Saturday, July 31, 2010

St. Ignatius of Loyola Retreat in Hawai'i


St. Ignatius of Loyola

Fr. Xavier Ray, Miles Christi Retreat Director




Fr. Xavier at the chapel in St. Anthony's Retreat House, Kalihi


34 Hawaii Retreatants
"All for the Glory of God."
(St. Ignatius of Loyola)

Source: Miles Christi Silent Women Retreat in Hawai'i, a blog created by Melissa C.


Today is the feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola, who was a priest and founder of the Jesuits.

On February 12-15, 2009, Fr. Xavier Ray of Miles Christi, a religious order, was in Hawai'i to give a retreat to 34 women. The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius was introduced to us, and we relished on the teachings of the saint for almost three days! Held on the grounds of St. Anthony's Retreat House, we observed silence and meditated on what was served to us. I was amazed at how Christ-centered they were, which to this day, help me in my journey to a more Christ-centered life.

If you wish to have an Ignatian Retreat in your parish or diocese, contact Miles Christi.



Wednesday, July 28, 2010

One week from today...




Bishop Larry Silva celebrated his installation and 5-year term as bishop of the Diocese of Honolulu last Wednesday, July 21. The Holy Mass he officiated was held at his home parish, the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace. Among those who concelebrated were Vicar General Fr. Marc Alexander, Fr. William Kunisch, Fr. Peter Dumag, and Fr. Jon Cabico; Dcn. John Coughlin was the assisting deacon.

I still recall the day when Bishop Larry was installed as bishop of our diocese; it was a beautiful day, the 21st of July, in the year 2005. There were over a hundred of us who sang for that occasion, who are parishioners from different choirs on the islands. Thousands flocked at Blaisdell Arena to witness the occasion: to welcome the new bishop and be a part of an exciting history-in-the-making, after having been without a bishop for many months.

Cake was served at the Kamiano Center after Mass. Before that, of course, were pictures taken of bishop and many of our parishioners -- with many smiles, a true gesture of our aloha spirit.

It was a joy to be at Mass that day! It was a blessing to see four of my children serve once again. I was hoping to have taken many pictures but my camera that was working for many months, after it was ran over by a car, finally bade me farewell. It was my husband's gift for me three years ago, so it was a very special tool and gadget for blogging and preserving hallmark moments. I am, however, looking forward to having a new one so I can take many pictures of events in our parish and be able to portray the joy of serving -- of serving God, right here in Hawai'i!


Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Modern day ‘Little Flower’ suffers for all priests

A mother’s story of her daughter’s suffering for priests remains inspiring to all.
Carolyn Haar submitted Carol Klotz’s letter:
Dear Carolyn:
On the feast of the Good Shepherd, I thought I had better sit down and write about
how my daughter offered her bout with brain cancer up for priests.

On December 19, 1987, Karen came home from LSU with an extremely bad headache.
We thought it was due to exams, or eye strains or just a migraine and would go away in a few days. It did not. We went to the doctor and he said he did not think it was anything serious. On December 25, Christmas day, Karen was in her bed upstairs.
The pain was intense. She was praying and had read her little Pieta book that someone had given her. She said she read in the book that most souls are released on Christmas Day, so she was praying for a dear friend, a priest who had died. She dearly loved this priest and she told me she knew that the pain she was experiencing was so intense that he would surely get out of purgatory that day.
That was the beginning of Karen’s offerings.
You can read the rest here.

Thank you Mary Jane for sharing this inspirational story.

Monday, July 26, 2010

Our Lord Will Sanctify His Priests

By Father Mark Vultus Christi on July 19, 2010 3:11 PM

Jesus, the Son of Mary, is the Eternal High Priest.
As Sacrificer and as Victim,
He is present and shown forth in each of His priests.
He has chosen them to be, for His Church,
the visible and acting presence of His own Priesthood.

Priests are called,
before all else,
to the most intimate and complete union with Christ.
All the holiness of a priest consists in this.
Through His priests,
Our Lord continues to make present to the world
His Life, and His Death,
His Resurrection, and Ascension.

Christ calls each of His priests to friendship with Himself.
He desires to unite their hearts to His Heart
and to be one with them
as He is one with His Father.

When the Father turns His gaze upon a priest,
He sees Christ.
When a priest acts in the Name of Jesus
and utters the words placed on His lips by the Church,
the Father sees and hears Christ.

The prayer of the priest is the prayer of Christ,
and every prayer made by a priest,
in accordance with the liturgy of the Church,
is received by the Father in Heaven
as He receives the personal, ceaseless intercession
of Christ Himself before His Face.

Our Lord would have souls love priests for His sake,
-- not with a sentimental love born of human neediness
and fruitless attachment --
but with a charity like that of the holy women disciples,
who loved Him,
in imitation of Mary, His Mother,
following in her footsteps.
Those who love the priests of Christ
with a supernatural charity,
love Christ Himself.

Love for priests
is best expressed in prayer and in sacrifice for them.
Christ's faithful need to learn, once again,
to reverence His priests,
for by showing reverence to priests,
they are, in effect, summoning them to holiness.
Reverence shown a priest is never misplaced
for Our Lord receives it as reverence shown to His own Divine Person.

Even when the priestly Face of Christ is disfigured, dishonoured,
and vilified in a particular priest,
that priest remains, nonetheless, the anointed one of the Lord.
The priest fallen on the field of spiritual combat
or deceived by the enemy and led into sin,
remains an image of Christ the Priest.
In the fallen priest, Christ shows His Face
ally bloody, tumefied, and disfigured
as He showed it to Veronica
in His most bitter Passion.

Where are the Veronicas who will minister to Christ's fallen priests?
Who will wipe their faces?
Who will show them tenderness, reverence, and compassion?
Who will console them in their humiliations,
in their sorrow, their defeat, and their abjection?
Christ searches for souls to console His priests,
-- and to console Him living in them --
and He finds so few.
His fallen priests are reviled, mocked,
and handed over to public scorn.

Even in their sinfulness,
even in their betrayal of Christ
and their crimes against His Mystical Body,
these men covered with shame
remain His chosen ones, and the privileged friends of His Sacred Heart.
If one cannot pity them and console them for their own sakes,
one can, at least, do so for the sake of Christ.

In His fallen priests
Christ sees the haggard and anxious face of Judas, His betrayer.
Our Lord loved Judas,
even after he had gone out into the night.
He loved him in Gethsemani.
He loved him after the betrayal.
He loved him even at the moment when,
despairing of His mercy,
Judas hung himself and took his own life.
There is no priest outside the pale of Christ's mercy.
There is no priest to whom Christ will not extend pardon.
There is no priest ,
even if He has betrayed his Lord,
reviled Him, scorned Him,
and abused His rights over His Immaculate Body and Precious Blood,
that the Heart of Jesus is not ready to forgive
and draw once again to Himself.

Priests do not believe half enough in Christ's love for them.
They preach His love,
but, far too often, have no experience of it.
They have no experience of it
because they flee from before His Eucharistic Face
and hardly ever remain, silent and adoring,
close to His Eucharistic Heart.

Where are the souls who will so prevail
over the terrible justice of God
that there will be nothing but divine mercy,
and forgiveness, and the most tender friendship,
for those priests who least deserve it?

Souls who offer themselves as victims for priests
are perfectly aligned with the desires and intentions of the Heart of Jesus.
With such souls He will save even the most forsaken and sinful priests.
With such souls He will search out His lost sheep,
place them upon His shoulders,
and carry them to the hospice of HIs merciful love,
that is, to His Mother's immaculate and maternal Heart.
There He will wash them,
heal them of their diseases,
nourish them with the living Bread that is His Body,
give them to drink of the chalice of His Blood,
and hold them fast in His friendship,
never again to be seduced and deceived
by their Enemy and His.

The present crisis in the priesthood
will result in a purification of the Church of Christ.
A new priesthood will emerge
shining with holiness
and inspiring awe in the souls of those
who will have eyes to see the Face of Christ
on the countenance of His priests.

Our Lord will sanctify His priests
and bring about a great change in priestly life.
Priests will become more apostolic,
more united to Our Lord in prayer,
in His victimhood,
in all His sufferings,
and in His glory.
This will come about through the intercession of His Immaculate Mother,
who loves each priest even as she loves her Jesus.
The maternal Heart of Mary ceaselessly intercedes
for her priest sons.

Spiritual mothers of priests,
priest-intercessors for priests,
fathers, brothers, and friends of priests,
join with the Blessed Virgin Mary
in pleading for them.
Our Lord will not delay in hearing His Mother's supplication,
and the world will be obliged to recognize
that the Church is the Bride of the Crucified
and that her priests are other Christs,
offering themselves with Him,
and giving life to souls.

In lumine vultus Iesu,

Father Mark

D. Mark Daniel Kirby, O.S.B.

Why do priests need prayers?


Fr. Jim, presiding Mass at the chapel
at the Pauline Books and Media Center, Hawai'i

"Why do priests need special graces from God? They need special graces because they have extraordinary responsibilities before God. They are to be more than ordinarily holy, more generous, more zealous, more patient. In a word, those who are responsible for Christ's presence on earth they are to be, of all people, most Christ-like. They are to be patterns of what Christ wants all of us to be." -Fr. John A. Hardon, SJ


More of this article here at The Real Presence Association.


Sunday, July 25, 2010

Dedicated to our Priests and Future Priests


You Are A Priest Forever by Annie Karto.




Friday, July 23, 2010

Happy Birthday to Father Pete Peterson!

Happy Birthday Father Pete! Mass was celebrated for your intentions this morning at Sts. Peter and Paul, Honolulu.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Feast of Our Lady of Peace


Bishop Larry Silva, with Frs. John, Jim and Marvin,
and two of our deacons


Bishop Larry Silva was the main celebrant of the special 12 noon Mass in honor of Our Lady of Peace held at the Cathedral located in the downtown Honolulu on Friday, July 9th.

Though it was a weekday Mass, the Cathedral must have had an attendance of at least 300 people. Calvin Liu played the organ and cantored the event. Jonila Kim did a great job putting the special event together.

I was glad to see my five children altar serve for this Mass. My oldest daughter has a few more months to serve for Bishop Silva before she leaves for college; but of course, who's not to say she might just end up studying on the island? Either way, her mother's joy will be full, for she knows she belongs to her Creator, not to her.

Our Lady of Peace, our joys are full because of the peace your Son brings to our hearts. Help us to strive always to be peaceful in every way. Accompany us in all our journeys. Bless all our priests and seminarians, and those who walk to seek your will. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.





Wednesday, July 7, 2010

HOLY HOUR FOR VOCATIONS



Inviting all to attend an HOLY HOUR FOR VOCATIONS on Wed, July 7, 6:15 - 7 p.m. at St. Theresa Co-Cathedral. This will take place
every first Wed of the month, same time & same place. Bishop Larry will be presiding this Wed's Holy Hour for Vocations. Everyone is invited! Let us all pray to the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into His vineyard.
Please remember to pray for all seminarians daily.