Sometimes we fail to see the obvious. While many islands in the Pacific are languishing because of a serious lack of vocations, here in Guam we are thriving because we have an overflowing of youths who desire to become priests. This is an awesome blessing.
This morning in Maloloj, Junie Valencia received the ministry of Lector in preparation for the priesthood in front of a packed Church. It was also
announced that three youths from Yigo have entered the Diocesan Seminary. There
are also two others who are seriously considering joining the Diocesan
Seminary. Rev. Romeo Convocar is the
Rector of this seminary. That means that there are four already in the
seminary and two more possibly entering soon. What a gift!
Then we have six
youths from Guam studying at the Archdiocesan Missionary Seminary Redemptoris
Mater seminary; two others are studying in Japan and Miami respectively. These
youths come from Barrigada, Agana, Yona, Yigo, Asan and Mangilao. What a richness!
Earlier this month
two youths from Guam, Brothers William and Jason made their first profession
with the Capuchins at the Friary and Brothers Ryan and Gavin renewed their
temporary profession as friars for another year. Then there are Sean and Cody,
also from Guam, who are doing their novitiate in California. What a boon!
And there may be
others that I do not know about.
We all understand it. Vocations come from God. He calls and man answers. But
God works through men. Let us be
grateful to Archbishop Anthony Apuron who through his leadership managed to
revamp vocations to the priesthood in Guam. He is the one who started the two diocesan seminaries in Yona and
Maloloj. And he is a Capuchin. Thank you, Archbishop!
Because there are now more youths entering the second seminary, I no longer have any problems with it. I no longer see it as a waste of money. It is now coming to good use. Sometimes, we do not see God's plan until it reveals itself in time. :)
ReplyDeleteAll his time, you have never mentioned the Diocesan priests, but instead you blasted them for doing nothing! Now you praise them, the Caps and give credit to Archbishop Apuron!
DeleteCredits for the Caps, come from the Caps, not the Archbishop! The Caps take full credit for this. As far as Junee is concerned, he was treated so indifferently and made to feel out of place.
Don't go around praising the Archbishop for something he didn't do! These young men had to fight!
Dear Anonymous at 12:49 a.m,
DeleteThe only priests I have blasted are the "disobedient" ones. I do not care if they are Jesuits, Capuchians, Franciscans, or even RMS. If they are disobedient, you will find me standing against disobedient priests. Praise the Archbishop for establishing 2 seminaries on Guam. These men did not have to fight. All they had to do was answer the call of God.
Diana give credit where credit is due!
DeleteDear Anonymous at 12:58 a.m.,
DeleteYou are correct. I will give credit where credit is due. God used the Archbishop as His instrument to carry out His plans in establishing two seminaries on Guam.
By your comments - time and time again - you believe Archbishop Apuron to be infallible.
DeleteDo you also believe him to be God?
Dear Anonymous at 4:44 pm,
DeleteI hope you are not defining infallibility the way Protestants do. The Archbishop is a sinner like everyone else. And no, the Archbishop is not God. But God has always used people to carry out His plan of salvation. In other words, the ministry of Christ continues on through the Pope and Bishops. Christ leads His Church into all truth despite that her members are sinners.
So you don't actually believe he's God, just infallible. Gotcha.
DeleteExplains how you disregard logic, reason, and the Pope.
Dear Anonymous at 6:27 p.m.,
DeleteWhat do you mean "Gotcha"?? Do you know what infallibility means? Infallibility comes from God. The infallible Holy Spirit uses fallible men to teach faith and morals infallibly, which is why we believe that the Holy Bible is the inerrant word of God despite that it was written by fallible human hands. The Catholic Church teaches that the Pope is infallible when teaching faith and morals. It also teaches that the Pope along with the Teaching Magisterium has infallibility when teaching faith and morals.
Human logic, reason, and knowledge is incomparable to God's divine wisdom.
CCC 157 Faith is certain. It is more certain than all human knowledge because it is founded on the very word of God who cannot lie. To be sure, revealed truths can seem obscure to human reason and experience, but "the certainty that the divine light gives is greater than that which the light of natural reason gives."31 "Ten thousand difficulties do not make one doubt."32
"Human logic, reason, and knowledge is incomparable to God's divine wisdom."
DeleteSo then you do believe that Apuron or Kiko is God. Why didn't you just say that in the beginning?
Dear Anonymous at 10:28 a.m.,
DeleteI did say that. Read my comment above on September 1st at 5:03 p.m.. The Archbishop is not God and neither is Kiko.
So then they are both prone to make errors in judgement. You don't need to chastise everyone who disagrees with what they are doing.
DeleteFurthermore, human logic, reason, and knowledge should not be thrown to the wayside, as has been done quite often when defending the NCW.
Dear Anonymous at 1:23 p.m.,
DeleteWhom am I chastising? Also, I never said that human logic, reason, and knowledge should be thrown to the wayside, and the NCW does not do that. I simply said that God's divine wisdom is greater than human logic, reason, and knowledge. We often discern what God's plan and will is for us because we would try to follow God's will rather than our own will.
>Whom am I chastising?
DeleteAnyone who criticizes the Archbishop and the NCW.
>Also, I never said that human logic, reason, and knowledge should be thrown to the wayside, and the NCW does not do that.
But you do comment in that manner. While trying to have a reasonable and objective conversation with you, we've ended up arguing over silly things - the definition of words, the interpretation of sentences (you removed the context of a sentence to prove a point, then applied that point to an entire letter), etc.
>I simply said that God's divine wisdom is greater than human logic, reason, and knowledge.
Since all criticism or even an implicit whispering that Apuron is in error is met with incredulity, it seems like you have elevated Apuron and Kiko to God-status.
Dear Anonymous at 4:26 p.m,
DeleteI did not chastise anyone. I simply disagreed with them and gave my reasons why. I certainly did not punish anyone because they disagreed with me. I did not threaten their job or call them bad names for disagreeing with me. I simply disagree. Disagreeing with you is not chastise.
Also, supporting the Archbishop does not mean that I worship the Archbishop. I also support and vote for most Republicans, but that does not mean that I worship the Republican Party.
Who hasn't had to fight in life? You think it's easy to start a seminary? How can you not recognize the merit of th archbishop in this?
ReplyDeleteI don't trust him anymore!
DeleteDear Anonymous at 1:05 a.m.,
DeleteIf anything, you should not trust the jungle. Was it not the jungle who say that the Archbishop turns away our local sons from the priesthood???? Here is the evidence showing Guam's local sons entering BOTH seminaries, not just the RMS. Six youths from Guam entered the RMS while 4 entered the John Paul II Seminary with possibly two more who will enter.
Would he have done this without undue pressure? No.
DeleteDear Anonymous at 10:29 a.m,
DeletePressure from what? These youths decided to enter the seminary on Guam. They did not choose a seminary in the United States because they were concern about their college credits not being accepted.
Diana, I trust what I see in Black and white. I trust what I see. I trust what I know in my heart.
DeleteDear Anonymous at 12:18 p.m.,
DeleteAnd where is your trust in God in all this if all you can trust is only what you see in black and white and what YOU feel in your heart?? God used the Archbishop as His instrument to carry out His plans in building two seminaries for Guam because only God knows how many youths will enter those seminaries.
Is Aaron Quitugua the young man who only needs a letter from the Archbishop to attend an off-island seminary at no cost to the Archdiocese one of these new seminarians?
DeleteDear Anonymous at 1:43 am,
DeleteAaron Quitugua was the only youth who chose the seminary he wanted to go because that seminary would accept all his college credits. In the event that he decides not to be a priest, he would still graduate within four years due to the fact that all his college credits were accepted in the seminary of his choice.
12:58 anonymous. ....as short as your comment was sbout the Caps deserving whatever credits, your lack of acknowledgement of God working in your life is crystal clear.
ReplyDeleteIt's not about what we do for God anonymous....its all about what God has done for us. You seek recognition, he seeks your sins. You want to be heard, he quietly, patiently listens.
Give credit to the Arch Bishop for praying for the formations of priest, nuns and lay people's who will serve God anonymous. Not himself but God anonymous. And let us all thank God for answering his prayers.
The Archbishop is not praying for vocations. He is praying because he is troubled by all that is happening. He need to see that the building of bridges starts with him. He has to stop giving excuses as to why he Walks the Way.
DeleteDear Anonymous at 12:01 p.m.,
DeleteHow do you know that he was not praying for vocations? Have you listened in on his prayers?
Read his remarks to the FD boys! He says why he prays!
DeleteDear Anonymous at 1:30 pm,
DeleteThat does not mean that he does not pray for vocations. A person can say they pray for peace to a group of people and discourage them from listening to the blogs. But that does not mean that he does not pray for others things.
anonymous you say that a Catholic Arch Bishop does not pray for vocations? What else are you struggling with?
Deleteanonmous 1:05, remember ...love God with all your might, all your will....and love your neighbors as you love yourself. RCIA level stuff
ReplyDeleteYes, we absolutely have to support our Archbishop in his efforts to maintain and operate both seminaries. You see, he is a successful pastor of the flock, his merits should be considered first before anyone tries to criticize him. We in the Way of Guam are in a peculiar situation, when under attack by our adversaries. Why? Because they are unable to separate their criticism of the Way from their criticism of our Archbishop. What is more, they show signs of obsessive fixation on the person of Anthony Apuron. This is very strange, because for most of us walking in the Way, there is no impact at the personal level from the Archbishop at all.
ReplyDeleteThis fixation tells us that Tim Rohr and the Jungle Watch folks are not really concerned about the Way, of whom they know ridiculously little, their only concern is the Archbishop. They want him to be removed. They plot and lie, conspire and mob all day long with this sole aim burning above their eyes. In their ignorance little they know that the Church hierarchy is holy. It is one of the Holy Sacraments, it is not subject to popularity voting by the laity. An Archbishop may be relieved from his duties only for grave reason and only by the Pope!
So why is the fixation and why are the mean comments about him? Well, the answer may be bitter, but perhaps true. Archbishop Anthony was accused to be mentally ill by someone who himself struggles with this problem. He was accused to be unable to love the priests, his "children", who is unable to love his children himself. He was accused to be disobedient to the Pope by someone who is disobedient to all Church authorities, who is unable to submit himself to any possible rule.
1. If you have ever met Tim Rohr, you wonder why he would never look straight into your eyes. His wandering eyes cannot stop for any single moment, going around like a roller coast, trying to find a place of peace to gaze on. All in vain. Why? Who knows? Is this possible that he has been accused of being mentally unstable by someone? I don't know. But making a fixation on someone else could definitely cover up for one minute or two, his own issue.
2. A fixation on a person can make it look like normal to write a blog day and night, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, in order to oust this person, destroy and make him go away. But hey, it is just a fixation! So it is not normal at all. Tim is throwing away his time to waste ion a cause that cannot be attained. There is no way to remove an Archbishop from office by popular protest. It is up to the Pope, who won't submit to mental terror from anyone. Therefore Tim is sacrificing his best family time that could be spent with his children, for an impossible cause. Why? Is he unable to love his children who need him?
3. Tim and the Jungle Watch folks claim that they don't need to be obedient to the Church hierarchy. They are only obedient to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church. Well, are they? The Church Magisterium has never said that you have to accuse your sisters and brothers in the Way by not following our Statutes when we faithfully follow every single letter of it! The Church Magisterium has never said that you have to turn away from the Lord Jesus Christ and His Living Church in order to be a bookworm making judgment on others. The Magisterium has never said that you should incite emotions against Church officials and maintain a hate blog to attack an Archbishop.
If it was not clear, let me spell out: fixation on a single person and blame our own problems on this one single person is a mental disorder that is better to be attended for before it becomes a full blown "Jungle Watch" syndrome. Please, pray for me.
"In their ignorance little they know that the Church hierarchy is holy. It is one of the Holy Sacraments, it is not subject to popularity voting by the laity."
DeleteI don't understand what you are saying. I thought the Sacraments are Baptism, Reconciliation, Eucharist, Confirmation, Holy Orders, Marriage and Anointing of the Sick. How is the Church hierarchy one of the Holy Sacraments?
Perhaps the Holy Order covers this.
DeleteErnie that was a low blow and unfair comment. I am no fan of mr. Rohr but you should not stoop to his level of as hominem attacks. It only creates bitterness, stifles dialogue and allows him to say we do not discuss facts but people. The only way to fight evil is with love. Read St. Paul about how to treat enemies.
ReplyDeleteanon at 8:50 a.m.: Fixation on the person of Archbishop Apuron and blaming on him everything possible at that level we see in Tim Rohr's blog is justifiably called a mental disorder. Tell, me, please, why would this fixation lead to the full blown "Jungle Watch syndrome" where any meaningful communication is not possible anymore? Why and how?
DeleteI gave a rather benevolent explanation, pointing out that our own problems may lead to this kind of outward projection that manifests itself in this kind of fixation on a person. I did not say anything negative about Tim Rohr, I only pointed out some directions he might want to work on that could lead to healing. So it is not an ad hominem attack at all. If he is not interested in healing, then I cannot do anything for him. Could you provide other, similarly benevolent explanation for the "Jungle Watch syndrome" that may invalidate what I wrote? Please, give it us if you have one so that we may read and learn. Thanks. Also, don't forget to pray for me.
The Archbishop opens a new seminary! Many rejoice! Some are angry. But why are you angry? Is it bad that now we have the means to produce future priests? If you are angry at that, something is seriously wrong with you.
ReplyDeleteWe were once a sleeping giant, but GOD has stirred this giant awake!! More and more people are now seeing how good and innocent Catholics are being used by Kiko Arguello for his agenda to divide and destroy the Catholic Church. It's time for Kiko and his NCW to be shut down!!
ReplyDeleteDear Anonymous at 9:28 pm.
DeleteIt is in this blog that we praise God for bringing all kinds of priests. And here you are calling for the shutting down of RMS priests?? As anyone can clearly see where hatred and division is coming from. It is coming from those who wish to destroy us simply because they do not know how to extend the hand of Christian fellowship and brotherly love.
Sad thing though is that there are alot of empty promises from pro-jungle bloggers. The new seminary was struggling for donations of linens and other household items, ironic because all the anti-neos said they would give their last dollar to support anything contrary to the ncw. Even yoyo who the two new ones hail from had to out of their way,scrambling for the donations.
ReplyDeleteThe last I heard from Sister Francine was that she was opposed to the idea of the retreat house being changed into a seminary, although they weren't gonna utilize the entire facility, Msgr. Benavente had decided that the seminary would occupy the side that now deems the retreat house now inadequate to accommodate the needs of the different retreats. She went on to say that she believed that if the people pulled together they could build a whole new seminary building adjacent to the retreat center on property that belongs to the archdiocese.
Maybe I know too much for a layman but thank God he made me experience the realities that there are many good priests but very few Holy Priests.
There are those faking their desire to "build bridges" and are calling parishioners to resist the ncw. Holy priests dont do this, they dont spread lies and untruths. I told this one parishioner that maybe father is calling you because hes worried that the ncw is gonna steal all your money, would he call you if you were poor? I considered myself closer to him than you and he has never told me to quit but then again probably he thinks I am brainwashed.
I learn new things everyday thanks be to God for removing the mud from my blinded eyes.
"yoyo" is a typo, darn auto correct. Its actually Yigo where the new seminarians come from.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2013/on-listening-to-bishops.html
ReplyDelete