November-December 2005

By Suzanne Goloy-Lanot

This article is reprinted by permission of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, where it first appeared first appeared on 19 December 2004. Suzanne Goloy-Lanot is originally from San Juan, Metro Manila, and her husband Leonardo, now retired from the US Navy, from Mandaluyong City. They live in Bremerton, Washington State, with their daughter Adrienne Marie (23) and their son Jean-Lenard (19).

From its humble roots in the Philippines, the Simbang Gabi has been celebrated sporadically among Filipino communities throughout the United States. Now it is observed in its grandeur and pageantry as part of the Advent devotion in the Archdiocese of Seattle.

Parishes are encouraged to celebrate it, following a standard liturgy, including music and readings. Here it is a sacred ritual of lights, symbolized by the parol, which the Archbishop of Seattle, the Most Reverend Alexander J. Brunett, refers to as the Light of Christ.

Pope Benedict XVI

This is the talk given by the Holy Father in Cologne, Germany, at the vigil on Saturday night, 20 August. It is believed that the relics of the Magi, ‘The Three Kings,’ are in Cologne Cathedral, hence the theme of WYD XX, ‘We have come to worship him’ (Mt 2:2). The Holy Father touches on the questions discussed by Cris Evert Berdin Lato in Our Hideaway.

Dear young friends,

In our pilgrimage with the mysterious Magi from the East, we have arrived at the moment which Saint Matthew describes in his Gospel with these words:  ‘Going into the house (over which the star had halted), they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshipped him’ (Mt 2:11).  Outwardly, their journey was now over.  They had reached their goal.  But at this point a new journey began for them, an inner pilgrimage which changed their whole lives.  Their mental picture of the infant King they were expecting to find must have been very different. 

By Ricky B. Pabilonia

A colleague and friend writes about a young Misyon contributor (March-April 2004) who died last April.

‘Melody it’s time to go. Go to the light and be with Jesus. Let go…’ I remember uttering these words while waiting for news from the National Kidney Center in Manila, where my dearest friend Melody was fighting for her life.

Melody Español became my dearest friend when I started working in the Community Based Rehabilitation Foundation, (CBR), Diocese of Iba, here in Zambales. It focuses on persons with disabilities. She taught me some basic Sign Language to communicate with her deaf friends. This paid off when she invited me to interpret the Holy Mass on CBR’s Foundation Day.

By Sister Mary Cynthia OCD