Lay Ministers - Diocese of Cabanatuan

Diocese of Cabanatuan Lay Ministers (13)
March 20-21, 2012
With Fr. Mike Veneracion
Blessed Gabriela Kiosk

Catechists, Paranaque

Catechists (110)
 Paranaque
March 19-21, 2012
St. Teresa Hall

Cubao Clergy on Recollection



Cubao Clergy (35)
March 19-20, 2012
Francisco Palau Hall

Guadalupe Catholic School (Administrators)

Guadalupe School (8)
March 17-18, 2012
School Administrators
Blessed Esperanza Kiosk

"Your heart has been made to love..." **********************CM Juniors Retreat

THEME: "Your heart has been made to love" Francisco Palau
Eight day Retreat
March 16-25, 2012
Retreat Accompaniment: Sr. Loida Tortogo, cm
Blessed Daniela Kiosk

Your heart has been made to love
To love Him alone
You have been untied with Him
in faith, hope and love.

Lord you showed me the life
a wonderful gift of you
A gift united to all Creation

You poured on me your spirit
it flamed within me
The spirit of love and communion
Desires to offer oneself
an oblation to You.

You have fired my heart
to love You and Your Church

How beautiful O Lord, You are!
How infinite and grcious are you?
How lovely, how sweet, I love you
My God, my Beloved one.

You who have graced me to love
flamed by your spirit within
to love and serve
to share and to give

Oh how I love you Lord
That I desire and long for you
To you alone I will give my life
To you alone I will give this life.

My heart was enflamed to love
fired by your spirit
And enliven me to act and spread my hands
To offer with you my God

Thanks to you, Father our Creator
Thanks to you, Jesus, the only Begotten Son
And thanks to you, O Holy Spirit, the inspirer
Thanks to you, O Most Holy Trinity

All praise and thanks to you
O Lord, my God
You who have poured your grace upon me
Moved me to give my life
One life in union to all creation
One Spirit for a zeal on Mission
One gift of you to me.

Sr. Christine, cm

“Are you ready to die?”  I remembered this question asked by a priest addressed to our newly accepted postulants, and everyone just smiled.  But if that question will be thrown to me today after my eight day retreat with Sr. Loida, for sure I will say, “Yes, I do am ready to die!” in teary eyes.

Last night, I struggled with words in how to put this all into writing.  The experience is so much that it can never be contained in this piece of paper but because I do feel so renewed in poverty, chastity and obedience- so I did.

I think I didn’t do anything during this retreat, I just dived and dived- a plunge into this image which God gave me at which at first I didn’t understand.  That has always been my refrain, “I don’t understand!” and trying to understand it made the answers even harder to find.  In all thise plunges I had these eight days of retreat, there was this very significant plunge, a plunge to an 1800 km depth waters, and it was indeed a total darkness.  The more I tried to see, the more it became darker, the more I tried to feel the warmth of life, the more it became colder and lifeless- all was darkness.

I remembered when I prayed, “If ever my life would be more comfortable if I would enter religious life, I would rather not continue.” And God gave this to me just as I prayed for here in Missionary Carmel, he took the “I am” that I had.  In doing this, I was in total darkness- the only treasure I thought I had.

In that plunge to darkness, though everything in me seemed dead - I saw that I was not dead at all. My heart was so alive and I also discovered it wasn’t so cold and dark, and lifeless – there was indeed peace, serenity and warmth… And I paused and said, “I AM HERE…” and I heard God echoed, “I AM HERE…”   My experience of surrender, of letting go… “I AM HERE…” and God’s words of assurance, of affirmation, “I AM HERE…” met and found its fusion- an experience I so do not deserve.

Sr. Roxan, cm

Catechists of Calaca Batangas

Catechists of Calaca, Batangas (30)
March 15-17, 2012
Francisco Palau Hall

Way of the Cross

Carmelite Missionary sisters and Staff of CMCS Praying the Way of the Cross

As part of the preparation for the Holy Week and Easter

lenten Preparation



Carmelite Missionaries Center of Spirituality

Way of the Cross

CM Sisters and CMCS Staff

Lent 2012

"I WANT NOTHING BUT YOUR HEART"

Theme: "I want nothing but your heart..." BELOVED JESUS

March 3-12, 2012
Eight day Retreat
Novices (12)
El Vedra Formation House
Novaliches
Quezon City
Retreat Accompaniment: Sr. Loida Tortogo, cm

Lord, here I am! I come to do your will!

Prayer/Discernment
"My vocation
Geraldine

I praise and tahank you Lord,
for the gift of my vocation!
a Three day discernment retreat

Chapter Documents class

Opening Prayer

First day of class

The General Chapter Documents

Prayer: Loving Lord, thank you for your faithfulness to Fr. Palau and to us, his daughters who strive to live and die at the service of the Beloved Church. Help me Lord, and all your Carmelite Missionaries to be loving and faithful to our life of prayer and self-giving. This I pray through Fr. Palau, Mother Juana and all our sisters whao have gone before us. Amen!

I am a Carmelite Missionary. Called to grow to be an active member of the CM Family of prayerful prophets of communion. Sr. CA, cm

Prayer: O Loving God I thank you for this opportunity to get to know deeper my being a CM. For letting me understand the life of the Congregation, through teh Genral cahoter documents and that for the first time I was able to appreciate it. Thank you for all the sister who have gone ahead of us and for preparing the way for us. Grant me the grace that I may enflesh them in my life.

Mold me in the way you want me to be... Send me to where yoou want me to go, for I will go where the glory of God calls me.

Reflection: Commnity Life: To love beyond what the eyes can see and what the ears can hear.

Service: I will go where the glory of God calls me.

Contemplation: Stay close to Jesus! Sr. Jhenie, cm

************* 

My heartfelt gratitude for the work done by our sisters ahead of us. You have done good things in us since the beginning until this day. I am strengthen and am encouraged to be open "to go where the glory of God calls me". I am hopelful that I will attain communion throug my personal relationship with my BELOVED, with nature and with my sisters in the community. May God bless us all!

 Sr. Cherry Potot, cm

Reflection: Francisco Palau said: "In Carmel, one thing is necessary which is vocation" my vocation is sustained through pryaer. Prayer gives direction, even in solitude and community life I encounter God and I am energize and I grow.

Prayer: Inspired by the spirit of our Father Founder, may I unceasingly pray and serve the Church with passion adn with tireless effort to live out our charism which is communion. Sr. Grace M., cm

Reflection: This time I really feel appy and I was able to enter into the chapter documents and hopefully this could be my learning ground to be confident and be more generous, to be faithful always in my prayer life and my love to Fr. Palau.

Prayer: Loving and Merciful Father, Son and Holy Spirit, thank you for this opportunity to know deeply our chapter documents which the sisters who workde hard for this, in order for us to know and be guided, enlightened, renewed, inspired and challenged our response in our vocation as we continue to follow your will. Give us always the grace we need especially this coming General Chapter. Guide and enlighten ours sisters, so that we will become a true prophet and witness,good Spouse and Holy CM. Amen! Sr. Everlita, cm of the Merciful Love

Prayer: Almighty Father, Thank you for the chance to learn and to know more my CM congregation through the genral chapter documents. Thank you for enlightening me with your Holy Spirit that now I know and understand what is the project of our congregation, what was happening and as a member of this big family, I am nurtured, challenged, to be open and to cooperate with the program in order to serve the church and serve you better and to respond with the signs of the times. I ask you Lord, to grant us Carmelite Missionaries, a spirit of communion so that we will become a living bread and a witnes in this world that is full of diversity. Strengthen us Lord to always renew our life with your spirit that we may become true disciples in followint your steps. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen! Thank you so much Sr. Loida. Sr. Yuliana Najul, cm

Prayer: Almighty Father, you gave your only begotten Son Jesus Christ to be my savior, to suffer and die for us. Give us strength and courage to faithfully live and proclaim the gospel up to the last of my life. By His example and prayers may I also give witness to our Chrisitian faith even in the face of danger and difficulties. We offer this for the glory of your name now and forever. Amen! Sr. Lia, cm

Reflection: First and foremost, I am grateful to God for bringing me in the family of the Carmelite Missionaries and to the spirituality of our Blessed Founder, Francisco Palau, the perseverance of Mother Juana Gratias and all the sisters who had gone ahead of us, before us and from the sisters who worked hard for the congregation. I am affirmed of my identity as Carmelite Missionary. There is a stirring of HOPE that in His time and in the process, I will truly become an authentic CM, for the glory of God. HOPE for renewal, HOPE for betterment in relationship, HOPE to be truly identified with Fr. Palau and above all with Christ whom I am following.

Prayer: Almighty and Merciful God, thank you for refreshing my ming, re-awakening my senses of my identity and calling as Carmelite Missionary and as daughter of Fr. Palau through this study of the chapter documents with Sr. Loida. Grant each one of us the grace we need, in order to live out the spirit of communion just live our Blessed Founder. This I pray in the name of Jesus with your Hoy Spirit through Mary our Mother and Blessed Francisco Palau. Amen. Sr. Sherna Advincula, cm

Reflection: My ehart is full of Gratitude for the Spirit who moves me to e faitful, to be open and always renewwed. The Spirit of Fr. Palau inspires me to give myself to the Lord and be a true CM. I am ready to do His will.

 Prayer: Dearest Lord, I thank you for calling me to the Carmelite Missionary family. Thank you for journeying with me. Thank you for giving Fr. Palau as a father, who passionately love the Church and offer his love fully to you. Thank you for giving these past days , the chapter documents to deepen my love and self offering to you through my beloved Carmelite Missionaries family. Inspite of our weaknesses Lord, accept us and mold us. Make us berer of love and compassion for the Church especially for those who most need it. I offer to you Lord all the Carmelite Missionaries all over the world.. and here I am Lord, I offer my life to you... Sr. Ella, cm

February 2012

Las Marias

Tandang Sora

Five-day series of reflection and sharing on the

General Chapter  Documents of the Congregation
Facilitator: Sr. Loida Tortogo, cm

HAPPY EASTER!!!

HAPPY EASTER

FROM THE MANAGEMENT AND STAFF

CARMELITE MISSIONARIES

CENTER OF SPIRITUALITY

APRIL 08, 2012

HOLY SATURDAY

Pope Benedict
XVI's Holy Saturday Homily

"The
Church ... Brings Man Into Contact With God"

VATICAN CITY, APRIL 23, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Here is a Vatican translation of Benedict
XVI's homily at the Easter Vigil, held tonight in St. Peter's Basilica.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The liturgical celebration of the Easter Vigil makes use of two eloquent signs.
First there is the fire that becomes light. As the procession makes its way
through the church, shrouded in the darkness of the night, the light of the
Paschal Candle becomes a wave of lights, and it speaks to us of Christ as the
true morning star that never sets – the Risen Lord in whom light has conquered
darkness. The second sign is water. On the one hand, it recalls the waters of
the Red Sea, decline and death, the mystery of the Cross. But now it is
presented to us as spring water, a life-giving element amid the dryness. Thus
it becomes the image of the sacrament of baptism, through which we become
sharers in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Yet these
great signs of creation, light and water, are not the only constituent elements
of the liturgy of the Easter Vigil. Another essential feature is the ample
encounter with the words of sacred Scripture that it provides. Before the
liturgical reform there were twelve Old Testament readings and two from the New
Testament. The New Testament readings have been retained. The number of Old
Testament readings has been fixed at seven, but depending upon the local
situation, they may be reduced to three. The Church wishes to offer us a
panoramic view of whole trajectory of salvation history, starting with
creation, passing through the election and the liberation of Israel to the
testimony of the prophets by which this entire history is directed ever more
clearly towards Jesus Christ. In the liturgical tradition all these readings
were called prophecies. Even when they are not directly foretelling future
events, they have a prophetic character, they show us the inner foundation and
orientation of history. They cause creation and history to become transparent
to what is essential. In this way they take us by the hand and lead us towards
Christ, they show us the true Light.

At the
Easter Vigil, the journey along the paths of sacred Scripture begins with the
account of creation. This is the liturgy’s way of telling us that the creation
story is itself a prophecy. It is not information about the external processes
by which the cosmos and man himself came into being. The Fathers of the Church
were well aware of this. They did not interpret the story as an account of the
process of the origins of things, but rather as a pointer towards the
essential, towards the true beginning and end of our being. Now, one might ask:
is it really important to speak also of creation during the Easter Vigil? Could
we not begin with the events in which God calls man, forms a people for himself
and creates his history with men upon the earth? The answer has to be: no. To
omit the creation would be to misunderstand the very history of God with men,
to diminish it, to lose sight of its true order of greatness. The sweep of
history established by God reaches back to the origins, back to creation. Our
profession of faith begins with the words: "We believe in God, the Father
Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth". If we omit the beginning of the
Credo, the whole history of salvation becomes too limited and too small. The
Church is not some kind of association that concerns itself with man’s
religious needs but is limited to that objective. No, she brings man into
contact with God and thus with the source of all things.

Therefore we
relate to God as Creator, and so we have a responsibility for creation. Our
responsibility extends as far as creation because it comes from the Creator.
Only because God created everything can he give us life and direct our lives.
Life in the Church’s faith involves more than a set of feelings and sentiments
and perhaps moral obligations. It embraces man in his entirety, from his
origins to his eternal destiny. Only because creation belongs to God can we
place ourselves completely in his hands. And only because he is the Creator can
he give us life for ever. Joy over creation, thanksgiving for creation and
responsibility for it all belong together.

HOLY THURSDAY

HOMILY EXCERPT

OF THE PATRIARCH OF JERUSALEM

APRIL 5, 2012 (Zenit.org).- Here is the text of the homily given today by
Archbishop Fouad Twal, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem

Excellencies, dear Brothers and Sisters, dear Pilgrims, and dear faithful who are listening
to us through various communications media,
Happy feast!
Happy feast to you priests, monks, men and women religious, and to all
of you who have dedicated yourselves to the Lord, to all of you who are
nourished by the Eucharist and all who love this great Mystery.
1- “Jesus knew the time had come for him to
leave this world and go to the Father” (Jn13:1)
With these words, the evangelist announced Christ’s entry into his Passion. The liturgy of
this Holy Thursday invites us to recall this journey of Jesus towards his Father.
2- “Do this in memory of me” (1 Cor 11:24)
In today’s second reading, Saint Paul the Apostle recounts to the Corinthians the gestures
and words of Christ as he instituted the Eucharist on the evening of the last
supper in the Cenacle –the consecration of the bread and the wine into his body
and his blood. These gestures, these words, “handed down by tradition,” we
continue to call to mind today in the Church and each time that Mass is
celebrated.
This commemoration of the Holy Sacrifice of Christ echoes a still older
commemoration through which we celebrate the Exodus from Egypt: “This day will be a day of remembrance for
you, which your future generations will celebrate with pilgrimage to the Lord;
you will celebrate it as a statute forever.”(Ex 12:14) Indeed, the Jewish
Easter is still celebrated to this day in Jerusalem...

...For us who live in this Holy Land, Christ continues to suffer in the members of his
mystical body: every day we are confronted by the absence of freedom of
movement and peace, frustrations, suffering, and even martyrdom.
These living
conditions wound us in our innermost soul. We hunger and thirst so much for
justice and peace, we dream of leading a simple normal life. We are prisoners
of hate, of mistrust and the fear of men towards one another.
In spite of these conditions, the Lord today asks that we imitate his humbling action
instead of self-exaltation; his humility in place of pride; His pardon in place
of resentment and a much greater love for Him and for our fellow men.
4- “Love one another as I love you.” (Jn
15:12)
In this antiphon of today’s Gospel, we find the key to the entire Holy Week: Love –
that is the key to the new Easter. For it is a love purified on the wood of the
cross of the ordeals and sufferings that overwhelm us. It is the love of those
who have died to themselves. It is the unconditional love of Him who loved us
first. What Jesus asks is that we should live this love in order to be truly
free.
Through this gesture of washing of the feet that we are going to celebrate, the Lord has
given us a new commandment: “Love one another as I have loved you.”A model that
is hard to imitate yet still harder to live, and yet He invites us to do as He
did.

Together, let us therefore pray to the Lord, that He may sustain us not to flee from this
Cross but to accept it. Let us pray to Mary for the courage to accomplish this
heroic transition to humility and to death with Christ in order to love “as He
has loved us.”
In this way, His Glory will shine in our faces, in this way our way of the Cross-will be
shorter, in this way our Resurrection and that of our people will come
sooner. In this way, Jerusalem, the Holy
City, will discover its aspect of peace and justice: this Holy City, from where
the Mother Church greets all believers as brothers. We shall then be truly the Sons of our
Father.

May the Holy Spirit give us the wisdom and strength to be true witnesses of his Love, as we
await the joy of the Resurrection. Amen
+Fouad Twal
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem

Palm Sunday *********** Domingo de Ramos

What is Palm Sunday?

The Sunday before Easter is known as Palm Sunday. It celebrates Jesus' arrival in Jerusalem for the Jewish festival of Passover. Great crowds of people lined the streets waving palm branches to welcome him. . They spread branches on the road – and even laid down their clothes. They shouted 'Hosanna!' which means 'Save us Now!'

Why is it called Palm Sunday?

The Sunday before Easter is called Palm Sunday because the crowds waved palm branches as they followed Jesus' procession into Jerusalem.

Why did Jesus go to Jerusalem? It was the time of the Jewish feast of Passover. Many Jews travelled to Jerusalem to celebrate this feast together.

The Palm BranchesHave a meaningful celebration of

Holy Week

Let us walk with Jesus

in His Passion, death and Resurrection

At the entrance of the Resurrection Chapel

The Euchristic Celebration

PALM SUNDAY

LINGGO NG PALASPAS

April 1, 2012

Priest: Fr. John Mahoney, SVD

CM Sisters, CMCS Staff

& the Lajara Printing Press

Lajara Printing Press

Lajara Printing Press

March 31-April 1, 2012

Speaker: Sr. Socorro Garachico, cm

Blessed Daniela Kiosk