St. Martin St. Rose PNCC San Antonio Texas

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St. Martin St. Rose News

Pastor’s Letter, January 2010

May the lord be in your heart and mind All during 2010 Have a wonderful new year!

Dear Family in Christ,

Another year has flown by, and some of the memories of the past year are now embedded in our mind for us to recall as this new year goes by. It seems that every year time moves quicker. Modern society in general is moving quicker due to its modern technologies that have allowed us to communicate faster, go shopping by mail, pay bills electronically, and so on. This has moved the pace of time to an all time record... and wait, there is still more to come. Are we ready? We are if we zero in on the blessings that come our way each day of 2010. We are truly blessed, and for each of those special moments, we should always rejoice...Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say Rejoice”! That is why the Church ends one year in great joy, and begins the new one in that same spirit of joy and expectation. The 12 days of Christmas begin on Christmas day, and ends by January 6 (feast of the Epiphany), and in our Hispanic culture, that is the time for cutting the ROSCA. Then we prepare for February 2 (The Presentation of the Lord) with a celebration that began with the cutting of the Rosca, and the lucky one (or ones) at the time of cutting the Rosca, gets to throw party that starts after Mass on February 2. Lots of rejoicing and of preparation. May each of these moments be filled with many happy memories and joy.

During Advent our parish grew some more. The Campos, Garcia and De Hoyos families have requested membership, along with their children. We welcome each of them with open arms, and thank the Lord for the gift they are to our Parish. Welcome!

Special thanks to all those who helped decorate the church for the Christmas season. Jose and Tony Hernandez, Socorro (SM) and Luis Ortiz, Marco and Cristina Rodriguez, Sylvia Campos and any other who extended a hand to help our parish. Also, we shared many blessings with the homeless and poor as we collected a large number of coats, warm clothes and food to give to them. We want to thank Letty Sanchez (SM), Aurora Rivas (SM) and Fred Hernandez (SM) who delivered for us these goods to people living under the bridge near the SAM’s shelter. This was a good reminder to us all that this is the season of giving, not of waiting to receive. As pastor I rejoice as seeing us all moving Santa out of the way, and bringing in Christ into our midst. May we always remember to make room for Christ to be born in our hearts. +++We want to pray for all of our parishioners who have been ill. We also pray for the intentions of the Prime Bishop, Bishop Peplowski, Dr. and Mrs. Guali Marrero, Willie Canedo and all of his family, and for all those who have asked us to pray for their personal intentions.

May 2010 be a year filled with joy in the Lord.

Fr. Augustin, SamOP

About our Parish

History of St. Martin & St. Rose Parish PNCC

The origin of St. Martin and St. Rose Parish goes back to November 3, 1981 when a group of Roman Catholic laity, together with Reverend R. Augustin Sicard (an ex-Marianist), began a group of consecrated individuals. This group became known as the Samaritan Ministers and Missionaries, organized in honor of St. Martin de Porres and St. Rose of Lima, two Peruvian Dominican religious. The first establishment was on northwest San Antonio. By 1990 they had outgrown their place, and began a search for a larger place. At that time Father had been working with Father Rafael Ruiz at Lutheran General Hospital. Together with Father Celestino Treviño, an ex-Franciscan, they began to dialogue with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) for a Church. In 1993 ELCA vacated a property in southwest San Antonio and asked us to look at the site. Within that same month, a group of the parish committee got together and made arrangements to see the site. In May of 1994 we agreed to move forward with the purchase of the property, which included the Church building, a rectory apartment, and a hall. The 25 years note on the mortgage was carried by ELCA.

During the same period of time in 1994, the parish committee had begun dialogue with Bishop Thaddeus Peplowski for possible incorporation with the Polish National Catholic Church. Between 1972 and 1981, Father had worked with PNCC members in Toronto, Canada, and had made a previous attempt at dialogue with Prime Bishop Francis Rowinski. This dialogue was never completed, and it was not until 1995 that direct contact was made with the Bishop Ordinary of the Buffalo-Pittsburgh Diocese. Bishop Peplowski set up a number of meetings, and in June of 1996 St. Martin and St. Rose was officially established as a parish of the PNCC. From 1994 to 2005 mortgage payments were made to ELCA, but in 2005 they forgave our mortgage and allowed us to keep the parish and hall at the price of the payments already made.

The Samaritan Missionaries have made contact with a number of Roman Catholic diocesan priests in Mexico, and has helped establish three (3) parishes in the name of St. Martin and St. Rose Parish. These parish are now named: St. Rose of Lima, Immaculate Heart of Mary, and Holy Cross. Many donations have been made of monies and property goods for these establishments, and a number of missionary trips have been made on behalf of St. Martin and St. Rose Parish.

PARISH COMMITTEE
Chair: Aurora Rosemary Hernandez, SM
Vice-Chair: Delma Manka
Financial Secretary: Lillian Margarita Riera, SM
Secretary: Roxann Obledo
Treasurer: Delores Chavez
Pastor: Reverend R. Augustin Sicard, Ph.D., M.P.H.

DIRECTORS:
Property Management: Marco Rodriguez, Assisted by Louis Ortiz
Landscaper: Cristina Rodriguez
SOCL Director: Yvonne Gutierrez – Interim
Fund Raiser: Leticia Guadalupe Sanchez, SM

SAMARITAN MISSIONARIES
Aurora Rosemary Hernandez, SM
Federico San Miguel Hernandez, SM
Reverend R. Augustin Sicard, SMOP
Socorro Catarina Ortiz, SM
Lillian Margarita Riera, SM
Leticia Guadalupe Sanchez, SM

Download the
2008 Declaration of Scranton
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