Pondo ng Pinoy celebrates 6 fruitful years

parishworks! 1
Vol. 6 No. 13 June 26, 2010
From Vatican
Pope urges faithful to fall in love with Eucharist
Excerpt taken from: http://www.zenit.org/article-29690?l=english
Dear brothers and sisters,
In the Summa of theology, St. Thomas begins from the fact
that there are three different modes of the being and essence of
God: God exists in himself; he is the beginning and end of all
things, and thus all creatures proceed from and depend on him,
and God is present through his grace in the life and activity of
the Christian, of the saints; finally, God is present in an altogether
special way in the Person of Christ really united here with the
man Jesus, and operating in the sacraments, which flow from his
redemptive work.
Because of this, the structure of this monumental work (cf. Jean
Pierre Torrell, La “Summa” di San Tommaso, Milan, 2003, pp.
29-75), research with a “theological look” at the fullness of God
(cf. Summa Theologiae, Ia, q. 1, a. 7), is articulated in three parts,
Sunday Gospel
and is illustrated by the Doctor Communis himself -- St. Thomas
-- with these words: The main purpose of sacred doctrine is that
of making God known, not only in himself, but also inasmuch as
he is beginning and end of things, and especially of the reasoning
creature. In the attempt to explain this doctrine, we will first
treat of God; then of the movement of the creature toward God;
and finally of Christ who, inasmuch as man, is for us the way
to ascend to God” (Ibid., I. q. 2). It is a circle: God in himself,
who comes out of himself and takes us by the hand, so that with
Christ we return to God, we are united to God, and God will be
all in all.
Hence, the first part of the Summa Theologiae studies God in
himself, the mystery of the Trinity, and God’s creative activity.
In this part we also find a profound reflection on the authentic
reality of the human being inasmuch as he issued from the
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Pondo ng Pinoy
celebrates
6 fruitful years
By: Ms. Gene Alberto, Coordinator, Pondo ng Pinoy
LK 9 : 51 - 62
Over the past 6 years, Pondo ng Pinoy has been an
effective means to help the many especially the poorest
and most neglected in the community. The small change
of 25 centavos, negligible to many were given not
simply to raise money but with the dream of building
a fullness of life for human kind. This beautiful vision
of the Pondo ng Pinoy is not untrue. Confident in our
Lord Jesus Christ and His word, we believe that we can
realize our dream.
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2
Pondo ng Pinoy
from page 1...
As Pondo ng Pinoy grew, it became clear that the
project is not about fund raising but a way of life. It
became a nationwide project to alleviate the poor by
doing little things but repeated acts of compassion,
solidarity and sharing. The act of sharing the crumbs to
the poor is not a mere
gesture of compassion
but an expression of
love. The “givers’ and
“receivers” are both
transformed by love and
goodness.
There is a need for
all of us to act swiftly
as Pondo ng Pinoy is
fast becoming a way
to build a community.
Although the Pondo ng
Pinoy is initiated by the
church, the community
owns the fund it generates
with the purpose of helping the needy even beyond the
Catholic Church. Whatever revenues may be gained
from it, Pondo ng Pinoy shall be used solely to support
socio-economic development programs for all Filipino
brothers and sisters especially the poor.
Regular Schedule of Masses
Monday-Friday
Sunday
6:30 a.m. 6:00 a.m.
12:00 (noon)
12:15 p.m.
7:30 a.m.
5:00 p.m.
6:30 p.m.
9:00 a.m.
6:00 p.m.
10:00 a.m.
7:00 p.m.
11:00 a.m.
8:00 p.m.
Saturday
6:30 a.m.
Priority has been given to the projects on MicroFinance (individual and group lending for livelihood or
enterprise development); Micro – Enterprise (generation
of employment for the poor); Housing (providing
decent housing to poor families with secured land
titles but no means to
construct their houses);
Education (assistance to
poor students to acquire
formal education, and
enhancement of skills
for gainful employment
or business enterprises
for adults) Health
(improved and sustained
health condition in poor
communities)
Priority for funding has
been accorded to poverty –
stricken provinces who are
actively participating in the
implementation or monitoring of the projects.
There is an urgent need for us to put our acts together
and build a community where God reigns and the love
of God is experienced in small but repeated acts of
goodness towards neighbors, bringing hope and making
this world a more humane world for all of us to live in.
“We must give alms.
Charity wins souls and
draws them to virtue.”
-- St. Angela Merici
12:15 p.m.
6:30 p.m. (Sunday Mass)
For comments and contributions please e-mail
to: media@saaparish.com . We are also in need of
volunteer writers, photographers & layout artists. You
may e-mail to media@saaparish.com
June 27 is
Giving the “Little” that we
have to our poor brothers and
sisters with love and concern
is our share to bring about the
fullness of life.
Your donations may be
offered during the mass or
may be brought to the Parish
Office.
parishworks! 3
From Vatican
from page 1...
creative hands of God, fruit of his love. On one hand we are a
created, dependent being -- we do not come from ourselves; but,
on the other, we have a true autonomy, so that we are not only
something apparent -- as some Platonic philosophers say -- but a
reality willed by God as such, and with value in itself.
In the second part St. Thomas considers man, driven by grace,
in his aspiration to know and love God to be happy in time and
in eternity. Firstly, the author presents the theological principles
of moral action, studying how, in man’s free choice of carrying
out good acts, reason, will and passions are integrated, to which
is added the strength that the grace of God gives through the
virtues and gifts of the Holy Spirit, as well as the help that
is given also by the moral law. Hence the human being is a
dynamic being that seeks himself, he seeks to become himself
and, in this connection, seeks to do acts that build him up, make
him truly man; and here the moral law, grace and one’s reason,
the will and the passions come in. On this foundation St. Thomas
delineates the physiognomy of the man who lives according to
the Spirit and thus becomes an icon of God. Here Aquinas pauses
to study the three theological virtues -- faith, hope and charity -followed by the acute examination of more than 50 moral virtues,
organized around the four cardinal virtues -- prudence, justice,
temperance and fortitude. He then ends with a reflection on the
different vocations in the Church.
In the third part of the Summa, St. Thomas studies the mystery
of Christ -- the way and the truth -- by which we can return to
union with God the Father. In this section he writes pages as
yet unparalleled on the mystery of the incarnation and passion
of Jesus, adding afterward a thorough treatise on the seven
sacraments, since in them, the incarnate divine Word extends the
benefits of the incarnation for our salvation, for our path of faith
toward God and eternal life. He remains almost materially present
with the realities of creation; he thus touches us in what is most
intimate.
Speaking of the sacraments, St. Thomas pauses particularly
on the mystery of the Eucharist, for which he had a very great
devotion, to the point that, according to ancient biographers,
he used to lean his head on the tabernacle, almost as if to hear
the beating of the divine and human Heart of Jesus. In one of
his works commenting on Scripture, St. Thomas helps us to
understand the excellence of the sacrament of the Eucharist, when
he writes: “The Eucharist being the sacrament of the passion of
our Lord, is also an effect of this sacrament, it not being other than
the application in us of the passion of the Lord” (In Ioannem, c.6,
n. 963). Let us understand well why St. Thomas and other saints
celebrated the Holy Mass shedding tears of compassion for the
Lord, who offers himself in sacrifice for us, tears of joy and of
gratitude.
All that St. Thomas illustrated with scientific rigor in his major
theological works, such as the Summa Theologiae and the Summa
contra Gentiles, was also explained in his preaching, addressed to
students and the faithful. In 1273, a year before his death, during
the whole of Lent, he preached in the San Domenico Maggiore
Church in Naples. The content of those sermons was collected
and conserved: They are the booklets in which he explains the
Symbol of the Apostles, interprets the prayer of the Our Father,
illustrates the Decalogue and comments on the Hail Mary. The
content of the preaching of the Angelic Doctor corresponds
almost entirely to the structure of the Catechism of the Catholic
Church. In fact, in catechesis and in preaching, at a time like ours
of renewed commitment to evangelization, these fundamental
arguments must never be lacking: that is, what we believe, and
here is the Symbol of the faith; what we pray, and here is the Our
Father and the Hail Mary; and what we live as biblical revelation
teaches us, and here is the law of love of God and of our neighbor
and the Ten Commandments, as explanation of this mandate of
love.
I would like to propose some simple, essential and convincing
examples of the content of the teaching of St. Thomas. In his
booklet on the Symbol of the Apostles he explains the value
of faith. Through it, he says, the soul is united to God, and
something like a shoot of eternal life is produced; life receives a
sure orientation, and we overcome temptations easily. To those
who object that faith is nonsense, because it makes one believe
something that does not fall under the experience of the senses,
St. Thomas gives a very articulated answer, and recalls that this
is an inconsistent doubt, because human intelligence is limited
and cannot know everything. Only in the case that we could
know perfectly all visible and invisible things, would it then be
genuine nonsense to accept truths purely on faith. However, it
is impossible to live, St. Thomas observes, without trusting the
experience of others, where personal knowledge does not reach.
Hence it is reasonable to have faith in God who reveals himself
and in the testimony of the Apostles: they were few, simple
and poor, dismayed by the Crucifixion of their Teacher; and yet
many wise, noble and rich persons were converted in a short
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4
From Vatican
from page 3...
time upon listening to their preaching. It is, in fact, a historically
striking phenomenon, to which with difficulty one can give any other
reasonable answer, other than that of the Apostles’ encounter with the
Risen Lord.
St. Thomas was, as all the saints, a great devotee of Our Lady. He
described her with a beautiful appellative: Triclinium totius Trinitatis,
triclinium, that is, place where the Trinity finds its rest, because,
due to the Incarnation, the three divine Persons dwell [in her] and
experience delight and joy to live in her soul full of grace as in no
other creature. Through her intercession we can obtain all help.
With a prayer, which traditionally is attributed to St. Thomas
and that, in any case, reflects the elements of his profound Marian
devotion, we also say: “O blessed and sweet Virgin Mary, Mother of
God ... I entrust my whole life to your merciful heart. ... Obtain for
me, oh my most sweet Lady, true charity, with which I will be able to
love with all my heart your Most Holy Son and you, after him, above
all things, and my neighbor in God and for God.”
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