BE DEVOTED TO THE CHILD JESUS ~ January 20, 2019

January 20, 2019 ~ Jasper Christian Gambito/ St. Peregrine Laziosi Diocesan Shrine. Today, the Philippine Church celebrates the Feast of the Child Jesus, also known as the Sto. Niño. Devotion to the Child Jesus in our country started more than three centuries ago when the Spaniards introduced Christianity to our ancestors. Started by the Augustinian friars in Cebu, devotion to the Sto. Niño spread throughout the Philippine archipelago to a point that in almost all of the diocese in our country, there is a parish  named after the Child Jesus.

SAYING YES TO A HAPPY AND ABUNDANT 2019

Greetings of peace to everyone!

These past few days, it is noticeable that most markets were filled with people who wanted to buy various fruits, foods, and other items which according to their belief, could bring prosperity for the coming year. Others would also heed to suggestion of various ‘experts’ so that 2019 could bring them abundance. However, amidst the excitement and festivities brought by the recent New Year’s Eve celebration,

2018 CHRISTMAS MESSAGE OF HIS EXCELLENCY, MOST REV. JESSE E. MERCADO, D.D.

Dear brothers and sisters,

A Blessed and Grace-filled Christmas!

Christ is born for us, come, let us adore him!   Let us open our hearts and welcome the Baby Jesus in joy and in love! As our Holy Father Pope Francis beautifully expressed it in his Christmas Message (2015): “Let us receive Him Who  is the radiant ‘day’ that has dawned on the horizon of humanity:

REJOICE! BE GLAD! OUR SAVIOR HAS COME!

What makes us excited this Christmas season? Are we excited of opening our gifts? Receiving our bonuses? Seeing our loved ones? Gazing at colorfully lit Christmas decorations? Attending the Simbang Gabi? Queuing to taste the puto bumbong or bibingka? Are we really excited on the celebration of the coming of Jesus? Or our excitement is rooted only to some mundane matters?

JESUS, COME ENTER OUR HEARTS – Panunuluyan 2018

Panunuluyan, a centuries-old tradition of the Filipinos depicts the search of Joseph and Mary for lodging in Bethlehem around two thousand years ago. This tradition is believed to be attributed originally to the Mexicans who are celebrating Las Posadas, Spanish word for “the inns.” It usually lasts for nine days, representing the nine-month pregnancy of Mary.

ADVENT RECOLLECTION HELD AT ST. PEREGRINE LAZIOSI PARISH

December 23, 2018 ~ St. Peregrine Laziosi Diocesan Shrine/ Jasper Christian Gambito. An advent recollection was held at St. Peregrine Laziosi Parish Hall on December 22, 2018 which was led by the Vicar-General of the Order of Servants of Mary, Rev. Fr. Rhett Ma. Sarabia, OSM. This year’s advent recollection focused on the story of the woman caught in adultery (Jn 8: 1-11). The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines adultery as marital infidelity (CCC 2380), however in his talk, Fr. Sarabia highlighted that adultery is not only confined on the relationship between men and women,

Extinguishing Darkness with the Light of the World

December 16, 2018 ~ St. Peregrine Laziosi Diocesan Shrine/ Jasper Christian Gambito. With the current trends in our society, it is of no wonder that some of our brethren feel hopeless, as if they were being succumbed into a dark abyss. Negativities are teeming around us, thus there are times when we are longing for something which would save us from despair. However, the lesson being taught to us by the dawn masses also being colloquially referred to as Simbang Gabi is to be hopeful for the coming of the Light which will enlighten our gloomy and rather dark paths.

With Eve Comes Death, With Mary Comes Life

St. Peregrine Laziosi Diocesan Shrine/ Jasper Christian Gambito. Today , the Universal Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Blessed Virgin Mary. Blessed Pope Pius IX defined in the Apostolic Constitution ‘Ineffabilis Deus’ that Mary, upon her conception in the womb of her mother St. Anne, was freed from the original sin as she was predestined to become the mother of Jesus Christ. Pius IX argued that ‘from the very beginning, the eternal Father

St. Peregrine Diocesan Shrine represented at the International Conference for Rectors and Operators of Sanctuaries

Shrines and sanctuaries should be places of welcoming and mercy where the sacraments can be received, Pope Francis said Thursday to an international gathering of shrine rectors and pastoral workers. “The shrine,” the pope said Nov. 29 in the Vatican’s Sala Regia, “is a privileged place to experience mercy that knows no boundaries. In fact, when mercy is lived, it becomes a form of real evangelization, because it transforms those who receive mercy into witnesses of mercy,”.

Pope Francis to Rectors of Shrines: Keeping popular piety alive

A Shrine is a church, or other sacred place, which is visited by people who come as pilgrims to pray, or to seek grace and consolation. There are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of such locations all over the world. And the tradition of visiting and praying at a Shrine is as old as the Church itself.  On Thursday morning in the Vatican, Pope Francis met with some of those responsible for these Shrines and sacred places, Rectors and Pastoral Workers, currently attending an International Conference on the topic.

Filipino Youth in Mission: Beloved, Gifted, Empowered

Like Mary, we are thankful for this privilege of putting ourselves in the shoes of the Filipino youth to prepare for the Year of the Youth. On behalf of our fellow Filipino youth, like the two disciples of Emmaus, we will tell Jesus, the Son of Mary, our situation, our concerns and our youthful dreams for the Church and for the society. With Jesus and His Mother Mary, who went in haste to help Elizabeth, we encourage our youthful peers to hasten and join in realizing the goals of the Year of the Youth.

RED WEDNESDAY 2018

by Jasper Christian Gambito/ St. Peregrine Laziosi Diocesan Shrine. Today’s Red Wednesday is a commemoration to those who offered their lives for the spread of the faith. It is in this humble remembrance that we show our solidarity and communion with the martyrs who were already in heaven, interceding for us before God so that we would not be hindered with the fear of death in our efforts to continue proclaiming the good news of salvation and the glory of the Kingdom of God.