JULY 2020 RECOLLECTION: The Paralytic at the Pool of Bethesda, The Abandoned Sick People

Translated by Fray Hubert Dunstan Decena, OAR Jn. 5:1-9. The crisis of COVID 19 has manifested, among other things, the fragility of the human being, his transitory nature and the boundaries of his existence. In a Promethean era like ours, an insignificant virus has brought to its knees the wisdom of a science that considers…

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SARF-Vicariate of USA Newsletter (June 2020)

June greetings to all of our Secular Augustinian Recollects, Guild members, and the Hispanic Committee! The Sacred Heart/Tagaste community was pleasantly surprised to receive a letter from Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, announcing that public Sunday Masses in the Archdiocese were being resumed on a restricted basis on the Solemnity of Corpus Christi,…

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LECTIO DIVINA: XIV Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

Translated by Fray Hubert Dunstan Decena, OAR Mt. 11:25-30 A. Invoking the Holy Spirit. We invoke the Holy Spirit using the words of St. Augustine. Come, Holy Spirit, by whom every devout soul, who believes in Christ is sanctified to become a citizen of the City of God! (en. Ps 45:8) Come, Holy Spirit, grant…

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Five friars profess Simple Vows amidst CoVid pandemic

Antipolo City, RIZAL—The Coronavirus (CoVid-19) pandemic is forcing cities and nations into border lockdowns and citizens into isolation. And yet it could not stop the Prior Provincial, Fray Dionisio Q. Selma, OAR, from welcoming into the Order of Augustinian Recollects five young men who made their simple profession of vows at St. Ezekiel Moreno Novitiate-Recoletos…

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RFC Coristas renew Vows amidst pandemic

Mira-Nila Homes QUEZON CITY–“Your renewal of your religious consecration tonight, dear brothers, appears irrational to many people who cannot understand the vowed life that you have personally embraced in your lives,” said Fray Ian Anthony R. Espartero, OAR, Vicar of the Province of St. Ezekiel Moreno, to the ten simply professed friars who renewed their…

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Reflection: 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

2 Kgs. 4:8-11, 14-16aRom. 6:3-4, 8-11Mt. 10:37-42. The first part of our Gospel actually gives the demands for martyrdom, because to follow Jesus means being ready to give up everything for him, including parents, family and property. Jesus himself gave up his divine status and all he had at the Father’s side to become one…

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