Simbang Gabi 2008

The attendance in the Simbang Gabi at SJWC is increasing every year. We estimate around 2,500 gathered on 2nd day of the 9 day Vigil Mass. Our Traditional Simbang Gabi started last Monday (Dec. 15, 2008) at 8:30p.m. I would like thank the members of the St. Joseph the Worker Community for preparing every night for an orderly and meaningful celebration of the Holy Mass... especially the Mother Butlers of SJWC. Members of the St. Joseph the Worker Community are advise to Multi-task so as to serve the demands of this Advent and Christmas Season

Aside for SJWC Choir, we would like to recognize the participation of the different choir in our community namely: CFC Kids, the Young Volunteers of St. Joseph the Worker, the Handmaid of the Lord Choir.

And of course, presbyters from the Missionary of Jesus (MJ) who have been assigned in our community to officiate the 9 day Vigil Mass.

SJWC assigned as Choir on the 2nd Day of Simbang Gabi 2008

Decorating our Christmas Tree on the 4th Year

Once again we are putting up our traditional Christmas tree despite the economic crisis that we are experiencing. The economists and financial experts warn further effects of this global crisis early next year.

Members of the St. Joseph the Worker Community (SJWC) have some apprehension in putting up our Christmas Tree for our traditional fund raising. But after a while, we decide to continue and once again put up our Traditional Christmas Tree. We believe that despite the economic crisis, this would not prevent us from continuing our mission to build this beautiful place of worship we call St. Joseph the Worker Church and to encourage our community to help in this noble work of building a church.

Everyone in our community is invited to help decorate our Christmas tree by buying with us Christmas balls for P100 each. On our 1st year, the Christmas balls had ribbons to put their names on it. The 2nd year, we asked them to write good deeds on a small card attached to the Christmas balls. Last year, we ask them to write their Christmas greetings.

This year, we ask them to write in the card attached to the Christmas balls something that they believe to be the wish list of Jesus Christ. They are encourage to write it down on the card and offer to Christ as a gift this Christmas Day.... something that will make the Celebrant happy and smile... This will make our Christmas Tree more meaningful this Season.. Maybe it is time to meditate on what Christ wants.. Write it down on the attached card and help decorate our Christmas Tree...and also help build St. Joseph the Worker. By doing so... blessings also comes to you and to your family... Merry Christmas!

photo essay of sjwc

Last August 23, 2008, the St. Joseph the Worker Community (SJWC) held the Mass for the Elderly and the Sick. This is a yearly activity, in which we gather the elderly and the sick in our community who could not come for Sunday Mass regularly because of old age or because of ailment. We invite and encourage their family to bring them to the church to receive the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick and to receive Hoy Communion in the Holy Eucharist.

Again, I would like to thank the members of the SJWC who participated in this event. We would like to thank Fr. Nolly C. Buco, JCD, our parish priest for the support he provided. Also, Fr. Dom Resurreccion, OFM, for presiding the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick and celebrating the Holy Eucharist for the elderly and sick in our community.

Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone in good spirits? He should sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? He should summon the presbyters of the church, and they should pray over him and anoint (him) with oil in the name of the Lord, and the prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up. If he has committed any sins, he will be forgiven. (James 5:13-15)

A REMARKABLE EVENING!

Despite the heavy rains last Saturday ( 28^th of June 2008) at the fund raising concert – An Evening of Music for St. Joseph – the event went on. Many of our friends, benefactors and visitors braved themselves to attend the concert. Even our beloved Bishop Gabriel V. Reyes, D.D. was present in spite of his hectic schedule. We are truly honored by his presence.

Msgr. Rig de Guzman, together with our parish priest Fr. Nolly C. Buco, were also there with us. Our friends from the Missionaries of Jesus - Fr. Joel and Fr. Eugene also arrived for the concert.

We received a lot of calls from friends and visitors caught up with the traffic because of the heavy and unexpected downpour. But when the concert began the rain slowly stopped to listen to the angelic voice of the Hail Mary the Queen Children’s Choir. Msgr. Rig in his opening remarks said –“ during the time of Jesus, It was St. Joseph who provided a house for Mary and the child Jesus. And in this concert, it is Mary – the Lady of Peace and Good Voyage - turn to help build a church in honor of St. Joseph”.

Truly, that evening was an evening of music for all of us. The Shrine’s elegance combined with music coming from the well renowned Choir made the evening a remarkable and memorable event for our community and visitors.

We thank everyone who made this concert possible. Maraming Salamat!

We encounter a lot of challenges in preparing for this event but again it paid off when the music began.

Slowly Building A Church

We are now busy with our souvenir program for the concert – “An Evening of Music for St. Joseph”. We wish to thank in advance the individuals and sponsors who continue to be generous, despite the economic situation we are facing.

While preparing the pages of our souvenir program, we again look back at the development of the construction of St. Joseph the Worker, truly we could say that we are slowly building a beautiful place our worship while we continue building a community. A long the way, there were challenges that we had to face but every set back became a learning process for us to grow…but we could say we could not gotten this far without the intercession of St. Joseph the Worker and the support of individuals who gave their time and treasure for this endeavor.

I want to share a page of the souvenir program (in-process) which capture the development of community and the St. Joseph the Worker Church.

An Evening of Music for St. Joseph

We are glad to announce our fund raising concert to help build St. Joseph the Worker Church in our community. Through the generosity of the outstanding choir – The Hail Mary the Queen Children Choir (HMTQCC) will perform at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage on June 28, 2008 at 8:30p.m. thru the kindness of the Rector of the Shrine Rev. Msgr. Rigoberto de Guzman.

Before buying tickets for this fund raising, allow me first to provide you a brief profile of the Hail Mary The Queen Children’s Choir.

Choir Olympic Champion

And Gold Medalist

Bremen, Germany 2004

Gold Medal – Gospel and Spiritual Category

Silver Medal – Music Contemporary Category

Silver Medal – Sacred Music Category
Jakarta, Indonesia 2007

Participated in

Conductor’s Workshop in the Asian Institute of Liturgy and Music

and the University of Santo Tomas Conservatory of Music

Regular Performer at the Cultural Center of the Philippines

Best Children’s Choir (February 2006)

Hinabang Gunita (June 2006)

Parangal para sa Pambansang Alagad ng Sining (June 2006)

Tomorrow with Lea Salonga (October 2006)

Supling (April 2007)

Bayan, Bayani, Bayanihan (June 2007)

Part of Cultural Entertainment of the Malacaňang Palace during diplomatic gatherings.

If you think this is worth watching at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage in Antipolo City then let me know at my mobile no. 0917-6681555 or at SJWC Office 630-45-79. We have a limited number of tickets for this rare occasion and a ticket cost Php 1,000.00 and Php 500.00 You can e-mail us also at joseph_the_worker@yahoo.com. Hope to see you at the concert – An Evening of Music for St. Joseph.

Feast of St. Joseph the Worker

Our Beloved Bishop Gabriel V. Reyes D.D. celebrated the Holy Eucharist with us to honor our patron saint - St. Joseph the Worker last May 1, 2008. The faithful in our place together with our parish priest Rev. Fr. Nolly C. Buco JCD were very happy and honored to have with us the Bishop of Antipolo with his Chancellor Rev. Fr. Christopher Gonzales.

Before the Holy Eucharist, Bishop Gaby joined our community for our traditional releasing of our petition balloons for St. Joseph the Worker.

Our deepest gratitude to Bishop Gabriel V. Reyes D.D. for visiting once again our community. His first visit in our community was two years ago (April 28, 2006), during which we were starting to build the concrete beams of St. Joseph the Worker Church.

Maraming Salamat Po, Mahal Namin Obispo at Maraming Salamat sa Kristianong Komunidad ng Robinsons Homes - East

Visita Iglesia 2008

The St. Joseph the Worker Community had a Visita Iglesia last March 15, 2008. We visited the old churches built by the Franciscans in the province of Rizal and Laguna. We were lucky to have with us Fr. Dom Resurreccion OFM who explained to us the historical background of churches we visited. We even had a chance to visit Juan De Plasencia Novitiate House of the Franciscan in Liliw, Laguna and the underground cemetery of Nagcarlan. Truly, it was a very meaningful Visita Iglesia for the St. Joseph the Worker Community. Our gratitude to Fr. Dom , who accompanied us despite his hectic schedule.

Audience with Bishop Gabriel V. Reyes D.D.



Last March 1, 2008, we had an audience with His Excellency Bishop Gabriel V. Reyes, D.D. at his residence. We presented the development of St. Joseph the Worker Church as well as our financials for 2006 and 2007. We were able to convey to him the concerns of St. Joseph the Worker Community. Bishop Gaby is very supportive of our effort in building the St. Joseph the Worker Church and is ready to support our intention of having a fund-raising this coming month of June 2008 for the roof of St. Joseph the Worker Church.

Bishop Gabriel V. Reyes also accepted our invitation and is scheduled to visit our christian community on the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker on May 1. Maraming Salamat Po, Mahal Namin Obispo!.

Cost of the Roof

After almost three (3) weeks of data gathering and evaluating, we finally were able to determined the actual cost of the roof for St. Joseph the Worker Church. Again, I would like to thank the effort of individuals who gave much needed data as a basis for the estimates. The installation of roof frames and roof sheets will cost P 3.4 Million. We decided to defer for the meantime the construction of the balcony and staircase and concentrate on the roof. The budget for the balcony is now re-allocated for the roof and that is about P800,000 and if we deduct this from 3.4M . We only have to put up 2.6M for the roof.

We need to double our effort and intensify of campaign for pledges which has been diminishing through the years. We need also to find new benefactors for this stage of the construction. We ask each member of St. Joseph the Worker Community to include in their prayers our effort to find benefactors to finance our roof. The faithful in our community are encouraged to participate in the Brown Envelope Project. This means every liturgical service in our community, they are encouraged to pick a brown mail envelope and help financially for our roof.

We are activating again our partner-builders. To be one of our partner-builders, you are willing to donate at least P 5,000 for the construction. We are preparing a letter for our partner-builders to report on the progress of the construction and the same time to once again ask of their generosity to help.

If you are reading this article right now and is willing to help, you can contact us at e-mail address joseph_the_worker@yahoo.com. Also, if you want to help in our effort and join St. Joseph the Worker Community you can visit us every Sunday after our 7:30am Holy Mass.

SJWC Concrete Beam – Just Completed

We have completed the concrete beam of St. Joseph the Worker Church. This was made possible, once again, through the generosity of the Christian community of Robinsons Homes East. Likewise, our gratitude to all the members of St. Joseph the Worker Community, who volunteered and continuously offering their services especially during our liturgical services and other activities in building the St. Joseph the Worker Church.

Presently, we are determining the actual cost of putting up the roof of the church and planning the funding. While we rely mostly on the donations from the churchgoers in our community, we want to look for other sources for funding to expedite the roofing. This is a tall order for us but through the intercession of St. Joseph, the Worker, the patron saint of our community, we believe that God will guide us in providing the roof in our place of worship we call - St. Joseph the Worker Church.

Gift-Giving

During the 9-day Simbang Gabi in St. Joseph the Worker Community, we encouraged the faithful to offer gifts for the indigent members our parish. On the 29^th of December 2007, we went to a community known as Galilee (previously part of Sitio Pantay). Around 130 families received gift containing rice, canned goods, milk, coffee and instant noodles. We also distributed around 200 bags containing cookies and candies for the kids. There were singing, dancing and parlor games for both the kids and the grown-ups. We would like to thank Bro. Sergio of Sitio Pantay, Chairwoman Lala and the Christian Community of Galilee for the warm welcome given to us.

Thanks again for the generosity of the Christian Community of Robinsons Homes East who are always responding to our call to be generous every Season of Christmas, the members of SJWC who volunteered for the re-packing and actual gift-giving, and Picker Constructions who provided the vehicle during the event.

Every year, we adopt a community (Sitio) in our parish for the gift-giving. For the past years, we were able to visit Aduas, Pinugay, Sumilang, Pantay, Masikap, Guipit and Maligaya.

“…What will matter is not what you bought,
but what you built;
not what you got,
but what you gave.
What will matter is not your success,
but your significance.
What will matter is not what you learned,
but what you taught…”

WHAT WILL MATTER by: Michael Josephson