At about three o'clock in the afternoon, yesterday (Saturday, February 6, 2010) fire struck at a residential house next to the Passionist rectory or convent at Sunvalley Subdivision, Paranaque, Philippines. And because the wind was blowing towards the direction of the Passionist house, a section of it was also eaten up by the fire. When the firemen arrived, some thirty minutes(or more) later, the said house next door was already practically razed to the ground. Had it not for the quickness and presence of mind of Frs. Dandy, Ramon, Deo, and Dave, plus the youth and the workers of the parish, the fire would have also "eaten" and swallowed the rest of the convent. Using their bare hands,and pails after pails of water, (scooped from the newly-filled fishpond) they amazingly succeeded in dousing off the fire in the Passionist house.

Update: PASSIONIST MISSION IN HAITI Courtesy: MSNBC (taken from "The Passionist, converging a global community" Website)

Find more videos like this on The Passionists

HCA OF HCP HOLDS FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

January 11, 2010, Holy Cross Parish, Calumpang, General Santos City

The Holy Childhood Association (HCA) of Holy Cross Parish, Diocese of Marbel at Calumpang, General Santos City, held its First General Assembly last January 9, 2010. Present during the assembly were 485 children, ages 7-14 years old, with their parents and some GKK officers from 34 Gagmay’ng Kristuhanong Katilingban (GKK – basic ecclesial communities).

The HCA assembly opened with a solemn mass presided by Fr. Antonio D. Saligan, C.P., Parish Priest. The mass was followed by a peace parade from the church to the venue of the assembly.

There were also different group activities like “Knowing Each Other”, Team Building and cultural presentations which included Tinikling, Pandanggo sa Ilaw and an interpretative dance.

Bro. Vevien Nuera, C.P. gave a talk on mission and Fr. Marito Varquez, C.P. delivered a message on the role of the child as an HCA member.- Esmie Devilles

INSTALLATION OF FR. GABRIEL BALDOSTAMON, CP

The image above is the front page of Philippine Inquirer’s “inquirer Libre” in its January 13, 2010’s issue. The article "PINOY ASTIG SA SWEDEN" that appears on that FrontPage is the Pilipino translation of the same news posted in the Philippine Daily Inquirer itself, January 13, 2010 issue, which is quoted below in its entirety:

Filipino is parish priest in Sweden
By Cynthia Balana
Philippine Daily Inquirer First Posted 01:52:00 01/13/2010 Filed Under: Religion & Belief, Religions, Churches (organisations)

MANILA, Philippines – A Filipino Roam Catholic cleric has the distinct honor of heading a Swedish parish.

Philippine Ambassador to Sweden Maria Zeneida Angara Collinson reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday that Fr. Gabriel Baldostamon has been installed as parish piest of the Saint Nicolai Church in Linköping, Sweden on Jan. 10.

The ceremonial investiture of Baldostamon was officiated by Monsignor Mirojan Dudek during a well-attended Sunday Mass celebrating the baptism of Jesus Christ. The mass was co-celebrated by Fr. John Mc Cormode and Deacon Karl-Erijk Jarerot.

During lunch which followed the Mass, Saint Nicolai parishioners congratulated the Filipino priest and assured him of their support.

Speaking on behalf of the Philippine Embassy and the Filipino community, Collinson expressed pride at the historical first, and expressed confidence in Baldostamon’s ability to renew and strengthen the Catholic faith, particularly in the context of increasing secularism in Europe.

Baldostamon hails from Marbel, South Cotabato, and has been serving the Filipino community in Sweden for several years.

As head of the Saint Nicolai parish, he will be attending to the spiritual needs and pastoral formation of the entire Swedish Roman Catholic community in Linköping with about 2,500 registered members.

CHRISTMAS MESSAGE BY FR. PROVINCIAL

As we play the Bingo game, I noticed that at the center of the card is the word “free.” At Christmas, we are celebrating the gift of God to us, for free. And at the height of this is God’s generosity to all of us. While attending a mass of Fr. Manny in Bagong Silang, one day before the start of the Misa de Gallo (dawn mass), I happened to notice a woman, seated right beside me, who was crying profusely even to the point of having runny nasal discharge flowing freely from her nose. And she wiped them with her bare hands.

And to my surprise, during the singing of the “Our Father” she instinctively reached out for my hand (as this gesture is being done in some parishes, i.e. holding the hand of the person next to you as the “Our Father is being sung). At first, my feeling was that of repulsion. I didn’t want her to hold my hand, seeing how she wiped her tears and the runny nasal discharge earlier.

But then it dawned on me that God was like that. And it gave me my whole disposition for Christmas. God through Jesus did not only touch me. He embraced my humanity, my dirt, my all – everything of me. And so that’s the whole thing that really dominated my disposition during Christmas. For God at Bethlehem, he embraced humanity without that feeling of repulsion.

Today, that act of the Lord’s embracing us is seen in our celebration. Somehow the character of God is there. You embraced the whole situation. There were times it was quite difficult for all of you to get up early in the morning, yet you still got up. I thank each one; you have worked hard in your ministry.

The community here in Sun Valley is the symbol of what our character is as a Province; embracing everyone. Even though it was difficult and there was no more time for them to prepare for this gathering, still they really did their best, cleaning the area and preparing everything for us.

I see this in each one of you… MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Fr. Lito CP

UPDATE FROM FR. GWEN BARDE C.P.

For sure, the scale of Christmas jubilation here cannot match ours at home. But I see it as a great blessing to experience a different Christmas atmosphere in another part of the world. I just had my very first white Christmas. I had so much fun going around our monastery's vast yard and football field which turned into ice quadrangles. I also shared the Christmas traditions here with our brother Passionists--very formal but very elaborate. We had pigeon breast and roasted deer for dinner. The Filipino communities here staged the misa de gallo. I said nightly masses to two of these communities--in Hoofddorp and in Haarlem. Other communities invited me for their party masses. It is practically the same Christmas overload when I was still in the Philippines. Our ambassador here, Cardoso Luna, attended one of my masses in The Hague and we had great Filipino-themed noche buena on Dec. 24.

Indeed, the spirit of Christmas is irresistible even in this environment which recognition for this great feast has declined dramatically. But we continue to hold on and relish the gift of Incarnation. Fijne Kerstdagen en een Gelukkig Nieuwjaar!

Gwen

FR. PASCHAL J. SMITH C.P.

The Philippine Passionists express their deep sadness at the passing away of Fr. Paschal Smith C.P. Fr. Smith was one of the nine pioneer Passionist missionaries who established the Passionist presence in the Philippines in 1958. Born on July 30, 1920, Fr. Smith has served the Lord as a Passionist priest since his priestly ordination fifty eight years ago, on February 27, 1951. The official website of St. Paul of the Cross Province has these additional details on Fr. Smith:

“Fr. Paschal J. Smith, C.P. died last night (Dec. 21) at 9:14 p.m. at Long Island Jewish Hospital. Fr. Ted Walsh, C.P. was at his bedside. Fr. Paschal’s heart gave out after battling an infection.

Father Paschal was born Joseph J. Smith in Poughkeepsie, NY. He was professed 8/15/45 and ordained 2/27/51. Educated at Richmond High School, Jamaica High School, Fordham University and the Passionist Seminaries in Dunkirk, Scranton, Jamaica and Union City, Paschal also received an MA in Psychology from Assumption College, Worcester, MA (1973). He served on the Retreat team at St. Paul’s, Pittsburgh (1951-1957) and was a Founder of the Passionists in the Philippines from 1958 to 1967. He then worked at Calvary Retreat Center, Shrewsbury (1967-1971), as a Psychologist for the Worcester Detention Center (1971-1976), as Vicar in Shrewsbury (1976-1978) and then as a teacher at St John’s High School, Shrewsbury (1978-1979). He was Chaplain at Creedmoor Psychiatric Center from 1980 to 1990 and an itinerant preacher from 1990 to 2003 in Pelham. Since 2003 Paschal was de familia here in Jamaica. His sisters Eleanor and Marie pre-deceased him in March of 2008.”

ETERNAL REST GRANT HIM, O LORD, AND LET YOUR P[ERPETUAL LIGHT SHINE UPON HIM, AMEN.