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Transcripción

Volume 6, Issue 6
Serving More Than A Million Catholics in the Diocese of Brownsville
Let Us Adore
Him
T
he angel of the Lord appeared to them and the
glory of the Lord shone
around them, and they were
struck with great fear. The angel
said to them, “Do not be afraid;
for behold, I proclaim to you
good news of great joy that will
be for all the people. For today
in the city of David a savior has
been born for you who is Messiah and Lord. And this will be
a sign for you: you will find an
infant wrapped in swaddling
clothes and lying in a manger.”
And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with
the angel, praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest
and on earth peace to those on
whom his favor rests.”
Luke 2: 9-14
CNS photo/Rick Musacchio, Tennessee RegisterCatholic
December 2014
Lumen
Christi
Award
Sisters honored with
national award for
building faith, hope
By BRENDA NETTLES RIOJAS
The Valley Catholic
PEÑITAS — “Hidden heroes”
who have created “a vibrant community” in the Pueblo de Palmas
colonia is how Father Jack Wall,
president of Catholic Extension, described the Missionary Sisters of the
Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Father Wall presented Sister
Carolyn Kosub, Sister Emily Jocson and Sister Fatima Santiago with
the national 2014 Lumen Christi
Award, the organization’s highest
honor, on Nov. 16 following a Mass
at St. Anne Church in Peñitas. This
is the first time the national honor
has been awarded in the Diocese of
Brownsville.
“Today we of Catholic Extension come from Chicago to Pueblo
del Palmas to proclaim to you that
we have seen Christ light shining
brightly among you in your love for
one another, in your compassion,
and your mercy in those who come
among you in this borderland,” Father Wall said.
Father Wall said the center they
created, Proyecto Desarollo Humano, is a “bright center of hope…
that radiates Christ light, and life
and mercy to all in this colonia and
beyond.”
The Sisters created Proyecto
Desarrollo Humano (The Project
for Human Development), as an
outreach center in 2004 dedicated
to providing health, social services,
education and evangelization. They
also secured funding to build St.
Anne Church in 2009. Land for the
church and the center was donated
by Gary and Dawna Frisby. The
Church was established as a new
quasi-parish in 2013.
When the sisters came to Pueblo
de Palmas in 2003, they knew it was
going to be a challenge, said Sister
Kosub. The area had been struck by
a tornado that left a trail of destruction. “We started on empty ground,”
Sister Santiago said.
Sister Jocson added they also
had the challenge of building trust
in the community. “They were
» Please see Lumen Christi, p.3
The Christ Child is pictured in detail of a Nativity scene.
LUMEN CHRISTI
“VERBUM MITTITUR
SPIRANS AMOREM”
(“The WORD is sent
breathing love.”)
Catholic Extension presents
ICM Sisters with national award
Page 3
THOSE WHO SERVE
YEAR IN REVIEW
Brother Paul U. Phillipp, FMS
Highlights of 2014
Page 8
Pages 9-12
EN
EN ESPAÑOL
ESPAÑOL
Artículos sobre la Solemnidad
de la Inmaculada
Concepción, los Talleres de
Oración y Vida, y el obituario
de la Hermana Juliana
García, fundadora de las
Misioneras de Jesús.
Páginas 14-17
DIOCESE
2
The Valley Catholic - December 2014
Compartiendo
la luz de Cristo
C
ada año Catholic Extension
otorga el Premio Lumen
Christi a un sacerdote, una
religiosa o un laico, que ha dedicado
su vida para el servicio a los pobres.
Por primera vez en la historia de
nuestra diócesis, los homenajeados
se seleccionaron de nuestra área.
Las Hermanas Misioneras del
Inmaculado Corazón de María,
Carolyn Kosub, Emily Jocson y
Fatima Santiago, han trabajado incansablemente en la edificación de
la comunidad en el área occidental
del Condado de Hidalgo, entre y en
los alrededores de Pueblo de Palmas
desde el año 2003.
Este anuncio dio gran alegría a
mi corazón. El trabajo de las hermanas fue formalmente reconocido
durante una misa en la Parroquia
de Santa Anna el domingo 16 de
noviembre. Fue una ocasión llena
de gracia poder celebrar la santa
misa con la comunidad de la parroquia para la presentación del
reconocimiento. El Padre Jack Wall,
presidente de Catholic Extension,
y su equipo de Chicago visitaron
nuestra diócesis fronteriza para dar
la presentación.
Durante la misa, les pedí las
hermanas religiosas que se pusieran
de pie para ser reconocidas. Fue
difícil para ellas, porque aquellos
que realmente siguen el camino de
Cristo, no buscan el reconocimiento. Sin embargo, quise agradecerles
en nombre de la comunidad entera
por invertir su tiempo y sus vidas
con nosotros. El Papa Francisco
dice que el tiempo es más valioso
que el espacio, y el trabajo de la
hermanas nos enseña que la entrega
del tiempo puede abrir espacios
de esperanza y hospitalidad en
nuestras comunidades.
A través del regalo de su tiempo
a la gente de la comunidad, han
construido algo hermoso para el Señor. La Parroquia de Santa Anna y
el edificio para Proyecto Desarrollo
Humano, donde trabajan las hermanas, son señales del tiempo que
han pasado cultivando amistades,
ofreciendo clases de comunión, y
construyendo fraternidad; es una
señal de la entrega de sí mismas, -la entrega siempre da fruto.
Reflexionando sobre el título
del premio, Lumen Christi, que
significa la Luz de Cristo, pienso
en la Vigilia Pascual. En la Vigilia
Pascual encendemos el cirio pascual
y después lentamente encendemos
todas las velas dentro de la iglesia oscura. Pronto la luz llena el
espacio, y de esta manera el espacio
se convierte en luz. Esta ceremonia
simple y sagrada es casi un signo
sacramental de cómo Jesucristo
trabaja entre nosotros. Cristo es la
luz. Él es una luz no solo para ver,
Sharing the Light of Christ
E
ach year Catholic Extension presents the
Lumen Christi Award to a priest, woman
religious or lay person, who devotes
their life to serving the poor. For the first time
in the history of our diocese, the honorees
were selected from our area.
The Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate
Heart of Mary, Sister Carolyn Kosub, Sister
Emily Jocson and Sister Fatima Santiago, have
been working tirelessly to build up the community in the area of western Hidalgo County,
in and around Pueblo del Palmas since in
2003.
The announcement brought great joy to
my heart. The recognition of the Sisters work
was formally presented during a Mass at Saint
Anne’s Church on Sunday, Nov. 16. It was a
grace filled occasion to celebrate Mass with the
parish community for the presentation of the
award. Father Jack Wall, president of Catholic
Extension, and his team from Chicago came
to our border diocese to make the presentation.
During the Mass, I asked the sisters to
stand and be recognized. It was difficult for
them, because those who really follow the path
of Christ don’t look for the light of recognition, but I wanted to thank them on behalf of
the entire community for investing time from
their lives with us. Pope Francis says, time is
more important than the space, and the work
of the Sisters shows how the giving of time can
open up spaces of hope and hospitality in our
communities.
Through the gift of their time with people
in the community, they have built something
beautiful for the Lord. St. Anne’s Church and
the building for Proyecto Desarollo Humano,
where the Sisters work, are signs of the time
they have spent cultivating friendships, offering communion classes, building fraternity;
it is a sign of their giving of themselves, — la
entrega siempre da fruto.
Reflecting on the title of the award, Lumen
Christi, which means the Light of Christ, I
think of the Easter Vigil. At the Easter Vigil we
light an Easter candle and then slowly we light
all the candles around the Church that was
once dark. Soon the light fills the space, and in
this way the space becomes light. This simple
and sacred ceremony is like a sacramental sign
of how Christ Jesus works amongst us. Christ
is the light. He is a light not just to see, but to
share.
God wants us to share the light. When
the Lord came, he didn’t come just to show us
sino para compartir.
Dios quiere que compartamos
la luz. Cuando el Señor vino, no
llegó solamente para mostrarnos que él es la luz, diciéndonos,
“Acércate a mí.” La luz tiene que
entrar y formar parte de nosotros
mismos. Cuando recibimos la luz
de fe, recibimos al mismo tiempo
la luz de esperanza y caridad
porque Cristo ha resucitado.
Recibimos esto no solamente para
tenerlo y decir, “gracias, Señor,
por la luz.” Él comparte su luz
con nosotros para que podamos
darla a los demás. Tenemos que
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Bishop Daniel E. Flores
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Editor
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MOST REVEREND
DANIEL E. FLORES
BISHOP OF BROWNSVILLE
he was the light, saying, “Come close to me.”
The light has to become something part of us.
When we receive the light of faith, we receive
the light of charity and hope because Christ
has risen. We receive this not just so that we
can have it and say, “thank you Lord for the
light.” He shares his light with us so we can
give it to others. We have to share this light
because we cannot fulfill the mission of Christ
only by receiving. We must give also.
We aren’t fully disciples of the Lord until
we find a way to share that and let somebody
else light their candle from us. This is the
Christian life. For 2000 years, the light of
Christ has been going from one person to
another.
That is why time is important, the time to
relate with one another and to go out into the
community. When you read the Gospel, we
learn the Lord Jesus loved a crowd. He didn’t
stay in the desert like John the Baptist. John
the Baptist had another mission. Jesus spent
time with the people. It seems so obvious, God
in Christ Jesus liked being around people!
Yet often in our world, there is a spirit that
says people are problems to be avoided. Not
so with the Lord Jesus! He showed us what it
means to be a daughter or son of God. Jesus
never said no to anyone in the Gospel, “I don’t
have time. Sorry, I have to go raise the dead. I
have important things to do.” The Lord Jesus
showed us that the most important reality at
any given moment is the person right in front
of us, and not what we are going to do tomorrow. It’s what we do today, as we relate to the
person in front of us.
The light of Christ is the light of Jesus who
takes time with people, and opens up paths
of friendship and community. So we give
thanks to the Lord Jesus who shared his light
with the sisters. The Missionary Sisters of the
Immaculate Heart of Mary, from the moment
of their baptism, and through to the profound
promises of their consecrated life, received the
light so that they could share the light with
others. We celebrate with them because we
compartir esta luz porque no
podemos cumplir con la misión de
Cristo con solo recibirla. También
tenemos que dar.
No somos discípulos de Dios
en completo hasta que encontremos alguna manera de compartir
esto y dejar que alguien encienda
su vela a través de nosotros. Esta
es la vida cristiana. Por 2000 años,
la luz de Cristo se ha compartido
desde una persona a otra.
Es por ello que el tiempo
es importante, el tiempo para
relacionarnos unos con los otros
y salir a la comunidad. Cuando
leemos el evangelio, aprendemos
que al Señor Jesús le encantaba
la multitud. No se quedó en el
desierto como Juan el Bautista.
Juan el Bautista tenía otra misión.
Jesús pasó tiempo con las personas. ¡Parece tan obvio que Dios
have obtained also, with their help, the grace
of receiving the light that has its origin in
Christ.
The community of Pueblo del Palmas and
our entire diocese will grow and continue to
grow by the grace of the Lord because of this
light. The light we share is the friendship with
Jesus that allows us to know the joy that comes
from walking with him in our everyday lives.
People ask, “What’s so good about the Good
News?” It is simply this: God is walking with
us. We are not alone.
Sometimes people ask me, “Where’s Jesus?” It is the question of the world. Whether
the world knows it or not, this is their question
to us who are believers. He is not hard to find.
What is missing often is the will to look for
him. Jesus is in anyone who is in need, anyone
who knows how to shed a tear, and anyone
who knows what it’s like to have a hope that is
in danger of being extinguished. He is seated
in the same pew next to each of you. That is
why Jesus wants a community. He wants us to
look for him amongst our brothers and sisters.
What the sisters have brought, because Jesus has brought it to them, is a desire to share
the joy that comes from Jesus being with us
and a desire to translate that joy into a genuine
concern for one another. Jesus is not hard to
find, and the sign of his presence is the gift of
himself; that is why the Eucharistic sacrifice is
the preeminent sign of his presence. He gives
himself totally to us in his Body and Blood.
From this First Gift, flows the sign of his presence in each one of us in the community of
the Church, in the way that we give ourselves
for the good of others. This is what is good
about the Good News.
We have a mission. The Pope reminds us
of this constantly. We cannot remain seated.
We have to share the light of Christ with many
people in our community who do not know
the hope of Jesus, who do not know of the
light of his presence. We have to be people of
who extend ourselves.
On behalf of the entire Diocese of Brownsville and the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary I thank Catholic Extension for recognizing this sign of Christ’s light
in this world. We are all blessed and we have
so much to be thankful for because Christ is
with us. I invite everyone to recognize daily
how it is that the Lord Jesus gives himself to us
in the Eucharist and how that gift itself invites
us to give ourselves to one another.
en Jesucristo le gustaba estar entre
la gente! Sin embargo, en nuestro
mundo hay un espíritu que con
frecuencia dice que las personas
son problemas que debemos
evitar. ¡Pero con el Señor Jesús
no! Él nos ha enseñado lo que es
ser un hijo o una hija de Dios.
Jesús nunca rechazo a las personas
en el evangelio. Jamás dijo: “No
tengo tiempo. Perdón, tengo que
ir a resucitar a los muertos; tengo
cosas muy importantes que hacer.”
Al contrario, el Señor Jesús nos
ha enseñado que la realidad más
importante en cualquier momento
es la persona frente a nosotros,
y no lo que vamos a hacer el día
siguiente. Lo que hacemos hoy, eso
importa. De igual manera, como
nos relacionamos con la persona
frente a nosotros es de suma importancia.
Bishop Flores’ Schedule
Dec. 5
6 p.m.
Harlingen
Bishop’s Annual Dinner
Dec. 7
9:30 a.m.
Brownsville
San Juan Diego Mass
Dec. 8
6 p.m.
Brownsville
Procession & Mass for Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
Dec. 9
9:30 a.m.
Mission
Mass for Feast of Juan Diego at Juan Diego Academy
Dec. 11
7 p.m.
Sullivan City
Mass for Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Dec. 12
9 a.m.
Bayview
Mass for Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Dec. 12
7 p.m.
Brownsville
Outdoor Mass at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church
Dec. 14
8:30 a.m.
Brownsville
Mass at Holy Family Church
La luz de Cristo es la luz de
Jesús tomando su tiempo con las
personas y abriendo senderos
de amistad y comunidad. Así
que damos gracias al Señor Jesús
que compartió su luz con las
hermanas. Las Hermanas Misioneras del Inmaculado Corazón
de María, desde el momento de
sus bautismos y a través de las
profundas promesas de sus vidas
consagradas, recibieron la luz para
que pudieran compartirla con
los demás. Celebramos con ellas
porque nosotros también hemos
obtenido, con la ayuda de ellas, la
gracia de recibir la luz que tiene su
origen en Cristo.
La comunidad de Pueblo de
Palmas y nuestra diócesis entera
crecerá y seguirá creciendo por
» Please see La Luz, p.19
December 2014
Dec. 14
11 a.m.
Brownsville
Mass at Holy Family Church
Dec. 18
11:30 a.m.
McAllen
Christmas Mass at Alfredo Gonzalez TX State Veterans Home
Dec. 20
6 p.m.
Mission
Blessing of new San Cristobal Magallanes & Companions Church
Dec. 24
10 a.m.
Harlingen
Christmas Mass (for detained immigrant children)
Dec. 24
4 p.m.
San Juan
Christmas Mass at San Juan Nursing Home
Dec. 25
Midnight
Brownsville
Christmas Mass at Immaculate Conception Cathedral
Dec. 25
11 a.m.
San Juan
Christmas Mass at Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle
DIOCESE
December 2014- The Valley Catholic
‘Hidden heroes’
Lumen Christi,
continued from pg. 1
strangers to one another.”
Bishop Daniel E. Flores and
Bishop Emeritus Raymundo J. Peña
celebrated the Mass at St. Anne
Church in Peñitas prior to the presentation of the award.
Bishop Flores congratulated the
sisters and thanked them on behalf of the community for the gift
of time they invested from their
lives. “Through the gift of their
time with people in the community,
they have built something beautiful
for the Lord. St. Anne Church and
the building for Proyecto Desarollo
Humano, where the Sisters work,
are signs of the time they have spent
cultivating friendships, offering
communion classes, building fraternity; it is a sign of their giving of
themselves.”
He also said each person in the
community has a part in the mission. “We have a mission. The Pope
reminds us of this constantly. We
cannot remain seated. We have to
share the light of Christ with many
people in our community who do
not know the hope of Jesus, who
do not know of the light of his presence. We have to be people who extend ourselves.”
As the 2014 recipients of the
Lumen Christi Award, the sisters
received a grant of $25,000 in support of their ministry; in addition,
the Diocese of Brownsville, which
nominated the sisters, also received
a grant of $25,000. Bishop Flores
donated the diocese’s grant to the
sisters, who in turn donated it to St.
Anne Parish.
The sisters, who continue to
Solemnity
of the
Immaculate
Conception
Cesar Riojas Jr./The Valley Catholic
An image of Mary at the Immaculate
Conception Cathedral in Brownsville.
“Hail, full of grace!
The Lord is with you.”
ON THE WEB
To see photos from the event
visit the Catholic Diocese of
Brownsville Facebook page.
minister in the community, expressed their gratitude for the
honor and for all who helped in the
community, including the diocese’s
Stewardship & Development Office and the Frisbys for the donation
of land. They also thanked Bishop
Peña, “who way back believed in us
and told us to go ahead.”
Moving forward, Sister Kosub
said, “We are doing our best to
make our people aware that they
too are missionaries and that it is
now their turn to start reaching out
to other communities and passing
on what they have received.”
The Valley Catholic
Photos by Cesar Riojas, Jr./The Valley Catholic
Father Jack Wall, president of Catholic Extension, and Bishop Daniel E.
Flores present Sister Fatima Santiago, Sister Carolyn Kosub and Sister Emily
Jocson of the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary with the 2014
Lumen Christi Award on Nov. 16 at St. Anne Parish in Peñitas.
Feast of the Holy Family
Jesus, Mary, Joseph
provide universal
FYBNQMFPGGBNJMZMJGF
Catholic News Agency
This is the time of year when
Christians are most focused on the
Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Reflection on the Holy Family is more than just the Nativity
scene. Naturally, Christmas focuses on the birth of the Savior, and
Mary and Joseph play key roles
in this most important event. The
Child born in Bethlehem in a stable is, no doubt, what Christmas is
all about.
But there is a reason the
Church incorporates a feast day
of the Holy Family within the days
of Christmas. There is much to reflect on in addition to the historic
event of Jesus’ birth. The Church
wants us to have this opportunity.
For singles, the Holy Family
represents what they hope to have
in their own lives; a loving, caring
spouse and children. Holy means
to be set apart. They are the “Holy”
Family because of the unique purpose each was called to do together. What can we learn from the
Holy Family as we endeavor to be
married and have a family?
Parenting matters in the formation of every child to becoming a healthy, virtuous, civil adult
3
The Valley Catholic
A stained glass window at Holy Family Church in Edinburg.
of good character. The parents
we have and the environment we
grow up in play major roles in our
becoming the person we are as an
adult.
Therefore, it is no small matter to choose a spouse whom we
believe will make a good parent,
and who desires to establish a
home environment that will give
children the best opportunity to
become the person they are each
created to be by God. And one
should be this person, too, for it is
the kind of person a future spouse
is seeking.
Here is where we can turn
to the Holy Family for a universal example. The home of Jesus,
Mary and Joseph was a peaceful,
harmonious home, full of joy and
simplicity of life. It was a stable environment, where mutual love and
respect was a priority.
“We need more of that kind
of witness, more of that kind of
example,” said Franciscan Father
Terrence Gorski, parochial vicar
of Holy Family Church in Edinburg and Sacred Heart Church in
McAllen.
Jesus had two parents who
were on the same page. They both
loved God and their religion was
central to their lives. The teachings
of their religion governed their
daily actions. They taught their
son to love God and follow the
teachings of their faith. Mary and
Joseph were consistent and without controversy when it came to
everything important. Therefore, a
husband and wife should be striving after these same things.
“Good families don’t just fall
out of the clear blue sky,” Father
Gorski said. “They have to be
rooted in strong and healthy marriages. We as a Church need to
take our responsibility a little more
» Please see Holy Family p.19
“For
the
Immaculate
Conception, it’s always necessary
to remind people or to start off
by just making sure everybody
understands that it’s about Mary
— not about Jesus — that it’s her
conception,” said Father Joaquin
Zermeño, pastor of Immaculate
Conception Church in McCook
and St. Isidore Church in San
Isidro. “Everything about Mary
always focuses on Jesus. We needed
for her to exist in order for God to
use her as the tabernacle.”
In 1854, Pope Pius IX’s solemn
declaration, “Ineffabilis Deus,”
clarified with finality the long-held
belief of the Church that Mary was
conceived free from original sin.
Mary was granted this
extraordinary privilege because of
her unique role in history as the
Mother of God. That is, she received
the gift of salvation in Christ from
the very moment of her conception.
The
Solemnity
of
the
Immaculate Conception, which
falls on Dec. 8, is a holy day of
obligation, meaning that the faithful
are obliged to participate in Mass.
Father Zermeño said many
Catholics in our diocese prioritize
the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe,
which falls on Dec. 12, over the
Solemnity of the Immaculate
Conception.
“We have a strong cultural
connection to Our Lady of
Guadalupe, so many people want
to focus on la Virgen de Guadalupe
and they forget that it is an optional
feast whereas the Immaculate
Conception is a holy day of
obligation worldwide,” Father
Zermeño said. “I have to keep
reminding my parishioners that the
holy day is the 8th, not the 12th.”
The
Solemnity
of
the
Immaculate Conception is a time
to celebrate the great joy of God’s
gift to humanity in Mary, and to
recognize with greater clarity, the
truth that each and every human
being has been created by God to
fulfill a particular mission that he
and only he can fulfill.
Like Mary, every person is
called to recognize and respond to
God’s call, to their own vocation,
in order to carry out God’s plan
for their life and fulfill the mission
prepared for them since before the
beginning of time.
DIOCESE
»Women speak for themselves en la Frontera
4
La Morenita and her roses
S
he gifts us roses in December. We serenade her with
mañanitas before dawn,
matachines dance in the streets
in her honor; you can hear the
drums and singing as they approach –“La Guadalupana, La
Guadalupana, La Guadalupana
bajo del Tepeyac.”
Why in December, in the
midst of Advent and just four
days after celebrating the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, do hundreds of thousands
gather, sometimes in the rain and
cold, throughout Mexico, the
United States and other parts of
the world to celebrate the Feast of
Our Lady of Guadalupe?
Desde el cielo una hermosa
Mañana, our Blessed Mother, our
Virgencita Morena, first appeared
almost 500 years ago on Tepeyac
to an Indian named Juan Diego,
she appeared in 1531 during chaotic times with a message of love
and hope. Her message in Nahuatl, the native tongue, changed
hearts and restored people’s
dignity. Volumes have been written about the significance of the
apparitions that occurred Dec.
9 - 12.
St. John Paul II, during his
papacy declared her Patroness of
all America and Star of the first
and new evangelization. He even
dedicated a chapel in her honor
in St. Peter’s Basilica.
Pope Francis, in his message
a year ago to the Americas on the
Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe,
said, “When the image of the Virgin appeared on the tilma of Juan
Brenda
Nettles Riojas
Editor of The
Valley Catholic
Diego, it was the prophecy of an
embrace: Mary’s embrace of all
the peoples of the vast expanses
of America – the peoples who
already lived there, and those
who were yet to come.” He said,
“Mary’s embrace showed what
America – North and South – is
called to be: a land where different peoples come together; a land
prepared to accept human life at
every stage, from the mother’s
womb to old age; a land which
welcomes immigrants, and the
poor and the marginalized, in
every age. A land of generosity.”
This December as we reflect
on the year and prepare to enter
a new year, we witness in these
Marian celebrations the joy of
celebrating our faith, a joy which
overflows and inspires us to share
this publicly in the streets in a
country that affords us the freedom to express our faith without
fear of persecution or death.
The procession in Brownsville
has become one of my favorites.
Sometimes the priests ride on
horses carrying a banner with
her image leading the matachines
and floats with students reenacting the apparitions that occurred
in 1531. Most of the parishes in
the city participate and converge
together from different routes for
an outdoor Mass at Our Lady of
Guadalupe Church on Lincoln
Street.
Our Lady of Guadalupe helps
us remember to embrace our
faith, trusting in her son to lead
us on our daily pilgrimage; she
helps us remember to embrace
our culture, a culture of life, one
strengthened by being true to our
beliefs, our heritage, our languages y nuestra tierra.
The Star of the New Evangelization, she guides us and
encourages us to share the joy of
the Gospel, to raise our voice, to
show our love, to fight for justice.
She who led the way, her image
emblazoned on a flag as Father
Miguel Hidalgo led the Mexican
War of Independence, continues
to lead the way to her son.
We have some fights ahead
of us when it comes to religious
freedom, speaking up for the
vulnerable, and speaking up for
ourselves. Our Holy Mother, la
Morenita de Tepeyac, accompanies us. She who crushes the
serpent, proceeds with love. She
invites us to do the same.
“No se turbe tu corazón” (“Do
not let your heart be disturbed.”)
Just as she promised Juan Diego,
she promises us, “Am I not here,
I, who am your Mother? Are
you not under my shadow and
protection? Am I not the source
of your joy? Are you not in the
hollow of my mantle, in the
crossing of my arms? Do you
» Please see Mother p.19
»Family Life
Synod on the Family 2014
H
ow can the Church
improve its approach
to the family and all the
modern day challenges it faces?
According to Rome Reports, this
question was broken down in a
series of topics on Day 2 of the
Synod on the Family which took
place in Rome Oct. 5-19, 2014.
1) Language. Words used by
the Church should be inviting
and not outright condemning.
Father Thomas Rosica stated: “To
label people as you are living in
sin; you are intrinsically disordered; or you have a contraceptive
mentality does not help in bringing people to Christ and helping
them to embrace the teachings of
the Church.
2) Law of Graduality. This
was a major point which underscores the unique path people
take in their search for God. For
some people, it’s immediate; for
others it’s a process. Cardinal
Vincent Nichols, Archbishop
of Westminster UK, said that it
“permits and encourages people,
all of us, to take one step at a time
in the search for holiness in our
lives”.
3) Offense vs. Defense. This
notion of highlighting the good
in promoting family life instead
of the challenges was touched on.
Father Manuel Dorantes commented that “the Church has
focused too much on rejecting
homosexual marriage and in turn
had failed to express an attractive
and full picture of marriage. We
need to focus on positive instead
Lydia Pesina
Director, Family
Life Office
of the negative; more on the
highpoints instead of prohibition;
more on what makes it appealing instead of presenting it as the
rule”.
4) Sexuality and Spirituality. Father Dorantes stated that
the “Church spoke out so much
about sex outside of marriage that
when it came to sexuality in marriage; it is sometimes seen as an
allowed marriage, it is sometimes
seen as an allowed imperfection.
We shouldn’t be against sex; but
rather show how this path can
lead towards holiness.
5) History. The connection
between the Church and the
family should also be highlighted:
the role the Church has played
in promoting family life and
therefore in promoting a strong
fabric of society. Father Rosica
talked about how (in the Church)
“we use gospel texts in regards
to marriage. He says that often
we quote the texts that talk about
how a man shall leave his father
and mother and cling to his wife
and the two shall become one…”
It is important to make the connections from scripture/ history
to family life today.
It is interesting to note that
these topics impact us here in the
Diocese of Brownsville as they
impact families worldwide in our
Universal Church.
On Oct. 8, 2013, Pope Francis
announced that in October 2014
there would be an Extraordinary
General Assembly of the Synod
of Bishops on topics related to
the family and evangelization.
Subsequent communications
made clear that the Extraordinary General Assembly would be
followed by an Ordinary General
Assembly of the Synod of Bishops
in October 2015, on the same
topics.
In December 2013, Bishop
Flores (as did all the bishops
worldwide) submitted a report on
Pastoral Challenges to the Family
in the Context of Evangelization
in preparation for the Synod
of Bishops III Extraordinary
General Assembly. The series of
questions allowed the particular
Churches to participate actively
in the preparation of the Extraordinary Synod, whose purpose
is to proclaim the Gospel in the
context of the pastoral challenges
facing the family today. As we
await the results of this Synod
and anticipate the Ordinary
General Assembly of the Synod of
Bishops in October 2015, perhaps
we can support this process our
Holy Father Pope Francis leads
by praying for him, for all our
families, and for all participating
in the coming Ordinary General
Assembly of the Synod of Bishops
in October 2015.
Terry De Leon/The Valley Catholic
Bishop Daniel E. Flores at the Bishop’s Annual Dinner in 2011.
The Valley Catholic
The Bishop’s Annual Dinner
is scheduled for Friday, Dec. 5 at
La Sierra Event Center, 3742 U.S.
Highway 77, in Harlingen.
Please contact the Stewardship
and Development Office to reserve
a table for this event.
The Bishop’s Annual Dinner
raises funds which he then channels to parishes and ministries requesting financial assistance.
Patronage of this festive event
will allow Bishop Flores to say,
“yes” to as many ministries as possible.
The silent auction, drinks and
hors d’oeuvres begin at 6 p.m. and
the dinner and dance will follow at
8 p.m.
Entertainment will be provided by Michael Salgado, a Latin
Grammy Award-winning singer
and accordionist best known for
hits such as “Cruz de Madera” and
“Sin Ella.”
Contact Jesse at (956) 784-5092
or Baldemar at (956) 784-5095 for
more information.
DIOCESE
December 2014 - The Valley Catholic
»Sunday
Readings
The Word of God in the Life
and Mission of the Church
DEC. 7
( Second Sunday of Advent)
Reading I
IS 40:1-5, 9-11
Responsorial Psalm
PS 85:9-10, 11-12, 13-14
Reading II
2 PT 3:8-14
Alleluia
ALLEUIA LK 3:4, 6
Gospel
MK 1:1-8
DEC. 14
(Third Sunday of Advent )
Reading I
IS 61:1-2A, 10-11
Responsorial Psalm
LK 1:46-48, 49-50, 53-54
Reading II
1 THES 5:16-24
Alleluia
IS 61:1 (CITED IN LK 4:18)
Gospel
JN 1:6-8, 19-28
DEC. 21
(Fourth Sunday of Advent )
Reading I
2 SM 7:1-5, 8B-12, 14A, 16
Responsorial Psalm
PS 89:2-3, 4-5, 27-29
Reading II
ROM 16:25-27
Alleluia
LK 1:38
Gospel
LK 1:26-38
DEC. 28
(The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and
Joseph)
Reading I
SIR 3:2-6, 12-14
or
GN 15:1-6; 21:1-3
Responsorial Psalm
PS 128:1-2, 3, 4-5
or
PS 105:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9
Reading II
COL 3:15A, 16A or COL 3:12-17
or HEB 11:8, 11-12, 17-19
Alleluia
COL 3:15A, 16A
or
HEB 1:1-2
Gospel
LK 2:22-40
The word of the Lord abides for ever.
This word is the Gospel which was
preached to you” (1 Pet 1:25; cf. Is
40:8).
With this assertion from the First
Letter of Saint Peter, which takes up
the words of the Prophet Isaiah, we
find ourselves before the mystery of
God, who has made himself known
through the gift of his word.
This word, which abides for ever,
entered into time. God spoke his
eternal Word humanly; his Word
“became flesh” (Jn 1:14).
This is the good news. This is the
proclamation which has come down
the centuries to us today.
Disciples in Mission: Six Weeks
with the Bible
5
»Making Sense of Bioethics
Confronting our fears about suffering
T
he prospect of a very attractive, recently-married
young woman with a terminal illness facing excruciating pain
and suffering as she dies is enough
to move anyone. The life and death
of 29-year-old Brittany Maynard
recently captured enormous media
attention when she declared she
was moving to Oregon to commit
suicide after having been informed
by her doctors that she had an aggressive form of brain cancer and
likely had only six months to live.
She brought her life to a close on
Nov. 1st, a date she had selected
ahead of time, by taking a lethal
dose of barbiturates prescribed by
her doctor.
In the public discussions that
have ensued, some have ventured
to argue that suicide under such
desperate circumstances would,
in fact, be justifiable. A recent online article from Time magazine
observed that few fault those who
were trapped on the top floors of
the Twin Towers on 9/11 when
they jumped to their deaths below
as the flames surged around them.
Similarly, the article suggests that
those who face the prospect of a
difficult, pain-racked death from
a terminal disease should be able
to take their own life through
physician-assisted suicide without
fault or blame.
For those jumping out of
the Twin Towers, however, we
recognize a horrific situation of
desperation, and even the possibility of a kind of mental breakdown
in those final panic-stricken moments. Their agonizing choice to
hurl themselves out of the building
to their deaths below would be,
objectively speaking, a suicidal act,
and would not represent a mor-
Father Tadeusz
Pacholczyk
Priest of the
Diocese of Fall
River
ally good choice, but their moral
culpability would almost certainly
be diminished, if not eliminated,
by the harrowing circumstances
in which they found themselves,
driven by raw terror more than
by anything else. Clearly, grave
psychological disturbances, anguish, or grave fear of suffering can
diminish the responsibility of the
one committing suicide.
Yet in the face of a terminal
medical diagnosis, it is not reasonable to let our fears dictate our
choices; instead it behooves us to
confront and resolve those fears
without yielding to panic and
without allowing unpleasant future
scenarios to loom large in our
imagination.
Brittany Maynard not only
greatly feared a difficult death
for herself, but also argued that
protecting her family from pain
and suffering was an important
consideration in her decision
to carry out physician-assisted
suicide: “I probably would have
suffered in hospice care for weeks
or even months. And my family
would have had to watch that. I did
not want this nightmare scenario
for my family.” Yet even with very
noble intentions and a loving
concern for our family, we can
unwittingly become overzealous in
our desire to “protect” them from
suffering.
Brittany’s desire to protect her
family and friends from pain by
committing suicide also led her to
cross over critical moral boundaries such that she deprived her
family and friends of the chance
to love her through her sickness.
Suicide in any form runs contrary
to our duty to love — to love
ourselves and to love our neighbor — because it unjustly breaks
important ties of solidarity we
have with family, friends and others to whom we continue to have
obligations. It is always violent to
eliminate suffering by eliminating the sufferer. We effectively
give up on the Creator and all he
has created. We refuse the help of
our neighbor, the love of a family
member, or even the beauty of another sun-drenched day to lighten
our affliction.
Even as our lives wind down,
we have a calling to be good stewards of the gift of life. Hospice and
palliative care, along with careful
pain management, can lighten our
burdens during the dying process.
The mutual support of family
and friends enables us, and them,
to grow in unexpected ways. By
respecting and working through
the dying process, we can encounter deep and unanticipated graces.
We may recognize the need to ask
for and receive forgiveness from
others and from God.
We may become aware of
God’s presence and receive a
strengthened faith. We gain peace
in our dying days and hours by
accepting our mortality and our
situation, journeying down the
road that still opens ahead of us,
even as it becomes shorter, living
it with the same tenacity and generosity we did when the road was
yet longer.
The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary
A
s we begin this holy season
of Advent in preparation
for Christmas it is a good
time for us to reflect and meditate
on the Mystery of the Incarnation.
In the Creed which we profess
every Sunday at Mass we confess:
“For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven; by the
power of the Holy Spirit, he became incarnate of the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.”
The Catechism reminds us that:
“The Word became flesh for us in
order to save us by reconciling us
with God, who “loved us and sent
his Son to be the expiation for our
sins”: “the Father has sent his Son
as the Savior of the world”, and “he
was revealed to take away sins”
(CCC, 456) “Taking up St. John’s
expression, “The Word became
flesh”, the Church calls “Incarnation” the fact that the Son of God
assumed a human nature in order
to accomplish our salvation in it”
(CCC, 461).
This reminds me of one of my
favorite prayers of devotion of our
Catholic faith, the Angelus (or Regina Coeli). The Angelus (from the
Angel of the Lord declared unto
Mary) is the ancient custom to stop
and pause for a moment to honor
our Blessed Mother and at the
same time ask for her intercession
as we give thanks to Almighty God
for the blessings of the day.
The Angelus is prayed daily
at 6 a.m.(morning angelus), noon
(midday angelus), and 6 p.m. (evening angelus); often it is accompanied by the ringing of the Church
Deacon
Luis Zuniga
Director, Office for
Pastoral Planning
& San Juan Diego
Ministry Institute.
(angelus) bells which call the faithful to prayer. The Angelus helps
us to meditate on the Incarnation
which gives us meaning and hope
for our existence as Christians on
our way to heaven knowing that
God is with us.
The Regina Coeli which means
“Queen of Heaven” in Latin (which
may also be sung as a hymn) is
prayed during the Easter season
and the Angelus is prayed during
the rest of the liturgical year.
The custom of praying three
times a day goes back to the Old
Testament which mentions that
it was customary for observant
Jews to pray in the morning, at
three in the afternoon and at night.
The book Daniel 6:10 mentions
this such practice and in the New
Testament in Acts of the Apostles
3:1 you hear about Peter and John
going to the temple “at the ninth
hour of prayer.”
The Angelus prayer reminds us
of the Annunciation, when the Angel Gabriel appears to our Blessed
Mother Mary as found in the
Gospel of Luke 1:26-56. The prayer
consists essentially in reciting the
Hail Mary three times followed
by three introductory verses and
closing prayer and may be prayed
individually or as a group.
The following are three introductory verses and the closing
prayer of the Angelus. The first
verse is: “The Angel of the Lord
declared unto Mary” and the
response is: “And she conceived of
the Holy Spirit.”
The second verse is: “Behold
the handmaid of the Lord,” and the
response is: “Be it done unto me
according to thy word.”
The third verse is: “And the
Word was made Flesh” and the
response is: “And dwelt among us.”
The fourth verse is prayed
before the closing prayer: “Pray for
us, O Holy Mother of God” and the
response is: “That we may be made
worthy of the promises of Christ.”
The closing prayer is: “Let us
pray. Pour forth, we beseech Thee,
O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts;
that, we to whom the incarnation of Christ, Thy Son, was made
known by the message of an angel,
may by His passion and cross, be
brought to the glory of His resurrection. Through the same Christ
our Lord. Amen.”
Our Blessed Mother Mary’s
“yes” not only transformed her
but the course of history and our
destiny as Catholic Christians. Her
“yes” has echoed throughout the
ages, her “let it be” in Latin, “fiat”
inspired us to do the same, to say
yes to God’s plan and will for us.
“Mary is the perfect Orans
(prayer), a figure of the Church.
When we pray to her, we are ad» Please see Angelus, p.19
Courtesy photo
St. Lucy is often depicted holding a
palm branch as a symbol of victory
over evil.
»Feast Day
- Dec. 13
Spotlight on
St. Lucy
Catholic News Agency
St. Lucy is a virgin and martyr of Syracuse in Sicily, whose
feast is celebrated on December
13th. According to tradition,
St. Lucy was born to rich and
noble parents in the year 283.
Her father was of Roman origin, but his early death left her
dependent upon her mother,
whose name, Eutychia, seems
to indicate that she was of Greek
heritage.
Like so many of the early
martyrs, Lucy had consecrated
her virginity to God, and she
hoped to devote all her worldly
goods to the service of the poor.
Her mother, Eutychia, arranged a marriage for her, but
for three years she managed to
postpone the marriage. Lucy
prayed at the tomb of Saint
Agatha to change her mother’s
mind about her faith. As a result, her mother’s long haemorrhagic illness was cured, and she
consented to Lucy’s desire to live
for God.
St. Lucy’s rejected bridegroom, Paschasius, denounced
Lucy as a Christian. The governor planned to force her into
prostitution, but when guards
went to fetch her, they could
not move her even when they
hitched her to a team of oxen.
The governor ordered her to be
killed instead.
After a gruesome torture
which included having her eyes
torn out, she was surrounded by
bundles of wood which were set
afire, but the fire quickly died
out. She prophesied against her
persecutors, and was then executed by being stabbed to death
with a dagger.
Legend says her eyesight was
restored before her death. This
and the meaning of her name
led to her patronage with eyes;
the blind, eye trouble, and other
eye ailments.
Prayer to St. Lucy
St. Lucy, you did not hide your
light under a basket, but let it
shine for the whole world, for all
the centuries to see. We may not
suffer torture in our lives the way
you did, but we are still called to
let the light of our Christianity
illumine our daily lives. Please
help us to have the courage to
bring our Christianity into our
work, our recreation, our relationships, our conversation —
every corner of our day. Amen.
6
DIOCESE
Prayer and Life Year of Consecrated Life
Workshops
Religious communities serving in our diocese
One-day retreat,
new sessions in
English scheduled
Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, St. Louis Province
The Valley Catholic
Many Catholics pray daily,
attend Mass every Sunday and
participate in the sacraments, but
have yet to discover the key for
understanding the presence of
God in their personal journeys
and in the world.
Many don’t know Jesus as the
living word of God and are hungry for deeper spiritual and intellectual formation.
“We might hear Scripture at
Mass, for example, but we don’t
have any idea how to apply the
message to our lives,” said Rosa
Pallais, a parishioner at Our Lady
of Perpetual Help Church in
McAllen and a guide for Prayer
and Life Workshops or Talleres
de Oración y Vida in Spanish, a
Bible-based method for deepening one’s prayer life.
New sessions of the Prayer
and Life Workshops are scheduled to begin in January throughout the Rio Grande Valley. The
workshops, which are available
in English and Spanish, are tailored for children, teens, young
adults and adults. The workshops
are held for two hours, once a
week.
A one-day retreat organized
by the guides of the Prayer and
Life Workshops will be held from
8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Dec.
6 at San Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin Parish, in McAllen. All are
welcome to attend.
The Prayer and Life Workshops were developed by the late
Father Ignacio Larrañaga, a welltraveled Capuchin Franciscan
who was born in Spain and lived
most of his life in Chile.
Father Larrañaga’s mission
was to transform every Christian
into a friend and disciple of God.
“Prayer is a gift of God, and
God’s first gift,” said Father Larrañaga in an interview with news
agency Zenit in 2005. “But it is
also an art, as it is the convergence of grace and nature. And,
as art, it is subject to the norms of
learning and other psychological
laws. To pray well, therefore, one
needs method and discipline.”
The method and discipline
that Father Larrañaga spoke
of are detailed throughout the
course of the Prayer and Life
Workshops, an ecclesial service approved by the Holy See
since 1997. The workshops were
founded in 1984 and more than
eight million people have benefited from them.
In an article he wrote for
the website Catholic.net, Father
Larrañaga said it is one thing to
know the Word of the Lord and
quite another to live the Word, to
experience it firsthand.
“We know that fire burns but
it’s quite another thing to actually put our hands in the fire and
experience it,” said Father Larrañaga, who died in 2013. “We
know that water quenches thirst
but it’s quite another thing to
drink a cold glass of water on a
hot summer day and experience
the feeling of that water quenching your thirst.”
“The workshop transforms
lives,” said Pallais, who has served
as a guide since 1996. “Session after session, it makes you meditate
and reflect about everything that
God gives us and how one sometimes stays with it inside and
doesn’t share it. The workshops
teach you how to be more open,
more compassionate, more considerate, it teaches you, it takes
you to forgiveness. It teaches you
that forgiveness is the best thing
we could have in our lives.
“During
the
reflection,
through the prayers and through
the experiences we have week after week, one changes and has a
deeper understanding of God’s
grace.”
For more information on the
retreat and the Prayer and Life
Workshops, in Starr County, call
Sandra at (956) 735-3995; in the
Lower Valley, call Magda at (956)
640-9701 and in the Upper Valley call Esperanza at (956) 8003088 or Rosa at (956) 328-6300.
Founded by: Jean Pierre Medille, a Jesuit priest with
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Bishop Henri de Maupau around 1650
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Courtesy photo
Contact information: Sister Mary Ann Potts or Sister
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We will feature religious communities serving
in our diocese every month throughout the Year of Consecrated Life.
CATHOLIC SCHOOLS
7
In ‘Silent Solidarity’
Students advocate
for unborn children
who have no voice
The Valley Catholic
BROWNSVILLE — On Oct.
21, students from Guadalupe Regional Middle School in Brownsville walked 12 blocks with red
tape across their mouths in honor of the national Pro-Life Day of
Silent Solidarity for the unborn.
The students walked from
their school at 12th and Lincoln
Streets to the Immaculate Conception Cathedral on 12th and
E. Jefferson Streets in complete
silence in solidarity with the unborn children who have no voice.
Kathy Stapleton, principal
of Guadalupe Regional Middle
School, said all 77 students in the
school participated in the walk.
“It is important to involve the
students in this event because the
primary purpose of Catholic education is to aid students in faith
formation and as Catholics we
believe in the sanctity of life,” Stapleton said. “Middle school is a
critical time in their development
and the more they understand
the more they can take an active
role in applying these teachings
to the rest of their lives.”
Once the students arrived
at the cathedral, they were led
in prayer by Brother Arthur
Williams of the Congregation
of Christian Brothers and Sister Cynthia Mello of the Sisters
of St. Dorothy, superintendent
of schools for the Diocese of
Courtesy photo
The volleyball team from Juan Diego Academy, standing, from left: Morgan Forshage
(team manager), Cecilia Garza, Amber Donaldson, Sarah Ruiz, Karla Long, Shelby
Fernald, Haley Seiba, Mariana Urias, Ariana Castillo, Gabby Manrique de Lara,
Samantha Guerra and Myriam Ibarra. Sitting, from left: Mia Quintanilla, Madeline
Ayala, Silvia Camara, Jasmine Perez, Kayla Hickle, Paulina Camara, Margaret Leal,
Jasmine Long and Klarissa Flores.
Courtesy photo
All 77 students from Guadalupe Regional Middle School in Brownsville walked in
silence from their school to the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in downtown
Brownsville in solidarity with the unborn babies who have no voice.
Brownsville.
“The witness of the students
showed others that Catholic
schools exist to promote the
Catholic teachings of the Church
and the respect for life is a part
of that teaching,” Sister Mello
said. “Pro-life or the right to life
is part of the Catechism of the
faith, which upholds life from
conception to natural death. So
it becomes a witness of our faith
and brings an awareness to others
that our Catholic schools in the
Valley are in line with the teachings of the Church.
“Religious and moral teachings are found in all our Catholic
schools across the diocese.”
This year marked the 10th annual observance of the Pro-Life
Day of Silent Solidarity, a day on
which people all across the na-
tion give up their own voice for
the 3,300 children who have lost
theirs due to abortion that same
day. The tradition began on the
campus of McNeese State University in Lake Charles, La. and
spread throughout the country.
More than 56 million unborn
babies have been lost to abortion
since 1973, the year abortion was
legalized in the United States.
Guadalupe Regional Middle
School provides a tuition-free,
Catholic education to students
in grades six, seven, and eight
whose families desire but cannot
afford a Catholic education.
The school is jointly sponsored by the Congregation of
Christian Brothers, the Marist
Brothers of the Schools and the
Sisters of the Incarnate Word and
Blessed Sacrament.
Lady Lions reach
state Final Four
The Valley Catholic
MISSION — The volleyball
team from Juan Diego Academy in
Mission advanced to the Texas Association of Private and Parochial
Schools (TAPPS) 1A state championships on Nov. 7-8 in Corsicana.
The Lady Lions fell short in a
state semifinal match against Gateway Christian School of San Antonio on Nov. 7 at Corsicana High
School.
Jasmine Long, a junior, outside hitter for the Lady Lions, was
named to the All-State and AllTournament first teams.
Juan Diego Academy, a Catholic regional high school, opened
four years ago and has been a
member of TAPPS District 6-1A
for two full seasons.
In addition to advancing to the
state final four, the volleyball team
also earned its second straight district championship.
Long was selected as the district’s Most Valuable Player and
Coach Vic Garza was chosen as
Coach of the Year. Freshman Jasmine Perez was selected as Newcomer of the Year.
Sophomores Paulina Camara,
Shelby Fernald and Kayla Hickle
were also named to the All-District
First Team.
The Lady Lions finished the
season with a 32-5 record.
8
DIOCESE
The Valley Catholic -December 2014
Those Who Serve:
Brother Paul U. Phillipp, FMS
St. Joseph Academy is ‘home’
Marist Brother
honored for 60 years
of service to diocese
By ROSE YBARRA
The Valley Catholic
BROWNSVILLE — Brother
Paul Urban Phillipp of the Marist
Brothers enrolled at St. Joseph
Academy in Brownsville as a sophomore in high school. Little did he
know, he would be walking the corridors of the school some 76 years
later.
After graduating from St. Joseph Academy in 1940, the La Feria
native joined the Marist Brothers,
the international community of
religious brothers who operate the
school.
His vocation has called him to
St. Joseph Academy as a teacher,
administrator, developer and finally, as a volunteer.
It’s no wonder he considers the
school home.
“I’ve been blessed with good
health,” said Brother Phillipp, 91.
“I just thank God. I think it is just
a blessing that I’ve received. God
keeps me around for some reason
or another — I don’t know why.
“So while I’m able, I come over
here every day and help where I
can.”
Today, Brother Phillipp’s main
duties include sorting and distributing the incoming mail and supervising the lunch room but in his
Photos by The Valley
Catholic
Bishop Daniel E. Flores
congratulates Brother
Paul U. Phillipp of the
Marist Brothers for 60
years of service to St.
Joseph Academy,
time at St. Joseph Academy, he has
been instrumental in the growth,
development and expansion of the
school.
“I think he adds a sense of sta-
bility and continuity,” said Marist
Brother Richard Sharpe, president
of St. Joseph Academy since 2011.
“He seems to be a thread that sews
through the lives of a lot of alumni,
parents and faculty members.”
Brother Philliipp was honored
for 60 years of service to St. Joseph
Academy on Aug. 29 at the Annual
Eucharistic Celebration/Diocesan
Teacher Inservice held at Our Lady
of Sorrows Parish in McAllen. He
received a pin and a special blessing
from Bishop Daniel E. Flores.
The second of seven children,
Brother Phillipp was born on June
10, 1923 in La Feria.
“We lived five miles south of
La Feria, just north of Bluetown
to be exact,” Brother Phillipp said.
“I grew up on a farm. We drove
to Brownsville every day back and
forth for school but we still did
our chores with the animals on the
farm.”
Brother Phillipp, whose father
was a World War I veteran, was
raised in a religious household.
“Sunday Mass was obligatory,
even though, in those days, we
didn’t always have Sunday Mass
at our church (St. Francis Xavier
Church in La Feria),” he said “The
whole family hopped in the car and
we drove wherever we had to go
to attend Mass. We would sometimes go to St. Benedict Church in
San Benito or Our Lady of Mercy
Church in Mercedes.”
Brother Phillipp’s family also
produced several vocations. Two of
his sisters are also religious sisters
with the Sisters of Divine Providence in San Antonio. One of his
blood brothers is also a Marist
Brother.
The Marist Brothers he en-
countered as a high school student,
who were from all over the world,
inspired Brother Phillipp to join
the community.
“Because of the persecutions
in Mexico, at times there would
be a flock of brothers here because
things were getting so hot,” he said.
“When things cooled off, they went
back to Mexico.
“Seeing these brothers from
different parts of the world, France,
Switzerland, Mexico, Spain – and
they were experiencing persecution
and so on – yet they still seemed to
be happy and it attracted me.”
On July 26, 1940, Brother Phillipp took the habit of the Marist
Brothers, whose charism is education and working with youth.
There are more than 3,000 Marist
Brothers serving throughout the
world.
He earned a teaching certificate
from Fordham University in New
York and finished his bachelor’s degree in history by attending summer courses at St. Mary’s University
in San Antonio. He later earned
master’s degrees in education and
science.
In 1943, as a 20 year old, Brother Phillipp began his lifelong career
in education at St. Joseph Academy
in Laredo, teaching third, fourth
and fifth grades.
“It was a relatively new school.
The school had no stage, no lights,
no curtains. When I wasn’t teaching, I was working on that,” said
Brother Phillipp, whose upbring» Please see Brother Phillipp p.18
YEAR IN REVIEW
9
Living the joys of the Gospel...
January
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included Bishop Daniel E. Flores and
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2014
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abortion in the United States.
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recognizes dedication and
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at the annual Hearts & Hands brunch
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Mass and a dinner with the bishop.
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Under the Stars.”
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guest speakers. The topics centered
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Immigrant respite
centers open
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at Sacred Heart Church in downtown
McAllen, which is located near the
bus station. A second center opened
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New priest ordained
for our diocese
Bishop Daniel E. Flores ordained
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July
New superintendent
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replaces Lisette Allen, who accepted
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Softball league
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New church for
Holy Rosary Parish
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Laredo were also in attendance at the
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McAllen, the new church seats
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construct a new altar and add a
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who was trained as an architect in
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cathedral was blessed and dedicated
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Sisters celebrate
anniversaries
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celebrated by Bishop Daniel E. Flores
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The Sisters who were honored all
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Bishop visits
Central America
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Sisters from Peñitas
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win national award
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new school year.
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Peñitas.
September
Bishop Daniel E. Flores,
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the United States. He said, “The
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all that the greatest resource in
a country is the hope present
within its people.”
Interfaith Prayer Vigil:
Working together, praying
together
New Altar for Immaculate
Conception Cathedral
Opening Mass held
for Catholic schools
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gathered at the annual Eucharistic
Celebration/Diocesan Teacher
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Daniel E. Flores celebrated the Mass
and awarded pins to the educators
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St. Luke Parish celebrated its
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School to celebrate Sunday
Mass.
White Mass for health
care professionals
celebrated Oct. 23
Teachers of the faith gather
at annual conference
August
St. Luke Church
celebrates 40 years of faith
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were deposited in the altar during the
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Daniel E. Flores.
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sanctuary. Bishop Flores said, “The
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sought to restore the architectural and
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Bishop Daniel E. Flores and
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The religious leaders are united in
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October
Two new permanent
deacons ordained
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by Bishop Daniel E. Flores on Oct. 11
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petual Help Church in McAllen.
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the keynote address. Physicians
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November
Youth take spiritual
pilgrimage to streets
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and high school youth and their
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rows Church, and concluded at Our
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Second annual matachines
festival held in Las Milpas
St. Frances Cabrini Church in Las
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More than 750 high school
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Sharing Basket
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December
Bishop celebrates outdoor
Mass on feast of Our Lady
of Guadalupe
Red Mass celebrated
in Brownsville
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Conception Cathedral, where Bishop
Daniel E. Flores celebrated Mass.
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banquet was held at La Hacienda
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address.
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High School in southeast Houston,
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nates yearly between Hidalgo and
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Mass celebrated by Bishop Daniel E.
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New sanctuary for
San Cristobal Magallanes
& Companions Parish
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which is planned as the parish hall,
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Rd. The parish was established in
12
YEAR IN REVIEW
Deaths
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education.
Coming in
2015
Father James C. Erving, OMI
Jan. 22, 1971 - March 18, 2014
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Father Gerard Barrett, OMI
Jan. 14, 1937 - March 20, 2014
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Madonna Residence in San Antonio.
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St. John the Baptist Church in San
Juan.
Father James Pfeifer, OMI
Feb. 16, 1927 - April 23, 2014
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chaplain and counselor at the Charter
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Sept. 11, 1936 – Aug. 9, 2014
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rounded by her Sisters in her religious
Maria Elena Maldonado, RSM
Aug. 17, 1929 - Sept. 13, 2014
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Missouri and Arkansas.
Sister Juliana García, MJ
May 21, 1933 – Nov. 17, 2014
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in detention centers across the Rio
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Deacon John Schwarz
Sept. 29, 1926 – Nov. 17, 2014
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addition to his other responsibilities.
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Pope Francis said he would attend the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia in September, making it the
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announcement Nov. 17 in a speech opening an interreligious conference on traditional marriage.“I would like to
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pope said.
IN THE NEWS 13
Deacon Schwarz dies Pope: Little acts of love, kindness
The Valley Catholic
McALLEN — Deacon John
Schwarz of Our Lady of Sorrows
Parish died on Nov. 17 at McAllen
Medical Center. He was 88.
Deacon Schwarz was born in
Austria, moved to Chicago and was
ordained to the permanent diaconate on Dec. 9, 1978 for the Archdiocese of Chicago.
He moved to the Diocese of
Brownsville in 1983 and was assigned to Our Lady of Sorrows
Parish, where he worked in marriage preparation and developed
the healing ministry in addition to
his other responsibilities. Deacon
Schwarz was also a member of the
Knights of Columbus.
He is survived by his wife of 61
years, Caroline; three sons, Walter, Hebert and John Jr. and seven
grandchildren.
Visitation was held throughout
the day on Nov. 21 and a Rosary was
prayed in the evening at Kreidler
and faith add up to holiness
Catholic News Service
DEACON SCHWARZ
Funeral Home in McAllen. A Mass
of Christian Burial was celebrated
on Nov. 22 at Our Lady of Sorrows
Church followed by burial at Valley
Memorial Gardens in McAllen.
»Birthday & Anniversary Wishes
The list of birthdays and ordination anniversaries is provided so that parishioners
may remember the priests, deacons and religious in their prayers and send them a
note or a card.
December
» Birthdays
1
1
9
10
11
15
25
29
30
Rev. Oliver Angel, JCL
Rev. Andres Gutierrez
Rev. Emmanuel Kwofie
Rev. Simon Brzozowski, MSF
Rev. Msgr. Gustavo Barrera
Rev. Arturo Castillo
Rev. Ignacio Luna
Rev. Jerzy E. Maika
Rev. Gregory Labus
24 Sister Margarita Ortiz, OP
9
17
22
31
Deacon Jose G. Gonzalez
Deacon Gilberto Lopez
Deacon Roberto Cano
Deacon Crawford A. Higgins
» Anniversaries
3
8
13
13
13
17
19
19
30
Rev. Gustavo Obando
Rev. Alejandro G. Fajardo
Rev. Genaro Hernriquez
Rev. Joel Grissom, SM
Rev. Rodolfo Franco
Rev. Msgr. Juan Nicolau, Ph.D
Rev. Francisco Acosta
Rev. Thomas Pincelli
Rev. Robert DeLong, MSF
2
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
Deacon Hector Garcia
Deacon Gerardo Aguilar
Deacon Antonio M. Arteaga
Deacon Ramiro Davila Jr.
Deacon Paul Escobar
Deacon David Espinoza
Deacon Francisco R. Flores
Deacon Reynaldo I. Flores
Deacon Javier A. Garcia
Deacon Oscar Garcia
Deacon Silvestre J. Garcia
Deacon Jose G. Gonzalez
Deacon Gilberto Guardiola Jr.
Deacon Crawford A. Higgins
Deacon Amando Peña Jr.
Deacon Graciano Rodriguez
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
Deacon Gerardo J. Rosa
Deacon Rodolfo Sepulveda Jr.
Deacon Raymond Thomas Jr.
Deacon Nicolas E. Trujillo
Deacon Catarino Villanueva
Deacon Armandin Villarreal
Deacon Luis Zuñiga
January
» Birthdays
1
4
6
9
10
13
22
22
24
28
28
Rev. Leo Francis Daniels, CO
Rev. Rigobert Poulang Mot
Rev. Msgr. Louis Brum
Rev. Julian Becerril O de M
Rev. Eusebio Martinez
Rev. Alejandro Flores
Rev. Horacio Chavarria
Rev. Oscar Siordia
Rev. Ignacio Tapia
Msgr. Rev. Robert Davola
Rev. William Penderghest, ss.cc.
3 Brother Hoss A. Alvarez, MSC
5 Sister Emily Jocson, ICM
23 Sister Dianne Maresh, OSB
2
4
14
18
19
23
23
24
28
Deacon John P. Kinch
Deacon Al Crixell
Deacon Paulo Escobar
Deacon Ramon G. Leal
Deacon Salvador G. Saldivar
Deacon Reynaldo I. Flores
Deacon Rodolfo Sepulveda Jr.
Deacon Juan Valenzuela
Deacon Alejandro Flores
» Anniversaries
4
4
6
28
30
30
Rev. Thomas Kulleck
Rev. Manoj Kumar Nayak, ss.cc.
Rev. Jose Lobaton, OFM
Rev. Cesar Partida
Bishop Daniel Flores as priest
Msgr. Agostinho S. Pacheco
25 Deacon Francisco D. Pon
VATICAN CITY — All Christians are called to holiness and to
take even little steps each day to
be more loving and more Christlike, Pope Francis said.
“Some think that holiness is
closing your eyes and making
the face of a plastic statue, but
that’s not holiness,” the pope said
Nov. 19 at his weekly general audience.
Holiness is something much
greater, much more profound
than looking like an image on a
holy card, he said. “It is living with
love and offering your own Christian witness in your daily tasks.”
Pope Francis said “a great gift”
of the Second Vatican Council was
the recovery of the notion of “the
church as communion,” a community formed by people who “have
equal dignity and have the same
vocation to holiness” by virtue of
their baptism.
“To be saints, one does not necessarily have to be a bishop, priest
or religious, no,” he said. “We are
all called to become saints.”
“Many times we are tempted to
think that holiness is reserved only
for those who have the possibility
of detaching themselves from ordinary concerns so they can dedicate themselves
exclusively to
prayer,” he said.
“But that’s not
true.”
Holiness,
the pope said,
is a gift God
offers to everyone and a
Pope Francis
response to his
grace. It is the result of hundreds of little steps and
gestures each day. And they will be
different for each person depending on the circumstances of one’s
life.
Consecrated men and women
become saints by living their vows
with joy, he said. Married people
become saints by loving and taking care of their husband or wife.
Single Catholics become saints
“doing their work with honesty
and competence, and offering
their time to serve their brothers
and sisters.”
In a factory or an office, in the
marketplace or in the home, he
said, God communicates with the
faithful and gives them the grace
to be holy.
Parents and grandparents
are taking a step toward holiness
when they patiently listen to their
children or grandchildren and
when they enthusiastically teach
them “to know and follow Jesus,”
the pope said. “Holiness comes
through the exercise of patience”
with children, especially when you
are tired, he added.
People who do volunteer work
take a step toward holiness every
time they demonstrate God’s love
for and closeness to someone who
is suffering, he said.
“On Sundays, going to Mass
and receiving communion —
sometimes adding a good confession that cleans us up a bit — that
is a step toward holiness,” the pope
said.
“Be bearers of holiness. Always, eh: in your home, on the
streets, at work and in church,” he
told the estimated 13,000 people
at the audience. “Don’t be discouraged in following this path. God
himself will give you grace.”
Cremation resisted as answer to
PWFSDSPXEJOHBU.FYJDP$JUZDFNFUFSJFT
Church allows
incremation, but
many prefer burials
Catholic News Service
MEXICO CITY — Amid
graves adorned with marigolds in
the San Isidro cemetery, brothers
of the Missionaries of Christ the
Priest offered prayers for visiting
families remembering their recently deceased relatives.
Families flocked to graveyards for the observance of All
Saints Day and Day of the Dead,
celebrated Nov. 2, and built altars
in their homes — adorned with
items their loved ones liked, ranging from plates of food to shots of
tequila — believing their relatives
return to visit them that night.
But the graveyard tradition
is gradually being threatened in
Mexico City, mainly because cemetery space is becoming scarce and
the local government is promoting
cremation as an alternative. The
effort does not sit well with some,
including Catholics, who prefer
burials.
“It’s done for practical reasons,” Deacon Benito Eadaein, a
member of the Missionaries of
Christ the Priest, said of the trend
toward cremations.
“There is a tradition that
comes with the church of there
being a burial.”
An inability to bury the dead
causes some conflict for Catholics, especially because the church
previously prohibited cremation.
Church leaders in Mexico City
have come around the idea of cremation, though, mainly for pragmatic reasons — including the
shortage of spaces in cemeteries
and the problem of poor people
being able to pay for burial plots
in far-flung parts of the metropolitan area.
&16SKRWR'DYLG$JUHQ
Religious brother and deacon pray with family remembering deceased loved one
on All Saints Day at Mexico City cemetery
“Many members of the church
accept cremation as something
natural,” says Bernardo Barranco,
an academic and commentator on
church matters in Mexico.
“It much prefers burials,” he
said of church leadership, “but it is
increasingly flexible towards cremation.”
A 1963 Vatican instruction,
“Piam et Constantem” (“Devout
and Constant”), and subsequent
clarifications, permitted Catholics
to be buried in non-Catholic cemeteries and to be cremated, if cremation was not chosen as a denial
of church teaching. The church
retains a preference for burial over
cremation and directs cremated
remains to be buried or inurned at
a cemetery.
Part of the problem in Mexico
City comes from massive growth
and its mushrooming to a metropolitan area of 21 million people
in more than 50 municipalities.
Some cemeteries in the city are
centuries old, but were originally
on the outskirts when opened, explained Father Jose de Jesus Aguilar, pastor of the San Cosme Parish
in the central San Rafael neighborhood.
Cost is causing many Catholics to carry out cremations if they
cannot afford a crypt even in a
church or private place.
“Many people, especially those
of modest means ... are keeping
the ashes of their family members
in their homes,” Father Aguilar
said.
“There’s a problem: one thing
is that graveyards no longer exist,
another thing is that they’re now
very far away. Another problem is
that there are not a sufficient number of crypts,” he added.
Mexico City approved a law
in June allowing families to rent
burial space for seven years, after
which the rights for the plot would
revert to the city. Bodies would be
removed as needed and the space
rented to others.
Of the 118 public cemeteries
in the city, 31 percent are filled, according to the newspaper El Universal. Just five of the 14 private
cemeteries have space remaining.
The changes have caused conflict for some groups in the more
traditional communities of Mexico City’s southern boroughs and
many people expressed discomfort with the idea of cremation.
14
NOTICIAS EN ESPAÑOL
The Valley Catholic - Diciembre 2014
Hermana Juliana García Redondo, MJ
21 de mayo 1933 – 17 de noviembre 2014
La fundadora de las
Misioneras de Jesús
sirvió por 63 años
Por ROSE YBARRA
The Valley Catholic
La Hermana Juliana García,
fundadora de las Misionarias de
Jesús, una comunidad religiosa
dedicada al servicio de las personas
del Valle del Río Grande y Matamoros, murió el 17 de noviembre a
los 81 años.
Oriunda de Toledo, España, la
Hermana García celebró 60 años de
vida religiosa el 12 de octubre 2011,
y fue reconocida con Multitudes de
Acciones de Gracias por la Diócesis de Brownsville y la Diócesis de
Matamoros.
La hermana García sirvió a la
Diócesis de Brownsville por más
de 44 años. Ella fue directora de la
Casa Oscar Romero en los 80’s, un
albergue que alojó a miles de refugiados centroamericanos buscando
asilo político en los Estados Unidos. Ella también inició el ministerio en prisiones en los centros de
detención a través del Valle del Río
Grande, llevando un mensaje de fe
y esperanza del Evangelio a adultos
y niños.
La Hermana García realizó
ministerio parroquial en más de
una docena de iglesias en el Valle,
incluyendo muchas de las parroquias en Brownsville y en parroquias y misiones en Donna, Álamo,
San Juan, La Grulla y San Isidro.
Ella también Viajó a Minnesota
con trabajadores agrícolas migrantes por 10 años.
Ella pasó sus últimos 10 años
sirviendo como directora del
Centro Santa Rosa de Lima en la
Diócesis de Matamoros, un centro
social-religioso que ofrece estudios
Bíblicos, provee bolsas de comida
a los necesitados, enseña a las mujeres del vecindario trabajo valioso
y habilidades para la vida y mucho
más.
En el 2011, cuando le preguntaron cual había sido lo más destacado de sus 60 años de vida religiosa, respondió “No puedo decir
que un ministerio ha sido mejor
que otro. En todos mis apostolados,
me he sentido feliz y realizada. En
cada cosa que he hecho los últimos
60 años, hice lo que pude y lo que
pensé que era correcto. He dado lo
mejor de mí.”
El velorio se llevo a cabo en el
Convento Misioneras de Jesús en
San Juan el 18 de nov. y todo el día
el 19 de nov. Se rezó un Rosario la
noche del 19 en la Iglesia Nuestra
Señora de Guadalupe en Brownsville. Una Misa de Entierro Cristiano fue celebrada el 20 de nov. en la
Basílica de Nuestra Señora de San
Juan del Valle Santuario Nacional,
seguida del entierro en Buena Vista
Burial Park en Brownsville.
Para seguir los deseos de la
Hermana García, los donativos
conmemorativos pueden hacerse
para el Centro Santa Rosa de Lima
en Matamoros. Mande las contribuciones a: Missionaries of Jesus,
700 N. Oblate Dr., San Juan, TX
78589.
The Valley Catholic
Desde los 18 años, la Hermana Juliana García se dedicó a la vida religiosa. Murió el 17 de noviembre a los 81 años. Su último papel
era el de servir de directora del Centro Santa Rosa de Lima en Matamoros. En la foto, la Hermana García está rodeada por las
mujeres de la vecindad y dos hermanas religiosas de su comunidad, la Hermana Ninfa Garza y la Hermana Leticia Benavides.
NOTICIAS EN ESPAÑOL 15
Diciembre 2014 - The Valley Catholic
Talleres de Oración y Vida
Retiro de un día,
nuevas sesiones
programadas
The Valley Catholic
Muchos católicos rezan diariamente, asisten a Misa cada domingo y participan en los sacramentos,
pero aún tienen por descubrir la
llave para entender la presencia de
Dios en su camino y en el mundo.
Muchos no conocen a Jesús
como la palabra viviente y tienen
hambre de una formación espiritual e intelectual profunda.
“Tal vez escuchamos las Escrituras en Misa, por ejemplo, pero
no tenemos idea de cómo aplicar
el mensaje a nuestras vidas,” dijo
Rosa Pallais, una feligrés de la Iglesia Our Lady of Perpetual Help
en McAllen y guía de Talleres de
Oración y Vida, un método basado
en la biblia para profundizar la vida
en oración.
Nuevas sesiones de los Talleres
de Oración y Vida están programados para empezar en enero a través
del Valle del Río Grande. Los talleres, que se encuentran disponibles
en inglés y español, están dirigidas
a niños, adolescentes, adultos, y
adultos jóvenes. El taller dura dos
horas, una vez a la semana.
Un retiro de un día organizado
bajo las guías del Taller de Vida
tendrá lugar de 8 a.m. a 5 p.m. el
sábado 6 de diciembre en la parroquia San Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, en McAllen. Todos están
invitados.
Los Talleres de Oración y Vida
fueron desarrollados por el fallecido Padre Ignacio Larrañaga, un
Franciscano Capuchino muy viajado, nacido en España y que vivió
la mayor parte de su vida en Chile.
La misión del Padre Larrañaga
fue de transformar a cada Cristiano
en amigo y discípulo de Dios.
“La oración es un regalo de
Dios, y el primer regalo de Dios,”
dijo el Padre Larrañaga en una entrevista con la agencia de noticias
Zenit en el 2005. “Pero también es
un arte, ya que es la convergencia
entre gracia y naturaleza. Y, como
arte, está sujeta a las normas del
aprendizaje y otras reglas psicológi-
cas. Para rezar bien, entonces, uno
necesita método y disciplina.”
El método y disciplina del que
habló el Padre Larrañaga están detallados a lo largo del curso del Taller de Oración y Vida, un servicio
eclesial aprobado por la Santa Sede
desde 1997. El taller fue fundado
en 1984 y más de ocho millones de
personas se han beneficiado de ellos.
En un artículo que él escribió
para la página Catholic.net, el Padre Larrañaga dijo que una cosa es
conocer la Palabra del Señor y otra
cosa era vivir la Palabra, experimentarla de primera mano.
“Sabemos que el fuego quema
pero es otra cosa poner las manos
en el fuego y experimentarlo,” dijo
el Padre Larrañaga, quien murió
en el 2013. “Sabemos que el agua
quita la sed pero es otra cosa tomar
un vaso de agua fría en un día caluroso de verano y experimentar el
agua quitándote la sed.”
“Realmente, el taller transforma
la vida,” dijo Pallais, quien ha servido como guía desde 1996. “Cada
sesión tras sesión te va haciendo
meditar y profundizar sobre todo
lo que Dios te regala y cómo uno
a veces se queda con eso dentro y
no lo comparte. Entonces, el taller
te va enseñando cómo ser más abierto, más comprensivo, te va enseñando, te va llevando a perdonar,
te va enseñando que perdonar es lo
mejor que uno puede hacer en su
vida.
“En la reflexión, a través de oraciones y a través de la vivencia que
vamos teniendo semana tras semana, va uno profundizando y va uno
indiscutiblemente cambiando.”
Para más información sobre
el retiro de los Talleres Oración y
Vida, en el condado de Starr, llame
a Sandra al (956) 735-3995; en el
Sur del Valle, llame a Magda al
(956) 640-9701; y en el Norte del
Valle llame a Esperanza al (956)
800-3088 o Rosa al (956) 328-6300.
Papa Francisco vendrá a
Estados Unidos en 2015
ACI Prensa
ROMA – El Papa Francisco
anunció el 17 de noviembre que
viajará a Estados Unidos en septiembre de 2015 para participar del
Encuentro Mundial de las Familias
que tendrá lugar en la ciudad de Filadelfia.
La noticia la ha hecho pública
el mismo Santo Padre durante la
sesión inaugural del Congreso “La
complementariedad del hombre y
la mujer”, organizado por la Congregación para la Doctrina de la
Fe y copatrocinado por el Consejo
Pontificio para la Familia, el Consejo Pontificio para el Diálogo interreligioso y el Consejo Pontificio
para la Promoción de la Unidad de
los Cristianos.
El Papa Francisco dijo “confirmo que Dios mediante en septiembre de 2015 iré a Filadelfia para el
octavo Encuentro Mundial de las
Familias”.
El Encuentro Mundial de las
Familias se realiza cada tres años y
fue instituido
por San Juan
Pablo II en
1994, el Año
de la Familia.
El de Filadelfia se realizará
del 22 al 27 de
septiembre de
2015.
Papa Francisco
Hace unos
días y en el
marco de la asamblea plenaria de
los obispos de Estados Unidos,
el Arzobispo de Filadelfia, Mons.
Charles Chaput, señaló que en este
importante acontecimiento para
la Iglesia se abordarán “distintos
asuntos relacionados a las familias
en los que nuestra fe se necesita y
es probada. Estas son las cuestiones
que afectan a las familias no solo en
Estados Unidos sino a nivel global”.
Las inscripciones para este
evento ya se han abierto. Puede
registrarse a través del sitio web:
http://www.worldmeeting2015.
org/plan-your-visit/register/
Festival de Matachines
B.N. Riojas/The Valley Catholic
Cientos bailaron en
ODVFDOOHVHOGH
noviembre. Feligreses
de la Iglesia St.
Frances Xavier Cabrini
en Pharr celebraron
HODQLYHUVDULR
de la parroquia y
organizaron un festival
de matachines.
Grupos de diferentes
iglesias en el Valle
del Río Grande y de
México participaron
en el festival en la
comunidad de Las
Milpas.
La Inmaculada Concepción
El 8 de diciembre
es dia de precepto,
el 12 es opcional
Por ROSE YBARRA
The Valley Catholic
“La Santísima Virgen María
fue, desde el primer momento de su
concepción, por una gracia y privilegio singular de Dios todopoderoso
y por virtud de los méritos de Jesucristo, Salvador de la raza humana,
mantenida inmune de la mancha
del pecado original.”
– Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus, 1854)
“Para la Inmaculada Concepción, siempre es necesario recordarle a las personas o sólo asegurarse de que todos comprendan
que se trata de María – no de Jesús
– es decir su concepción,” dijo el
Padre Joaquín Zermeño, pastor
de la Iglesia Inmaculada Concepción en McCook y la Iglesia San
Isidro en San Isidro. “Todo sobre
María se enfoca siempre en Jesús.
Necesitamos que ella exista para
que Dios la pueda usar como el
tabernáculo para que Dios esté en
ella.”
En 1854, la solemne declaración del Papa Pius IX’s “Ineffabilis Deus,” aclaró con firmeza la
arraigada creencia de que María
había sido concebida libre del pecado original.
A María se le dio este extraordinario privilegio debido a su fun-
Cesar Riojas Jr./The Valley Catholic
Imagen de la Santisima Virgen María
en la Catedral de la Inmaculada
Concepción en Brownsville.
ción única en la historia como la
Madre de Dios. Es decir, ella recibió el regalo de la salvación en
Cristo desde el momento de su
concepción.
La Solemnidad de la Inmaculada Concepción, que cae en el 8
de dic., es un día santo obligatorio,
lo cual significa que los feligreses
están obligados a participar en la
Misa.
El Padre Zermeño dijo que
muchos Católicos en nuestra
diócesis dan prioridad a la Fiesta
de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe que cae el 12 de dic., sobre
la Solemnidad de la Inmaculada
Concepción.
“Tenemos una fuerte conex-
ión cultural con Nuestra Señora
de Guadalupe, tantas personas
quieren enfocarse en la Virgen de
Guadalupe y se olvidan de que es
una fiesta opcional mientras que
la Inmaculada Concepción es un
santo día de obligación mundialmente,” dijo el Padre Zermeño.
“He tenido que seguir recordándole a los feligreses que el día santo es el 8 y no el 12.”
La Solemnidad de la Inmaculada Concepción es un tiempo
para celebrar la gran dicha del
regalo de Dios a la humanidad
en María, y para reconocer con
mejor claridad, la verdad de que
cada ser humano ha sido creado
por Dios para cumplir una misión
particular que él y solamente él
puede cumplir.
Si bien María es única en toda
la humanidad por haber nacido
sin pecado, ella es alzada por la
Iglesia como modelo para la humanidad en su santidad y pureza,
en su disposición al aceptar el
Plan de Dios para ella.
Cada persona es llamada a
reconocer y responder el llamado
de Dios, su propia vocación, para
poder llevar a cabo el plan de Dios
para sus vidas y cumplir la misión
preparada para ellos desde antes
del principio del tiempo.
La respuesta de María al saludo del Arcángel Gabriel “Hágase
en mi según Su Palabra” es la respuesta requerida por todos los
Cristianos para el Plan de Dios.
–
Con información de ACI Prensa
16
NOTICIAS EN ESPAÑOL
The Valley Catholic - Diciembre 2014
»Mujeres en la frontera
La morenita y sus rosas
N
os regala rosas en diciembre. Le llevamos serenata
con las mañanitas antes
de que amanezca, los matachines
bailan en la calle en su honor;
puedes escuchar los tambores y
los cantos mientras se acercan
– “La Guadalupana, La Guadalupana, La Guadalupana bajo del
Tepeyac.”
¿Por qué en diciembre, en
pleno Adviento y justo dos días
después de celebrar la Solemnidad
de la Inmaculada Concepción, se
reúnen cientos de miles, algunas
veces en lluvia y frio, en todo
México, los Estados Unidos y
otras partes del mundo a celebrar
la Fiesta de Nuestra Señora de
Guadalupe?
Desde el cielo una hermosa
mañana, nuestra Santa Madre,
nuestra Virgencita Morena,
apareció por primera vez hace
500 años en Tepeyac, a un indígena llamado Juan Diego. Ella se
apareció en 1531 durante tiempos
caóticos con un mensaje de
amor y esperanza. Su mensaje en
Náhuatl, la lengua nativa, cambió
corazones y restauró la dignidad
de las personas. Se han escrito
volúmenes sobre el significado de
las apariciones que ocurrieron del
9 al 12 de diciembre.
San Juan Pablo II, durante
su papado, la declaró Patrona
de toda América y Estrella de la
primera y nueva evangelización.
Él incluso dedicó una capilla en su
honor en la Basílica de San Pedro.
El Papa Francisco, en su
mensaje a las Américas hace un
Brenda
Nettles Riojas
Editora, The
Valley Catholic
año en la Fiesta de Nuestra Señora
de Guadalupe, dijo, “Cuando la
imagen de la Virgen apareció en
la tilma de Juan Diego, fue la profecía de un abrazo: el abrazo de
María a todas las personas de las
grandes extensiones de América
– las personas que ya viven ahí, y
aquellos que estar por venir.” Él
dijo, “El abrazo de María mostró
lo que América – Norte y Sur – es
llamada a ser: una tierra donde
diferentes personas se unen; una
tierra preparada para aceptar
la vida humana en cada etapa,
desde el vientre materno hasta la
vejez; una tierra que acoge a los
inmigrantes, a los pobres y marginados en cada edad. Una tierra de
generosidad.”
Este diciembre mientras
reflexionamos en el año y nos
preparamos para recibir un año
nuevo, presenciamos en estas
celebraciones Marianas la dicha
de celebrar nuestra fe, una dicha
que se desborda y nos inspira a
compartirla públicamente en las
calles en un país que nos da la
libertar de expresar nuestra fe sin
miedo de persecución o muerte.
La procesión en Brownsville
se ha convertido en una de mis
favoritas. Algunas veces los sac-
erdotes montan caballos llevando
un estandarte con su imagen
guiando a los matachines y carros
alegóricos con estudiantes recreando las apariciones que ocurrieron en 1531. La mayoría de las
parroquias en la ciudad participan
y convergen juntas desde distintas
rutas para una Misa al aire libre
en la Iglesia Nuestra Señora de
Guadalupe en la calle Lincoln.
Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe
nos ayuda a recordar el abrazar
nuestra fe, confiando en su hijo
para guiarnos en nuestro diario peregrinar; ella nos ayuda a
recordar abrazar nuestra cultura,
una cultura de vida, reforzada por
la fidelidad a nuestras creencias,
nuestra herencia, nuestros idiomas y nuestra tierra.
La Estrella de la Nueva
Evangelización, ella nos guía y nos
alienta a compartir la dicha del
Evangelio, a levantar nuestra voz,
a mostrar nuestro amor, a luchar
por la justicia. Ella quien guio el
camino, su imagen adornando
una bandera mientras el Padre
Miguel Hidalgo guiaba la Guerra
de Independencia de México,
continúa guiando el camino hacia
su hijo.
Tenemos algunas batallas
ante nosotros cuando se trata de
la libertar religiosa, el mandato
HHS, hablar por los vulnerables
y hablar por nosotros mismos.
Nuestra Santa Madre, la Morenita
de Tepeyac, nos acompaña. Ella
quien aplasta a la serpiente, procede con amor. Ella nos invita a
hacer lo mismo.
“No se turbe tu corazón”. Así
como le prometió a Juan Diego,
ella nos promete a nosotros, “¿No
estoy aquí yo, que soy tu Madre?
¿No estás tú bajo mi sombra y
protección? ¿No soy yo la razón
de tu dicha? ¿No estas por ventura
en mi regazo, en el cruce de mis
brazos? ¿Acaso necesitas algo
más? No dejes que nada te preocupe o te agobie.”
Yo encuentro alivio al prender
una vela ante una estatua de
madera de la Virgencita Morena,
tallada y pintada por un artesano
en San Miguel de Allende, México. Ella se encuentra en la ventana
de mi cocina. Ella es una compañera constante. El verano que pasé
en San Miguel ella se aparecía en
cada vuelta – se encontraba tejida
en lentejuela en bolsas, usada
como adorno en aretes y pendientes, pintada en bolsas de plástico
para el mandado, incluso el gato
del rentero se llamaba Guadalupe.
La cultura popular la ha hecho
un ícono más allá de las paredes
de la Iglesia. Ella está ligada a la
identidad mexicana, está ligada
a su gente. Nuestra Santa Madre
no será ignorada. Y su mirada
apacible nos consuela y nos lleva
cerca de su hijo.
La honramos no solamente
en diciembre, sino todo el año.
Diciembre es la culminación de
nuestro agradecimiento a nuestra
Madre Santa ante la anticipada
llegada de su hijo en Navidad.
Así como ella nos abraza, así la
abrazamos. Le agradecemos por
ser nuestra madre compasiva.
Nuncio en
México:
La crisis es de
educación
ACI Prensa/EWTN Noticias
MÉXICO D.F. - El Nuncio
Apostólico en México, Mons.
Christophe Pierre, pidió entender
que la crisis del país es de tipo educativo, donde prevalece el individualismo; asimismo, llamó a fieles y
religiosos a salir a dar el anuncio,
pues “la Iglesia no debe encerrarse
en sí misma”.
“La crisis de México es la crisis de la educación y hay que entenderlo bien, hay que contribuir y
ofrecer algo, que es la experiencia
que tenemos a lo largo de la historia, que es un modelo educativo”,
señaló el representante vaticano
durante el Encuentro Nacional
“Educar para una Nueva Sociedad,
Pasión que se Renueva”, realizado
en la Universidad La Salle el 18 de
noviembre.
Mons. Pierre recordó que educar es ayudar a la persona a que
crezca en virtudes y principios,
algo que se está haciendo difícil en
el país. En ese sentido, llamó a profundizar en la misión de los laicos
en el mundo educativo.
El Nuncio Apostólico también
se refirió a la tarea evangelizadora. Señaló que “la Iglesia no debe
encerrarse en sí misma, debe salir
a dar el anuncio, a transmitir la experiencia del Evangelio y ayudar en
este mundo vasto y complejo de la
educación, que es central”.
NOTICIAS EN ESPAÑOL 17
Diciembre 2014 - The Valley Catholic
»La Alegría de Vivir
Atrocidades en nombre de la religión
L
a ciudad de Mosul, en Irak,
ha generado noticias de
persecución a cristianos,
increíble que esto suceda en el
siglo 21, sin embargo está sucediendo ahora mismo gracias a un
grupo radical musulmán que está
en contra de todo, incluso de otros
musulmanes en su país, pues hacen distinción entre shiitas y sunnis, y otras ramificaciones dentro
del islam que se oponen a sus
acciones. Han destruido templos
cristianos y mezquitas, incluso la
tumba del profeta Jonás y otras
edificaciones musulmanes que los
jihadistas condenan como insultos
al “verdadero” islam porque no se
apegan a lo estricto y restrictivo
que ellos determinan como verdadera religión, aun cuando lo que
ellos pregonan con sus actos no
corresponde a ninguna religión,
sino más bien a una secta.
Etimológicamente hablando
la palabra secta se deriva del latín,
de la raíz “secare”, que significa
cortar, y también de “sequor” que
significa seguir; entonces una secta
es un grupo que se separa y aísla
del mundo siguiendo las directivas
de un líder.
La diferencia entre las sectas
y la religión, específicamente
en nuestro contexto cultural, la
diferencia entre las sectas y el
cristianismo o el islam, es que los
Msgr. Juan
Nicolau
Sacerdote jubilado
de la Diócesis de
Brownsville
que verdaderamente practican su
religión buscan estar en comunión
con Dios y con sus semejantes,
no se aíslan del mundo, tratan de
llevar la buena nueva del evangelio a través de sus actos a todo el
que quiera escucharlo sin forzar
a nadie a compartir sus creencias,
disfruta de su libre albedrio, aun y
cuando a veces se equivoca, saben
que son libres para amar a Dios y
sus semejantes.
En cambio el miembro de una
secta vive en una prisión, sujeto a
la voluntad del “líder”, quien poco
a poco le va nublando la razón,
convenciéndolo que cualquier acto
inmoral o torcido tiene justificación ante Dios, aun y cuando
atente contra la moralidad y la
salud física y mental de sus propias
hijas.
Esta definición de sectas va
mas allá de los conceptos religiosos, pues este fenómeno sectario
puede darse en términos ideológicos, políticos, o hasta de estratos
sociales. Por ejemplo los grupos
neonazis de los cabezas rapadas
(skin-heads) que se han desarrollado en Europa y que tratan de revivir los ideales racistas de Hitler, su
máximo líder; o los Talibanes que
escudándose en principios fundamentalistas y extremos, despojaron completamente a la mujer de
cualquier derecho, relegándola a
ser una propiedad exclusiva de los
varones de su familia.
Hay que estar atentos porque
cuando el ser humano se encuentra desmoralizado, como
en esta época moderna, es fácil
que caiga en las manos de falsos
profetas, impostores de la verdadera fe que les prometen una
vida diferente, ordenada, sin la
“contaminación” del mundo, claro
que olvidan decirles que deberán
seguir sus ordenes y beneficiarlo
a él. Pensemos que el ser humano
ha nacido con el deseo de vivir,
de amar, de ser amado, deseo de
variedad, y sobre todo con el
deseo de pertenecer, por eso si no
siente que pertenece a una familia
buscara a otra clase de grupos que
suplan esta necesidad.
—
Mons. Juan Nicolau, Ph.D. STL es
un sacerdote jubilado de la Diócesis
de Brownsville. Es psicoterapeuta
familiar y consejero profesional con
licencias.
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1005002.1
¿Cómo puede la Iglesia Católica mejorar su acercamiento a la
familia y los retos que enfrenta en
la modernidad? De acuerdo con
Reportes Romanos, ésta pregunta
ha sido dividida en una serie de
temas en el día 2 del Sínodo sobre
la Familia el cual tuvo lugar en
Roma del 5-19 de octubre, 2014.
1) Lenguaje. Palabras usadas
por la Iglesia deben invitar y no
condenar directamente. Fray
Thomas Rosica señaló: “Apuntar a
las personas mientras que tú vives
en pecado; eres intrínsecamente
desordenado; o tienes una mentalidad contraceptiva no ayuda a
acercar a las personas a Cristo y
ayudarlos a abrazar las enseñanzas
de la Iglesia.”
2) Ley de Gradualidad. Este fue
un punto mayor el cual subraya el
trayecto único que las personas toman en la búsqueda de Dios. Para
algunas personas, es inmediato;
para otras es un proceso. El Cardenal Vincent Nichols, Arzobispo
de Westminster UH, dijo que esto
“permite y alienta a la gente, a todos nosotros, a tomar un paso a la
vez en la búsqueda de lo Sagrado
en nuestras vidas.”
3) Ofensa vs. Defensa. Esta
noción de subrayar lo bueno en la
promoción de la vida familiar en
lugar de los retos fue abordada.
Fray Manuel Dorantes comentó
que “la Iglesia se ha enfocado
demasiado en rechazar el matrimonio homosexual y a su vez ha
fallado en expresar una imagen
atractiva y completa del matrimonio. Necesitamos enfocarnos en
lo positivo en lugar de lo negativo;
más en los puntos altos en lugar
Lydia Pesina
Directora, Oficina
de Vida Familiar
de la prohibición; más en lo que lo
hace atractivo en lugar de presentarlo como la regla”.
4) Sexualidad y Espiritualidad.
Fray Manuel Dorantes comentó
que “la Iglesia ha hablado tanto
sobre el sexo fuera del matrimonio, que cuando se trata de
la sexualidad en el matrimonio;
algunas veces parece un matrimonio permitido, a veces parece una
imperfección permitida. No debemos de estar en contra del sexo;
sino mostrar cómo su camino nos
puede llevar hacia lo sagrado.”
5) Historia. La conexión entre
la Iglesia y la familia también
deben de ser subrayadas: el papel
que la Iglesia ha tenido en la promoción de la vida familiar y por lo
tanto en la promoción de un tejido
fuerte de la sociedad. Fray Thomas
Rosica habló sobre cómo (en la
Iglesia) “usamos textos evangélicos
en relación al matrimonio.” Él dice
que a menudo citamos textos que
hablan sobre cómo un hombre
debe de dejar a su padre y a su
madre y aferrarse a su esposa y
los dos se convertirán en uno... Es
importante hacer las conexiones
de las escrituras/historia a la vida
familiar en el presente.
Es interesante anotar que estos
temas nos impactan aquí en la
Diócesis de Brownsville así como
impactan a las familias mundialmente en nuestra Iglesia Universal.
El 8 de octubre del 2013,
el Papa Francisco anunció que
en octubre del 2014 habría una
Asamblea General Extraordinaria
del Sínodo de Obispos en los
temas relacionados a la familia y
la evangelización. Comunicaciones subsecuentes aclararon que la
Asamblea General Extraordinaria
estaría seguida por la Asamblea
General Ordinaria del Sínodo de
Obispos en octubre del 2015, en
los mismos temas.
En diciembre del 2013, el
Obispo Flores (así como todos los
obispos a nivel mundial) presentaron un reporte sobre los RETOS
PASTORALES DE LA FAMILIA
EN EL CONTEXTO DE LA
EVANGELIZACIÓN en preparación para el SÍNODO DE OBISPOS III ASAMBLEA GENERAL
EXTRAORDINARIA. La serie de
preguntas le permitieron a ciertas
Iglesias participar activamente en
la preparación del Sínodo Extraordinario, cuyo propósito es el de
proclamar el Evangelio en el contexto de los retos pastorales que
enfrenta la familia en la actualidad.
Mientras esperamos los resultados
de éste Sínodo y anticipamos la
Asamblea General Ordinaria del
Sínodo de Obispos en octubre del
2015, quizá podamos apoyar este
proceso que nuestro Santo Padre
el Papa Francisco dirige rezando
por él, por todas nuestras familias,
y por todos los que participan
en la próxima Asamblea General
Extraordinaria del Sínodo de Obispos en octubre del 2015.
18
DIOCESE
Walk for Life Rally: Silent no more
Courtesy photos
Advocates defend
all life, including
unborn, refugees
Left: State Sen. Eddie Lucio, Jr. speaks
about the sanctity of life. Below: Prolife advocates march to the Hidalgo
County Courthouse in Edinburg.
Special to the Valley Catholic
EDINBURG – The Edinburg
Pro-Life Committee held its second annual Walk for Life Rally
on Oct. 25 at the Hidalgo County
Courthouse in Edinburg. Parishioners from Sacred Heart Church,
St. Joseph Church and Holy Family
Church attended the event, along
with pro-life advocates from other
organizations and from surrounding communities.
Guest speaker State Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., D-Brownsville, spoke
about the sanctity of human life.
Other speakers included Yolanda
Rebeles, who shared her personal
testimony of regret over her abortion. She especially encouraged
pregnant women not to abort their
children because of the negative
consequences that women suffer.
Rebeles also urged women who
had experienced abortion to remain, “silent no more,” but instead
seek post-abortion counseling and
attend a healing retreat as she did.
She affirmed that by being open
about the abortion experience and
not remaining silent brings healing; it makes one whole again.
grant children who have recently
arrived in our area from countries
fraught with violence and gangs.
“It is part of our belief that we
welcome the stranger, especially
those who are fleeing countries
with so much turmoil,” Sister Pimentel said.
The event concluded with
youth from St. Joseph Church leading the praying of the Rosary.
Ruben Rosales Jr., a sidewalk
counselor for the McAllen Pregnancy Center, a Catholic pro-life
facility, motivated attendees to
volunteer for the pro-life cause.
He said that they can help out by
praying at the abortion clinic or by
serving as a sidewalk counselor.
“By doing this, they support
the children who have no one to
speak for them or represent them
in society,” Rosales said.
Sister Norma Pimentel of the
Missionaries of Jesus, executive
director of Catholic Charities of
the Rio Grande Valley, defined being pro-life as supporting children
in the womb, from conception to
natural death, including the immi-
Humanitarian Outreach
Responding to
the call
Why do you volunteer at the
immigrant respite center?
“I feel it in my heart, I feel like I’m doing
the right thing, even though at the
beginning I heard a lot of bad things in
the media. You have to experience this in
order to understand.
When you are with the families, you
learn a lot of things. You learn to
appreciate little things like a shower, a
meal, a sweater ... things that we take
for granted mean a lot to them. I enjoy
interacting with the families, hearing
their stories, talking to them, helping
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- Joanna Ledesma, 28, parishioner of San Martin de Porres Church in Alton
“I keep coming back to see the hope that the people have to begin a life that
shows their worth and their dignity. Their
transformation from coming in the door to
when they leave is remarkable. The stories I
have heard, all that they have endured, makes
me so grateful for the gifts that God has given
me. I have been waking up every morning
thanking God I have a bed to sleep in and
praying for those that I’m going to meet today,
that did not have a bed last night, that slept on
WKHÁRRURUZHUHQRWHYHQDEOHWRVOHHSRQWKH
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It’s the need to help bring hope and goodness to people who deserve it, who just want
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Manitowoc, Wisc.
Meet some of the volunteers who help refugees from Central America
at the respite center at Sacred Heart Church in McAllen. The center
opened June 10 and hundreds of volunteers have served more than
10,000 people. To volunteer call (956) 292-5852.
Brother Phillipp,
ing on the farm made him adept at
projects of all sizes and scopes.
He returned “home” to St. Joseph Academy in Brownsville in
1946, where he helped expand the
school, which included a move
from the location on Elizabeth St.
to its current site on Ringgold St.
Brother Phillipp spent 22 years
serving in schools in Florida and
Georgia as a teacher and administrator, but returned to St. Joseph
Academy for good in 1984.
His time on the farm proved
useful time and time again, and in
his spare time, he helped develop
the football and baseball fields, using equipment he borrowed from
his family.
Brother Phillipp officially retired six years ago but he refuses
to stay away from St. Joseph Academy.
“It is not in his nature to take
it easy,” said Lori Trott, principal of
St. Joseph Academy. “He wants to
be here every single day, doing and
moving about as best as he can. He
knows most, if not all, of the students by name and takes the time
to talk to them.”
“There are two of us left in my
age group and they are retired and
living in Florida. I could do the
same, but that’s why I’m here,” he
said, pointing to the cross on the
wall. “We show the students how
to love Jesus and how to get closer
to Jesus.”
DIOCESE 19
»Media
Resource
Center
La Virgen de Guadalupe
Several events will be held in our diocese
in honor of the feast of Our Lady of
Guadalupe on Dec. 12. At the Basilica
of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle, the
festivities will begin on Thursday, Dec. 11
at 11 p.m. with mañanitas and serenades
to Our Lady, followed by a Mass at
midnight.
Recommended by SISTER
MAUREEN CROSBY, SSD
Coordinator of the Media Resource
Center - Diocese of Brownsville
»Worth Watching
In Brownsville, beginning at 6 p.m., on
Friday, Dec. 12, parishioners from several
churches will walk in procession to the Our
Lady of Guadalupe Church, where Bishop
Daniel E. Flores will celebrate an outdoor
Mass at 7 p.m.
The First
Christmas
and other
stories...
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Advent in the
Home
La Luz,
continúa de la pág. 2
la gracia de Dios a causa de esta
luz. La luz que compartimos es
la amistad con Jesús que nos
permite saber la alegría que viene
de caminar con él en nuestra vida
cotidiana. La gente pregunta,
“¿Qué es lo bueno de la Buena
Nueva?” Es simplemente esto:
Dios camina con nosotros. No
estamos solos.
Hay veces que la gente me
pregunta, “¿Dónde está Jesús?” Es
la pregunta del mundo. Aunque
lo sepa o no, esta es su pregunta
a nosotros que somos creyentes.
Él no está difícil de encontrar. Lo
que falta a menudo es la voluntad
para buscarlo. Jesús está en todos
los que tienen necesidad, todos
los que saben derramar una lágrima, y todos los que saben tener
una esperanza que está en peligro
Holy Family,
seriously of preparing couples for
that kind of commitment and
to remind those that are already
married what is expected of them.
“When marriages are strong,
when marriages are viable, when
Mother,
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Mary from
Nazareth
need anything more? Let nothing
else worry you, disturb you.”
I find comfort in lighting a
candle before a wooden statue of
the Virgencita Morena, carved
and painted by an artisan in
San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.
She stands on the window sill
Angelus,
hering with her to the plan of the
Father, who sends his Son to save
all men. Like the beloved disciple
The Valley Catholic
For a listing of parish schedules visit www.
cdob.org
de extinguirse. Está sentado en la
misma banca al lado de cada uno
de ustedes. Es por esto que Jesús
quiere una comunidad. Quiere
que lo busquemos en medio de
nuestros hermanos y hermanas.
Lo que las hermanos han traído, porque Jesús se los ha traído a
ellas, es un deseo para compartir
la alegría que viene de la presencia de Jesús con nosotros y un
deseo de convertir esa alegría en
un verdadero interés por el uno al
otro. Jesús no es difícil de encontrar, el signo de su presencia es
el regalo de sí mismo; es por eso
que el Sacrificio Eucarístico es el
signo preeminente de su presencia. Él se da totalmente a nosotros
en su Cuerpo y su Sangre. Desde
este primer regalo, fluye el signo
de su presencia en cada uno de
nosotros en la comunidad de la
iglesia, en la manera en que nos
entregamos a nosotros mismos
por el bien de los demás. Esto es,
también, lo bueno de la Buena
Nueva.
Tenemos una misión. El Papa
nos recuerda de esto constantemente. No nos podemos quedar
sentados. Tenemos que compartir la luz de Cristo con muchas
personas en nuestra comunidad
que aún no conocen la esperanza
de Jesús, que no conocen la luz
de su presencia. Tenemos que ser
personas que se extienden.
En nombre de toda la Diócesis de Brownsville y las Hermanas Misioneras del Inmaculado
Corazón de María le doy gracias
a los de Catholic Extension por
reconocer este signo de la luz
de Cristo en el mundo. Estamos
todos muy bendecidos y tenemos
mucho de que estar agradecidos:
Cristo está con nosotros. Los
invito a todos a que reconozcan
diariamente cómo es que el Señor
Jesús se da de sí mismo para
nosotros en la Eucaristía y como
ese regalo de sí mismo nos invita
a entregarnos uno al otro.
marriages are living out what their
vocation, what their sacrament
calls them to, then that is going to
result in strong families.”
Father Gorski continued,
“When we have strong families,
we’ll have a strong community, a
strong society and we’ll definitely
have a strong Church. The whole
reality of church is: if that first
unit, the basic unit, the family, the
domestic church is strong, then
the other levels of church life will
be strong.”
Above all, the Holy Family
prayed. Therefore, a couple should
be praying for each other, as well
as with each other. Without this
cornerstone, the entire structure
falls.
in my kitchen. She is a constant
companion. The summer I spent
in San Miguel she appeared at
every turn – she was embroidered with sequins on purses,
used as adornment on earrings
and pendants, printed on plastic
shopping bags, even the landlord’s cat was named Guadalupe.
Popular culture has made her an
icon beyond the Church walls.
She is linked with the Mexican
identity, she is linked with her
people. Our Blessed Mother
will not be ignored. And in her
gentle glance, consoles us and
draws us to her son.
We honor her not just in
December, but year round.
December is the culmination of
our thanks to the Holy Mother
before her son’s long anticipated
arrival on Christmas. Just as
she embraces us, we embrace
her. We thank her for being our
compassionate mother.
we welcome Jesus’ mother into
our homes, for she has become
the mother of all the living. We
can pray with and to her. The
prayer of the Church is sustained
by the prayer of Mary and united
with it in hope.” (CCC, 2679).
May our Blessed Mother’s
faith that “nothing is impossible with God” give us hope to
believe in God’s promises during
this holy Advent season as we
anticipate the mystery of the Incarnation to unfold and allow the
Christ child to be born once again
in our hearts.
Bishop Emeritus Raymundo J. Peña’s Calendar
December 5
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Author: Bruna Battistella
Publication: Pauline Books and Media,
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Mary is a special person. She is the
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Mary.
December 25
7 p.m.
noon
Harlingen
Mass at Evins Regional Juvenile Center Edinburg
On going:
8 a.m. Mass Monday - Saturday at St. Joseph Chapel of Perpetual Adoration, 727 Bowie St., Alamo
2nd: Intention to the Permanent Diaconate the deacons
(permanent and transitional) of the diocese and their
families
3 p.m. Mass at St. Joseph Chapel of Perpetual Adoration,
727 Bowie St., Alamo
3rd : Intention to Married Life: for the welfare and
sanctification of all the families in the diocese and for
building up the Kingdom in our domestic churches
7 p.m. Holy Hour Weekly every Thursday at 727 Bowie
St., Alamo
1st: Intention to the Consecrated Life (active and
contemplative) and for the Sisters and Brothers in our
diocese and the success of their mission
4th: Intention to the priesthood and the priests of the
diocese for the success of their ministry
5th: Intention to Vocations
» Calendar of Events
December
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12 Feast of Our Lady of
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January 2015
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29-30 Diocesan Retreat
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Please submit your schedule to be
published in The Valley Catholic by the
first Friday of each month by email at
[email protected] or fax: (956) 784-5082.
Reunion for
Sacred Heart
School-Edinburg
The Valley Catholic
The Sacred Heart School Class
of 1957 will be celebrating its 57
year reunion at 1 p.m. on Saturday,
Dec. 13 at Sacred Heart Church in
Edinburg.
All Sacred Heart School alumni
are invited to join in the celebration
of the Mass and a reception from 2
p.m. to 5 p.m. in the parish hall.
To RSVP, please email [email protected] or call
(956)383-5263 or (956) 383-0344.
20
DIOCESE
Our Catholic Family
Sister Juliana García Redondo, MJ
May 21, 1933 - November 17, 2014
Founder of the
Missionaries of Jesus
served for 63 years
By ROSE YBARRA
The Valley Catholic
Sister Juliana García, founder
of the Missionaries of Jesus, a
religious community dedicated
to serving the people of the Rio
Grande Valley and Matamoros,
died on Nov. 17. She was 81.
A native of Toledo, Spain,
Sister García celebrated 60 years
of religious life on Oct. 12, 2011
and was honored with Masses of
Thanksgiving by both the Diocese
of Brownsville and the Diocese of
Matamoros.
Sister García served the
Diocese of Brownsville for
more than 44 years. She was the
director of Casa Oscar Romero
in the 1980s, a shelter that housed
thousands of Central American
refugees seeking political asylum
in the United States. She also
initiated the jail ministry in
detention centers across the
Rio Grande Valley, bringing the
Gospel message of faith and hope
to adults and children.
Sister García performed parish
ministry at more than a dozen
churches in the Valley, including
The Valley Catholic
Above, left: Sister Juliana García, right, with Sister Leticia Benavides, a fellow sister
of the Missionaries of Jesus, at the Santa Rosa de Lima Center in Matamoros. Above:
Sister García with the sisters of the Missionaries of Jesus. Far left: Sister García in
most of the parishes in Brownsville
and at parishes and missions in
Donna, Alamo, San Juan, La Grulla
and San Isidro. She also traveled
to Minnesota with migrant farm
workers for 10 years.
She spent her final 10 years
serving as the director of the
Santa Rosa de Lima Center in
Matamoros, a social-religious
center that hosts Bible study,
provides bags of food for the
needy, teaches the women of the
neighborhood valuable work and
life skills and much more.
In 2011, when asked what
the highlight of her 60 years in
religious life had been, Sister
García replied, “I can’t say any one
ministry was better than another.
In all of my apostolates, I have
felt happy and accomplished. In
everything that I have done in the
last 60 years, I did what I could and
what I thought was right. I have
given it my best.”
Visitation and viewing were
held at the Missionaries of Jesus
Convent in San Juan on Nov. 18
and throughout the day on Nov.
19. A Rosary was prayed on the
evening of Nov. 19 at Our Lady of
Guadalupe Church in Brownsville.
A Mass of Christian Burial
was celebrated on Nov. 20 at the
Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan
del Valle-National Shrine, followed
by interment at Buena Vista Burial
Park in Brownsville.
In keeping with Sister García’s
wishes, memorial donations may
be made for the Santa Rosa de
Lima Center in Matamoros. Send
contributions to: Missionaries of
Jesus, 700 N. Oblate Dr., San Juan,
TX 78589.

View - Catholic Diocese of Brownsville

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