Tahanan Father Giovanni Semeria
The House of Care of Father Semeria
Nursery and Preparatory School for Poor Children
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On the 18th of February 2007 we celebrate the first anniversary of the blessing of Tahanang Mapag-Aruga ni Padre Semeria
in Tagaytay, Philippines. Bishop Luis Antonio G. Tagle, Bishop of Imus Cavite blessed the work in the presence of God with these words:
“Fullness of Life is what I pray for you.”
The Lord has worked great things among us. And we have seen His power manifested among us! Yes, and so our hearts rejoice with his Spirit because of all that God was able to accomplish through us, among us, and for us all throughout this whole year: May God be praised for His marvelous deeds and continue to bless us with His endless love! I must confess that for me an occasion like this becomes an opportunity to reflect upon the unfolding plans of divine presence. Within this divine setting we attempt to unravel and discern God’s desires and act upon them. As I do so I grow ever deeper aware of God’s providential love, and that without it nothing could come to life. I never expected that my fourteen month long Filipino experience would change my soul and heart forevermore.
That experience afforded me the opportunity to gain more wisdom of heart: to see and hear “that the LORD is great, that our Lord is greater than all gods. The Lord does whatever pleases him, in the heavens an don the earth, in the seas and all their depths” (Ps 135:5-6). And to know as well that all that spiritual insight was granted to me by God as pure grace: that neither a naked eye sees nor an ear can scrutinize it (cf. Ps 135:16). What kind of reality am I referring to? Let me clarify this reality by saying that during that time I became even more assured that: “God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him” (1 Jn 4:16) and more… I have grown in to a more profound awareness and appreciation of what it means to live out God’s love among the poor of this world, i.e., both spiritual and material.
How is it possible to learn about God and His godly love amidst immense human poverty and misery? The answer is one:“We have come to believe in God’s love.”
This act of faith has a lasting impact on all of one’s decisions in life. Thus “being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction” (Deus Caritas Est, 1). What was my experience of Jesus on the Asian road to Emmaus? Where and in whom did I come to recognize Him? I saw countless faces of the poor and hungry children, mothers’ hands begging for mercy. I heard voices crying in desperation for mercy, and the Lord was in each one of them. Yes, it was Jesus in the poor and hungry asking me for food. Yes, it was Jesus whose hands were begging me for mercy. Yes, it was Jesus’ voice of desperation crying for mercy from me. It was Him indeed! “The Lord has identified himself with them in especial way (cf. Mt 25:40).
This love excludes no one, but simply embodies a priority of service to which the whole Christian tradition bears witness. ‘This love of preference for the poor, and the decisions which it in-spires in us, cannot but embrace the immense multi-tudes of the hungry, the needy, the homeless, those without medical care and, above all, those without hope of a better future. It is impossible not to take account of the existence of these realities. To ignore them would mean becoming like the ‘rich man’ who pretended not to know the beggar Lazarus lying at his gate(cf. Lk 16:19-31)’” ( Ecclesia in Asia, 34). However the story does not end here. The Lord did not want me to walk alone, or to be overwhelmed by the work to bed one. He desired to send my way a lot of His good friends to ease the burden of the call, and so He did indeed. Without these friends, and their generosity of heart, it would not have been possible to accomplish god’s desire ?
“How can I repay the Lord for all the good done for me?” (Ps 116:12) On this day, the first anniversary of the blessing of Tahanan Mapag-Aruga ni Padre Semeria, I want to give thanks to God for each one of you individually. For indeed I consider to be truly blessed by God for sending you into my life. I am grateful to God for sending into my life: Bishop Luis Antonio G. Tagle, Rev. Giovanni Scalese, CRSP, Religious Sisters from the Congregations of the FMIJ and the Hospitals Sisters of Mercy, Barnabite Confreres, Seminarians, and various Benefactors from the Philippines and abroad.
Together we were able to make a brighter future to 8 children by sending them to elementary school, to 3 youth by sending them to high school, and to 2 young adults by sending them to college. Moreover, there are on-going educational programs for children and mothers, as well as a livelihood program conducted by the Barnabite Seminarians. Thank you again for making God’s love a tangible reality for so many brothers and sisters living amid hopelessness and misery. The next time we pray “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is heaven,” we can wholeheartedly believe in the fulfillment of that promise.
Help us to put the joy in their lives!
The House of Care of Father Semeria Nursery and Preparatory School for Poor Children
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