On January 28, 2013, the St. Dominic Center of Studies, Macau, celebrated the Feast of Saint Thomas Aquinas at St. Paul’s School. The morning celebration consisted of three consecutive parts: St. Thomas Lecture, Holy Eucharist and fraternal agape. About ninety people graced the celebration, including Dominican student brothers and priests of the Province of Our Lady of the Rosary, postulants and sisters of the Dominican Missionaries of the Rosary, professors and teachers from the University of Saint Joseph and St. Paul’s School, and religious men and women of different religious congregations.
The solemn academic program of the second St. Thomas Lecture began with a prayer-song followed by the Invocation delivered by Brother Mariano Maung, OP, coordinator of the students. Fr. Fausto Gomez, OP, Regent of Studies, delivered the Opening Address which focused on the continuing importance and relevance of St. Thomas Aquinas today. Fr. Jose Luis de Miguel, OP, Moderator of the St. Dominic Center of Studies pronounced the formal lecture on “The New Evangelization: Recent Developments and Challenges.†Fr. Jose Luis divided his excellent lecture in three parts: the teachings of the Church on evangelization and new evangelization; the new evangelization in the 2012 Synod of Bishops, and some serious challenges for the future. The speaker made pertinent references to the meeting of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences in Ho-chi-min, Vietnam in December 2012. Christ, the speaker stressed, continues to be the evangelizer and calls us today to be new evangelizers attuned to the world in which we live. An interesting open forum closed the event.
The Holy Mass was presided by the Most Rev Bishop of Macau Joseph Lai, DD, and concelebrated by about twenty priests. The Bishop underlined in his homily the significance of St. Thomas, the great teacher of truth, for the Church and as Patron of Catholic Schools. He pointed out the importance of inculturating the Christian faith in the cultures of Asia, in particular the Chinese cultures for we live in Macau, which is part of China. After communion, Fr. Alejandro Salcedo, OP, Principal of St. Paul’s School and Prior of St. Dominic’s Priory expressed the gratitude of the Dominicans of Macao and Hong Kong to Bishop Lai and all those who graciously accompanied us in this celebration of our Brother Thomas Aquinas.
After the celebration of the Eucharist, a simple agape followed. There was plenty of food and drinks and some bottles of excellent Portuguese wine. The participants were happy for having been invited and grateful for the singular academic and liturgical celebration they witnessed. The Dominican student brothers and the postulants of the Dominican Sisters animated the whole celebration with appropriate songs and prayers. Fr. Jarvis Sy, OP, acted as Master of Ceremonies.
In this Year of faith, may St. Thomas, the Angelic Doctor aid us to deepen our faith and practice it in love. (FG)