Jubileo 800 (in diversas lenguas)
Macau, October 19, 2014
Dear Brothers:
Fraternal greetings!
As Provincial Promoter of the Jubilee 800 of the Order (2016), it is my duty to suggest some possible activities for our Province and communities.  My suggestions shall be properly cleared out with our Prior Provincial, Javier González, OP.
In my first email to you all, I suggest to starting to pray daily the Jubilee Prayer and thus join our voices, minds and hearts to our Dominican brothers and sisters throughout the world. Some of the communities of our Province in Asia are already reciting daily said prayer. Considering that November 7 is an important Dominican Feast (All Saints of the Order) and that the Jubilee Year will start on November 7, 2015 (and end on January 21, 2017), it would seem appropriate that all  communities begin to recite the Jubilee Prayer on this coming November 7.
I am attaching hereto the Jubilee Prayer and the explanatory text from the Jubilee Central Committee of the Order. Taking into account that the celebration of the Jubilee is of the whole Dominican Family, you may share it with other branches of our Family. I am also attaching the “estampita†we made in Macao that is being currently used also in our communities in Hong Kong and the Philippines.
Let me thank in advance the brothers who will kindly send suggestions and comments directed to make of our celebration a path to joyful renewal for each one of us and for our communities. Â Moreover, I will also appreciate information on the programs for the preparation of the Jubilee (from November 7, 2014 to November 6, 2015) of the different communities.
I am certain our superiors will lead our communities in carrying out appropriate activities and programs according to the different places and cultures where we evangelize. Of these activities and other related matters we hope to speak in future emails.
Meanwhile, let us pray the Jubilee Prayer every day at the most convenient time.
Your brother, vuestro hermano
Fray Fausto Gómez, OP
Saint Paul School “Classroom 2012 Educational Project†has secured the “Merit Award†at the Macau ICT Awards 2014. The innovative and unique “2012 classroom educational project†in Asia was born on the realization that the School’s approach to learning and teaching was not addressing the technological needs of our 21st. century students and ICT was not improving the quality of education of our students. With this in mind Saint Paul School embarked themselves in the “Classroom 2012 Educational Project†with the conviction that the complete introduction of ICT into their educational environment would increase new learning opportunities and improve students’ motivation and achievement.
After 5 years of the implementation of the program and with over 1,500 students and 100 teachers using e.tablets as the main gadget for their learning and teaching process and the encouragement from different sectors of the society and Government Departments, Saint Paul School decided to take part in the Macau ICT Award competition aiming to benchmark opportunities to ICT innovators, academics and entrepreneurs in the region.
The news of the “Classroom 2012 Educational Project†being granted the “Merit Award†was received by the School Community with great joy and enthusiasm, as this award not only represents the sophistication and uniqueness of the project but also the recognition of the tremendous effort and dedication of all of us at Saint Paul School in reviewing our curriculum and pedagogical practices to accommodate new learning and teaching styles aiming to develop systems and structures that excite, engage and motivate our students.
As Saint Paul “Classroom 2012 Educational Project†will be representing Macau in the upcoming Asia Pacific Information and Communication Technology Awards 2014 (APICTA 2014) contest in Jakarta, Indonesia on the 27th. – 20th. November 2014, we congratulate the School and wish the team members all the success in the coming APICTA 2014
“Receive the Gospel of Christ, whose herald you now are. Believe what you read, teach what you believe, and practice what you teach.†These were the words the ordaining Bishop said to each one of our five Brothers being ordained deacons while presenting to them the Book of the Gospels. This moment had been preceded by the laying on of hands on them and a prayer of consecration.
The ordination ceremony took place in the evening of 7 October, 2014, on the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, in a cozy church of Tsimshatsui, in the heart of the tourist belt of Kowloon, Hong Kong. Our brother Deacons were Peter (Vietnamese), Matthew and Alfonso (Burmese), Antonio (Korean), and John Vianney (Chinese). The ordaining Bishop was the Most Rev. Joseph Ha, Chi-Shing, OFM, Auxiliary Bishop of Hong Kong.
Witnessing the solemn occasion were a crowd of about 200 persons, among them 40 concelebrants and a significant number of our young Dominicans in formation (students, novices, postulants) from our three communities in Hong Kong and Macau. The Dominican laity of Hong Kong and representatives of our communities in Korea, Japan and Mainland were also present. The Apostolic Delegate in Hong Kong graced the occasion also with his presence.
It was an intense moment of gratitude to God for the increasing number of vocations that He is giving us. It was a marvelous opportunity to give thanks also to Mary, Our Lady of the Rosary, as expressed in the canticle of the Magnificat and in the concluding song, the Salve Regina.
A festive agape in the adjacent parish hall crowned the occasion. As we share this news with all the members of the Province let us pray for the newly ordained brothers, heralds of the Gospel, so that they may indeed believe what they read, teach what they believe and practice what they teach.
Fray Fernando Muñoz, OP
Secretay of the Province
On September 15, 2014, three solemnly professed brothers presented their respective thesis for the Bachelor’s Degree in Theology (STB), thus ending their institutional studies. The academic act took place at the Seminary of Saint Joseph, Macau, in the Faculty of Religious Studies of the University of Saint Joseph.
The first to present his work was Brother Mathew Shing Mang Tun, OP, who defended his thesis entitled The Catechetical Methodology of Saint John Chrysostom in His Baptismal Instructions. His Supervisor was Professor Joao Eleuterio. The other two members of the tribunal were Professor Franz Gassner, SVD, Chairperson, and Professor Fausto Gomez, OP, examiner.
Brother Alphonso Bo Bo, OP, was the second to present his academic work. His thesis is entitled The Challenges of Being a Christian among the Buddhists in Myanmar. The Supervisor of the thesis was Professor Fausto Gomez, OP. The other two members of the tribunal: Professor Joao Eleuterio, Chairperson, and Professor Ana Chan, Examiner.
Finally, our brother Mario Oo Schwe, OP, presented his thesis entitled Redemption in St. Anselm and St. Thomas Aquinas. The Supervisor was Professor Joao Eleuterio, and the other two members of the tribunal were Professor Fausto Gomez, OP, Chairperson, and Professor Arnold Monera, Examiner.
After the required five years of philosophical and theological studies our three brothers defended their respective thesis competently and elegantly. The thesis defense was witnessed by some Dominican priests – headed by Fr. Provincial Javier Gonzalez, OP – a good number of our student brothers and some postulants of the sisters of the Congregation of Dominican Missionaries of the Rosary. The three were approved with flying colors. They will receive their well-earned diploma on September 27, 2014, on the Graduation Day of the University of Saint Joseph to be held at the Macau Cathedral.
Our three brothers are leaving our St. Dominic’s Priory in a few days to prepare for their next assignment: Brother Matthew, to our community in Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong; Brother Alphonso, to one of the three Dominican communities in Myanmar, and Brother Mario to our convent in San Juan, Metro Manila.
Brothers Matthew, Alphonso and Mario, our warmest CONGRATULATIONS. Your presence enriched our life at St. Dominic’s. Thank you very much and “so longâ€. May God be with you always.
