THE INVITATION TO THE ORDINATION OF OUR THREE BROTHERS
GOLDEN JUBILARIAN HONORED BY PRIORY
On May 11, 2013, Our Priory of St. Dominic honored one of its members on his Golden Jubilee as a Dominican Priest. The joyful celebration began with a solemn Mass and continued with a fraternal agape in a Macau restaurant.
The Eucharistic celebration took place in our chapel in the evening and was also attended by Dominican brothers from our communities in Hong Kong and the Dominican sisters Missionaries of the Rosary and their postulants. Presided by Fr. Jose Luis de Miguel, OP, our dear Golden Jubilarian as a Dominican priest, the Holy Mass was concelebrated by about twenty priests, most of them our Dominican brothers, and animated with appropriate songs and hymns by our student brothers and the postulants of the Dominican sisters. A few lay friends of the community accompanied us. In his moving homily, Fr. Jose Luis voiced his boundless gratitude to God for the unmerited gift of vocation.
During the banquet with exquisite Chinese food, which followed the religious celebration, our students with the Dominican sisters and their postulants presented an entertaining program of songs. Our Fr. Provincial Javier Gonzalez, OP, congratulated Fr. Jose Luis for this great milestone and thanked him for his continuing apostolic work in our Dominican Province of Our Lady of the Rosary. Likewise our Bishop of Macau, the Most Rev. Joseph Lai, DD, thanked the Golden Jubilarian and the Dominicans for their appreciated work in his Diocese. The thanksgiving was concluded with the simple and heart-felt gratitude of the honoree.
The celebration continued the next day, May 12, Ascension Sunday and Mothers’ Day, which happened to be this year the birthdate of Fr. Jose Luis. The Eucharistic celebration, attended by our friends and faithful participants in our Sunday masses, was followed by a simple lunch for all.
Fr. Jose Luis, congratulations, more years to your life in our community, and … the journey continues!
VISIT OF THE MASTER OF THE ORDER
Accompanied by the Assistant for the Asia/pacific Region, the Master of the Order of Preachers made a canonical or formal visitation to our St. Dominic’s Priory. Fr. Bruno Cadoré, OP Master of the Order, and Fr. Vincent Lu, OP, Assistant to the Master for our Region visited our community On May 3-6, 2013.
On May3-5, Fr. Bruno and Fr. Vincent held common and individual meetings and dialogues with the solemnly professed brothers – the seven priests. Likewise, they also met as a group and one by one the simply professed brothers – all students. The focus of our dynamic fraternal conversations were our Dominican and missionary vocation, the centrality in formation of a “Dominican culture,†the identity of our missionary Province, missio ad gentes also as dialogue of the Gospel with the respective cultures, the present reality and its hopeful future – a missionary Province in the midst of the Order. Fr. Bruno said that “the work of the Province is very important for the Order†and encouraged all of us  to continue working and ministering with renewed vigor and dynamism
On May 5, the 6th Sunday of Easter, Fr. Bruno presided the concelebrated Mass and preached the homily centered on the readings of the liturgy of the day. (The homily is published in our web page)
On May 6, the two visitors made a visit to St. Paul’s School, a Diocesan school run by three of our Dominican brothers.
Fr. Vincent had visited us previously a few times, while Fr. Bruno for the second time. The first time of our Master of the Order was in January 2011. This first visit was not a formal but, as he himself called it “a fraternal visit.†We can say gladly that the second visit, though formal, was also fraternal, and very enriching, and truly pleasant. Indeed, the visit of our superiors was indeed a great blessing from the Lord, and hopefully a springboard for the mission and commitments of our brothers as students, school administrators, formators and professors.
The unique visit to our convent was part of the canonical visitation of the Master with his Assistant for the Asia-Pacific Region to our Dominican Province, the missionary Province of Our Lady of the Rosary. The one month-long visit started in Japan on April 8, 2013 continued in Korea, Taiwan, Philippines, East Timor, Singapore, Myanmar, Macau, China and Hong Kong where it ended on May 8, 2013 with a meeting of the Council of the Province headed by our Provincial Fr. Javier Gonzalez, OP. (By the way, the two brothers visitators also visited the houses of the Philippine Dominican Province in Indonesia and Sri Lanka)
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THE MASTER OF THE ORDER VISITS OUR COMMUNITY
Fr. Bruno Cadoré, OP, Master of the Dominican Order accompanied by Fr. Vincent Lu Vien Ha OP, Assistant to the Master for the Asia/Pacific Region made a canonical visitation to our St. Dominic’s Priory on May 3-6, 2013. In Photo: Frs. Bruno and Vincent with the whole community
MACAU DIOCESE HONORS THE 2013 JUBILARIANS
On April 21, 2013 the Fourth Sunday of Easter, Good Shepherd Sunday, the Diocese of Macau honored priests and religious men and women who celebrate their respective anniversary: the Diamond, Golden or Silver Jubilee. The highlight of this especial celebration was the Solemn Mass presided by the Bishop of the Diocese, the Most Rev. Joseph Lai, DD, and concelebrated by thirty secular and religious priests. The Rite of Recognition and Gratitude, held after Communion, was led by the officers of the Serra Club of Macau that sponsored and organized the whole celebration. After the Holy Mass, the participants were invited to a simple and joyful agape.
This year the number of Jubilarians was sixteen: four priests Golden Jubilarians and twelve religious women – three Diamond, five Golden and four Silver Jubilarians. The priests as well as religious sisters came from different countries to work for the Kingdom of God in Macau. One of four priests is our own Fr. Jose Luis de Miguel, OP.
In his homily Bishop Lai underlined the significance of the Good Shepherd Sunday, which is the Vocation Sunday in the whole Church. He invited all the faithful that filled the Cathedral of Macau to pray for vocations to the priesthood and the religious life. He also remembered the victims of the recent earthquake in the Sichuan Province, China, of the Boston Marathon Bombings and the Fertilizer Plant explosion in West, Texas.
During the Rite of Recognition of and Gratitude to the honorees, the jubilarians received some tokens, including a cross and a diploma. The best and most appreciated gift was the enthusiastic and grateful applause of all the faithful, the laity, religious men and women and our Dominican students.
The Serra Club of Macau took care of all the details of the very successful and joyful celebration. The Serra Club is an association of Catholic lay men and women dedicated to foster and promote vocations to the priesthood, the religious life and to the lay ministry. There are about 670 Serra Clubs throughout the world. Its name refers to Blessed JunÃpero Serra, the great Franciscan missionary.
Our warmest and fraternal congratulations to all the jubilarians, our brothers and sisters in Christ! Our sincere gratitude to the Diocese of Macau and to the Serra Club!
Fr. José Luis, our dear Golden Jubilarian was ordained in Valladolid, Spain on June 30, 1963. He joined our Priory in January, 2012. He is the Moderator of our Center of Institutional Studies and the Assistant Master of Students. Our Macau Dominican community will celebrate Fr. Jose Luis’ momentous event on May 11, 2013 with a Solemn Mass in our Priory and a formal dinner in a Macau restaurant. By the way the classmates – all golden jubilarians – of Fr. Jose Luis are eleven Dominicans, including our dear Fr. Lucio Gutierrez, OP. who lived in our community for two years and is now confined at the St. Martin de Porres Hospital in Manila.
Happy Easter!
Dear Brothers,
Easter brings us hope of a new beginning. May your life be full of joy and a fresh new start.
Wish you a very happy Easter.
Fr. Alejandro Salcedo
Prior
Saint Dominic’s Pripry
