I served as Deacon of the Eucharist for morning Mass offered by His Excellency Auxiliary Bishop Myron Cotta of Sacramento.
One part that stood out from his homily was how he spoke affectionately about Our Lady of Fatima's request to pray the rosary for the conversion of sinners. Wow!
Purificacion, Dennis. "First Homily-- The Heart of Christ: Meek & Humble" (Vallejo: St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church, July 5, 2014) from www.marysdeacon.blogspot.com blogged on July 19, 2014.
Deacon Dennis’ Homily:
14th Sunday in Ordinary Time
The Heart of Christ:
Meek & Humble (Mt. 11)
I was a
Religion teacher at St. Patrick-St. Vincent High School for four years. There, I had a student named Marrianne. In fact, I remember her in my Communion line (over
there) receiving the Body of Christ at this parish. It was the last time I saw her alive. You see, a year after graduating, she was
stabbed in the heart and died instantly.
At the funeral eulogy, I wanted to say something but chickened out. The story, however, does not end in
tragedy. Her being pierced in the heart
was what happened to Jesus. His meek and
tender heart was pierced. It also
happens to you and me in our daily lives.
Yes, it was
pierced physically at Mt. Calvary, but it was also pierced psychologically and
even spiritually, esp. at the Garden of Gethsemane. In today’s Gospel, Jesus said,
“Come to me, all you who labor and are
burdened,
and I will give you rest. Take my yoke
upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart…”
This same
meek and humble heart was the same heart that John the Beloved Disciple placed
his head on at the Last Supper.
Jesus’ heart
experienced his painful agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. Do you know what the greatest cause of Jesus’
suffering in the Garden, a suffering that caused Him to sweat blood? According to many stigmatists and visionary
saints canonized by the Church, the great cause of his suffering was the cold
rejection and indifference of people to Jesus’ passion and death.
Many of us
know what it is like to receive a cold shoulder and an indifferent look from
someone after making SO many sacrifices for someone. Many of us feel what it’s like when a child
or friend or someone we love is indifferent and doesn’t care about our painful
sacrifices. Our heart is broken when
rejected. If this is true for us who are
sinful human beings, then how much MORE was this true for the heart of the Son
of God who was without sin! He gives his
love to us and we cast a cold response to Him. And I’m not just talking about the unbaptized and that those who do not
follow Him, but it was the baptized, you the Elect, whom He has called to
follow Him. In the Garden, he saw how we
become indifferent to the Eucharist and Sunday Mass.
But like my
former student, this story does not end in tragedy. Because in that same vision that the
canonized stigmatists and mystics saw, Jesus had a vision of those who would
give their hearts to Him. He saw you and
me responding to Him in love. And it
gave His sacred humanity strength in a most touching manner! This meek
and humble Heart can be lived out today in two beautiful devotions: The Sacred
Heart of Jesus & the Divine Mercy.
In the
Divine Mercy painting, two rays – red and white – emanate from His tender Heart. Jesus I trust in You. They represent mercy and love. Think of all your sins in a drop of
water. And then toss that drop of water
into the Pacific Ocean. Then think of
the Pacific Ocean as just a drop of God’s mercy— a mercy that we experience in
the Sacrament of Reconciliation or Confession.
In this Sacrament, we find the ocean of God’s heart. This is where our hearts that are labored by
sin and burden by the tears of life will become light. It is here where you can experience the sweet
yoke of Jesus’ mercy through the priest who acts in persona Christi. I mean,
I’ve heard people say after going to Confession, “Gee, I feel so much lighter. I feel like a weight’s been lifted off my
shoulders.”
My former
student’s Mom invited my wife and me to her house and room where Marrianne
lived. In the eerie silence, I noticed
the biology book on her desk, the stuffed animals on her cabinet, but one thing
caught my eye. It was a picture of the
Sacred Heart of Jesus that I had given her when I taught her in 9th
grade. Like Marrianne, I encourage you
to have a picture of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in our homes and/or to have a
picture of Jesus the Divine Mercy. One
way to practice this devotion is through the First Friday devotions. Here at St. Catherine’s, we have the Blessed
Sacrament exposed at 6pm for an hour, followed by Mass. If you every want to attend Mass outside of
the Sunday Mass, try the First Friday Masses nine consecutive times in honor of
the Heart of Jesus. One of his promises
is to console those who have devotion to His Sacred Heart in all their
troubles. To find out more about how can
practice a spirituality of devotion to the Sacred Heart, there are pamphlet in
the narthex or entrance of the church that you can take home.
And in my
last story, brothers and sisters in Christ, there is a movie called “World
Trade Center” from 9/11. In it, two Port
Authority police officers are trapped at the bottom of Ground Zero. One officer, Will Jimeno, fades in and out of
consciousness. He reported after being
one of 19 who survived the collapse that he had a vision of Jesus who gave him
water bottles. The movie shows a living
beating heart.
This living
beating heart is the Flesh of Jesus Christ that you and I receive Sunday after
Sunday. We come to Sunday Mass out of
love. Let us not reject the Heart of
Christ. Like Marrianne whose death will
not be in vain, let us not let Jesus’s death be in vain by our cold love in
response to His Heart.
If there is
anger or hatred in our hearts, one good thing is to unite it in the Heart of
Jesus. Picture you placing your broken
heart in His Heart, and say to Him, “Jesus, I give this hurt in my Heart to
you. I trust in You.” Being meek and humble of heart means that we not
take revenge. This is the meaning of
being meek. (Of course, it doesn’t mean
to be treated like a door mat. It
doesn’t mean that what the other person did to you was right. It just means that you will let go of the
hardened heart so that it can be tender like Jesus’s Heart.) As we saw in the First Reading, your king
shall come to you. A just savior is
he. He is a meek savior -- not riding on
the top of the world in pride -- but riding on a donkey. When we serve others, esp. at our parish or
families or in our places of work and school, we too serve in meekness and
tenderness.
If there is
a Cross that we are carrying, let us look to the Passion of Jesus and unite our
Crosses to His Cross. Bring it to Mass,
unite your suffering there, and be strengthened. This will give great consolation in your
moment of agony (esp at death). Give it
all to Him. It will lighten your load
when you tell Him and ask Him to help you.
Jesus says to you and me today, “Come
to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from
me,
for I am meek and humble of heart;
and you will find rest for yourselves.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”
DEACON JUAN A MORENO: Deacon
Juan is married to Olivia Cruz Moreno. They have four children: Jon Anthony
(age 33) is married to Lena Placido and they have a daughter, Jazmine Aaliyah;
Joshua Allen (age 32), Jerome Andrew (age 30) & Jennifer AnnMarie (age 19).
The family also has a pet dog name Joker. Juan and Olivia were born in the
Philippines, and at age 13 immigrated to United States. Juan spent his studies
with the Dominicans in Manila’s St Dominic and University of Santo Tomas
schools, and Olivia attended St. Paul school in Paranaque.Juan spent three years active in the U.S.
Army. While in active service, Juan and Olivia agreed to a lifetime commitment
of loving each other in sacramental marriage, and were married at St Patrick’s
Church in San Francisco. Before their marriage, Juan and Olivia knew each other
since Junior High and as members of the Junior Legion of Mary at St. Patrick
Church.Juan joined the Discalced
Carmelite Order and was admitted in 1985, and made his vows in December 14, 1991,
the Feast of St. John of the Cross. It was in 2000 that he felt a deeper
calling to serve Christ through His Church as a deacon under the guidance of Our
Lady of Mount Carmel.He served in
various ministries at St. Catherine of Siena parish since he and his family
came to Vallejo in 1983, and also returned to school to acquire a BS degree in
Human Services in 2006.In 2009, his
calling to the order of deacons became almost a reality and was confirmed while
serving Mass at Medjugorje at the Church of St James. Upon returning to the
United States, he received the letter of acceptance into diaconate formation
from Bishop Soto dated March 19, the Feast of St Joseph, the same day that he
was serving Mass at Medjugorje; for it was while serving Mass that he received
the answer to his prayer asking Jesus if it is truly His will that he should
pursue being a deacon.
DEACON DENNIS PURIFICACION: Born in Sta. Mesa, Manila, Philippines,
Deacon Dennis is the son of a career U.S. Navy sailor.At age one, he immigrated to the U.S.As a teenager he became more involved with
his parish in Milpitas after his grandfather died, especially the Jr. Legion of
Mary and as an altar server and catechist.The Legion of Mary and the parish deacon planted seeds during his teenage
years to become a deacon.He attended
USF where he graduated magna cum laude
in Theology with a Philosophy minor and later completed an M.A. Theology degree
from CUA with a thesis in moral theology. He taught Religion at St. Patrick-St. Vincent
High School and later earned a doctorate in education administration (Ed.D.)
from USF with a dissertation on church-state relations.Dennis first met his wife Tove Ann while she
was Confirmation Coordinator at St. Catherine’s.They were delegates for the Third Diocesan
Synod.She eventually completed her
Ph.D., too, using St. Catherine’s as a research site.As an administrator, Dennis co-founded and/or
sustained five Catholic post-secondary institutes, taught over 1,000 students,
and drafted a graduate catechetics degree.He is Diocesan Director of Religious Education for the Santa Rosa
Diocese and is a reviewer for the U.S. bishops subcommittee on the Catechism.Dennis and Tove Ann married at St.
Catherine’s on July 12, 2003.Their 4
children are John Paul (age 9), Emmanuel Jeremiah (age 5), Mariana Mahal (age
3) & Faith Marie (3 months) whom Dennis baptized on the same day as his
ordination.Tove Ann is president of the
Maris Stella Institute in American Canyon.Their first family pet fish were named Admiral Ackbar and Nemo.The Purificacion Family enjoys family time at
the Vallejo waterfront.
NOTE: Both deacons were baptized at the same church but on
separate dates.Deacon Juan taught Tove
Ann as her Confirmation catechist in 1995, and Deacon Dennis was Religion
teacher for Deacon Juan’s son, Jerome, in 1998 when Jerome studied at SPSV High
School.
(Photo courtesy of my sister-in-law, Ate Marissa Catubig Niles)
The guy on my left is a former U.S. Navy doctor, Deacon Paul Sejben, M.D., and the guy on my right is a former U.S. Army solider, Deacon Juan Moreno.
My wife recorded this clip.
This video was produced by Sancta Trinitas Unus Deus (the Traditional Latin Mass Society of San Francisco).
This thumbnail is where I am kneeling before the Bishop to receive the Book of the Gospels. I know this was me b/c my left foot got stuck under my dalmatic, and you can only see my right foot.
23:25 Presentation of Candidates
34:34 Promise of Obedience
49:40 Ordination
59:15 Presentation of Gospel
* * *
Here is a feature on Pages 36-39 in the diocesan magazine Catholic Herald (Sept./Oct. 2014):
(Photo credit: Jay Balza)
In 2014, the Catholic Church moved the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary on the reformed liturgical calendar to June 28, 2014. I attribute the diaconate to her.
"Present!"
I'm the 2nd from the left prostrating during the Litany of Saints.
(photo by Sean Salvatin)
(Photo courtesy of my sister-in-law, Ate Marissa Catubig Niles)
I remember how the bishop firmly pressed my head down as he did the laying of hands. Later that day, I shared this with my friend, Stacey Lorica, who then asked, "What do you think that means?" And I replied, "To remind me to serve."
Ordination of Dennis to Diaconate (Photo credit: Sean Salvatin)
"Receive the Gospel of Christ whose herald you have become. Believe what you read, teach what you believe, and practice what you teach."
(Photo credit: Sean Salvatin)
(Photo credit: Jay Balza)
(Photo credit: Jay Balza)
This is Jay's wife and son. I think his son might be a priest someday.
(Photo credit: Jay Balza)
(Photo credit: Jay Balza)
(my family)
(wife has Baby Faith Marie who I later baptized)
(I think Jay Balza took this photo.)
(Photo credit: Jay Balza; jay's blog is located @ http://sanctamargaritamaria.blogspot.com/)
Jay loves the Extraordinary Form of the Mass, but he also recognizes the Ordinary Form.
(photo courtesy of Mart - added in 2023)
L to R: Dan Alves, Helen Dris, Fr. William Kinane (former pastor of St. Catherine's, Odie Dris, and Gabe del Castillo)
Deacon Rudy David is retired VP of a real estate company.
These young adults are the pillar of the Southern Deanery of the Diocese! I can think of a couple of young priestly vocations that came from this part of the Diocese.
Deacon Raffy Rey of St. Vincent's Parish in Vallejo
(Deacon Raffy's 2 boys, CPT Derek Rey, USMC, and Dustin Rey, were my high school students at St. Pat's High.)
Later, at St. Catherine's 5pm Mass:
(photo from my Uncle Olan & Auntie Helen)
(1st anointing with Oil of Catechumens for Baby Faith Marie before Mass started)
(photo by my little sister, Rachel)
I was privileged to baptize my daughter, Faith Marie, later in the evening. I was so nervous pronouncing the Baptismal Formula that I had to look at the Rite of Baptism book three times to remember what to say.
I know a photo was taken by someone, but I can't seem to find it.
THANK YOU!
(reception after Mass)
Thank you to all those who prepared the day and reception. While I do not know who you are in this life, may God always bless you for your kindness.
(courtesy of Maureen DeVigal, mom of my godson "Little Brother" Francis)
********************************
POST-SCRIPT
"The deacon's wife is the deacon's first bishop." -Me
In the Eastern Catholic Churches, they are considered a mother of the parish.
I'm of the opinion that a greater majority of deacon-wives are unsung saints.
(photo taken in 2017)
I took this picture in 2015 at St. Joseph's Church in Vacaville, CA. I took this photo b/c my feet were the first things I saw opening my eyes after the bishop laid his hands upon my head. They remind me of Jesus washing His disciples' feet. I will regularly look at my feet during Mass as I'm assisting the priest to remind me of this. In this photo, I thought of the many steps I would walk for Him before eventually taking my last steps for my final days in His service.
Dennis Torres Purificacion, the son of a career U.S. Navy
sailor, was born on July 24, 1974, in Manila, Philippines, to Jaime from Santol
Sta. Mesa, Manila (now married to Tess from Lingayen, Pangasinan), and Evelyn
from Noveleta, Cavite (now married to Hardie from Santa Rita, Guam). At age
one, in 1975, his family immigrated to the U.S. and lived on various U.S. Navy
bases (NS San Diego, NAS Lemoore, NAS Alameda,) in California. He was happily
naturalized a U.S. citizen in 1987. That same year in 1987, at St. John the
Baptist Catholic Church in Milpitas, he began altar serving at Sunday Mass.
Following the death of his grandfather in 1988, a deeper conversion to practice
his Catholic Faith occurred. He was eventually active with the Jr. Legion of
Mary and as a catechist in high school where he taught 4th, 5th and
7th grade CCD. Dennis began attending daily Mass in 10th grade
and was an altar server at daily Mass for 10 years, especially at Our Lady of
Peace Catholic Shrine in Santa Clara, and served alongside hundreds of
honorable priests. It was in the Jr. Legion of Mary – at age 16 – where he was
first attracted to the life of a permanent deacon, along with regular exposure
to the first deacon in his life Deacon Eugene O’Sullivan (wife: Lois) and
second deacon now-Fr. Anthony Hernandez. Dennis credits Our Lady and the Legion
of Mary with his vocation to Holy Matrimony and the Permanent Diaconate. A
long-time Adjutorian Member of the Legion, he supported new branches in five
Northern California dioceses. His two younger sisters are Michelle and Rachel.
Dennis was a Navy cadet for four years at Milpitas High
School NJROTC and graduated as a Cadet LTJG in 1992. Proud to be part of the
JP2 Generation, he saw and was inspired by St. John Paul the Great at World
Youth Day 1993 in Denver. Dennis graduated with a B.A. magna cum laude in
Theology with a Philosophy Minor and a St. Ignatius Institute Liberal Arts
Certificate from the University of San Francisco in 1995, hoping to teach the
Faith one day. His major paper was on “agape” in Jn. 21. He freelanced for
“YOU!” Catholic youth magazine explaining the Catechism to youth in
articles called “Hell’s Captured Files” from 1993-1998.
After a stint at the JP2 Institute for Marriage & Family
Studies, Dennis completed an M.A. Theology degree at The Catholic University of
America by writing a thesis on the moral theology of the beatitudes in Mt. 5.
He taught 8th grade Religion at Chaminade College Prep from 1997-1998 and
was here first nicknamed “Mr. P.” In 1998, he moved to Vallejo. From 1998-2002,
Dennis taught 9th & 10th grade Religion at St. Patrick-St. Vincent High School where
he was selected every year by his students for “Who’s Who Among America’s
Teachers” (2% of U.S. teachers nominated) and was Bruin Teacher of the Month in
April 1999. Dennis served as an instructor with the U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps
(USNSCC), too. It was during this time as a high school Religion teacher that
he first met Tove Ann who was then the Confirmation Coordinator at St.
Catherine’s. Tove Ann is the daughter of Ernesto and Helen Catubig. Ernesto, a
purple heart U.S. Army veteran, is from San Carlos, Pangasinan, and Helen is
from Luisiana, Laguna. Later, Tove Ann and Dennis were appointed delegates for
the Third Sacramento Diocesan Synod and drafters of the final synod document.
While completing his doctorate from USF’s Institute for Catholic Educational
Leadership with a dissertation on church-state relations, Dennis encouraged
Tove Ann to pursue her Ph.D. from the University of Hawai’i. Since entering
administration, Dennis has co-founded and/or sustained five Catholic
post-secondary institutions, taught over 1,000 students, drafted a 36-unit
graduate catechetics degree, and kept Oakland’s diocesan ministry school from
closing. He assists the USCCB Subcommittee on the Catechism as a
reviewer-consultant and serves as the Santa Rosa Diocesan Director of Religious
Education. Dennis’s research interests include moral theology/catechesis,
military ethics, Catholic social doctrine, Islam-Catholic affairs, UN-Vatican
relations, papal writings, and church document implementation.
Dennis proposed to Tove Ann at World Youth Day 2002 in
Toronto at Our Lady’s Chapel, St. Michael’s Cathedral, and they later married
on July 12, 2003, at St. Catherine’s where they first met. Since then, they have
homeschooled John Paul (age 8 and enrolled in Kolbe Academy), Emmanuel Jeremiah
(age 5), Mariana Mahal (age 3) and Faith Marie (1 month) whom Dennis will
baptize. Tove Ann serves as President of the Maris Stella Institute (www.marisstellainstitute.org). The first family pet fish were named “Admiral
Ackbar” and “Nemo”. Dennis enjoys the waterfront with family, sci-fi, martial
arts, sushi and comic books.
