Divine Word Seminary Tagaytay

Sharing with you the inspiring talk of Miss Nellas on our recurring theme. Listen and be A Heart that beats for Mission. Watch or listen and be inspired as well. Happy advent to all! - fr. Randy.

A Heart That Beats for Mission An Advent Recollection Talk by Miss Suzette NellasRecorded Live from Rome for the Sacred Heart Parish-Shrine, Quezon City, PHSuzette Nellas is a laywoman fro...

Dear friends, I'd like to invite you to join the Certificate in Biblical Studies (CBS). This is a new bible study program that will start next month (August 2023) and is spearheaded by the Diocese Shrine of Jesus the Divine Word in partnership with the Diocese of Cubao Biblical Apostolate (of which I'm presently the director), the Catholic Biblical Association of the Philippines (CBAP) and SVD institutions - SVD Biblical Apostolate, Christ the King Seminary (onsite venue), and Divine Word Seminary Tagaytay.

-- Fr. Randy Flores, SVD

Visit our website for details of the Certificate in Biblical Studies (CBS) program.
www.mycbs.info
or download the brochure here.

R.I.P. Fr. Dante Venus, SVD, 73

The SHPS community with its SVD priests' team mourns the passing away of Fr. Dante Venus, SVD.

Fr. Dante died in Jerusalem while accompanying a group of Filipino pilgrims.

At the time of his death, Fr. Dante worked for the Divine Word Mission Institute (DWIMS) in Tagaytay City.

Eternal rest grant unto Fr. Dante, O Lord. May he rest in peace.

--Fr. Randy Flores, SVD

[photo is dated April 20, 2016, and taken from the FB Page of The Pilgrims' Center. CTTO]

You are invited to the Women of the Bible Study Sessions of the Diocese of Cubao Biblical Apostolate facilitated by Sis. Deng Tengco. The Batch 3 will begin on October 4, 2022.

To register:
https://tinyurl.com/WomenOfTheBibleB3Registration

Arnold Janssen Holding the Bible
by: Fr. Peter Dusicka, SVD
(Biblical Apostolate Coordinator of the SVD)

The painting of Arnold Janssen, prepared for his canonization on Oct 5th 2003, shows our Founder holding a book in his right hand. What kind of book is it? It is not the book of SVD Constitutions, but the Bible. On the cover page of this book, we may see an inscription in Latin: Sacra Biblia. The symbol of the Bible highlights one of the fundamental pillars of the spirituality of Saint Arnold, concretely – his deep relationship to the Word of God, understood as the Holy Scripture.

Fr. Alt writes: “In contrast to his letters, when he gave conferences Arnold Janssen quoted copiously from the Scriptures. He must have had a very good concordance because with the text he always gave the chapter and verse, sometimes just a series of biblical sources without text.” (Alt, Arnold Janssen, Journey in Faith, p. 732).

As the SVD gradually got even more and more new missions we were no longer diocesan congregation; we became pontifical. Therefore the SVD needed an approval from Rome. Thus Arnold Janssen submitted the Constitutions, known as 1898 Rule, to Rome.

Alt writes: “It must have been clear to him (Arnold), though, that the 1898 Rule was diametrically opposed to the Normae, and that far beyond the external form and arrangement. Everything that was not purely legal and normative in nature was to be excluded, meaning therefore, all dogmatic teaching, all spiritual motivation, all Scripture texts, quotations from the Fathers of the Church and theologians, all inspirational texts and overly detailed regulations for daily life. Arnold Janssen had wanted to breathe a religious spirit into the letters of the law. He had pointed out the religious motivation and goals of the Society. He had written extensively on the veneration of the Trinity, on the name of the Society and on the veneration of the Holy Spirit.” (Alt, Arnold Janssen, Journey in Faith, p. 758).

Thus Arnold had to admit: “The censor had found our Rule greatly edifying and there were no difficulties in the substantial matters. But the abundance of Scripture texts, as well as the division into constitutions and statutes was contrary to existing usage.” (Alt, Arnold Janssen, Journey in Faith, p. 756).

And: “I have now received the Rule back from the secretary of the examining Commission, Mgr. Melata. He has deleted all Scripture quotations and all that is more doctrinal, but has not required any changes. I am to send it in again afterwards. Unfortunately so much has been deleted, |…| that even in essential matters hardly more than dry bones are left over.” (Alt, Arnold Janssen, Journey in Faith, p. 758).

The abundance of Scripture texts in Constitutions was contrary to the style of such a document at that time!

How lucky we are that the things has changed. In our Constitutions, deeply rooted in the Bible, we read: “As co-workers of Christ we seek inspiration in the word of God. By reading the scriptures we open our hearts to the promptings of the Holy Spirit who helps us grasp the word, make it our own and announce it to the world.” (C. 407).

Fr. Fernando Villanueva Cilvetti, SVD, writes about Arnold Janssen and his relationship to the Bible in his book “Arnoldo Parábolas y reflexiones para el camino“, published by EDITORIAL VERBO DIVINO, Estella (Navarra) 2004. In the Chapter 68 he shares:

“Arnold had not seen the development of the catholic biblical movement that took place, above all, during the second half of the 20th century and which was magnificently expressed in the Constitution Dei Verbum of the Second Vatican Council. It would have given him great satisfaction since he was a great lover of the Word of God and a good connoisseur of the Bible, which he always held in the highest esteem. This can already be seen in Steyl’s first statutes of 1876: “The purpose of our Congregation is to spread the Word of God on earth …”. Proof of his knowledge of the Bible is the profusion of biblical quotations that he used in his lectures and writings. Precisely one of his permanent concerns was “that his people were familiar with the Book of books.”

The return of the Church to the Bible by the Second Vatican Council had a profound impact on the Congregations founded by him. From beginning to end the new Constitutions of the Divine Word Missionaries demonstrate this:

“It is by listening to the word of God and living it that we become co-workers of the Divine Word” (c. 106). It is characteristic of the first part entitled “a Community Sharing in the Mission of the Divine Word.”

But the second part of the Constitutions speaks of the “Life in Union with the Divine Word”. This implies the constant encounter with the word of God and the progressive renewal starting from this word. It is the spiritual legacy of our Founder who had the firm conviction that all missionaries must live from the Word of God in order to proclaim it. In his Spiritual Testament he expressed it: “What great content the words of Sacred Scripture have! Hence, the members of the Society will highly appreciate them, venerate them and be propagators of its message.”

R.I.P. Fr. Louis Lapus, SVD
The wake will be at the Finnemann building, CKMS. Burial will be on April 4, Monday at 3 PM CKMS.

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Obituary (source: SVD PHC Provincialate)

FR. LOUIS LAPUS SVD
August 5, 1939 – March 30, 2022

Fr. Louis Lapus was born in Capas, Tarlac on August 5, 1939.
After spending his elementary days with the SSpS sisters at the College of the Holy Spirit in Tarlac, he entered Christ the King Seminary as a first year high schools student. He was ordained priest on August 29 , 1965.

His first assignment was in Abra from 1966 to 1974 where did pastoral and school work. In 1975 he resided in Christ the King Seminary while he pursued an MA degree in Education. In 1976 he was in the Divine Word Seminary Tagaytay as the Prefect of Apostolate. Then from 1978 to 1984 he was the President at the Divine Word College of Urdaneta and also the Rector of the seminary at the same place.

In 1984 he was at the Divine Word College of Vigan as the High School director. In 1985 he was the President of the Divine Word College of Laoag. Then from 1986 to 1996 he was at the SVD Generalate in Rome where he was the editor of the SVD Catalogus and was at the same time involved himself with the apostolate to migrants.
From 1996 to 2005 he was in Spain as chaplain to the Filipino migrants apostolate. From 2006 to 2012 he was assigned at the Caribbean/West Indies doing pastoral work and apostolate to migrants.

From 2012 to 2015 he was in Granby, Ontario, Canada doing pastoral work.

In 2016 he came home to the Philippines and was assigned as Spiritual Director to the seminarians at Christ the King Seminary.
In 2018 he went into full retirement at the Villa Cristo Rey to address various medical issues. In 2022 he suffered a stroke and was confined at the UST hospital. In the early hours of March 22, 2022 he breathed his last.

He had 57 years in the priesthood in his 83 years of life. He served in 5 countries, doing the whole range of mission work possible: pastoral, education, formation, administrative work, and migrant apostolate. One can admire him for his ability to tackle different kinds of responsibilities – an example of a true Divine Word missionary who can be all things to all people. May God reward this humble and faithful servant with eternal rest in his kingdom.

The Sacred Heart Parish-Shrine community congratulates Fr. Flavie Villanueva, SVD, recipient of the Local Human Rights Tulip Award given by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Manila.

The citation states that Fr. Flavie is "a priest and has been working as a human rights defender for the past 35 years. He is the founder of the PAGHILOM program, a church-based support group that works with families of victims of extrajudicial killings."

He is the first Filipino awardee.

The local award makes him on the shortlist of human rights defenders from all over the world nominated to receive the prestigious Tulip Award 2021.

Please help us PRAY that he will win the Human Rights Tulip Award 2021 as a testament to the church's struggle to restore human rights and dignity in our country.

You may visit this website to know more about the Tulip Award https://www.government.nl/topics/human-rights/human-rights-tulip .

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How to Become a Tyrant: The Playbook of the Tyrant in the Book of Wisdom My devotion is to the Sacred Scripture which I've taught since 1999. Here's a collection of the courses in blogs (on the Sidebar). I've been blogging since 2006.

Latter Prophets 4: First Isaiah (Part 1) Introduction to the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, in Taglish. It discusses Isaiah of Jerusalem. This is a recording from the FB Group Live Online Bible Study ...

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