Feast of St. Peter: On This Rock

The bishops of the Solomon Islands with their priests to celebrate the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul: Bishop Luciano Capelli SBD, Bishop of Gizo is at the center in the red vestments. Archbishop Adrian Smith SM, the Archbishop of Honiara, is on the left and Bishop Christopher Cardone OP, Bishop of Auki is on the right.

June 27: Today we marked a triple-celebration in grand style: the conclusion of the National Gathering of Priests, the end of the Church's Year of the Priest, and the feast day of the patron saint of the Gizo cathedral and parish, St. Peter. The program in the church began at 8am with a holy hour and concluded at 12:30 after a beautiful liturgy and a series of talks by representatives of all the different religious orders in the country. I spoke about the mission of the Marianists, and I noticed a few eager faces when I mentioned that anyone who wanted to join us would have to come to New York! A great feast for the entire parish and the many visitors followed with speeches and entertainment, wrapping up after 4 pm. The people of Gizo really know how to keep the Sabbath holy and happy.

Bro. Johnson Tola OP, Sr. Saniella OP and May Tugea directed the choir for the Mass. Music for the Mass included parts sung in six of the major languages from all over the Solomon Islands, as well as English and Pigin. There are over 70 different languages spoken by the people of the 300 inhabited islands of the Solomons. English is the official language, going back to the days of the British Empire, and Pigin is a "linga franca" used for communication between all the different language groups. The average Solomon Islander is conversant in 4-5 languages.

The Gospel was brought to the altar in a joyful procession of song and dance. The women of the parish presented the book of the Gospels to Deacon Stephen.

Bishop Luciano preached the homily. He emphasized that the "rock" of the Church is built on three great "yeses": Jesus' yes to the Father; Mary's yes to the Holy Spirit; and Peter's yes to Jesus his Lord. If the Church is to have a solid foundation, all of us must echo that yes of faith, service, and obedience. Bishop Luciano illustrated his point with a touching example from the reconstruction of the cathedral after the earthquake and tsunami of 2007. The new church is built one metre higher than the old one. The new foundation was built from the rubble of the old church. The seminarians, on holiday from their studies, did the difficult work of carrying and laying the stones. When more stones were needed, people from a nearby seaside village which had been completely washed away by the tsunami brought the coral stones which were all that remained of their houses to strengthen and support the new church. The church of "living stones" stands on the rock of its history and tradition; on the fidelity and generosity of its people; and on the work of its ministers.

The offertory procession was made by a group of Gilbertese women. Most Solomon Islanders are dark-skinned Melanesians. The Gilberteste, originally from the islands of Kiribas, are Polynesians, reflected in their features and in the style of their dance.

"Jesus mi kam long ai blong yu. Yu Lord blong mi yu God blong mi.

Bodi blong yu iliap blong mi, Blut bilong yu I wasim mi klin."

Jesus, I come before you. You are my Lord and my God.

Your Body is life for me, your Blood washes me clean.

The National Gathering of the Priests of the Solomon Islands

Lord, renew the life of your Church with the power of your sacrament.

May the breaking of bread and the teaching of the apostles

keep us united in your love.

May the keys of Peter and the words of Paul,

their undying witness and their prayers,

lead us to the joy of that eternal home which Peter gained by his cross,

and Paul by the sword.

The Lord has set you firm within his Church,

which he built on the rock of Peter's faith.

May he bless you with a faith that never falters.
Amen

Just Because They're Adorable

Order of Deacons: Serving, Being, Doing

Newly ordained deacons of the Diocese of Auki with their bishop:

from left Desmond, Victor and Charles.

June 26th: The National Priests Gathering for the Solomon Islands concluded appropriately with the ordination of three young men as deacons. Charles, Desmond and Victor from the Diocese of Auki joined their brothers Stephen (Gizo Diocese), Peter and Bellasio (Honiara Archdiocese) who were ordained earlier in the year. At Christmas the Church of the Solomon Islands will have six new priests, a more than 10% increase in the number of diocesan priests .

Fr. Tom preached the homily for this Mass of ordination and the conclusion of the retreat. He urged the new deacons and all the priests present to live according to the threefold responsibilities of a their ordination: SERVING the Church and the people of God, DOING the work of God proper to their ministry, and, most importantly, BEING men of prayer and charity who live holy lives with integrity.

Desmond pledges his allegiance to the Bishop.


Through the laying on of hands, symbol of the apostolic tradition handed down through the bishops, Victor is consecrated as a deacon.


Charles assists at the altar for the first time, raising the chalice during the Great Amen.

Body & Soul

A huge card to express an enormous debt of gratitude to the ladies of Gizo for feeding the priests of an entire nation: Beata, Janet, Monica and Fatima with a banner signed by all the participants in the week long retreat.

Most of you know the secret to Marianist success: "If you feed them, they will come." Happily, the Diocese of Gizo, inspired by their Italian bishop's spirit of "Abundanza," takes their commitment to feasting seriously. Our meagre preaching was more than compensated for by the sumptuous meals served by a dozen big-hearted, hard-working women from Gizo assisted by young people from around the diocese. Cooking seemingly without stop for the whole week, they offered more than just three meals a day for a group of almost 100 people; they provided support, encouragement, and love for their priests. Barbecued chicken, roast pork and freshly caught fish steamed in banana leaves enhanced the table fellowship of the retreatants. Spaghetti bolognese and chicken cacciatore even added exotic foreign flavors to the menu of local fruits and root crops. A "holy communion" made God's love visible both at the altar and around the tables in St. Dominic's utilitarian dining hall.

Sr. Maria OP and Placida at work in the kitchen.

Cranky home cooks facing a hungry horde this holiday weekend take note: The Gizo gourmets accomplished all this without refrigeration, microwaves or take-out. No hot water. No dishwasher. Much of the cooking was done using hot stones and fire wood in 90 degree heat and humidity -- and this man is still smiling. That's generosity!

"Priests in the Image of Jesus and Mary"

June 21-26: The National Gathering of Priests of the Solomon Islands marked an historic moment in the history of the Church in the Solomon Islands. This is the first time that priests from all over the many islands and communities that make up the three dioceses of the country came together to pray and reflect on their mission as priests and to share fraternity with their fellow priests along with deacons and religious brothers. Dominicans, Marists, a Salesian, a Vincentian and two foreign Marianists joined the diocesan priests for the retreat, each group adding to the prayer and liturgy of the week.


When Bishop Chris invited us to preach the retreat, he asked us to develop a program that would help the men to be happy, holy priests. We built our talks around the theme "Priests in the Image of Jesus and Mary," using a quote from Blessed Columba Marmion (who was beatified with fr. Chaminade in September 2000): "Priestly life consists in reproducing in our personal life the image of Jesus . . . In order to imitate Christ fully, we must be, like him sons of God and sons of Mary. Jesus wishes to share with us without reserve all his most precious possessions, all that he is."

To illustrate and develop these ideas we used a variety of images of Jesus and Mary taken from both classical and contemporary sources ranging from the earliest known statue of the Good Shepherd to Byzantine icons to modern watercolors of Mary, Our Lady of Light. Each priest received a copy of "Mary and the Priestly Ministry" written by a Marianist priest, Fr. Emile Neubert for meditation. DVD's about the Shroud of Turin, the apparitions at Fatima, and the lives of Pope John XXIII and Archbishop Oscar Romero offered more viewpoints on the quote from Henri Nouwen we used to open the retreat: "My deepest vocation is to be a witness to the glimpses of God I have been allowed to catch."



Signs with themes for each day's reflections were posted around the chapel where we met. By Friday they filled the sanctuary:
June 21: "My deepest vocation is to be a witness to the glimpses of God I have been allowed to catch." Henri Nouwen
June 22: "The priest is a gift from the heart of Christ, a gift for the Church and for the whole world. Pope Benedict XVI
June 23: "Mary's pure capacity for Christ: in her humility she existed for God, for her Son and for the redemption of sinners." Fr. Emile Neubert SM
June 24: (Feast of the Birthday of John the Baptist) "The voice is John, but Christ is the Word." St. Augustine
June 25: "The priest gives joy to Jesus. The priest gives joy to Mary. The priest gives joy to souls." Fr. Emile Neubert SM

Fr. Moses, who spent several weeks at Kellenberg a few years ago reads Fr. Neubert's book.

Fr. David Galvin SM, a Marist priest from Boston, arrived in the Solomons in 1966 after a 45 day journey on a freighter that took him from the Brooklyn Navy Yard through the Panama Canal and across the Pacific via Tahiti. In his almost five decades as a missionary, Fr. David has been a teacher, the local Marist Superior, and a parish priest. Many of the priests on the retreat were his former students, and all of them have benefited from his example of quiet presence, devotion to prayer, and priestly fidelity. These days in his "retirement," Fr. David serves as chaplain at a school for the handicapped located on a remote part of the island of Makira (site of the very first Marist missionary effort in 1844). The school at Nana has no electricity and is a three hour walk from the nearest medical clinic. When Fr. David arrived in the Solomon Islands there were no native priests. At the retreat he was surrounded by dozens of them, the fruits of the seeds planted by courageous and generous missionaries over the past century.

Small World Note #2: In discussing our Irish ancestry, I discovered that David's grandfather and my great-grandfather came from the same small town of Caherciveen on the Cork-Kerry border. In the extensive kinship relations of the Solomon Islands, this makes us "wontoks," cousin-brothers who share the same land and language. -- Bro. Tim

Fr. Pius, another visitor to Kellenberg. A week of prayer and reflection can take its toll,

even in a tropical paradise. Bro. Tim took all the photos, so guess who was talking.

Maybe it was one of the bishops!

The priests of the Solomon Islands concluded their retreat by offering an "Act of Consecration of Priests to the Immaculate Heart of Mary." Pope Benedict wrote this prayer in the name of all priests and prayed it when he visited Fatima in May:

Through the same power of the Holy Spirit that overshadowed you,

making you the Mother of the Savior,

help us to bring Christ your Son to birth in ourselves too.

May the Church be thus renewed by priests who are holy,

priests transfigured by the grace of him who makes all things new.

Let your presence cause new blooms to burst forth in the desert of our loneliness,

let it cause the sun to shine in our darkness,

let it restore calm after the tempest,

so that all people shall see the salvation of the Lord,

who has the name and the face of Jesus,

who is reflected in our hearts forever united yours,

O Mary our Mother and Mother of the Church!

Amen!

This Day You Will Be with Me in Paradise

The road from the wharf up to St. Dominic's Rural Training Centre, viewed from the veranda of the Marist Brothers' House.

June 21: St. Dominic's Rural Training Centre at Vanga Point on the island of Kolumbangara was the beautiful setting for our retreat. Imagine if Fr. Philip had designed and constructed a vocational school on a volcanic island in the South Pacific, and you'll have some concept of this remarkable place. Founded by Marist Brothers (FMS) from Australia forty years ago, St. Dominic's pioneered a method of education that the Brothers called "education for life." The two year course at Vanga focuses on the skills and ideas necessary for the life lived by the typical man of the Solomon Islands who wants to support his family and build up his community. Vanga students study agriculture, carpentry, and mechanics along with developing literacy, basic bookkeeping, and business principles. The courses are entirely practical and the school is self-supporting. Not only do the students grow all the food that they eat, the surplus is sent to market in Gizo to support other projects. During our stay we met and slept in buildings designed and constructed by the students from timber that they had cut down and milled themselves. While some students are harvesting trees, others are planting new ones. At dinner, we sat at tables and chairs made by the students and dined on the 100% organic fruits, vegetables, eggs and poultry raised by the boys of Vanga-- a kind of Trader Joe's fantasy come to life. The school has become a model for similar programs throughout the Pacific, and the Vanga "campus" also includes a Teachers' College where men and women are trained to teach in rural training centers throughout the Solomon Islands.


Mr. Ian Millet and the volunteer students from St. Gregory's College, Campbelltown, a Marist Brothers school outside Sydney with Bishop Chris.

Marist education at St. Dominic's mirrors Marianist education in other ways, as well. Many of the teachers are graduates of the program who have stayed on to pass on the tradition to new generations of young men. The principal, Philimon Ruia came to Vanga as a student in 1991 and has never left. Hospitality is central to the spirit of St. Dominic's. Philimon and his family moved out their house to make room for the Americans among the group, while the Brothers gave up their rooms for the bishops. Most of the students were off on holiday, but those who remained to assist with retreat and look after the animals and fields showed a wonderful spirit of friendship and cooperation that made Fr. Tom and I feel like we were back at home in Mineola or Uniondale.

Although there are no longer any Australian Marists at Vanga, the Brothers' high schools in Australia maintain a close bond with St. Dominic's. During the week a group arrived from St. Gregory's outside Sydney. The boys were spending their "winter" break as volunteers at Vanga, and they had come with all the supplies needed to repair boats and build a green house. Another link in a chain between the Marists and the Marianists that goes all the way back to the days when Fr. Chaminade and Fr. Champagnat, the founder of the Marist Brothers were both working in post-revolutionary France.

Vanga Point. Your heart would have to be very hard indeed if you did not find peace and prayer here amidst this panorama of sky and water: "How wonderful are your works, O Lord, in wisdom you have made them all."

Semper Fidelis

More than 10 years ago, when he was a priest in Gizo, Bishop Chris trained 2 young men to drive his aluminum "canoe", the John Paul II with its outboard motor. Today Fidelis (left) and Peter (next to +Chris) are still manning the diocesan boats, including the Camillo, a sturdy wooden ship that can carry up to 25 passengers and a full hold of cargo.

June 21: After Mass and a hearty breakfast, all the priests and retreat personnel boarded a small flotilla of boats for the trip to Vanga Point, the setting for our retreat. Blue skies and smooth seas made the one and one half hour journey a peaceful and pleasant start to this historic retreat. More than one priest commented on how fitting it was for the priests and their bishops to be traveling by boat, given all the Gospel stories where Jesus and his disciples get into a boat and set off for an out-of-the-way place to rest and pray. Travelling by boat also brought to mind the first missionaries who sailed bravely into these waters over a century ago to bring the first seeds of the Catholic faith to these islands. How happy those holy and hardy men and women who left Europe and America for these scattered islands must be in heaven to witness the fruits of those seeds: more than 50 native diocesan priests and dozens of seminarians, along with Brothers and Sisters in many religious orders.