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June 23, 2024: Embracing New Beginnings [Mission Appeal Homily]

 

My sincerest gratitude to the Most Rev. Bishop Patrick M. Neary, to the Pastor Fr Kevin Anderson and to all of you, for welcoming me to your Parish/Church and for giving me this opportunity to make this Mission Appeal. 

 

I am Fr. Florante Moren of the Disciples of Mary. I am from the Philippines. My country is composed of 7641 islands situated in the Pacific Ocean in Southeast Asia. From those Islands only 2000 are inhabited. I am here for a simple reason, with all humility, we are appealing to your generous heart, to support our mission. 

 

 The Disciples of Mary begun in 1976 in the Philippines and ecclesiastically established as a religious community of men in 1990 by a Carmelite Bishop, Julio Xavier Labayen, OCD. We are young and small community of priests and brothers. The mission of our community is to bring the youth to Christ and Christ to the youth and to stand with Mary at the foot of the cross. The community’s main ministry is to work among young people, to provide them with moral and spiritual formation, through leadership, value formation training, and youth empowerment programs. And most especially, to inspire them to become priest and nuns. 

 

Having been in the Disciples of Mary for 23 years, 13 years as a seminarian and 10 years as a priest, I have witnessed different ministerial challenges among our Filipino Youth. I have heard stories of struggles to survive due to poverty, broken families, abuse, addictions, and other problems that continuously haunt them. 

 

Of the many situations that I encountered; one striking story surrounds a young man who was barely making it through the day. His Family was very poor and could not even provide for his basic needs. So every day, he had to wake up at 3 O’clock in the morning to go to the wet market to work as an “empty bottle collector,” earning a quarter of a dollar a day.  His lunch simply consisted of a single fried egg and a cup of rice- the only food he had before going to school.  He confessed that he almost gave in to the temptation of selling drugs on the streets just to earn some money to survive.  But God works in mysterious yet providential way.  This young man joined our youth ministry.  

 

What we offered him during that critical time in his life was a Christian Community – a family, who helped and supported him. He became one of our active and contributing youth leaders. This young man, who was looking for a spark of hope years ago, entered the seminary and on May 17, 2008, was ordained to the Priesthood. He is now the vocation director of our congregation. His story is just one among the numerous rewarding accounts of young people who benefitted from our ministerial programs. 

 

The Disciples of Mary Community is truly a success story.  We have more than 350 volunteer teachers and 450 youth leaders assisting us in our ministry to serve around 16,000 young people all over the Philippines.  

 

We also serve in poor mission churches in the far-flung Islands in the Pacific.  It is quite far from the mainland. Just to give you an idea, in order to reach the church in Patnanungan Island. Based on my experience as a former pastor of that place, I have to ride a small, motorized boat for 6 to 8 hours. There is no commercial vessel there, so we have to ride with fishing vessel going in and out of the island. I served 15 small communities in that island, and I have to walk 3 to 5 miles just to visit one or two villages to say monthly mass. I can't say weekly mass there because unlike here in US, the island doesn't have paved road. The only means of transportation is by boat, by motorcycle or by foot. Most of the time it is by foot since it always rain, making hard to travel by motorcycle or by vote. The other Islands are Jomalig and Panukulan who have similar situations The main source of living in the island is fishing and people are very poor.  You might not believe me when I tell you that the monthly incomes of those parishes are barely $100.  Our religious community financially supports Frs. Juvy, Dodik and Joey who are currently assigned in these Mission parishes. 

 

Like saint Therese of the Child Jesus who is the patron saint of the missionaries, who never been in a missionary area, we can also be a missionary, not just by our prayers like what Saint Therese did but through our financial support we can also participate in the mission of the church. 

 

Your generosity will go a long way to support our mission to the youth, to our seminarians and to our mission parishes. So there will be a second collection today for our mission in the Philippines. Thank you once again. 

 

For This Sunday 

 

Imagine this: Jesus looks at His disciples and says, “Let us go to the other side.” It's a simple phrase, but it's loaded with meaning. He's inviting them to leave behind everything that's familiar, their past, their old ways, and to step into something new. It's a fresh start, a clean slate. 

  

The second reading today reinforces this. It says, “The older order has passed away. Now all is new.” Think about that for a moment. It's like a divine reset button. All the mistakes, regrets, and missed opportunities are behind us. We are being called to embrace a new beginning. 

  

But then, just as they set out, a storm hits. Isn’t that how life often works? Just when we decide to make a change, to leave the past behind, challenges arise. Storms come into our lives. They can be frightening and overwhelming. 

  

In the midst of this storm, what do the disciples do? They turn to Jesus. They go to Him immediately, without hesitation. They don’t wait until things get worse; they go to Him right away. This is what we are called to do as well—turn to Jesus at all times, especially when the storms of life hit. 

  

And what is Jesus doing during this storm? He’s sleeping soundly. This shows us His humanity. He experienced fatigue and needed rest just like we do. Yet, when He wakes, He calms the storm with a command. This shows us His divinity, His power over all creation. He is both fully human and fully God. 

  

So, what does this mean for us? It means that no matter what storms we face, we can turn to Jesus. He understands our human struggles because He lived them. And He has the divine power to bring peace into our chaos. 

  

As we move forward, let’s remember Jesus’ invitation to go to the other side, to embrace the newness that God offers. Let’s not be afraid of the storms, but instead, let’s go to Jesus immediately, trusting in His power and love to see us through. Amen. 

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