Rosary Rally - Ending the Year of the Priests

At 10 o'clock AM today, a group of us gathered in front of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace.  We prayed the Holy Rosary for the intentions of all our priests and in union with other dioceses around the United States, to close out the Year for Priests.

We used Cardinal Carberry's Rosary for priests to pray for priests' special intentions.  That very beautiful rosary can be found here.

Following the Rosary recitation, Father Vince Inghilterra, graciously thanked us on behalf of all the priests, for remembering them and for praying for them.  He asked us to continue praying for all priests.

Father gave us a beautiful blessing and thus ended the Year for Priests in the Diocese of Honolulu.

I do want to thank everyone who attended and especially Cami for making this possible.  She really worked fast in organizing considering the late notice.

Remember:  Pray for our Priests!!

Rosary Rallies for Priests Give Final Flourish to Their Special Year

Have you heard about the Rosary for Priests? People will be gathering on the steps of Cathedrals in many dioceses on June 19 at 10am, to offer a Rosary for priests to commemorate the last day of the Year for Priests. While last Friday was the ceremonial ending, the indulgences are available until June 19. And on top of that, it is Father’s Day weekend — what more fitting time could there be to pray for our spiritual Fathers?

Read the rest here

Life on the Rock Brian Flynn, Songs for the Year of Priests

Wonderful interview with a newly ordained priest and a beautiful song for to honor or priests, on this last day of the Year for Priests.

Every Priestly Vocation Passes through the Heart of the Blessed Virgin

We cannot live, we cannot look at the truth about ourselves without letting ourselves be looked at and generated by Christ in daily Eucharistic Adoration, and the Stabat of Mary, "Woman of the Eucharist," beneath her Son's Cross, is the most significant example of contemplation and adoration of the divine Sacrifice that has been given to us. ...

Lastly, the Holy Mother of God remains an indispensable foundation of the whole of priestly life. The relationship with her cannot be resolved in pious devotional practice but is nourished by ceaseless entrustment to the arms of the ever Virgin of the whole of our life, of our ministry in its entirety. Mary Most Holy also leads us, like John, beneath the Cross of her Son and Our Lord in order to contemplate, with her, God's infinite Love: "He who for us is Life itself descended here and endured our death and slew it by the abundance of his Life" (St Augustine, Confessions, IV, 12).

(...) Pope St Pius X said: "Every priestly vocation comes from the heart of God but passes through the heart of a mother." This is true with regard to obvious biological motherhood but it is also true of the "birth" of every form of fidelity to the Vocation of Christ. We cannot do without a spiritual motherhood for our priestly life: Let us entrust ourselves confidently to the prayer of the whole of Holy Mother Church, to the motherhood of the People, whose pastors we are but to whom are entrusted our custody and holiness; let us ask for this fundamental support.



Excerpt from Pope Benedict XVI's Message on the
Day of Prayer for Priests for the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus,
May 30, 2008

Source. Thanks Brother John Samaha!

A God Who Feels Compassion

Clerics gather in Rome for closing celebrations of the Year for Priests

Catholic priests from all around the world are gathering in Rome this week, at the invitation of Pope Benedict XVI, for the closing events of the Year for Priests.

The 3-day celebration begins on Wednesday, June 9, with a meditation on the priesthood by Cardinal Joachim Meisner of Cologne, Germany, in the basilica of St. Paul-Outsid-the-Walls. After a period of Eucharistic adoration in that basilica, Cardinal Claudio Hummes, the prefect of the Congregation for Clergy, will preside at a Mass there. Archbishop Mauro Piacenza, the secretary of the same Congregation, will preside at another Mass in the basilica of St. John Lateran.

On Thursday, June 10, the schedule will be similar, with Cardinal Marc Ouellet of Quebec preaching at St. Paul-Outsid-the-Walls and Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican Secretary of State, presiding at Mass there. Archbishop Robert Sarah, the secretary of the Congregation for Evangelization, will preside at the Mass in St. John Lateran. On both days, the meditations preached in the basilica of St. Paul will be relayed by video to St. John Lateran. Both basilicas are being used to allow the maximum number of priests to participate.

On Thursday evening the priests will gather in St. Peter's Square for a vigil or prayer and witness, Eucharistic adoration, and a discussion with Pope Benedict. This even will be simulcast to audiences in Jerusalem, Buenos Aires, Hollywood, and Ars, France-- where pilgrims will be celebrating the 150th anniversary of the death of St. John Vianney, the patron of priests.

On Friday, June 11, which is the feast of the Sacred Heart, Pope Benedict will preside at a Mass in St. Peter's Square to close the Year for Priests. During that Eucharistic celebration the Pope will lead all the priests in renewing their vows.

Source: Catholic Culture

VIS News: Programme of Events for Closure of Year

First Thursday - Plenary Indulgence

A reminder from Father Z. Thank you Father!
BTW, I will also take the time to remind those of you in the Diocese of Honolulu, that there will be adoration, procession and Mass to close the Year of the Priest, tomorrow, Thursday, June 3rd, at the Co-Cathedral. The event starts at 5pm. Confession will be available that evening prior to Mass.

Remember! The final 1st Thursday in Year for Priests.
In this year dedicated to priests and prayer for priests, Holy Church has provided lay people with a special plenary indulgence on first Thursdays of each month.

For the faithful, a plenary indulgence can be obtained on the opening and closing days of the Year for Priests, on the 150th anniversary of the death of St. Jean-Marie Vianney, on the first Thursday of the month, or on any other day established by the ordinaries of particular places for the good of the faithful.

To obtain the indulgence the faithful must attend Mass in an oratory or Church and offer prayers to "Jesus Christ, supreme and eternal Priest, for the priests of the Church, or perform any good work to sanctify and mould them to his heart."

The conditions for the faithful for earning a plenary indulgence are to have gone to confession and prayed for the intentions designated by the Pope.

This is the last 1st Thursday in the Year for Priests. The last opportunity for this indulgence with be the final day of the Year for Priests.

We pray for our priests

We pause today to remember our soldiers

who fought in battles.

Let us also remember the priests who died

as they ministered to the soldiers.

May their lives inspire us to continue the fight

to retain the freedom which they died for.

May they all attain eternal life

and enjoy the company of our Lord,

the angels, and the saints.

Let us pray for our living priests that their lives

may always be filled with strength and courage...

Dear Lord,
we pray that the Blessed Mother
wrap her mantle around your priests
and through her intercession
strengthen them for their ministry.
We pray that Mary will guide your priests
to follow her own words,
“Do whatever He tells you” (Jn 2:5).
May your priests have the heart of St. Joseph,
Mary’s most chaste spouse.
May the Blessed Mother’s own pierced heart
inspire them to embrace
all who suffer at the foot of the cross.
May your priests be holy,
filled with the fire of your love
seeking nothing but your greater glory
and the salvation of souls.

Amen.

Source of prayer:

Our Lady of Hope

End of Year for Priests

PLACE : CO-CATHEDRAL OF ST. THERESA

712 N. SCHOOL STREET, HONOLULU, HI 96816

DATE : Thursday, June 3rd, 2010 (FEAST OF CORPUS CHRISTI)

Program for the Evening : Concurrently

5:00 pm - 6:15 pm ~ Exposition & Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament

~ Prayers for Priests and Seminarians

~ Sacrament of Reconciliation

( All priests are welcome to be confessors )

6:15 pm - 6:25 pm ~ Prepare Lay Ministers w/ banners to process into Church

6:30 pm - 7:45 pm ~ HOLY MASS ~ Presider : Most Rev. Bishop Larry Silva

( All Priests are invited to concelebrate)

7:45 pm - 9:00 pm ~ Refreshments : Mingle with Priests, Seminarians & Laity

Lay Ministries are encouraged to come as a group and bring your banners

Catholics throughout the Diocese of Honolulu are encouraged to come as the Body of Christ.

( PLENARY INDULGENCE FOR ALL FAITHFUL PARTICIPANTS)

A SPIRITUAL BOUQUET OF PRAYERS & GOOD WORKS FOR OUR PRIESTS & SEMINARIANS IS REQUESTED.

Please see pledge paper at back of your church. Turn in your pledges with your lay group or bring on June 3rd for collection. Outer islands / faithful who cannot attend but will pray, please send your pledge to any of the emails below.

Contact for more information. Any lay group wishing to participate please contact us

: Jack Kampfer (President) Email : Jbkamper@aol.com : Lleander Jung Email : LionEntHI@aol.com : Estrella Estillore Email : Estillore@att.net

Sponsored by SERRA CLUB OF HONOLULU.

Posted by Esther G. Posted 9:20 AM on her blog, A Catholic Mom in Hawaii. Thank you, Esther!

Tell About Your Heroic Priests

From an email received today and on the Catholics Come Home website here

ENCOURAGEPRIESTS.ORG NOW ACCEPTING VIDEO AND STORY SUBMISSIONS

ATLANTA, Ga. (April 29, 2010)—The new lay Catholic outreach effort to support priests called EncouragePriests.org™ is now accepting video and story submissions for the launch of its updated, interactive website.

Catholics around the country may submit written or video stories about priests who have had an impact on their own lives or who are doing heroic work—on a small or large scale—in their parish and local communities. EncouragePriests.org™ is inviting all lay people to get involved in an effort to show their appreciation for their priestly fathers this Father’s Day.

Written story submissions should be 250 words or less.

Video submissions must be 100MB or smaller and can be standard or high definition. If standard definition, video dimensions should be 480x360 if 4:3 video or 640x360 if 16:9 video. For high definition, dimensions are 1280x720 (720p) or 1920x1080 (1080p). Videos can be .WMV, .AVI, .MOV, .MP4, or .MPEG files.

Please visit EncouragePriests.org to submit all entries. EncouragePriests.org will accept and post stories and videos on an ongoing basis, but if you would like your entry to be considered as a feature on the Father’s Day launch, it must be submitted by June 1.

For more information, visit www.EncouragePriests.org.
E-mail all questions to Info@EncouragePriests.org.

EncouragePriests.org™ was established in Lent 2010 by the non-profit Catholic media apostolate, Catholics Come Home, Inc. ® (www.CatholicsComeHome.org). Its mission is to encourage priests and promote priestly vocations.

Congratulations, Fr. Patrick McCormick!

We congratulate Fr. Patrick McCormick on his retirement from military post as chaplain!

Looking back, which is about 6-7 years ago, I have had the occasion of working with him: I set up Masses for many homeschooled families, military and civilian, and he presided them. Those went on for several years and were held at either the Pearl Harbor or Kaneohe Base chapel.

He was a joy to work with as he was patient, respectful and friendly in the way he communicated with me. Being a civilian, I did encounter problems relating to base accessibility but I continued the ministry because Fr. McCormick was determined to be present to the families, especially to the children. He loved being with the homeschoolers. He made an effort to teach and encourage them to excel in their studies and spiritual life; he challenged them to become saints. Because of his gift of being able to make people feel comfortable, loved and accepted, we – parents and children – didn’t find it hard to see Jesus in him and to work a bit harder to grow in our love of God.

The homeschoolers were blessed to have had the opportunity to become a part of this priest’s ministry and life! Fr. Patrick McCormick, we are proud of you!

Have a great vacation in Alaska and the mainland, and a time of wonderful growth and rejuvenation in Rome. We hope to see you soon!

source of pic here

Happy Birthday to Pope Benedict XVI!

Please continue to pray for our pope. Mahalo!

Holy Saturday

Morning Prayer at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace

Bishop Larry Silva, with Deacon John Coughlin

my son, TJ, holds the book

Paula Manz, cantor

Music Director Calvin Liu, organist (not shown)

Blessing of the Catechumens

Good Friday at the Cathedral

At the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace...

Bishop Larry Silva, center

bearer of book, TY, youngest among my 5 children

Bishop Larry knelt and kissed the cross

Passing of the cross

Getting ready for communion

Holy Thursday

Washing of the feet

Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace

Holy Thursday, March 1, 2010

Bishop Larry Silva, presider

Bishop Larry Silva, in his homily, stressed the importance of remembering Jesus at the Last Supper and correlated it to remembering of St. Damien who spent his life caring for those afflicted with leprosy; remembering our brothers and sisters in need, the abused and neglected; re-member those far from church, and bringing them back to the church.

It was a very solemn evening. The choir of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace did a great job at singing songs for Holy Week, which its members have sung for years, to commemorate the events in Jesus' life leading to his death and resurrection.

Our Lord Jesus, the Most High Priest, be praised!

Chrism Mass on Oahu

This year's Chrism Mass is very special to me for many special reasons. My two older children altar served, my husband and I and our three other children sang in the choir, and we all got to do the offertory as a family (must thank Jonila Kim!). I felt so honored doing that for our Most High Priest Jesus Christ!

Equally important is the presence of our bishop, Bishop Larry Silva, and all our priests. They, who are my Spiritual Sons and who are Esther's Spiritual Sons also, renewed their priestly vows before the congregation. I cannot tell you what a joy that was! I was so proud of our bishop and priests at the altar, all looking distinguished and radiant with Christ's light!

Praise our Lord for his priests who serve us tirelessly and unselfishly!

Here are some of the pictures I took from the choir loft:

Preparation of oils

Blessing of the oils

Communion

Receiving of blessed oils by a couple from Neumann Center

Leavetaking

New Prayer for our Priests

Prayer to Our Lady of the priesthood

Virgin Mary, mother of Christ the HIGH priest,
mother of all the priests in the entire world.
You love with a special love all the priests
because you see in them the image of your only Son.
You have helped Jesus during all of His lIfe
and you are helping now from heaven.
We beg your prayers for all our dear priests.
May God work through them when they celebrate
the sacraments and share the Gospel of Christ
and teach conversion in Truth to all the children of God.
Virgin Mary beg God for our priests that they be SAINTS.
Amen.

English translation by: Kathleen Ann Lewis

Added by Joanna Trejo de Solis
to the group "ADORACION AL SANTISIMO SACRAMENTO UNION DE ORACION MUNDIAL"ORACION A NUESTRA SEÑORA DEL SACERDOCIO.

VIRGEN MARÍA,
MADRE DE CRISTO SACERDOTE,
MADRE DE LOS SACERDOTES DEL MUNDO ENTERO.
TÚ AMAS CON UN AMOR ESPECIAL A LOS SACERDOTES
PORQUE ELLOS SON LA IMAGEN VIVA
DE TÚ HIJO ÚNICO.
TÚ HAS AYUDADO A JESÚS DURANTE TODA SU VIDA
Y LO AYUDÁIS TODAVÍA EN EL CIELO.
NOSOTROS OS SUPLICAMOS QUE RUEGUES POR LOS SACERDOTES.
ROGAD A DIOS QUE ENVÍE OPERARIOS A SU MIES.
ROGAD PARA QUE TENGAMOS SACERDOTES
QUE CELEBREN LOS SACRAMENTOS,
QUE NOS EXPLIQUEN EL EVANGELIO DE CRISTO,
QUE NOS ENSEÑEN A CONVERTIRNOS EN VERDADEROS HIJOS DE DIOS.
VIRGEN MARÍA, PEDID A DIOS PADRE POR LOS SACERDOTES
PARA QUE SEAN SANTOS. AMÉN

Thank you, Fr. George!

Rev. George Alengadan, Ph.D.

Director of Clergy and Deacon Formation

Diocese of Oakland

Thank you, Fr. George for all the Masses you celebrated at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace while Fr. John Berger was on retreat and convention!

Fr. George is a warm and very dedicated priest. One of his assests is the ability to tell jokes that are well tied in with the gospel. One is more likely to remember the readings of the day because of the way he presents them.

Again, thank you, Fr. George!