Christmas Message 2010

December 2010

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

PEACE be with all of you!

Christmas is the celebration of the Mystery of God’s Incarnation – God becoming like one of us. As Rev. Fr. Avery Dulles, SJ pointed out and emphasized: “The incarnation does not mean that God saves us from the pains of this life. It means that God-is-with-us. For the Christian, just as for everyone else, there will be cold, lonely seasons, seasons of sickness, seasons of frustration, and a season within which we will die. Christmas does not give us a ladder to climb out of the human condition. It gives us a drill that lets us burrow into heart of everything that is and, there, find it shimmering with divinity.”

It would be irresponsible and unrealistic to say the God by becoming one with us took away problems, pain, pressures of daily living; but, indeed, when God became one with us, an invitation to peek on God’s infinite love and the challenge to allow ourselves to be embraced by that love was offered.

As I lived with you for a year now, I saw, listened to, and felt the problems, pain, and pressures that came to us individually, as a family, and as a community – failing health… joblessness… sickness… marital difficulties… financial struggles… mistrust… unfaithfulness… coping with old age… and even death… Despite all these bleak and grim realities, I say, there is a reason to celebrate Christmas because I never felt or even doubted, not even for a single moment, that God has abandoned us.

As I lived with you for a year now, I saw, listened to, and felt so many graces given to me, given to you, given to families, given to us as a parish community – welcoming new members… baptisms… blessing of marriages… praying for one another… eating together… working together… perseverance… new friendships… expressing our care and concern for each other… being models of faith, hope, and love.

I greet you with these words: “May the LIGHT shine always in your life. Merry Christmas!” The twofold message (that I intend with this greeting) is for each one of us to allow Jesus to be our Light and that Light radiate to others as we try to follow Him.

As I end my Christmas message, I will take this opportunity to ask for your continued understanding, patience and love. For those whom I hurt, saddened, and/or neglected, I ask for forgiveness and prayers. With God’s grace, I promise and try to be a better Pastor.

Merry Christmas and a Prosperous and Peaceful New Year to you all!

In Opus Ministerii,

Fr. Edgar B. Cleofe

FAMILY!

Kayabe Visit

Ordination Anniversary Reflection

I want to situate my reflection on the contemporary theology and its discussion on the ordination of priests, ordination as an event is a sacramental mirroring of a process. An ordinasyon sarong salming nin sarong proceso. Kun ini sarong proceso dili lamang ini nagbabatog nan natatapos sa katapusan san ordinasyon. Ordination as a process involves a number of elements, first, my vocation – which started even before I entered the seminary; second, the community involved in nurturing and affirming this vocation; third, the title and the character it brings – the ministry of service or servant-leadership.

I believe that the ministry that I lived all throughout these 9 years is constantly punctuated by gratitude. I constantly thank God for calling me to be His minister and His Church’s minister. A corollary to this is (my) the principle: doing something good is its own reward, for God deemed me worthy to be His instrument, unworthy though I am. But I’ll be lying if I don’t admit that I look forward to the reality of the rewards of everlasting joy – the experience of the fullness of life with God. I, precisely, try to be faithful to my ministry in order to give witness to heaven that should start here on earth.

I believe that the Church was not working on her own as she chooses her priests; the choice is by grace. An Dios na unang namoot sa akon nan nag-imbita na makasaro an buhay ko sa plano Niya para sa Simbahan. Gabos ini may bendisyon nin Espiritu Santo, kaya una ko na pinasasalamatan nan inoomaw an Diyos na nagtawag sa akon. Sa pangadyi ko, pinapasalamatan ko pirmi an mga eskwelahan nan seminaryo nan mga religious institutions na nagbulig para mapalago an saakon na bokasyon, nan an mga tawo na aram ko pirmi magpapadumdom sa akon para ako maghingoha na magin saro na mayad nan banal na padi.

The 9 years of my priesthood had a fair share of struggles and problems. I’m thankful to all the priests, the same members of the Holy Orders, with their own share of struggles, they supported and showed me how to live and love the ministry. I'm thankful to my family, who never failed to lift me up and cheer me up and simply never stopped loving me. I'm thankful to all my FRIENDS, who invited me to share their lives -- their joys and sorrows; and for accepting and loving me for who I am.

Let me share two very short reflections that reminded me to be always faithful to God’s calling. First is the person of Ate Lumen, a househelp, out of her need she gave me something as her contribution to my ordination, truly a widow’s mite, and she said that you cannot but return love with love. May the love I experienced and continuously experience from God, from her, from my family, from all that I “pastured” be the basis of my ministry as priest. May I always “repay love with love.” And even if the world is apathetic, to continue loving. Second, I asked myself, as I prayed: “Why do I shed tears as I pray for my anniversary?” In my prayers also, my question was answered. This was the answer: because of the over-flowing of grace and love and attention that I “relentlessly” receive from the whole Church and including the heavens – it is overwhelming to imagine that there was a moment in time – and that was during my ordination – that the saints centered their attention on me as the Church called upon them. May these graces and love continue to transform me to be a good and holy servant-leader of the Church.

To end, I know that most of the faithful know this: priests started to have simple dreams, simple and holy desires, to live a simple life and have foreseen their future as a future according to the plan of God. But there are times when priests stray from these visions and dreams, when these times happen and even before they happen, (we) the priests ask your support and prayers. Please pray for me and all your priests, as we pray for you. And together, may our lives, individually and as a community, be a constant praise to God, the life-giving Life living.

random reflections posted on my facebook account...

"...listening to a beautiful homily or hearing a truly inspiring Scriptural reading means nothing unless we allow ourselves to really experience what they tell us..."

"...if you have not started yet, embark on a journey of knowing the truth about yourself -- your strengths as well as weaknesses, your selfless as well as selfish motivations, your drives as well as your fears -- because being unaware of these realities, you will live in an unreal world with false hopes and expectation..."

"...the voices and noises brought about by words and works of our daily lives are unavoidable, they have a real place in our journey called LIFE... but the precious value of SILENCE as a balanced counterpart is also necessary... may we always find time for SILENT REFLECTION and PRAYER..."

"... true and lasting peace is not something that is thrown at us and we are just passive recipients... we must seek it, work for it and/or pursue it... and true peace cannot come from domination, deceit and/or deprivation of other people's rights..." -- inspired by 24...

"..the roads of this earthly existence lead but to grave therefore it's imperative for us to keep this always in mind... i'm not saying that our life is futile nor expressing the fleeting nature of life & feelings - just the opposite...by minding our mortality, we struggle to make our lives valuable, meaningful, fruitful and joyful.. i believe that death is not an end to life but a change in it -- what that change will be is dependent on the road we take or the direction we follow..."

family

joseph clem (jc)

joseph hans

joseph satri (joesat)

Support Group

january 31, 2010. we gathered, prayed, ate, and shared stories... those present during the gathering were fr romy, fr steve, fr gaudi (the farthest, 6 hours travel from his place to west point), fr burt, fr henry, fr jun, and myself...

Ministry

I usually deliver my homilies with 3 points (and usually employ techniques for easy recall...) The 3 points below is an example as I talk about ministry.

Jesus' ministry has different characteristics but I want to focus on three -- CLAIMING, "CONTINUING COMPLETION", and COMPASSION.

Jesus, first and foremost, claims us as His own -- as God's people. With Jesus, we become sons and daughters of God. With Jesus, that which unites us is emphasized even before dealing with what distinguishes us from each other. With Jesus, boundaries and borders are removed (except the border between good and evil). The question that I usually ask myself is do I claim Jesus to be my God and Savior -- in all aspects of my life...

Jesus is the completion of the expression of God's love for the created world. In His ministry, Jesus brings about wholeness to "broken realities." Jesus is the total expression of the fidelity of God to creation. The questions I ask myself are: do I participate in this continuing ministry or allow the Spirit to work in me?; and do I ever tell Jesus: "You complete me!"?

Jesus' ministry is basically a ministry of compassion -- an expression of God's great love in a manner that is responsive to the needs and signs of the times. Do I desire to experience this great compassion of God and after experiencing this love share it with others?

(...just trying to heed the call of the pope -- for priests to blog and make use of the media to proclaim the Gospel...)

just random thoughts... musings on a gloomy day...

1. priest-friends tell me i'm not sent to a certain place to please everybody (and i agree) but i always add to this remark but i'm not sent there either to offend anybody... just to do the will of God to the best of my ability...

2. people sometimes ask why i celebrate mass so intently and my simple answer is always either "i'm praying too" or "it's my prayer too."

3. i always remind myself that JESUS is the Boss, the "Be-All" of all the things i do...

4. i sometimes get too emotional -- aaaahhhh, what a "cry baby"...

5. true and strong men know how to cry, i know, because i do...

6. i can always learn from my experiences -- pleasant or unpleasant they may appear...

7. and i can always listen to the wisdom of those advanced in age...

until the next post...

Baptismal Anniversary

January 15! I celebrate today my baptismal anniversary. I do celebrate this event just to remind me of my baptismal promises and to challenge myself to be faithful to them.

I'm reposting this picture because it contains the poem that reminds me of my baptism.

enVISIONing

As I prepare for the parish council's recollection-workshop, I have these words attributed to Archbishop Oscar Romero as a guide:

It helps now and then to step back and take a long view.

The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,

it is beyond our vision.

We accomplish in our lifetime only a fraction
of the magnificent enterprise that is God's work.
Nothing we do is complete, which is another way of
saying that the kingdom always lies beyond us.

No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith. No confession
brings perfection, no pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the Church's mission.
No set of goals and objectives include everything.

This is what we are about. We plant the seeds that one
day will grow. We water the seeds already planted
knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces effects
far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of
liberation in realizing this.
This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning,
a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord's
grace to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results, but that is the
difference between the master builder and the worker.

We are workers, not master builders, ministers, not
messiahs. We are prophets of a future not our own. -- Archbishop Oscar Romero (martyred on March 24th 1980)

I think this is a very sober reminder on how to look also at my ministry as I participate in the mission of the Church.

Attitudes on the Epiphany

Attraction. Just like the Magi, some people are vigilant and open to the different manifestations of God in their lives. Even though these manifestations of God are beyond and/or below their expectations of when, where, and how God would appear, they are able to recognize God because they allowed themselves to be led by the Scriptures and the signs.

Aversion. Just like Herod (the personification of Jerusalem during the time of the birth of the Lord), some people do not want to be led by God. They want to be in control and to dominate that is why they will pretend to be led by the Scriptures and the signs to further take hold of where they are, of who they think they are, and of how they live their lives.

Apathy. The most dangerous attitude in "relation" to God. These are the people who do not want to have any relation with God. Or as personified by the chief priests and the scribes, who knew very well the Scriptures but they just ignored their "expertise" so that they will not experience "discomfort". It can also be "hidden" in a very subtle temptation which just says: we are the "gods" of our own lives and we don't want to serve -- "non serviam".