On 15 October 2023, the community of St Dominic’s Priory in Macau held a Mass in Memoriam of Fr José Luis Miguel Fernandez, OP, who passed away on 10 October 2023, and who was Prior of the community from 29 October 2014 to 9 October 2019.
In his homily, the current Prior of the community brought about some fond memories of Fr José Luis. Here are some excerpts:
“Charity, justice and piety move us to hold this Mass in memoriam of our beloved brother José Luis, former Prior of this community for five years, (2014-2019).”
We celebrate this Mass, first of all, to pray for his eternal rest: it is a Christian duty to pray for our deceased brothers and sisters. We offer this sacrifice of the Mass to earnestly beseech God to wash away Fr Miguel’s sin, to receive him and to welcome him in Paradise. This prayer to God on our brother’s behalf is Charity.
Second, we offer this Mass as a tribute of gratitude: to thank God for the gift of Fr José Luis; and to our brother for the many blessings that during his life he bestowed on us. We are deeply indebted to him and it is our duty to say “thanks”. This is Justice.
Thirdly, to remind Fr José Luis not to forget us now that he is in God’s kingdom, as our faithful conviction tells us. In fact, this reminder seems unnecessary, as it is in the nature of the triumphant Church, through the communion of saints, to be united and to intercede for us pilgrims in this valley of tears. (Every evening we remind our Mother Mary to turn her merciful eyes towards us, and to our Fr Dominic to fulfill his promise; now we add a new intercessor, this time someone very close to us. This is Piety.
How do we remember Fr José Luis? Some short condolence messages received these past days speak eloquently of what kind of person our brother was. (I quote): “We lost a good brother and friend; I remember his good manners, his enthusiasm and optimism; we have now one more intercessor in heaven.” “He was an intimate friend, a good brother, a sincere person, a gift of God.” “He was a marvelous companion, humble and always ready to help; a true Dominican”
A true Dominican! These three words summarize the life of our brother Jose Luis and offer, I think, a good portrait of him. Being a true Dominican means being a person of faith and of service; a contemplative in action, in line with the Dominican motto: “Contemplari et comtemplata aliis tradere.” I wish to reflect for a while on these words, while bringing back some memories from the life of our brother.
Fr Jose Luis, a man of faith and a humble servant
Faith is a gift, and keeping it, a task. At the end of his life, St Paul was able to proudly say: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:7).
Those who knew Fr Jose Luis in life, considering it as a whole, can attest that he could make these very words also his own at the end of his earthly pilgrimage. (We try to be benevolent with those who have died and remember only the good things of them, letting negative instances and minor imperfections be forgiven and forgotten. Indeed, at the end, only big decisions and radical options in life count. No doubt, Fr Jose Luis had his own weaknesses, as any human being; and he was very much aware of them, I must say. But beyond them, there was a great soul, as manifested in some important decisions he took in his life.)
He could have followed the ordinary path of life most people take: to pursue a secular prospective career…; but no, attentive to God’s call, he decided to follow the Lord in his footsteps and consecrated himself to Him. He could have loved just a few, a family circle of relatives and friends…; but no, he decided to make room for all in his heart and, by imitating the Lord’s life-style, becoming available to all. In fact, he decided to give up father and mother, brothers and sisters, lands and country, to serve the Lord as a missionary. He could have succumbed to the temptation of being idle, introspective, selfish…; but no, he was very active, joyful, hard worker. His long CV attests to it: active for so many years teaching, preaching, writing, educating, inspiring candidates to religious and priestly life, serving in different positions, untiring animator of the Dominican Family in South America and Asia.
Yes, his enthusiasm for the Dominican Family was well known everywhere he worked. In Manila, while serving his San Juan community as Prior, he was also serving as coordinator for the Dominican laity; I myself remember his admiration and untiring support to the group of Lay Dominicans running the San Martin de Porres Charity Hospital. In Chile, Latin America and Caribe, he served as Promotor of the Dominican Family for 30 years, since 1984. Here in Macau, while serving also as Prior of the community, he became the cofounder and spiritual assistant of the first group of Lay Dominicans (“Torch of Macau”); it was a humble project, whose seeds remain here with us and whose members treasure found memories of him.
Definitely, Fr Jose Luis could truly tell us today: “I have done my best, I have run the full distance and I have kept the faith.” The latter was particularly true: Faith is basically trust in the Lord; and Fr Jose Luis fully trusted in the Lord, until his last breath. His readiness to accept any office of responsibility entrusted to him and his total availability to be sent anywhere by his superiors were only expressions of his faith and trust in the Lord. His final longing was the one echoed in the responsorial psalm of today’s Mass: “I shall live forever in the house of the Lord.” I am sure the Lord has not disappointed him. A beautiful legacy left to us!
Humanly, his death has been a great loss; spiritually, however, a great gain, for he continues accompanying us and his beloved Dominican Family in mysterious and more efficient ways than when he was with us. For this, our hearts are grateful to God and to him.
As we continue praying for our brother José Luis, we commend him to the Lord Jesus, the Resurrection and the Life, pleading to Him that He give eternal rest to our brother.
May he and all our faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace.
Happy Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary
Dear brothers, it is an honor for us to have Our Lady of the Rosary as patroness of
our province. Who could be better? Who could better take care of us? The mother
of our Lord, the mother given to us by our Lord. Giving her to us, Jesus was giving us
himself. And Mary is giving us her son. What better present she could give us? ̈Do
whatever he tells you! ̈, she tells us. Mary introduces us in the meditation of the
mysteries of her Son, the mysteries she first lived. She introduced us in the
contemplation of the word of God, her Son, contemplation who made our Father
Dominic to be an evangelical man.
May though the intercession of Mary, the words and deeds on her Son inspire us to
make a dwelling place in us and renew our Dominican way of life as preachers of the
Gospel, and evangelical man.
Fraternally
Fr. Ruben Martinez OP
Feliz fiesta de Nuestra Señora del Rosario
Queridos hermanos, es un honor para nosotros tener a Nuestra Señora del Rosario
como patrona de nuestra provincia. ¿Quién podría ser mejor? ¿Quién podría
cuidarnos mejor? La madre de Nuestro Señor, la madre que nos ha dado nuestro
Señor. Al dárnosla, Jesús se estaba dando a sí mismo. Y María nos está dando a su
hijo. ¿Qué mejor regalo podría hacernos? ̈¡Haz lo que él te diga!, nos dice María.
María nos introduce en la meditación de los misterios de su Hijo, los misterios que
ella vivió primero. Ella nos introduce en la contemplación de la Palabra de Dios, su
Hijo, contemplación que hizo de Nuestro Padre Domingo un hombre evangélico.
Que por la intersección de María, las palabras y la vida de su Hijo nos inspiren a vivir
y renovar nuestro estilo de vida dominicano como predicadores del Evangelio, como
hombres evangélicos.
Fraternalmente
P. Rubén Martínez OP
Today, October 7, 2023, the Priory celebrated the Solemnity of Our Lady of the Rosary. Here is the homily of our very own Fr. Javier Gonzalez, OP, Prior of St. Dominic Priory, delivered during the solemn mass.
” On October 7, the Catholic Church celebrates the yearly feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.
We, too, as a community, are gathered together on this day to honor our Mother and Patroness. We are not simply praying to Mary, but we are praying with Mary in our midst, reenacting the scene of the Acts of the Apostles in the Upper Room, where the latter “with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with some women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.” (Act 1:14). Mary is in our midst, maternally watching over us that we do not miss the point of our very existence. With Mary we echo today her words: “The Almighty has done great things for me; holy is His name,” making them ours. With Mary we reaffirm, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” With Mary, we glorify God.
This solemnity of Our Lady of the Rosary has a prime Dominican flavor. From its beginning, the Order of Preachers showed special honor and devotion to Mary, Mother of God. The Ro
sary, which places before us the chief mysteries of the infancy, life, passion and resurrection of our Savior, has been one of the chief ways in which the Order has expressed this devotion.
In 1208 the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to St Dominic in the church of Prouille, France, and gave him a chaplet of beads representing roses commending to him the devotion which had spread among the faithful. St Dominic then gave the Rosary to his Sisters and Friars Preachers to use it in their efforts to convert the Cathars and the Albigensians in Southern France. It was indeed a powerful prayer.
Our brother Alan de La Roche (1428-1478) helped to define the structure of the Rosary and promoted its recitation. In 1470 he established the first Confraternity of the Rosary.
A century later, another member of the Order of Preachers, Pope Pius V, turned to the Virgin Mary in an hour of need. He began a rosary campaign through Europe for the Christian fleet at Lepanto, who was vastly outnumbered by the Muslim Turkish fleet. But the Christian soldiers were victorious. The Pope attributed the victory to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and established the feast of “Our Lady of Victory” on October 7, 1571. (Pope Paul VI renamed it “Our Lady of the Rosary” in order to remind the people of God how effective the Virgin Mary’s prayers are.)
Our Dominican Province, founded in 1587 “to preach the Gospel in the Philippines, in China and the rest of the nations of the Far East,” was recognized by the General Chapter of Venice [1592] under the title of Our Lady of the Rosary.
It has been a tradition in our communities the daily recitation of the Rosary, ended with the oldest known Marian prayer (“We fly to your patronage, O holy Mother of God; despise not our petitions in our necessities, but ever deliver us from all dangers. O glorious and blessed Virgin Mary.”)
“It has always been the habit of Catholics in danger and in difficult times to fly for refuge to Mary”, Pope Leo XIII wrote.
Pope Pius XII called the Rosary a compendium of the gospel. This expression was repeated by Pope Paul VI in Marialis Cultus. It is a form of contemplative, mental and vocal prayer, which brings down God’s blessing on the Church. It is a biblically-inspired prayer centred on the meditation on the salvific mysteries of Christ in union with Mary, who was so closely associated with her Son.
Pope John Paul II, in October 2002, with his Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae, made a landmark contribution to the prayer of the Rosary by adding the five luminous mysteries. He selected some significant moments in the life of Jesus: his Baptism, his first miracle at Cana, his Preaching of the Kingdom, his Transfiguration and the Institution of the Eucharist.
The Rosary appeals to many. It is simple. The constant repetition of words helps create an atmosphere in which to contemplate the mysteries of God. We sense that Jesus and Mary are with us
in the joys and sorrows of life. We grow in hope that God will bring us to share in the glory of Jesus and Mary forever.
As we celebrate the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, our Patroness, let us remind her with filial devotion to turn her merciful eyes towards us now, and to show unto us
the blessed fruit of her womb, Jesus, at the end of our earthly exile.
Let us place under Mary’s maternal protection the Church, our Order, our communities, our families and our beloved ones.
Let us entrust to her our Province, our Missions currently spread in Asia (Philippines, Taiwan, Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Myanmar, East Timor), in Europe (Spain, Italy) and in South America (Venezuela). Twelve countries, which I fancy represented in the 12 stars of Our Lady’s crown.
Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us! “
[Fr. Javier Gonzalez, OP]
Macau, October 7, 2023
On 20th September, 2023 the student brothers and fathers from our Priory joined in the celebration of Faculty Convocation Day at St. Joseph Seminary Church. It also served as the memorial of St. Andrew Kim Taegon and companions. It was a prayerful and meaningful gathering of faculty members and students at the beginning of the Academic Year 2023-2024. We dedicated our time on daytime prayer, message from the Vice-Rector and innagural lecture of the Dean of the Faculty of Religious Studies and Philosophy. After the celebration, there was a campus tour around the seminary and library. In this academic year, there are nine newly professed brothers who are studying in Foundation Year.
Opening Speech of Vice-Rector, Professor Keith Morrison
Inaugural Lecture of Dean of the Faculty, Fr. Cyril Law
Migrant Day is a significant occasion that celebrates the rich diversity and cultural exchange brought about by migration. Macau is known as a vibrant city with multiculturalism and diversity, and the celebration of Migrant Day this year was remarkable.
The celebration of Migrant Day in Macau is a testament to the city’s commitment to embracing and appreciating the contributions of migrants from around the world. The event serves as a platform for cultural exchange, fostering unity, understanding, and respect among different communities. In 2023, Macau is expected to host an extravagant celebration, showcasing the city’s cosmopolitan nature and its ability to bring together people from diverse backgrounds.
The festivities during Migrant Day in Macau are characterized by a variety of activities that highlight the cultural heritage of different countries. The event typically begins with a colourful parade through the streets of Macau, where participants proudly display their national costumes, dance to traditional music, and showcase their cultural artefacts. This parade serves as a visual representation of the global melting pot that Macau has become.
One of the main attractions of the celebration is the International Food Fair, where participants have the opportunity to savour delicacies from various countries. Food stalls line the streets, offering an array of international cuisines, allowing visitors to experience the flavours of different cultures.
In addition to the parade and food fair, Migrant Day in Macau also features cultural performances, exhibitions, and workshops. These events provide a platform for migrants to showcase their talents in music, dance, and art. Visitors can witness captivating performances, learn traditional dances, participate in art workshops, and appreciate the craftsmanship of various cultural artefacts.
The participation of countries in the celebration of Migrant Day in Macau is truly remarkable. As a global hub for migration, Macau attracts individuals from different countries. The Dominican brothers in Macau also participated in this event. However, the brothers from Timor-Leste and Myanmar represented their own countries by wearing their traditional clothes and performing their traditional music and dances.
As part of its ongoing Faculty and Staff Development Program, the University of St. Joseph in Macau organized a half-day activity on Friday, 29 September 2023 at the main campus. It was very well-attended
by the University staff: academic, administrative, support, research, and technical personnel, partly because it was a “compulsory training and development”; but also, because the topic chosen was a relevant, burning issue today, namely, safeguarding in the University.
The program started punctually at 9:30 a.m. The Rector of the University, Prof. Stephen Morgan welcomed the participants and addressed them with some opening remarks. Afterwards, the stage was given to Mr. Lau Sing (Serenity Training) who during the first two hours lectured the audience on “Safeguarding: How to handle and prevent workplace bullying and harassment.” Then, after a short
break, the session was resumed, this time with words by a representative of the CPSP (Corpo de Polícia de Segurança Pública), who illustrated the assembly on “Awareness of telephone scams and cyber fraud” based on real, recent data in the Macau area.
The activity came to an end with some short closing remarks by the Rector and with lunch generously provided by the University for all the participants. The attendance of the faculty members was facilitated by the University by cancelling beforehand the classes for the entire daytime of that 29th September; even in the evening, so as to enable the University Staff to celebrate the Mid-autumn Festival with their families and friends later in the day.
It was a fruitful gathering, perfecting matching the purpose of the program, namely, the promotion of camaraderie and development among the faculty and staff members of the University.
