SOLT MISSI N m a g a z i n e w i n t e r 2 0 1 5
A Message from the General Priest Servant Dear Friends of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity, On January 28, 2015, I was blessed to celebrate my tenth anniversary as a priest. While I realize it is not an incredibly impressive milestone in terms of the sheer number of years, it did provide a significant occasion to reflect on my journey to this point. Overwhelmingly, the sentiment I felt was gratitude! Gratitude to God for the life he has given me as a priest, for the people whom I have been privileged to serve, and for the people with whom I have been able to serve. In the beginning of the journey it is very easy to focus on the good things that a priest gives up in order to be a priest. However, it doesn t take long to realize that what we give up or sacrifice in generosity to God is repaid with astonishing interest. Many times, this generosity of God is experienced through the instrumentality of other people. My first two years as a priest were spent at St. John the Baptist De La Salle parish in the periphery of Rome, Italy. Among many wonderful parishioners, I recall in a special way one elderly parishioner named Mina, a Bulgarian immigrant who was one of a dozen or so daily Mass goers. Mina s commitment was exemplary because even though the church was only a few hundred yards from her apartment, her health greatly limited her walking ability and forced her to rely on a very sporadic bus system that would sometimes force her to stand for 45 minutes waiting for a one minute bus ride! Despite the difficulty and inconvenience, day after day Mina would be at Mass. At some point during my time there, Mina fell ill and was home bound. While part of my role in the parish was to bring communion to the sick, in the case of Mina I felt particularly convicted, telling myself, Mina ii SOLT Mission Magazine Winter 2015
was willing to do anything to make daily Mass in order to receive Jesus, I need to make sure she can keep receiving Him daily. And so on my way home from the parish to our residence, I would stop at Mina s apartment every evening for a mere 5-15 minutes in order to give her holy communion. Her gratitude in response to my gesture overwhelmed me! Without fail, whenever I went to Mina s apartment she would have something for me. Most of the time, she had baked a breakfast cake for me and my housemates Fr. Ogie and Fr. Derek. It was impossible for the three of us to keep up with Mina s prolific productivity as the breakfast cakes sitting in their covered tinfoil trays would pile up three and four high on the kitchen table. Mina s response of generosity reminded me of Lk 6:38, Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. Indeed, the breakfast cakes really were practically falling in our laps! Reflecting on my ten years of priesthood, I can t help but look back and see the goodness and generosity of God that I have been able to experience through other people. Like the breakfast cakes piling up on the side of the kitchen table, it is impossible to keep up with God s goodness and generosity! God bless, Fr. Peter Marsalek, SOLT General Priest Servant fr. peter marsalek, solt originally from burlington, canada, was elected general priest servant during the july 2013 chapter in corpus christi, tx. ON THE COVER: Br. Dave playing soccer with a youngster in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. Clockwise from opposite page: Statue of Our Lady of Knock in Knock, Ireland; Fr. Peter s first Mass; (middle and right) Fr. Peter s ordination on January 28, 2005 at St. Mary Major by Cardinal Foley. Winter 2015 SOLT Mission Magazine 1
W hy does God hide? Among other reasons, because He is infinitely beautiful, and He knows that if He showed Himself in all His glory to us here below, we would have no choice but to love Him. Our yes to Him would lack freedom; it would fall short of the requirements of true love and human dignity. God hides behind the darkness of faith, but He still leaves clues in the world to guide us toward Himself. One of these clues is the consecrated life. Religious women and men are a sign to the world that God is real and that a life fully dedicated to Him is by all means a life well spent. The parables of the treasure hidden in the field and the pearl of great price, found in Matthew 13:44-46, illustrate the joy with which the saints gave their lives to God, a joy that must be characteristic of the consecrated life if it is to fulfill its God-given task of being a living sign of the present and future manifestation of the kingdom of heaven. In both these parables, our hero, the treasure hunter or the merchant, sees what others cannot see. He sees a treasure hidden in a field; he sees a pearl of great value among pearls of lesser value. Since he realizes that the field and the pearl are being sold at a price that is very little compared to their actuon consecrated life 2 SOLT Mission Magazine Winter 2015
al worth, he goes and sells all he has with great joy. He knows that he is about to make the deal of a lifetime! Others do not understand what he is doing. They think that he is wasting his money and that he is mad, but that is because they cannot see what he sees: that is, the true worth of the pearl and the field. In a similar way, the saints were able to see what many of their contemporaries could not see: the actual value of the kingdom of heaven, the actual worth of becoming an authentic disciple of Jesus Christ. Many judged the saints to be foolish people who were wasting their lives but that is because they didn t have what enabled the saints to discover the true worth of the kingdom; they didn t have the light of faith. So the saints used a lifetime of faith to discover the kingdom of heaven, A life dedicated to Him will always be a life well spent. CLOCKWISE from opposite page: The ordination of Fr. Michael Mary Mercy of Jesus Crucified, Fr. Patrick, Fr. Juan and Fr. Al in January 2014; Dcn. Beau evangelizing in Belize; Fr. Juan promising obedience to Bishop Wm. Michael Mulvey. Winter 2015 SOLT Mission Magazine 3
and they used a lifetime of charity to buy it. And I say buy it in quotation marks not just because the kingdom cannot really be bought (it exceeds all measure) but because what God is asking us to give Him for it is, in comparison, close to nothing. And that is the reason why the saints joyfully gave their entire lives to Christ; because in exchange for that very brief and very little thing, God gives everything, forever. This is the joy of the saints. This joy is what consecrated persons must radiate in order to convince the world, not just that God is real, but that a life dedicated to Him will always be a life well spent. Our first priority as consecrated religious is prayer since communion with the Most Holy Trinity flows from this. How can we tell people about Christ if we do not know Him ourselves? It is in prayer that God reveals Himself to us. It is in spending time with our Beloved that we are able to know Him and what He desires. Then we can pray always seeing His love for us throughout the day. We notice His presence in our lives and become more grateful, thus allowing Him to care for us. in exchange for that very brief and very little thing [what God is asking of us], God gives everything, forever. Fr. Juan at the SOLT mission in Benque Viejo, Belize. Fr. Juan Villagomez, SolT from nuevo laredo, serving in benque viejo, belize, was ordained to the sacred priesthood in january, 2014. his sisters, sr. maria aurora and dolores, are both members of solt. 4 SOLT Mission Magazine Winter 2015
global going God for TOP to BOTTOM: Eucharistic adoration and the global living rosary in Dublin, Ireland; Sr. Caritas, Sr. Trinity and Sr. Mediatrix visit young women at an elementary school in Birmingham, England; Fr. Jim inspiring the children to go global for God. October found the Eucharistic Family Rosary Crusade (EFRC) in the UK and Ireland. Under the direction of EFRC founder, Fr. Jim Kelleher, SOLT, the SOLT team, made up of Fr. Jim, Sr. Mary Mediatrix of All Grace, Sr. Mary Trinity, Sr. Maria Caritas, Deacon John Purk, Vivian Stubbers along with world renowned singer and songwriter Dana, her husband Damien Scallon and her musician brother, Gerald Brown, embarked on its fourth crusade in Ireland and its first in England. EFRC was the inspiration of Fr. Kelleher in the early 2000 s. After several large events in the United States, the doors opened to evangelization in Europe. According to Fr. Jim, We work in the spirit of Fr. Patrick Peyton whose Rosary crusades, starting in the 1940 s, were aimed at uniting the family in prayer. His theme, the family that prays together, stays Winter 2015 SOLT Mission Magazine 5
We work in the spirit of Fr. Patrick Peyton whose Rosary Crusades, starting in the 1940 s, were aimed at uniting the family in prayer. together, is even more relevant and urgent today than it was in his time. Perhaps nowhere is the message of family prayer more needed than in Western Europe where the practice of the Catholic faith has dropped to levels significantly below the United States. Happily, the response to the Crusade in England and Ireland was overwhelmingly positive. Each night, over 500 people participated in Eucharistic Adoration and Global Living Rosary at St Paul s in Belfast and St Bernadette s in Dublin, with similarly enthusiastic responses at the other three sites in Birmingham, England and Dublin, Ireland. On the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, the EFRC event at St. Bernadette s was met with much rejoicing from participants. One woman remarked, Fr. Jim giving a scripture rosary DVD to the teachers for classroom use. 6 SOLT Mission Magazine Winter 2015
Oh, it s so good to see the Church filled like this on a weekday with so many young people and adults. It hasn t been like this in years. It was so beautiful and I m so glad I came could be heard over and over by young and old as they shared their experiences after the event with Sr. Mediatrix. Fr. Jim added, The reaction on the face of the Pastor, Fr. Melvin Mullins, said it all he was full of gratitude and joy. He was so moved by what happened in his Church. The parish events were augmented by presentations in twelve Catholic schools. Dana captured the hearts of the young people with her beautiful interactive songs; Fr. Jim explained the story of the Miraculous Medal which was given to each student and worn on the outside of their uniforms; Sr. Mediatrix and Sr. Trinity engaged the young people in their stories. The school events culminated in the students, teachers, and team praying one decade with the Scripture Rosary DVD projected on a large overhead screen. The students and teachers alike took up the challenge to pray a decade of the Scripture Rosary every day in their classrooms aided by the unique Scripture Rosary DVD given to each teacher. Students from these schools made up the Living Beads of the Rosary during the evening parish Adoration and Global Living Rosary events. Parents who attended were encouraged to pray the Rosary in their families supported by the Rosary DVD. Fr. Jim recounted, We left the U.S. with 1,225 DVDs, and they were virtually all spoken for before we returned home. It s a great sign that Our Lady is touching the hearts of so many people. When we pray the rosary in our family, special graces of healing, protection, and unity surround us. We left the U.S. with 1,225 (Rosary) DVDs, and they were virtually all spoken for before we returned home.. Vivian Stubbers from seattle, washington, vivian has worked with fr. jim on several projects in the service of the church. Winter 2015 SOLT Mission Magazine 7
feeding Filipino program Recently, SOLT initiated a Feeding Program for the less privileged children from the neighboring village in Putiao, Bicol, Philippines. One of the greatest dreams we in the regional administration had was to help the malnourished poor children in the area. Although we have served them from time to time, we have not been able to assist them as regularly as we had hoped due to budget constraints. Now, the Lord has answered our prayers! A Filipina woman with a very big heart has helped us feed the children. After several communications, she pledged to assist us financially every month. The Feeding Program, which will be formalized next month, includes gathering the children on two Sundays a month according to age and health condition. It will begin with catechesis, games, or saint stories to foster Christian values. This will be followed by a communal dinner. We also plan to include the parents in this program and give family life teachings. 8 SOLT Mission Magazine Winter 2015
Most parents expressed a desire to come, and we hope this will enhance the program and engage the whole family. As we are finishing the planning of this project, we have nearly 100 children ready to come regularly. Sr. Mary Michaela Marvida has been planning the menu to offer the best food for the malnourished children who will attend. Other sisters and brother novices will assist with the catechesis, games, and other related activities. Parents of the children will also assist in food preparation. We look forward to December 21 st when our sponsor will host a Christmas party and give gifts to the children. We are so grateful to the Lord in a very special way for the sponsor who promised to materialize and make the love of the Lord visible. We are so happy to be able to serve the poorest of the poor in a consistent way. Clockwise from opposite page: Sr. Maria Le Thi Anh Hoa and children having lunch; Catechism class with grades 3-4; The young love it too! we have nearly 100 children ready to come regularly. sr. maria Cecilia Asuncion, SOLT is the regional sister servant for the asian region. from the island of rapu rapu, bicol, philippines, she professed her first vows with solt in 1992. Winter 2015 SOLT Mission Magazine 9
Sr. Miriam James Heidland, SOLT, released her first book, titled: Loved as I Am: An Invitation to Conversion, Healing, and Freedom through Jesus, this past November. Sr. Miriam pursued a typical college life of parties, sports and freedom. She seemed to have it all. In reality, her life was empty and broken. Through the friendship of a holy and caring priest, Sr. Miriam s life began to be transformed in a very slow but deep way as she realized Jesus was real and that He was the great love her heart desired. In 1998, she entered SOLT and has served at missions in Rome, North Dakota, Seattle and Texas. Sr. Miriam James is an inspiring evangelizer and radio personality. She has served as a director of the SOLT Apostolic Novitiate, coached high school volleyball, co-hosted a Catholic radio program, and spoken at events throughout the US, Canada, Belize and Australia. Order her book and follow her on Twitter @onegroovynun today! Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity PO Box 4116 Corpus Christi, TX 78469 Non-Profit U.S. Postage PAID Robstown, TX Permit No. 774