Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Xaverian Mission
Volume 58 - No. 3 | August 2010
Newsletter
Website: xaviermissionaries.org • MissionBlog: xaverianmissionaries.blogspot.com
Easter in Japan
X averian Missionaries
Provincial Headquarters
12 Helene Court
Wayne, NJ 07470-2813
Tel.: (973) 942-2975
F r. Renato Filippini (right) and
Fr. Denny Wahyudi (2nd
row right), both studied the-
Fax: (973) 942-5012 ology in Chicago, preparing for their
Email: xavwayne@optonline.net missionary work in Japan.
Xavier Knoll Mission Center Here are photos of the Easter Vigil
4500 Xavier Drive Mass at Fr. Renato’s parish in
Franklin, WI 53132-9066 Musashigaoka, Japan, where Fr.
Tel.: (414) 421-0831
Denny assisted by proclaiming the
Fax: (414) 421-9108
gospel in Japanese. Fr. Renato has
E-mail: xavmissionswi@hotmail.com
been serving at this parish for the
Mission Center & Fatima Shrine past six years.
101 Summer Street
P.O. Box 5857
Holliston, MA 01746-5857
Tel.: (508) 429-2144
Fax: (508) 429-4793
E-mail: holliston.sx@gmail.com
Coordinating Editor
Fr. Carl Chudy
Editorial Team
Fr. Tony Lalli
Fr. Joseph Matteucig
Fr. Alfredo Turco
Layout Consultant
Diamand Design,
Wrentham, MA The Catholic community gathers to sing after the vigil mass. Fr. Denny.
Printing
Rea-Craft Press, Inc.
Foxboro, MA
Donation:
$5.00 per year
Remember the
Xaverian Missionaries
in your will or help us
with a tax deductible
donation
Contact: Fr. Frank Grappoli, SX
12 Helene Court, Wayne, NJ 07470
Tel: 973.942.2975 Two adults dressed in white prepare for their baptism at the Easter Vigil,
along with the entire parish community.
Fr. Bruno
Orru:
33 Years in
Indonesia
O
Indonesia is a young nation, a repub- Often parishioners
ften parishioners or friends ask lic since 1945. I experienced a number
me how long I’ve been living in of years under Suharto’s dictator-ship or friends ask me
Indonesia. I answer: “Same number of and also the beautiful days when how long I’ve been
years Jesus lived on earth”. “Wow” is democracy started blooming; up to this
there response, but then to be humble, day I very much rejoice in being part of living in Indonesia.
in the oriental way, I say that some of this young and vibrating Church, so well
I answer: “Same
our priests have been stationed in structured and with lay people involved
Indonesia for over 54 years. in all the fields of Church life. number of years
Looking back at my thirty three years Indonesia is so diverse: over two hun- Jesus lived on.
in Indonesia there are many memories dred and fifty ethnic groups which
and feelings, and overall, I can say that means as many languages and cultures,
all of them have enormous meaning and one different from the other. In my first
I thank the good Lord for all and each years I had two different parishes which
of them. I experienced working for nine I served at the same time, 200 kilome-
years in villages along the Malacca ters apart one from the other
Straits, travelling through the rain for- and so different from one
ests of the Sumatra Islands to reach a another culturally. One was
few communities there, taking care of made up of almost exclusively
lepers, then leading a large parish in Chinese people whose ances-
Padang, West Sumatra. After that, I sud- tors came by boat more than
denly was asked to be the formator of one hundred years before
our Xaverian students in Jakarta, and from Fukien province in China
that for fifteen years. In between two and spoke the same dialect
periods as Master of Novices, I had a as in Taiwan. The other par-
brief stint as pastor of a large parish on ish was made up of mostly
the outskirts of Jakarta. Now I am back Tapanuli People from North
in that same parish, this time not as Sumatra, along with a good
pastor, but as assistant. number of Javanese People:
three languages, two races, Fr. Bruno Orru baptizing a young woman.
(continued on next page)
Interreligious dialogue
Fr. Rafael Bardon (right) with professed students doing a dance
which is going on all prior to the meeting on Xaverian Interreligious Dialogue.
the time fits perfectly
in the tolerant (continued from previous page)
attitude of the three cultures. It wasn’t easy to take in I did not understand, we could under-
and adjust to those worlds, but it was stand each other beautifully because
Indonesian people. beautiful. I was all the time on the we used the same Indonesian national
road and in continuous contact with my language, the Indonesia Malay. And this
people, visiting them even though it is the great miracle of the Indonesian
took me up to four days to look for and people: in the span of only a few
visit just two Catholic families. Even decades they succeeded in accepting
though they spoke their language which and using with pride just one language
for literature, books, TV, radio, news-
papers, magazines and church commu-
nication. While some other nations
went through civil war over the lan-
guage problem, the Indonesian people
overcame this problem peacefully.
Xaverian
Missionaries’
Farewell to
Chinatown,
Chicago
Young girls from the parish of St. Therese at the Chinatown Festival
T
establish this parish in the early 20th
he Xaverian Missionaries left St. century. I enjoyed their popular religi-
Therese Parish in Chinatown, osity like processions with statues
Chicago after decades of service to the through the streets of Chinatown.
multicultural Catholic community
there. Fr. Michael Davitti and Fr. Father Michael and I have known
Aniello Salicone completed more than each other since 1962 and in living and
ten years of ministry there before working together in Chinatown we were
turning the parish over to the responsi- able to deepen our friendship. He
bility of the Archdiocese. helped me in my spiritual life.”
I
n 1960, 17 sub-Saharan
African nations gained
independence from
European colonial powers. On
this 50th anniversary of inde-
pendence, celebrated this year,
the Xaverian Missionaries con-
tinue to work in two of these
countries: the Democratic
Republic of the Congo and
Cameroon.
P
As we meditate on the Eucharist, we
onder these key quotes on the experience Christ’s love for us—and for
power of the Eucharist and how others. In the depth of prayer, we
Body of it prepares us all for mission in our
families, communities and the world
become so moved and sensitized to His
love for those who suffer that the
Christ,
around us. words of St. Augustine become a reality
for the
also as a community. As Catholics, we
never really worship alone. At the
Eucharistic liturgy, we gather with the
World young and old, the rich and poor, as
well as millions around the world and
the saints in heaven, to celebrate
Christ’s sacrifice. This powerful reality
reminds us, in the words of John Paul
II: “A truly Eucharistic community can- for us: “the pain of one, even the
not be closed in upon itself” (Ecclesia smallest member, is the pain of all”
de Eucharistia, #39); rather the (Sermo Denis).
Eucharist challenges us to recognize
our place within a community and the The Eucharist prepares us for mis-
human family. sion. In the face of the sin and injustice
we see present in our communities and
Questions or Prayer in our world, the
and Reflection Eucharist “plants a seed
before the Eucharist of hope in our daily com-
mitment to the work
1) Spend some time reflecting before us, ”challenging
on the passages from papal us to live “Eucharistic”
writings in this article. Which lives and affirming our
do you find inspiring? Which role as citizens and as
do you find challenging? How men and women in vari-
might God be speaking to you? ous professions at differ-
ent levels of society in
2) What issues affecting your
“contributing with the
community and the world
light of the Gospel to the
today weigh deeply on your
building of a more human
heart? Spend some time bring-
ing these concerns before the world, a world fully in
Blessed Sacrament. harmony with God's plan”
(Ecclesia de Eucharistia
3) During your time before #20).
Christ in the Eucharist, can
you sense His compassion? The Eucharist propels
Love? Desire to transform all us to transform the
that opposes human life and world. The Eucharist
dignity? “increases, rather than
lessens, our sense of
4) What gifts has God, the responsibility for the
Father, given you? How might world today.” Christ in
he be asking you to use these the Eucharist calls us to
gifts in the service of others? build “a more human
world, a world fully in
5) How might the Holy Spirit harmony with God's plan”
be moving you to join with (Ecclesia de Eucharistia
others to respond to problems
#14). U
in your family, neighborhood,
or community?
Priesthood
in
Cameroon:
An
Interfaith
Event
T
Another Cameroonian though foreign, shared
his formidable who was recently life with the people.
gathering, captured ordained a Xaverian mis- Encourage The
by the above photo took sionary priest is Rev. I was also impressed
Missionary Priesthood.
place in the Cameroonian Richard Nembuoet. with the vision of our
Muslim town of Foumban, founder, Blessed Guido Drop the Question:
Africa. The occasion was He says of his call: “In Conforti, who dreamed
the ordination of a the Catholic school to help make the world “Ever Think of
Foumban native to the where I studied, the ‘one family’.” U Being a Priest?”
Catholic priesthood, an priests often asked:
event which was graced “Which of you would like
by the presence of the to become a priest in
Muslim Sultan of order to share the Word
Foumban, Ibrahim of God?” Since I was bap-
Mbombo Njoya (2nd from tized, the desire to enter
the left) whose lineage the seminary was strong.
has ruled the Bamoun But, I did not have the
since the 14th century. courage to tell my par-
ents. Only several years
A sultan is a Muslim later, with the help of
leader and in Bamoun, my uncle, I explain to my
Cameroon, 17 chieftain- father my desire. After
cies were united in the two long nights of con-
17th century under Islam. versation, Dad gave me
It became a Sultanate in his approval.
1918. His majesty, Sultan
Ibrahim Mbombo Njoya, The mission of St.
the spiritual and tradi- Francis Xavier Parish in
tional leader of the Bafoussam, Cameroon,
Bamoum Kingdom, was was entrusted to the
among the hundreds of Xaverian Missionaries.
Moslems who joined There the priests intro-
Catholics at St. Catherine duced me to pastoral
of Siena’s Parish Church work as a catechist and
to witness the ordination youth coordinator. I was
of Rev. Blaise impressed with the Fr. Richard Nembuoet together with one of our seminarians,
Mbouapegnigni. closeness the Fathers, Martin Alikeke,
N
ot that I have
understood the
sublimity of this gift of
God from the very begin-
ning when I first felt the
inclination of becoming a
priest. Oh no! At first, in
my younger years, as a boy
in high school, I was
attracted by a child piety,
and even by vain and frivo-
lous yearnings such as
being important, seeking
adventures, and exotic Fr. Alfredo with the “2 Daves”
traveling. But as I pro- from St. Mary’s, Hales Corners.
gressed, in age and wis- week, to groups of 1000 As a 5-month captive
dom, through the prep- students strong, gathered hostage of the rebels dur-
seminary, the minor and in the customary General ing the war in Sierra
major seminaries years, Assembly of 5 different Leone, I was able to speak
first in native Italy, and schools in Sierra Leone. to them on several occa-
then in the USA, God’s Most of the students were sions against the violence
grace took over the whims non-Christian, yet there I they perpetuated. U
of younger years, and was, called to share with – Fr. Victor Mosele, SX
transformed them into a them the Good News of
May Christ, through the
powerful stimulus toward Jesus. What a tremendous,
priests, continue to reach out
Jesus’ Call: to follow Him exhilarating experience! to those who do not know Him.
and become an “Another
Christ” in a consecrated
life.
Mission Festival 2010 in Milwaukee
I worked in Sierra
T
Mr. Mic” Frank Mutranowski
Leone, West Africa for
with his youngest son and wife.
more than thirty years. he 2010 Xaverian Mission Festival in Franklin,
While there, I will never Wisconsin turned out to be a “wet one,” with
forget the day when I was rain threatening each day of setup and during
invited by the Imam the event. But even the weather conditions did not
(Muslim leader) of a stop the many volunteers and friends from coming at
Mosque in Makeni, Sierra Xavier Knoll at the end of June to celebrate a good
Leone to inaugurate an time and support the mission cause.
Islamic Youth Center by
The Festival Mass, the highlight of our Sunday morn-
giving the keynote address
ing, was presided by Fr. Victor Mosele who, this year, is
to the assembled students. celebrating 50 years of missionary priesthood (see arti-
I spoke of God’s Mercy in cle above). Even though it was celebrated under the
giving us both, Muslim and main tent because of the inclement weather, Fr. Victor,
Christians, the great lead- with his usual enthusiasm for the missionary life, invit-
ership of Ibrahim ed the “outdoor congregation” to appreciate the gift of
(Abraham), our Father in missionaries the world over, to reflect on the goodness
the Faith. of the Lord even in challenging moments (he referred
to his own captivity by the rebels in Sierra Leone), and
For 5 years I gave a 10 to do our best to extend our hands for the proclama-
minutes exhortation in the tion of the Gospel throughout the world.
early morning, 5 times a Patricia and her daughter
– Fr. Alfredo Turco, SX having fun at the festival.
Become A
Missionary
a
Fr. Joe Matteucig, SX
(508) 429-2144
holliston.sx@gmail.com
Missionaries
Xaverian
PAID Holliston, MA 01746-5857
101 Summer Street
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