Mons. Francisco José Arnáiz SJ, en Puerto Rico
By Nino Alvarez @ 8:28 AM :: 187 Views
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Ejercicios Puerto Rico 2010
By Nino Alvarez @ 11:33 AM :: 97 Views
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Este pasado mes de febrero, 57 hombres hicieron sus Ejercicios Ignacianos en Aguas Buenas bajo la dirección espitirual de P. Llorente SJ. Cuatro días de estricto silencio en un ambiente propicio a la introspección y expectativa receptiva. Este año, P. Amando  cumple 49 años consecutivos dirigiendo estos retiros en Puerto Rico.

P. Nelson García SJ y P. Marcelino García SJ asistieron a P. Amando en otra exitosa tanda. Agradecemos la desinteresada atención que siempre recibimos de estos tres jesuítas y el personal que atiende la fabulosa Casa de Cursillos de Cristiandad en Aguas Buenas. 

Esperamos vernos todos otra vez el próximo año para marcar el aniversario número 50 de esta extraordinaria labor que P. Amando nos ayuda a realizar año tras año.

AMDG

Tres Días en Haití
By Nino Alvarez @ 7:52 AM :: 1042 Views
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El Ingeniero Estructural Jorge Hidalgo, presidente de la Casa de Puerto Rico, relata sus experiencias tras responder al llamado de ayuda que recibió para asistir la comunidad haitiana.  

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Three Lessons from Damien of Molokai
By Kyle Shinseki @ 5:56 PM :: 573 Views
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On a tropical island in the midst of the Pacific Ocean, the example laid forth by the life of a Belgian priest presents three extraordinary lessons for all Catholics to follow. Joseph de Veuster departed his homeland for the Hawaiian Islands in 1864, where he was ordained a priest in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in downtown Honolulu. Over the next 25 years, until his death in 1889, he would exemplify the ACU’s motto of Esto-Vir. In particular, the Blessed Damien de Veuster of Molokai demonstrated courage in the face of uncertainty, respect for human dignity, and acceptance of God’s will.

Blessed Damien confronted constant uncertainty as he began his priestly life. However, he welcomed this uncertainty because of his trust in God. As a youth, Damien prayed every day in front of an image of Saint Francis Xavier asking for his intercession so that he would be sent on a mission. His prayers were answered when he was sent off to the desolate peninsula of Kalaupapa on the Hawaiian Island of Molokai on May 10, 1873. During his ministry there he dealt with worms, horrendous scenes, and suffocating smells. Where other priests left in tears, Damien’s courage allowed him to treat patients with bulging intestines, exposed ribs, and missing limbs.

In the midst of leprosy patients who had been abandoned by society, Blessed Damien discovered the dignity of each and every one of Kalaupapa’s residents. He recruited leprosy patients to build churches, homes, and hospitals; encouraged their participation in sports and musical groups, and found ways for even the most debilitated patients to play a role in the community. For example, one patient who did not have a left hand tied a wood plank to his arm in order to play the lower notes of the organ. If a patient could not leave his home to be part of Perpetual Adoration, Damien would bring the Blessed Sacrament to his bedside. Even after life ended, Damien emphasized human dignity by organizing funeral societies and bands that would play at funerals.

Throughout his life, Damien accepted the will of God. While he treated leprosy patients, he did not pay much attention to hygiene. He ate from the same plates as the patients, shared his pipe with them, and did not hesitate to hug them and treat their wounds. Not surprisingly, he eventually was diagnosed with leprosy and he described himself as the “the happiest missionary in the world.” As the disease progressed, he had eruption on the skin of his hands, violent diarrhea, constant coughing, and obstructed breathing. As a result he could no longer say Mass and would only be able to sleep for one to two hours a night. On his deathbed in April 1889, he said “how happy am I for having giving it all to the Lord.”

2006 — ACU Diamond Jubilee Year
By Kyle Shinseki @ 8:29 PM :: 535 Views
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The Agrupación Católica Universitaria marks this year the 75th anniversary of its foundation. The ACU was started by a group of 1st Year University of Havana students under the direction of a Spanish Jesuit Priest, Fr. Felipe Rey de Castro. The foundation and subsequent history of the ACU reveals the perseverance of its members and the Grace of God. Starting the ACU required early ACU members to convince the Jesuits to return Fr. Rey de Castro back to Cuba and to assign him to lead this activity. Later, the ACU survived many critical events including the Cuban revolution, the Bay of Pigs Invasion, and the exile and dispersion of its members in the early 1960s. Today the ACU has active chapters in 6 cities, owns the Juan Pablo II Retreat House in Miami where Spiritual Exercises are held on a weekly basis, and owns the Jesús Maestro Residence in Miami housing university students.

The ACU will celebrate its Diamond Jubilee with a number of special activities this year. Two of the special events planned for the Jubilee celebration are a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and a weekend of celebratory activities in Miami during December.

ACU Director Fr. Amando Llorente, SJ, and Assistant Director Fr. Nelson García, SJ, will lead a pilgrimage to The Holy Land departing at the end of May. This will not be purely a sightseeing trip but an opportunity to meditate the Life of Christ in His homeland in the style of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola.

The Diamond Jubilee celebration concludes in Miami in early December with two major events. The first will be a solemn mass concelebrated by a number of agrupado priests - we have invited the newly minted agrupado Cardinal, Sean O'Malley of Boston, to be the principal celebrant. During the mass we will witness the consecration of new congregants from the various chapter houses of the ACU. And, as is our custom, we will follow the spiritual celebration with a dinner party the next day on the grounds of the ACU Headquarters in Miami. The mass and dinner party celebration will be open to agrupados, family and friends and is by invitation only.

While it is important to celebrate the ACU's Diamond Jubilee, we will also have the opportunity during the year to reflect on how to continue to fulfill the ACU mission in the future years. Our number one activity is the recruitment and formation of new members, students and professional men, whose vocation is to live the Christian life according to the principles of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. The ACU will continue to sponsor Spiritual Exercises - more than 30 a year in our Juan Pablo II Retreat House and at the other chapter houses. We will, of course, continue our apostolic work that ranges from radio programs in Miami and Orlando, Prison Ministry in Miami, Assistance to the Poor in Atlanta, Puerto Rico, and other chapters houses, etc. One major focus of the ACU in the near future will be the operation of the Jesús Maestro Residence in Miami, an abode for young men to reside in as they complete their professional formation and learn about the ACU as a Christian vocation.

Seminar on the Spiritual Exercises
By Nino Alvarez @ 9:14 PM :: 490 Views
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Ignatius of Loyola: A Spiritual Experience is the title of a seminar on the Autograph Manual of the “Spiritual Exercises” that Fr. Juan José Santiago, S.J. has been conducting on an on-going monthly basis in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico.  The monthly sessions, which began last August, present a structured analysis of St. Ignatius’ Manual Autógrafo and the Inspired Spiritual Exercises.  This “Autograph” version is known as such because it includes 32 revisions personally scribed by the Saint.

Fr. Santiago began the seminar with a geopolitical and ecclesiastical background of the world in Ignatius’ time.  For example, during the period, Gutenberg invents the printing press, the Protestant Reform erupts, and Spain discovers the “New World”. In today’s terms, Gutenberg’s press and the Columbus’ discovery were compared to the diffusion of the Internet or the potential discovery of life in Mars.  After painting a brilliant global historical setting, Fr. Santiago plunged into the Saint of Loyola’s biography.

Currently, the group is currently studying the “first week” of the Exercises using copies of the Autograph edition written in antique-Spanish.  Fr. Santiago’s domain of the old-Spaniards’ language translates the embedded depth of thought that lies within the document’s message.  By studying the Exercises in its original “español antiguo,” emphasis is placed on the fact that the text was conceived during the first half of the 16th century.  Nonetheless, the course carefully uncovers spiritual thoughts, psychology, concerns, and worries that are perfectly relevant in the 21st century.

The seminar sessions take place at the “Centro Universitario Católico,” located at 10 María Bracetti, a couple of blocks from the “Universidad de Puerto Rico” in Río Piedras.  The seminar begins at 5:00pm on the fourth Saturday of the month and includes a talk followed by a period of Q&A.  While originally scheduled to run through May 2006, Fr. Santiago anticipates the need for additional dates.  Each session is followed by a celebration of the Holy Mass for those who wish to participate.  This course is sponsored by the ACU in San Juan, Puerto Rico and is open to persons of all religious denominations.  Autograph Manuals are available.  An optional donation is suggested to cover costs.  For further information, kindly contact the ACU’s San Juan chapter at sanjuan.support@estovir.org.

Padre Sean
By Ramon Dominguez @ 7:17 PM :: 504 Views
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Today the press either praises or criticizes him for the challenging situation he is dealing with, as he has been called upon to resolve issues that were ignored for many years in the Archdiocese of Boston.  For us, the agrupados of Washington, he continues to be our dear Padre Sean.  This is the most typical way in which we in the ACU’s Washington house recognize the current Archbishop of Boston, now on his way to becoming a cardinal of the Holy Church.  If anyone deserves this distinction, it is this humble capuchin.

During more than 12 years, he dedicated countless days to cultivating agrupados.  His weekly mass, always a bit late, was the core of our weekly guardia.  We still recall with fondness his Lenten retreats and his homilies that inspired us to give more and follow his example. As agrupados, we were like his hands and arms, like our hymn says.  It was through his work that we were able to participate in and see Christ’s call to unite ourselves with the poor.

In fact, Padre Sean’s work in the Spanish Catholic Center was the driver of our ACU apostolic efforts.  It was in the Centro Católico that we shared his austere life that was dedicated so integrally to helping the poor and forgotten immigrant.  It was he that, like a supersonic jet, propelled the night classes, medical clinics, dental consultations, Spanish-language newspaper, weekly radio program, and all types of social services for new immigrants.  His merit was also in organizing the unemployed and homeless, while preparing them with education and hope.  This he did without worrying about the hours required nor where he would rest, and sometimes not even what he would eat or wear.

We can truly say that Padre Sean is an example of an agrupado since he fully lives our motto of Esto Vir with great love for the Blessed Virgin and Christ.  His example is a legacy that the Washington house will never forget.

José María de Lasa
By Kyle Shinseki @ 5:49 PM :: 523 Views
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For agrupado José María de Lasa, the ACU will always be linked to the struggle for a free Cuba.  When his friends invited him to the ACU in Havana, Cuba found itself in the midst of great civil conflict.  Many of the key counterrevolutionary leaders were agrupados and the ACU itself played an important role in the resistance movement.  As José María describes, many agrupados like him felt that Christ called them to be part of the struggle to save their homeland.  He sees his role in this struggle, inspired by the ACU’s values, as the one apostolic work that most inspired him as an agrupado.

In the midst of this strife, José María had fallen in love with María Teresa Figueroa.  At the time, José María had been given asylum in the Venezuelan Embassy in Havana, after the Bay of Pigs offensive.  However, María Teresa, daughter of renowned agrupado Miguel Figueroa, was already in exile in Miami.  In order to communicate with her, he would send her letters by tying them to a stone and tossing them over a fence to ACU Director Father Llorente, who was hidden in the building next to José María’s at the Embassy.  Father Llorente then passed the letters on to María Teresa’s uncle for them to be delivered surreptitiously to Miami.  Stones tossed by Father Llorente back over the fence would bring José María letters from María Teresa.  

Once José María made his way to freedom in the United States, he was married to María Teresa and their marriage has given fruit to 4 children and 8 (soon 9) grandchildren.  Exiled in Atlanta, José María became a congregante in 1963.  He eventually became a lawyer and worked his way up to becoming General Counsel of a major U.S. corporation.  José María notes that his Catholic formation and participation in the ACU’s Spiritual Exercises each year have helped him keep the strictest ethnical standards in his legal career.  Aside from his profession, he participates in several civic organizations, like the Council of Foreign Relations, the Resource Foundation, and the Cuba Study Group.

José Montero Jr.
By Steven Pardo @ 11:41 AM :: 806 Views
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Sólo le tomó un instante asumir el reto que le propuso el presidente George W. Bush y a partir del lunes 30 de enero asumió su cargo como consejero del director de la Oficina de Ciudadanía y Servicios de Inmigración de los Estados Unidos (USCIS por sus siglas en inglés).

“Fue una sorpresa, no era algo que esperara que viniera. Me ha interesado siempre la gestión pública, pero siempre lo vi más en el futuro”, comentó Montero, quien dejó su trabajo en el área de fusiones y adquisiciones para América Latina en la sede de Coca-Cola, en Atlanta, para dedicarse de lleno al sector público.

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Christian Life Communities
By Kyle Shinseki @ 6:07 PM :: 408 Views
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The ACU is what is known in the Roman Catholic Church as a Christian Life Community (CLC).  CLCs began with the establishment of the first Marian Congregation in Rome in 1563.  There was a renewal of interest in such Congregations in the early part of the last century and in 1922 began what might be called the “golden age” of the Marian Congregation.  As a result, Pope Pius XII published the Apostolic Constitution Bis saeculari in 1948, which called for a renewal of Marian Congregations and an emphasis on the lay apostolate. Shortly thereafter, the World Federation of Marian Congregations was organized and the first General Assembly of the Federation was held in Rome in 1954.

One of the founding organizations of the World Federation was the ACU. In fact, the first president of the World Federation was agrupado Dr. José Ignacio Lasaga.  Like many Catholic organizations, Marian Congregations went through significant changes in their focus and structure after the Second Vatican Council, including the use of the term “Christian Life Community” instead of Marian Congregation.  Today, the ACU is one of 58 national CLCs that are full members of the Federation, which includes groups from every continent.

The CLC World Federation is governed by the General Assembly, a gathering of national CLC member groups such as the ACU.  General Assemblies are held approximately every 5 years in different countries. The Executive Council, with offices in the Vatican, has the responsibility to coordinate with national CLC federations and run the day-to-day activities of the World Federation in the periods between General Assemblies.  The Council has three permanent members designated by the Jesuits and 9 members elected by the Assembly. The three permanent members are Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, S.J., Father General of the Jesuits; Alberto Brito, S.J., Ecclesiastical Vice Assistant; and Guy Maginzi, Executive Secretary.

The most recent General Assembly was held in Nairobi, Kenya during the summer of 2003.  Nearly 200 people attended, representing 53 national federations.  One of the most pressing issues discussed was the mission of CLCs – social action, spirituality, or leadership formation.  One major challenge in reaching agreement on a common global mission is the socio-economic disparity between national federations in developed countries and those in developing nations.  A second issue raised was the role of the local ecclesiastical assistant.  The World Federation continues to address these issues in order to build Catholic apostolic communities faithful to the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola.

For further information, visit the website of the World Federation of CLCs.