Chapel Notes | February 2010
Chaplain’s Message
Ash Wednesday which falls on February 17 this year marks the beginning of the season of Lent. Lent is a time of fasting, penance and prayer.
“The wonderful thing about God is that he can listen to all men’s prayers at the same time”, writes William Barclay.
“No one is too young and no one is too old to pray to God. Sometimes we say of children that they should be seen and not heard, to quote that old Victorian tag again. But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me.”
Sometimes people grow old and all their loved ones and their friends pass on and they have no one talk to. Loneliness is one of the supreme problems of age.
No child is too small to talk to God; no aged one is too forgotten to talk to God. The fears of childhood, the problems of youth, the weariness of the middle years, the loneliness of age—they can every one of them be brought to God, and God will hear.
That is precisely why prayer should be not only a thing of the crisis and the emergency, but be part of the daily life of every man.
The wonder of God is that he listens to each one of us as if there was only one of us to listen to. He is the hearer of prayer—the world’s prayer, and my prayer.”
Fr. Benjamin A. Jance III
Chaplain / Registrar
Prayer for Healing
We are praying for healing and recovery of the sick:
Ms. Elizabeth Gallin (open heart surgery), cousin of US Math teacher Ms. Hilary Allan.
Mr. Hak Jin Kim, father of Gr. 11-J student Ji Woo “John” Kim.
Mrs. Marjory Alcantara, ESL Department Head.
Katie Victoria Malca, 2009 graduate. Katie is the sister of Erica Gr. 8-E and Miriam Malca Gr. 11-M.
John Lawrence Gabagat (profound hearing loss), 3 years old son of Brent School bus driver Mr. Ric Gabagat.
John Paul Jose (congenital heart disease), 13 years old son of school gardener Mr. Ronaldo Jose.
Jadin Caballero (castlemans), 8 years old grandson of MS English & Social Science teacher Dr. Judy Sands-Caballero.
Jumillaene Great Gepayo (profound hearing loss), 9 years old daughter of Seminary Intern Gonny Gepayo.
Mrs. Susana Mapili Caabay (diabetes), mother of Transportation Coordinator Mrs. Zosima “Sue” Bico.
Mr. Jay Yan, husband of IB and Academic Affairs Secretary Mrs. Elaine Yan.
Mrs. Geny Cabezas, grandmother of Gr. 6-N student Melissa Hevener.
Mr. Florencio “Lolo Ponsing” Cruz (diabetes), grandfather of the bus mother and Activities office staff Ms. Glenda Cruz.
Mrs. Florence Bruskiewicz, mother of Gr. 11-K student Kenneth Bruskiewicz.
Mr. Socrates Varanal (glaucoma), father of Upper School Student Services Assistant Ms. Pauline Grace Varanal.
Mr. Froilan Bagalawis, brother of Assistant Director for Student Activities Mrs. Lulu Floresca.
Ms. Carolyn Tully (cancer), aunt of Gr. 1-E Homeroom teacher Ms. Christy Speicher.
Mr. Richard Kendall, husband of ELC Librarian Mrs. Maureen Kendall.
Ms. Nora Casas (cancer), cousin of US teacher & MS Student Services Coordinator Mr. Ericson Perez.
Mrs. Natividad Reyes Cruz, mother of MS teacher Mrs. Dalisay Dofitas.
Mrs. Gretchen White (cancer), grandmother of 2008 graduate Blake McClenny.
Mr. Joselito P. Laxa, brother-in-law of MS ESL teacher Ms. Eloisa Munden.
Mr. Eduardo Rocha, 1992 graduate.
Mr. Ronaldo Santi Godito, husband of ELC teacher aide Mrs. Judith Godito.
Mrs. Christina Rebudal (cancer), wife of Mr. Raffy Rebudal former Brent US Faculty.
Seth Maikiel Varanal, nephew of US Special Need teacher aide Ms. Pauline Varanal.
Mr. Gerson Markowitt, former Brent development officer.
Mrs. Edith Pelaez and Patricia Pelaez, grandmother and sister of MS Computer teacher Ms. Maita Francisco.
Ms. Catherine Marcelo-Buenviaje, cousin of MS Student Services teacher Ms. Marika Soriano.
Your love and prayers are deeply appreciated.
Thank you.
Poems and Prayers
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Saint of the Month
Ash Wednesday
17 February
Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Season of Lent. It is a season of penance, reflection, and fasting which prepares us for Christ's Resurrection on Easter Sunday, through which we attain redemption.
The Ashes
The ashes are made from the blessed palms used in the Palm Sunday celebration of the previous year. The ashes are christened with Holy Water and are scented by exposure to incense. While the ashes symbolize penance and contrition, they are also a reminder that God is gracious and merciful to those who call on Him with repentant hearts. His Divine mercy is of utmost importance during the season of Lent, and the Church calls on us to seek that mercy during the entire Lenten season with reflection, prayer and penance.
The act of putting on ashes symbolizes fragility and mortality, and the need to be redeemed by the mercy of God. Far from being a merely external act, the Church has retained the use of ashes to symbolize that attitude of internal penance to which all the baptized are called during Lent. — Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy
Taken from: http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2010-02-17, http://www.catholic.org/clife/lent/ashwed.php