Advent

"Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day you Lord will come." In the readings this past Sunday on the First Sunday of Advent, we are reminded to put on the Lord Jesus Christ. We must stay awake and be prepared everyday. Noah built the ark on God's instruction. He listened to the word and acted on it. It definitely required much faith. Probably those around him thought he was crazy. How many of us fall victim to the secular celebration of Christmas? I myself get caught in all the "Christmas in the air" feeling and forget the meaning of this advent season. Many times before I have failed to listen to God's voice. As the Gospel reading has reminded us, we must be like Noah- prepared. We must rise and stand in faith especially in these times. For a priest, he must walk in faith always and listen to God's instruction.

During the homily this past sunday, the priest celebrant told of a faith experience he had encountered a few weeks ago. He was on his way to celebrate mass at the mission church on a saturday. This church was in a rural area with poor cell phone reception. Right before celebrating mass, he received a phone call. It was his sister calling to say that their mother is being rushed to the emergency room. After she said that, the phone dropped the call leaving Father stupefied. He was worried because he couldn't call back. Many emotions went through this mind. He had two choices. First, he could just leave behind his flock or walk by faith and trust in God. After composing himself, he chose to walk by faith. He listened to the instruction of God, "go and offer mass for my people." The next day, he received a call from his sister saying that their mother is being moved out of the ICU. Talk about walking by faith. What is so moving was that Father was able to talk to his mother on the phone. When he asked whether or not she knew who she was talking to, she said, "This is my son." The was the first time in a long time that she knew who he was.

To prepare ourselves this advent season, St. Paul reminds us to "throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light." The bottom line is: Do not do things of darkness because we are children of the light. God spoke through the prophets but all was fulfilled by Jesus. NOW is the time to leave behind any darkness. Let us be in joyful anticipation!

Commemoration of All Souls

"For those who believe, life has not ended but changed."

Yesterday was the commemoration of All Souls, an important day for the monks of Mount Angel Abbey. The fog rolled in and covered the hill most of the morning. After the mass, everyone processed to the cemetery with the monks taking the lead. With hoods covering their heads, the monks processed through the fog. Once we got there, Father Odo with holy water blessed the graves of this brothers. Following that, he incensed the cemetery by weaving through the rows of simple cross grave markers.

We all left the cemetery in silence. This day was a day of recollection for the whole seminary. We had conferences lead by Abbot Gregory Duer, OSB.

Most of my day was reflecting on burying my mom nearly a year ago and my father almost four years. I truly missed their presence and the ability to have a conversation with them. My father a hard working person trying to make ends meet found his rest in drinking. I regret not spending time with him having some Ahi Poke (raw fish snack eaten while hanging out) or learn about this trade of making Hawaiian jewelry. His life well lived, was too short. My mom battled breast cancers for almost two years before going home to the Lord. I wish I spend more time with her listening to her stories of the past and learning to cook those delicious Filipino dishes that I so miss. She lived a life self-sacrificing from coming to America at the age of 21 to give a better life for her siblings (4 sisters, 2 brothers) to working several jobs to make ends meet when she started her own family.

To both of my parents, thank you for teaching me to love no matter what. For teaching me the importance of "blood is thicker than water" and the value of family. For teaching me to sacrifice my self for others. For teaching me to study hard and strive for the best. Thank for these and so much more.

Lord, I praise you and I thank you for giving me the parents that I had. You taught us to empty ourselves by giving up your son. Give me the grace to persevere to become a holy priest as you have called me to. I know how much you are asking me to give up and I accept. Let your presence be ever known to me in the times of trial and tribulation. Help me to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit's promptings. Bless those who have had an impact in my life. I ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Pope Benedict writes a letter to the Seminarians of the World

LETTER OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
TO SEMINARIANS

Dear Seminarians,

When in December 1944 I was drafted for military service, the company commander asked each of us what we planned to do in the future. I answered that I wanted to become a Catholic priest. The lieutenant replied: “Then you ought to look for something else. In the new Germany priests are no longer needed”. I knew that this “new Germany” was already coming to an end, and that, after the enormous devastation which that madness had brought upon the country, priests would be needed more than ever. Today the situation is completely changed. In different ways, though, many people nowadays also think that the Catholic priesthood is not a “job” for the future, but one that belongs more to the past. You, dear friends, have decided to enter the seminary and to prepare for priestly ministry in the Catholic Church in spite of such opinions and objections. You have done a good thing. Because people will always have need of God, even in an age marked by technical mastery of the world and globalization: they will always need the God who has revealed himself in Jesus Christ, the God who gathers us together in the universal Church in order to learn with him and through him life’s true meaning and in order to uphold and apply the standards of true humanity. Where people no longer perceive God, life grows empty; nothing is ever enough. People then seek escape in euphoria and violence; these are the very things that increasingly threaten young people. God is alive. He has created every one of us and he knows us all. He is so great that he has time for the little things in our lives: “Every hair of your head is numbered”. God is alive, and he needs people to serve him and bring him to others. It does makes sense to become a priest: the world needs priests, pastors, today, tomorrow and always, until the end of time.

The seminary is a community journeying towards priestly ministry. I have said something very important here: one does not become a priest on one’s own. The “community of disciples” is essential, the fellowship of those who desire to serve the greater Church. In this letter I would like to point out – thinking back to my own time in the seminary – several elements which I consider important for these years of your journeying.

1. Anyone who wishes to become a priest must be first and foremost a “man of God”, to use the expression of Saint Paul (1 Tim 6:11). For us God is not some abstract hypothesis; he is not some stranger who left the scene after the “big bang”. God has revealed himself in Jesus Christ. In the face of Jesus Christ we see the face of God. In his words we hear God himself speaking to us. It follows that the most important thing in our path towards priesthood and during the whole of our priestly lives is our personal relationship with God in Jesus Christ. The priest is not the leader of a sort of association whose membership he tries to maintain and expand. He is God’s messenger to his people. He wants to lead them to God and in this way to foster authentic communion between all men and women. That is why it is so important, dear friends, that you learn to live in constant intimacy with God. When the Lord tells us to “pray constantly”, he is obviously not asking us to recite endless prayers, but urging us never to lose our inner closeness to God. Praying means growing in this intimacy. So it is important that our day should begin and end with prayer; that we listen to God as the Scriptures are read; that we share with him our desires and our hopes, our joys and our troubles, our failures and our thanks for all his blessings, and thus keep him ever before us as the point of reference for our lives. In this way we grow aware of our failings and learn to improve, but we also come to appreciate all the beauty and goodness which we daily take for granted and so we grow in gratitude. With gratitude comes joy for the fact that God is close to us and that we can serve him.

2. For us God is not simply Word. In the sacraments he gives himself to us in person, through physical realities. At the heart of our relationship with God and our way of life is the Eucharist. Celebrating it devoutly, and thus encountering Christ personally, should be the centre of all our days. In Saint Cyprian’s interpretation of the Gospel prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread”, he says among other things that “our” bread – the bread which we receive as Christians in the Church – is the Eucharistic Lord himself. In this petition of the Our Father, then, we pray that he may daily give us “our” bread; and that it may always nourish our lives; that the Risen Christ, who gives himself to us in the Eucharist, may truly shape the whole of our lives by the radiance of his divine love. The proper celebration of the Eucharist involves knowing, understanding and loving the Church’s liturgy in its concrete form. In the liturgy we pray with the faithful of every age – the past, the present and the future are joined in one great chorus of prayer. As I can state from personal experience, it is inspiring to learn how it all developed, what a great experience of faith is reflected in the structure of the Mass, and how it has been shaped by the prayer of many generations.

3. The sacrament of Penance is also important. It teaches me to see myself as God sees me, and it forces me to be honest with myself. It leads me to humility. The Curé of Ars once said: “You think it makes no sense to be absolved today, because you know that tomorrow you will commit the same sins over again. Yet,” he continues, “God instantly forgets tomorrow’s sins in order to give you his grace today.” Even when we have to struggle continually with the same failings, it is important to resist the coarsening of our souls and the indifference which would simply accept that this is the way we are. It is important to keep pressing forward, without scrupulosity, in the grateful awareness that God forgives us ever anew – yet also without the indifference that might lead us to abandon altogether the struggle for holiness and self-improvement. Moreover, by letting myself be forgiven, I learn to forgive others. In recognizing my own weakness, I grow more tolerant and understanding of the failings of my neighbour.

4. I urge you to retain an appreciation for popular piety, which is different in every culture yet always remains very similar, for the human heart is ultimately one and the same. Certainly, popular piety tends towards the irrational, and can at times be somewhat superficial. Yet it would be quite wrong to dismiss it. Through that piety, the faith has entered human hearts and become part of the common patrimony of sentiments and customs, shaping the life and emotions of the community. Popular piety is thus one of the Church’s great treasures. The faith has taken on flesh and blood. Certainly popular piety always needs to be purified and refocused, yet it is worthy of our love and it truly makes us into the “People of God”.

5. Above all, your time in the seminary is also a time of study. The Christian faith has an essentially rational and intellectual dimension. Were it to lack that dimension, it would not be itself. Paul speaks of a “standard of teaching” to which we were entrusted in Baptism (Rom 6:17). All of you know the words of Saint Peter which the medieval theologians saw as the justification for a rational and scientific theology: “Always be ready to make your defence to anyone who demands from you an ‘accounting’ (logos) for the hope that is in you” (1 Pet 3:15). Learning how to make such a defence is one of the primary responsibilities of your years in the seminary. I can only plead with you: Be committed to your studies! Take advantage of your years of study! You will not regret it. Certainly, the subjects which you are studying can often seem far removed from the practice of the Christian life and the pastoral ministry. Yet it is completely mistaken to start questioning their practical value by asking: Will this be helpful to me in the future? Will it be practically or pastorally useful? The point is not simply to learn evidently useful things, but to understand and appreciate the internal structure of the faith as a whole, so that it can become a response to people’s questions, which on the surface change from one generation to another yet ultimately remain the same. For this reason it is important to move beyond the changing questions of the moment in order to grasp the real questions, and so to understand how the answers are real answers. It is important to have a thorough knowledge of sacred Scripture as a whole, in its unity as the Old and the New Testaments: the shaping of texts, their literary characteristics, the process by which they came to form the canon of sacred books, their dynamic inner unity, a unity which may not be immediately apparent but which in fact gives the individual texts their full meaning. It is important to be familiar with the Fathers and the great Councils in which the Church appropriated, through faith-filled reflection, the essential statements of Scripture. I could easily go on. What we call dogmatic theology is the understanding of the individual contents of the faith in their unity, indeed, in their ultimate simplicity: each single element is, in the end, only an unfolding of our faith in the one God who has revealed himself to us and continues to do so. I do not need to point out the importance of knowing the essential issues of moral theology and Catholic social teaching. The importance nowadays of ecumenical theology, and of a knowledge of the different Christian communities, is obvious; as is the need for a basic introduction to the great religions, to say nothing of philosophy: the understanding of that human process of questioning and searching to which faith seeks to respond. But you should also learn to understand and – dare I say it – to love canon law, appreciating how necessary it is and valuing its practical applications: a society without law would be a society without rights. Law is the condition of love. I will not go on with this list, but I simply say once more: love the study of theology and carry it out in the clear realization that theology is anchored in the living community of the Church, which, with her authority, is not the antithesis of theological science but its presupposition. Cut off from the believing Church, theology would cease to be itself and instead it would become a medley of different disciplines lacking inner unity.

6. Your years in the seminary should also be a time of growth towards human maturity. It is important for the priest, who is called to accompany others through the journey of life up to the threshold of death, to have the right balance of heart and mind, reason and feeling, body and soul, and to be humanly integrated. To the theological virtues the Christian tradition has always joined the cardinal virtues derived from human experience and philosophy, and, more generally, from the sound ethical tradition of humanity. Paul makes this point this very clearly to the Philippians: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (4:8). This also involves the integration of sexuality into the whole personality. Sexuality is a gift of the Creator yet it is also a task which relates to a person’s growth towards human maturity. When it is not integrated within the person, sexuality becomes banal and destructive. Today we can see many examples of this in our society. Recently we have seen with great dismay that some priests disfigured their ministry by sexually abusing children and young people. Instead of guiding people to greater human maturity and setting them an example, their abusive behaviour caused great damage for which we feel profound shame and regret. As a result of all this, many people, perhaps even some of you, might ask whether it is good to become a priest; whether the choice of celibacy makes any sense as a truly human way of life. Yet even the most reprehensible abuse cannot discredit the priestly mission, which remains great and pure. Thank God, all of us know exemplary priests, men shaped by their faith, who bear witness that one can attain to an authentic, pure and mature humanity in this state and specifically in the life of celibacy. Admittedly, what has happened should make us all the more watchful and attentive, precisely in order to examine ourselves earnestly, before God, as we make our way towards priesthood, so as to understand whether this is his will for me. It is the responsibility of your confessor and your superiors to accompany you and help you along this path of discernment. It is an essential part of your journey to practise the fundamental human virtues, with your gaze fixed on the God who has revealed himself in Christ, and to let yourselves be purified by him ever anew.

7. The origins of a priestly vocation are nowadays more varied and disparate than in the past. Today the decision to become a priest often takes shape after one has already entered upon a secular profession. Often it grows within the Communities, particularly within the Movements, which favour a communal encounter with Christ and his Church, spiritual experiences and joy in the service of the faith. It also matures in very personal encounters with the nobility and the wretchedness of human existence. As a result, candidates for the priesthood often live on very different spiritual continents. It can be difficult to recognize the common elements of one’s future mandate and its spiritual path. For this very reason, the seminary is important as a community which advances above and beyond differences of spirituality. The Movements are a magnificent thing. You know how much I esteem them and love them as a gift of the Holy Spirit to the Church. Yet they must be evaluated by their openness to what is truly Catholic, to the life of the whole Church of Christ, which for all her variety still remains one. The seminary is a time when you learn with one another and from one another. In community life, which can at times be difficult, you should learn generosity and tolerance, not only bearing with, but also enriching one another, so that each of you will be able to contribute his own gifts to the whole, even as all serve the same Church, the same Lord. This school of tolerance, indeed, of mutual acceptance and mutual understanding in the unity of Christ’s Body, is an important part of your years in the seminary.

Dear seminarians, with these few lines I have wanted to let you know how often I think of you, especially in these difficult times, and how close I am to you in prayer. Please pray for me, that I may exercise my ministry well, as long as the Lord may wish. I entrust your journey of preparation for priesthood to the maternal protection of Mary Most Holy, whose home was a school of goodness and of grace. May Almighty God bless you all, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

From the Vatican, 18 October 2010, the Feast of Saint Luke the Evangelist.

Yours devotedly in the Lord,
BENEDICTUS PP. XVI

cite: vatican.va

It all starts once again...

It is now the third week of school at Mount Angel Seminary. This school year is very busy for me. I am attempting to take 18 semester hours (credits), a 5 hour work-study at the administration offices, 3 hours a week of Pastoral formation at St. Joseph's Shelter, and 1 hour of being a pronunciation tutor. pheww....

My summer ended with my friends wedding presided by Bishop Silva. I had the opportunity of being the Master of Ceremonies for the mass and also the Emcee for the reception. I had a lot of fun. On the next day I had to be on a flight to Portland for the seminary. School started on that Monday that followed (the next day).

I truly miss the tropical weather of Honolulu as we enter into the Fall season here. The weather is starting to change into a colder climate and the heaven’s has opened their floodgates. I am looking forward to a great year and most importantly the time when I will see you again. Please continue to keep me in your prayers and be assured of my prayers as well.

Mid-Summer thoughts...

Summer has not been much of a vacation this year. I have been busy with the Office of Religious Education, hosting visiting seminarians, MC'ing Confirmation Masses with Bishop Silva, attending graduation parties, making appearances at the With Grateful Hearts Mahalo dinners, and touring Oahu with my niece.

It is quiet here at Saint Stephen's Diocesan Center. After all the diocesan workers leave the center, it becomes a ghost town. I dont let the darkness of the place get to me. I attend mass at the Carmelite Convent here on campus. The holy and prayerful sisters illumine this place.

The office of religious education (ORE) has been very busy with its conferences on Oahu and Kauai. We are getting ready for the next conference on Maui. I have been working on our catechist database and trying to update and clean up records. This has really helped me navigate through Microsoft Access and learn about the program. I will be completing my journey with the ORE soon and will truly miss this ministry.

June Feed the Homeless

On Thursday night, I spontaneously went to the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa Kakaako Homeless Shelter Feeding night with Life Teen coordinator Fay Castillo. The night reminded me the time I experienced the Day of Poverty Retreat in Portland, Oregon.

I thought that I would be the one to minister to the homeless but instead this day ministered me. When we arrived at the downtown chapel, we greeted by Fr. Ron Paul who gave us a short overview of the day. Then all the volunteers and my brothers gathered for a small Lectio Divina before the "guest" arrived. I liked the fact that we referred the homeless our "guest" because it I helped me realized that they important as much as anyone else.

I have done many homeless feeding before and was used to the it. This time was very different. Was it because of the location? Portland where as to Honolulu? I was moved by each "guest" as they went through the breakfast line. In a world where the homeless is disenfranchised and have little choice, in this place they were welcomed and important. It was moving to see them have a choice as to what kind yogurt to have or white milk or chocolate milk.

One of the volunteers had me sit with a few guest and at first I felt uncomfortable. As I engaged in the conversation with them, I experienced a defining moment. I witnessed to Jesus. The 25th Chapter of Matthews Gospel came into my mind. "For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me" (Matt. 25:35-36). When I told one of the guest that I was a seminarian studying for the priesthood, she responding with "You guys will heal us when we are down and sad." That was so simple yet profound. It came from the heart. I don't what was her educational background but let me tell you she was a great theologian.

That day taught me a lot and the homeless seems different now than before.

Are you willing to witness to Jesus?

Summer 2010 begins...

It has been a long time since I have blogged. I am glad to be back to share my experiences and struggles in being a seminarian. As you can tell from my previous blog ("Easter Letter"), I have been very busy. It really has been such a roller coaster of emotions in my first year of seminary. Although there were ups and downs this past year, I have survived it. It is only by God's infinite grace that I have the strength to go on.

Coming home this month on Mother's day was bittersweet. It was the first Mother's Day with out my mom physically being there. I was able to make a visit to the graveyard last week. I started my summer running. No rest for the wicked...

On Monday evening (May 10), I was able to serve mass at the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa for the Feast Day of St. Damien of Molokai. I was able to have private time with the relic of St. Damien (His heel Bone). As each person came up to venerate the relic, I was reflecting on the life of St. Damien. I was wondering about his struggles as a seminarian and more so as a priest in Molokai. I prayed really hard to St. Damien to intercede for me to persevere in my vocation to the priesthood. This month has been very hard on me and so I needed that moment with St. Damien.

Also on Monday last week, I started my internship with the Diocesan Office of Religious Education. There is a lot of work to be done. I have the privilege and honor to create and present an hour-long presentation on the Norms for the Sacramental Catechesis for Baptism, Confirmation, First Holy Communion, & Penance. There is a lot of reading to do before I start on the presentation. I have to start with the National Directory for Catechesis. How fun, right?

I did have my Zippy's Chili Chicken Mixed Plate with Mac Salad already :). I can't wait to taste more food that I have been craving for.

As the summer goes on... I will try to post more on here.... I hope that you will continue to follow me...

As my spiritual director always says- "Oremus pro Invicem"- Let us pray for one another.

Easter Letter

April 18, 2010

Dear Friends:

Christos Anesti! (Christ is Risen!) There is a lot of news to share with you since my last letter. After writing to you in December the major change in my life was losing my mother. Her battle with breast cancer ended on December 8, the feast of the Immaculate Conception. Although her passing was a surprise to all of us, I felt a sense of peace because she no longer suffered. This was the beginning of my Lenten season.

When I got back to the seminary, it was the middle of the annual silent retreat. It was difficult to keep the silence because everyone wanted to know how I was doing. When the second semester started, I had another challenge. I had to complete all my courses from last semester. With the grace of God, I was able to complete all my assignments by the incomplete deadline.

The first major event for the Filipino Community was the Santo Nino feast day. We had the privilege of having Bishop Oscar Solis, Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles, as the presider of the mass. It was a successful event and the weather was in our favor through the intercession of St. Clare, patroness of good weather. J

Spring break started on Wednesday, March 31 and ended yesterday Sunday, April 11. Holy week was the culmination of my Lenten season. I decided to stay at Mount Angel Seminary for half of my break. On Holy Thursday I spent my afternoon with Bishop Kenneth Steiner, Auxiliary Bishop of Portland. I interviewed him for my ethnographic writing project. He shared many of his experiences and even shared a meal with me. I stayed for mass at his parish. For Good Friday, I had the opportunity to serve in the Abbey church. In the cross that we venerated, there was a relic of the cross of Christ. This service was so profound because it reminded me of my mom’s suffering.

(On the night before her passing I surrendered to God’s will. That night we had an Advent reconciliation service and asked God to forgive me for not being the best son I could be. I also told the Blessed Mother in prayer that if the Lord was to call my mom home, it was ok but she had to be my mother now. Totally unexpected, I got a call from my sister in the morning that mom passed away. My heart was pierced as I began to weep and scream into a pillow. When I was able to compose myself a sense of peace came over me. I realized at that moment what my prayer was the night before and remembered that it was the Feast of our Lady’s Immaculate Conception.)

The rest of my spring/Easter break was spent in Washington State. Fr. Balizan from New Mexico wanted to spend time with me while he was there for speaking engagements. He let me serve at the masses that he celebrated throughout Western Washington. We stayed at the home of Bob & Bobbie Brown, members of the Western Washington Catholic Charismatic Renewal. Their hospitality reminded me of the Benedictine spirit of receiving guest as Christ.

I got back to Mount Angel on the last day of the break and can’t wait till summer. J

The first year of Seminary has been such a roller coaster of emotions but I survived. I have made a lot of friends here that I will definitely miss over the summer break. Some of them will not be returning because they are graduating and moving on to other seminaries, getting ordained, or go on their pastoral year. I know that someday God will make it so that our paths will cross each other once again.

I am excited to be going home early May for summer break. The first thing on my to do list is to pay a visit to Zippy’s. But before then, I have to complete all my assignments and finals for this semester. Please pray for all the seminarians that will be completing their academic year.

In honor of the Year of the Priest, I am attaching the following prayer:

Father God, we give you thanks and praise for the gift of Holy Priesthood. We pray for all priest everywhere, but especially those in our parish and for those from whom we have received grace. Sanctify them in holiness and protect them from all evil and hold them in the depths of your Sacred Wounds. Amen. (Catholic Prayer Cards)

I remain yours in Christ,

Alfred Omar B. Guerrero

Seminarian for the Diocese of Honolulu