Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle left evening of Feb. 26 to join the other cardinals in the Vatican conclave.
He was set to speak and celebrate Mass on March 9 for the 25th Eucharistic Congress at the Pink Sisters Convent. To take his place as speaker and celebrant is Cubao Bishop Honesto Ongtioco. Bishop Ongtioco will also preside in the Adoration and procession of the Blessed Sacrament at 1 p.m.
Other speakers are Archbishop Angelo Lagdameo and Fr. Apolinario Ty, SSS. The event is sponsored by the Eucharistic Adorers’ League, which has faithfully organized the religious event that has been attracting thousands of adorers.
St. Joseph exhibit
The devotion to St. Joseph entails deep faith in the knowledge that the foster father of Jesus and the husband of Mary will intercede for us, with God.
Such has been the faith of Teresita Baniqued since l967 when she started praying to St. Joseph to help her and her husband Arthur with their clothing store in Zurbaran. She still has the small image of St. Joseph given her by a nun who asked her to pray to the saint.
The business has survived. Tess now has a small booth beside the escalator facing the PSBank in Harrison Plaza. Fellow lectors of the Harrison Plaza Chapel drop by to share stories of answered prayers.
Tess Baniqued is only one of thousands of devotees praying to St. Joseph. There’s a nine-day novena starting March 18. Feastday is March 19.
St. Joseph fiesta
The Friends of St. Joseph headed by Dr. Danilo Reyes will hold their 20th exhibit of different images of the saint from March 10-19, at the Hospicio de San Jose.
This is in cooperation with the Daughters of Charity who arranged the Masses at 6 p.m. celebrated by different priests. The exhibit opens March 10, 5:30 p.m.
Caloocan Bishop Deogracia Iñiguez will celebrate the first of the nine-day Masses dwelling on the theme: “St. Joseph, exemplar of loving forgiveness toward all.”
On March 11, the theme is “St. Joseph, Man of Prayer and Action,” with celebrant Fr. Vicente A. Robles, parish priest, Sto. Cristo and St. Andrew Kim Taegon Church in Lolomboy, Bocaue, Bulacan; on March 12, theme is “St. Joseph, Obedient to God’s Law,” with Fr. Serafin Peralta, CM, who is Asian executive director, Congregation of the Mission, Vincentian Seminary, Angono, Rizal.
On March 13, the theme is “St. Joseph, Discerner of God’s Will,” with Fr. Joey Bustillo, parish priest, St. Mary Goretti parish, UN Avenue, Paco, Manila. On March 14, the theme is “St. Joseph, Faithful Listener to God’s Words,” with Msgr. Matt Garcia, parish priest, Immaculate Conception parish, Tayuman St., Tondo, Manila.
On March 15, the feast day of St. Louise De Marillac, Fr. Jimmy Bilita, CM, will celebrate Mass at 8 a.m, with the theme “St. Louise, Docile to the Promptings of the Holy Spirit.” Rev. Fr. Jimmy is the provincial director, Daughters of Charity Philippine Province.
At 6 p.m., Fr. Francisco Magnaye Jr., CM, will talk on “St. Joseph, Docile to the Promptings of the Holy Spirit.” He is vice president of Adamson University.
Trust in God’s providence
Msgr. Josefino Ramirez, who founded the Friends of St. Joseph in February 1993, taught us to trust in the divine providence. He taught us to put our prayer request under the statue of St. Joseph or tape it on a picture of the saint. I still do that.
On March 16, 6 p.m., Fr. Jimmy Bilita will talk on divine providence, while Fr. Victorino Torres, CM, will speak on “St. Joseph, Channel of Mercy and Compassion” on March 17, 6 p.m. He is parish priest of the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal in Posadas Village, Muntinlupa.
On March 18, 6 p.m., Fr. Gregorio Bañaga, CM, will dwell on the theme “St. Joseph, Witness to God’s Goodness and Loving Protection.”
The Hospicio de San Jose community with its alumni will celebrate the feast of St. Joseph at 8 a.m. with Mass by Bishop emeritus Teodoro Bacani. Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo will celebrate Fiesta Mass at 6 p.m.
Those who want to exhibit their images of St. Joseph can text Dr. Danny Reyes (tel. 0917-8125148).
Natural family planning
The BBC and the Convenors’ Group of Responsible Parenthood-All Natural Family Planning (RP-All-NFP) Movement will hold a forum on “The Obligations of Employers and Catholic Businessmen under the RH Law” on March 15, 8:30 a.m., at the Manila Polo Club.
The forum is for members of our Bishops-Businessmen’s Conference for Human Development and other business groups to give them a better appreciation of their obligations under the law and the corresponding penalties for noncompliance with the law.
We have invited Health Secretary Enrique T. Ona to talk about the RH Law and its implementation. Experts are in the panel—lawyer Ricardo J. Romulo; Fr. Joaquin G. Bernas, SJ; Doris M. Ho; lawyer Lorna Kapunan; and Chit Juan.
Please help our dear parish promote our Lenten pilgrimage to Tagaytay and Batangas. We need lots of people to join to earn more for our ongoing renovation. These are the churches/chapels to be visited on March 16:
Our Lady of Candelaria, Silang; Our Lady of Lourdes, Tagaytay; Caleruega, Nasugbu; St. John Bosco Chapel, Batulao; Basilica of St. Martin of Tours, Taal; Our Lady of Caysasay, Taal; Immaculate Conception Parish, Batangas; St. Sebastian Cathedral, Lipa; Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Lipa.
Those interested may call our parish office at tel. 5235797 or 0915-7844446; or e-mail us at olap_malate@yahoo.com. Like us on Facebook: Assumption Parish Malate, or Twitter @olap.