral involvement -  meaning ‘safe’ university work where I taught young students aspiring to become the new generation of PNG professionals. A few incidents of teen suicide were reported occasionally, since young people would get frustrated when they could not reach what they aspired for.

The word of God has still to be sown continuously into the hearts of the people and the building of the Kingdom of God goes on. As the sower sows the seed of God’s Word, its growth depends on the condition of its destination. We pray to God for more grace that nothing may stop us to plant it into the hearts of people.

Fr. Ted Magpayo