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The Year for Priests: June 18, 2009 - June 19, 2010 Our Holy Father dedicates this year to be the Year for Priests, so this year we ask everyone to pray and promote vocations to the priesthood. Regularly, we will post different documents and practical things that we can do. St. Damien de Veuster Damian the Leper  In the midst of the darkness of this world in every age and in every place, God continues to send us signs of hope and goodness in and through many different people. In the darkness of the leper colony of Kalaupapa, God shined his light of hope and goodness in the person of one of his holy priests, Fr. Damien de Veuster. The world turned its eyes away from the horrifing savagery of leprosy. Either it was afraid or did not know how to deal with this disease, or did not care about those unfortunate brothers and sisters who contracted it. so they abandoned their own loved ones to the isolated village, Kalaupapa on Molokai, to die the slow and horrible death of leprosy.These people were left without human needs such as housing, medical care, or spiritual care, so God sent them a simple priest with big heart to love and to care for His people. That priest was no other than Fr. Damian de Veuster. Fr. Damien was born Jozef de Veuster, the seven child of the Flemish merchant Frans Wouters and his wife, Cato, in the village of Tremelo in Flemish Brabant. He attended college at Braine-le-Comte, then he entered the religious life of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary in Leuven. His religious name was Damian. Fr. Damian followed the example of his own brother Auguste (Fr. Pamphile), becoming a Picpus brother on October 7, 1860. Since he was not too good with his studies, he was not considered to be a good candidate for ordination, but he learned Latin very well from his own brother, so his superior changed his mind to send him to study for priestly ordination. During his formation, his heart already set on becoming a missionar. He spent long hours before the picture of St. Francis Xavier to ask for his intercession so that we would become a missionary. His prayer was answered three years later when his brother Fr. Pamphile was sent to Hawaii, but he fell ill, so Fr. Damian was sent to take his brother’s place. God fulfilled Fr. Damian’s dream to call him to be a missionary and a priest. Fr. Damian’s dream was fulfilled on March 19, 1864, when he arrived in Honolulu Harbor as a missionary, and in May 21, 1864 he was called to be a priest. His first assignment was in the north Kohala on the island of Hawaii. During that time, the kingdom of Hawaii was infected with many diseases which were brought in by foreign traders and sailors. Thousands of people died from influenza and syphilis, and especially, leprosy. King Kamehameha V, afraid of the widespreading of leprosy, quarantined the lepers of the kingdom to the settlement colony known as Kalaupapa at the east end of the Kalaupapa peninsula of Molokai. The only access to the area was by mule. There was no sufficient plan to help and care for the people, only basic supplies and food, no medical care. The hope was that these people could grow their own foods, but because of the nature of the environment and their sickness, it was impossible. Since there was no structure, authority, or laws, there was a lot unlawful behavior. Bishop Louis Desire Maigret, the Vicar Apostolic, realized the needs of a priest to minister to the people, but was afraid for the health of whatever priest he would send. The assignment could be a death sentence. After much prayerful discernment, Fr. Damian volunteered to go to Molokai. On May 10, 1873 Fr. Damian arrived at the settlement of Kalaupapa and began his ministry to 816 lepers of the colony. His first priority was to establish a parish of St. Philomena where the people could gather for prayer and comfort, but his work was not only limited to priestly duty, but to ministering to the lepers' physicall needs as well, dressing ulcers, building homes, beds, coffins and digging graves and burying the dead. The goal and the purpose of his works was as he wrote to his brother: “… I make myself a leper with the lepers to gain all to Jesus Christ.” In December 1884, Fr. Damian realized that he had contracted leprosy. As he stood up to preach the homily one Sunday in that December, he began with the words: "We lepers....". There was a sharp intake of breath in the congregation, as they realized that their beloved Fr. Damian was now one of them. The disease did not stop or slow him down from his ministry. He did not loose his faith or complain, he rather asked to be treated as one of his parishioners. Fr. Damian had helped to establish basic laws for the colony, farms for people to work and support themselves, he turned shacks to painted houses, and built a school and orphanage. Fr. Damian bid fairwell to his beloved community and this world to entered into eternal life on April 15, 1889. First he was buried under the same pandanus tree where he first slept when he first arrived on Molokai. Now his body is entombed in the crypt of the church of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary in Leuven. He was canonized on Sunday October 11, 2009 at the Vatican. The church remembers, honors, exemplifies his life and his priestly service on May 10 of every year. Click on the down-arrow to see the list of readings for the Year of the Priest, then click on the one you want to read. | Parish Contact Information Fr. Tien-Tri Nguyen Pastor Phone: (cell) 980-2250 (home) 983-6382 Deacon Anthony Trujillo Dir. of Religious Education Phone: (cell) 690-6135 (office) 988-3336 Deacon Gilbert Valdez Pastoral Associate Phone: 983-8868 Deacon Tom Stith Pastoral Associate Phone: 983-8868 Deacon José Luis Burrola Pastoral Associate Phone: 983-8868 Dolores Romero Business Manager Phone: 983-8868 Veronica Nava Secretary/Receptionist Youth Coordinator Phone: 983-8868 Gail Delgado Santuario Director Phone: 983-8868 Office Hours Monday - Friday 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. |
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