New Priest's Prayer

"Break my heart, Lord, always."

Sometimes serving God's people feels like this newly ordained priest's prayer.  Just as Christ's Most Sacred Heart was broken, so too a servant of God's heart will truly be broken.

There was something right about this baby priest's prayer....

....and yet even hard to pray.

50th Anniversary of Restoring Permanent Diaconate in Latin Rite

In a report by Deacon Greg Kendra, which I read from Deacon Lou del Gaudio, today is the anniversary of the Latin Rite restoring the diaconate as a permanent rank and opening it to married men.

Of course, the diaconate has always existed, esp. in the Eastern Catholic Churches, but its exercise was done in different ways.

I thank God for this gift in our time.

Ad multos annos!

Praying Over a Hysterical Woman

During Mass, a woman walked in and went up to an image of Our Lady.  She was crying really uncontrollably.

I approached her, identified myself as a deacon, extended my hand to pray over her, and I gave a blessing.  At first, she seemed beside herself.

After saying a prayer out loud, I then went back to my pew with my family.

During the Liturgy of the Eucharist, she returned and came up to me.  She hugged me for a while while trying to explain something.  I heard her say something about her son, but everything else was muffled.

I gave her a rosary which I usually carry in my pocket.  My blessed her again with the Sign of the Cross over her face.  She closed her eyes.

Then she left.

St. Ephrem, Deacon & Doctor

I like this deacon.

He founded a school to teach the Faith.

He wrote to confute the errors of his time.

He preached against heresy and false teachings.

He is an official teacher (doctor) of the Church.

"25-Year Reunion Prayer" Written for MHS Class of 1992

Cadet LTJG Dennis "Little Man" Purificacion,
MHS NJROTC, Class of 1992
(w/sisters Michelle & Rachel)
(photo taken as a surprise bday gift for our Mom)


MORE OLD HIGH SCHOOL PHOTOS BELOW

A 25-Year Reunion Prayer

Composed for Milpitas High School Class of 1992

by Rev. Deacon Dennis Purificacion, Ed.D., S.T.L., MHS Class of 1992

For Perpetual Memory

Dear God, Almighty Father, Creator upon whom our country was founded,

and from whom we have been endowed with our rights to life, liberty & the pursuit of happiness,

we acknowledge You & we thank You for gathering us here today. 

We thank You especially for these past 25 years! 

We are grateful since taking first steps across that ordinary yet momentous graduation stage.

Those first steps were among the first of many steps that have made each of us who we are today.

Much has happened since our graduation in 1992:

We have seen developments in technology & social media that have changed the way we live.

We have lived through 5 different U.S. Presidents. 

We have seen the horrors of 9/11 & major wars.  And we have seen new heroes arise.

Through tragedy, we have seen strangers sacrifice life & limb for their fellow human beings.

Since 1992, we have made choices that have affected loved ones & our communities.

We reminisce with deep fondness those beautiful memories that have lasted all these 25 years. 

And we are filled with gratitude & joy for them.

But we also remember relationships where we learned how to grow.

For any wounded relationships of hurtfulness, we ask for the spirit of forgiveness & love.

Now, as we enkindle new relationships in 2017, we beseech you to bless our gathering here.

Let us, this day, be ourselves.  In the spirit of humility, let us be who we were intended to be.

We ask you to bless those not with us today.  Protect & guide them with your Providence.

Bless Principal Chuck Gary, other administrators, teachers & staff who stood by us in our youth.

Bless the organizers today & all their seen and unseen work, especially Joy Anne Bonadio.

As we close this 25-Year Reunion Prayer, we call to mind two glorious virtues of our mascot. 

Our school mascot, the mighty warrior of Troy, exuded endurance & energy.

May the endurance & determined energy of the Trojan warrior of ancient Greece be ours, too.

Grant us the ardent endurance to love, especially when it is difficult to love in our broken world.

Grant us the zealous energy to serve others, especially the poor & those less fortunate.

May we be proud, forever always, to be the great & mighty Milpitas High School Class of 1992! 

We ask all this in Your Name & in the Name of Your Son whom you sent into the world.  Amen.

senior portrait

(This is my 2nd year as a catechist w/my friend Melissa Pereira who is on the left 1st row.)

(Melissa and I liked St. Dominic Savio as one of our favorite saints.)

10th Grade

 1st class -- the rest is history

friends threw me a surprise birthday party (L to R: Dave, Dino (RIP), and Willie Tao)

I miss you, Dino.

(I was attracted to suspenders b/c the first permanent deacon I knew, Deacon Eugene O'Sullivan, wore suspenders under his deacon vestments.  I wanted to be like him.)

This is my good friend, David R. Hunt.

He was the finest cadet I ever served with.

Behind us is our teacher, CDR John J. Thomas, USN (Ret.).

Here I am incensing the Blessed Sacrament with Father John Sweeny

@ Our Lady of Peace Church in Santa Clara, CA.

I was one of Father's altar boys in high school.  I knew him as Fr. Sweeny.

(If I ever served on a canonization committee, I would be happy to be on his cause for sainthood.)

Sometimes I feel like he helps me, even though he died many years ago (I wanna blog about this one day).

World Youth Day 1993 in Denver w/Pope St. John Paul the Great was a watershed moment for me.

Richard Anthony Hernandez (3rd from left) was a mentor and was my first theology teacher.

He became a Byzantine Catholic priest later.

Homecoming 1991

(12th Grade)

The picture above of my senior year in high school reminds me of something: At the end of my junior year, I was part of an Honor Guard for MHS Graduation for the Class of 1991 (not 1992).  As I stood at attention with a hand salute, one of the graduates walked up to me and kissed me on my cheek!  I never found out who she was after all these years. 

Of course, this wasn't in high school.  I was in elementary school. 

This is my First Holy Communion w/Fr. Charles Dougherty (some of the teenagers called him "Fr. C.")

I began attending daily Mass in 10th Grade, on Sept. 28 1990, the Feast of St. Lorenzo Ruiz, my Confirmation patron saint.  I am sorry that I did not add Confirmation pictures here.

 These photos were from my FB page.  It was the best I could put together with my limited time.

Thank you for viewing this page.  I hope you enjoyed it!

* * *

ADDENDUM

ADDED ON 9 OCTOBER 2022

Milpitas High School NJROTC 1988-1992 (Posted 30 Years Later in 2022):

https://queensservant.blogspot.com/2022/10/milpitas-high-school-njrotc-1998-1992.html

On Loving God the Holy Spirit (Homily #89)

(my son's Pentecost "homily" while "playing Mass" w/his siblings)

12pm Mass (#89c)

8am Mass (#89a)

Sun., 5pm (#89d)

10am Brookdale Senior Home (#89b)

On Loving God the Holy Spirit (Homily #89)

by Deacon Dennis Purificacion

June 4, 2017

And so today we end the 50 days of the Easter season.  For today’s Pentecost Sunday, there are 2 main points in this homily: First, who is the Holy Spirit?  Second, what are practical ways to deepen our relationship with Him?

I

Pentecost means “50^th day” in Greek.  “Penta” in the word “pentagon” means “five” for “five sides.”  For Jews, Pentecost is the 50^th day after Passover.

At Pentecost, the Blessed Virgin Mary (Mama Mary) and the Eleven Apostles were gathered in the Upper Room.  Both the Institution of the Eucharist on Holy Thursday and Pentecost interestingly took place in an Upper Room.  In the First Reading from Acts of the Apostles, it is written that “tongues as of fire…parted and came to rest on each one of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.” 

Some Fathers of the Church looked at Pentecost in the New Testament as the opposite of the Tower of Babel in the Old Testament.  Whereas at the Tower of Babel God scattered rebellious humanity into different languages where they could not understand each other, at Pentecost God’s Spirit gathers together all the nations of the world to speak and understand the same language (and that language is the one love of Jesus Christ).  The Holy Spirit overcomes division and sin. 

The Word of God also says that “each one heard them speaking in his own language” and “yet we hear them speaking in our own tongues.”  Here, the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ, the Advocate sent after Christ ascended into Heaven.  The Spirit unites the nations into Holy Mother Church, into a fraternal unity that is stronger than any worldly international political or cultural organization.

The Holy Spirit is God.  In the Creed, we profess that He is the Lord and Giver of Life, who with the Father and Son we adore, worship and glorify.  God’s very gift to us…..is Himself… a Divine Person….the Third Person of the Holy Trinity.  (You know, I love Star Wars, but the Holy Spirit is not some impersonal random Force thing, but He is a real, living Person who loves you and asks for your love.)  While God the Son was obedient unto death, God the Spirit is free to blow where He wills. 

And speaking of gifts, we see gifts in the Second Reading from Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, “To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit.”  I have to actually distinguish among two different things: gifts and charisms.  The Holy Spirit gives seven gifts.  The lowest gift of the seven is called Fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom.  Fear of the Lord means humility.  Then there are piety, knowledge, fortitude, counsel, understanding, and the highest of these 7 gifts is finally wisdom.  [A fruit of the Spirit like peace and joy is the effect or “perfection” (CCC) of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.] 

[These 7 traditional gifts are permanent for everyone, a special charism is meant for individual persons for a time.  A particular charism is unique to each person.  For example, some baptized have the gift of healing while others do not.  Some have a gift of hospitality, while someone else has a gift of discernment.  Someone might have the gift of singing, while another has a gift of administration.  If someone doesn’t cooperate with the Spirit’s invitation to give someone a charism, the gift is given to someone else.  You can ask for a charism, but there’s a catch: The charism is to benefit the community; in this case, to build up the parish.  The Spirit’s gifts and charism are meant to build up Christ’s Body.]

II

Now let’s go to the second main point.  After having reflected on the Holy Spirit, let’s look at more practical ways to grow closer to the Holy Spirit:

First, it is necessary to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation.  It is important to receive this Sacrament as early as possible.  The Sacrament of Confirmation will give us the graces to be strong and zealous.  St. Catherine of Siena, the great Doctor and Teacher of the Church (after whom our parish is named) taught, “If you are what you are meant to be, you will set the world on fire.”  The Holy Spirit will help us to be zealous to spread the holy Catholic Faith!  Confirmation is NOT graduation…it is just the beginning!  When we are baptized and confirmed Catholics, we are more strictly obligated to defend our Faith when it is challenged.

I invite adults who have not received the Sacrament of Confirmation to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  Think of those in your own family who have not received Confirmation.  (Let’s pack our RCIA Program with new candidates in the fall!)*  We should live a sacramental life: Confirmation, Mass, and Confession.  In today’s Gospel, Jesus gave ordinary human beings – his priests – the power to forgive sins.  Jesus said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.  Whose sins you forgive are forgiven.” 

Finally, Pentecost is the 3^rd Glorious Mystery of the Rosary.  The first glorious mystery is the Resurrection, and the 2^nd glorious mystery is the Ascension.  We can develop a love for the Spirit through praying the holy rosary.  Perhaps today on Pentecost, if you are not used to praying the rosary, start by praying just one little decade of the Rosary.  One Our Father and 10 Hail Marys while pondering the mystery of Pentecost.  St. Louis Marie de Monfort said that the surest and quickest way to become holy, to be a saint, is through Mary, the Spouse of the Holy Spirit.  Consider consecrating yourself, our homes, and our work to Jesus through Mary.

In closing, we saw, first, who the Holy Spirit is, and second we saw how we can practically grow closer to the Holy Spirit.  In this way, may we be renewed.  Let us live the words of today’s Responsorial Psalm: Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.

*In the Diocese of Sacramento, Catholic adult candidates for Confirmation are sometimes placed in RCIA programs.