A CHRISTMAS MESSAGE FROM FR.
ISRAEL
JESUS IS COMING: PEACE AND JOYFUL
HOPE
Dear Friends and Supporters of
the WORLDWIDE SEMINARIAN SUPPORT. We are beginning the Christmas
season, a season of peace and hope. Allow me then to convey to you
greetings of peace and hope from the ALCP/OSS
Generalate.
As usual, during the whole
period of Advent, we have been preparing ourselves in
prayer
and meditation for the
commemoration of the first coming of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the
first Christmas. At the same
time we have been thinking also of the second coming of
the
Lord, the last Christmas. Jesus
came to us and at the end of time he will come again
in
glory to judge our conformity or
non conformity with the salvific plan of God. These
two
dimensions of Christmas always
accompany our Christmas and Advent reflections. Let
us
sincerely thank God for the gift
of Advent and Christmas seasons. Let us thank Him
for
the gift of His Son, Jesus
Christ, who initiates and stays at the heart of
Christmas.
Dear friends, the first and the
second coming of Jesus to us in some way will reveal or suggest to
us the fact that Jesus is the beginning and end of time and seasons.
He is at the beginning and at the end of time. He is the author of
our true beginning towards our true end. Time begins and ends
somewhere just like a new year which begins and ends at a certain
date. However, time is not simply a mere accumulation of minutes,
days, or months. The coming of Jesus in time adds something specific
in the meaning of time for us and for our life. If one unites his or
her time with Jesus’ coming (Christmas) then his\her time will be
changed from being a mere accumulation of minutes, days or months to
an opportunity for a change for the better. With the coming of the
child Jesus our time and our span of life turns out to be A
GRATUITOUS GIFT FOR US FOR A TRUE NEW BEGINNING towards sanctity.
The coming of Jesus in our human
history marks the beginning of new time and new life. Let us ask the
child Jesus to enable us make a personal and transforming encounter
with Him. Any encounter with Jesus is the beginning of something in
a new way in our life. It is impossible to encounter Jesus without
initiating a new life or a new path in us, just like the “Visitors
from the East” (Mt. 2:9-12) who went to see Jesus in the manger and
returned back using a different road. Their encounter with Him
changed their path. Their life-journey was no longer the same as
before.
The coming of the Child Jesus at
Christmas is therefore a transforming coming so that everything
should change for the better. Always Jesus comes to transform us as
an individual or as a group. Let it be our prayer that His coming
will take into account the individual existential situation of every
one of us. His coming to our individual life may take different
forms. However, it is a coming which brings orientation, peace and
joyful hope for every one of us.
May I wind up my short
message by extending to you the cordial appreciation of our
seminarians who are supported by you. Always they have time and
space for you in their daily prayers.
The New Year 2010 will be a
beginning of a new mathematical time. It is my hope and prayer that
in your social, spiritual and professional life the coming New Year
will mean much more to you than a mere sum of twelve months.
Merry Christmas and Happy New
Year. Rev. Dr. Joseph
Israel
Superior General,
ALCP/OSS
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OCTOBER 12, 2005
Worldwide Seminarian Support,
Inc.
In Thankful Memory of Rev. Fr. Ezekiel
Kanje
The Board of
Directors of Worldwide Seminarian Support and all our benefactors to
the Apostolic Life Community of Priests are saddened by the sudden
loss of Rev. Fr. Ezekiel Kanje.
Fr. Ezekiel was
the first Supreme Moderator of ALCP we knew and accepted our mission
and supported us during our formative years he served the ALCP
community. Fr. Ezekiel was an instrument of the Holy Spirit that
under his leadership brought the first ALCP missionary priests to
the United States to the Portland, Oregon archdiocese under the
stewardship of Archbishop William Levada. Fr. Ezekiel wisely choose
two highly qualified Priests, Fr. Nicolaus Marandu and Nicholas
Nilema, to initially serve, and their inspired success paved the way
for over 20 other ALCP Priests serving the people of God throughout
the United States.
Fr. Ezekiel was a
man of deep faith and commitment to the Holy Catholic Church. His
tenure as Supreme Moderator planted many seeds that are successfully
sprouting today. One of the seeds that started through his
encouragement and introduction of Fr. Nicholas Nilema was Worldwide
Seminarian Support in Portland. If Fr. Ezekiel did not agree,
encourage or approve the proper Priests to serve in Portland, Oregon
our last 12 year journey of increasing financial support of the ALCP
from our faithful benefactors from the United States never would
have taken place.
During my father
John Becker, Sr.’s 1995 trip with Father Ezekiel from Portland to
Tanzania, he noticed his people power and how he attracted all types
of people through his personality. John Sr. commented that “His love
was especially apparent with young people and they responded back in
love. I also had the great pleasure of witnessing Fr. Ezekiel with
his mother and their great love they had for each other and it
radiated to me while I was with them. That love I believe was an
example from his mother was the spark that influenced his successful
life. I will always cherish those wonderful days I spent in his
shadow.”
In honor of
Father Ezekiel, Worldwide Seminarian Support is having six Masses
said on his memory at our co-founder Fr. Nicholas Nilema “Our Lady
of Victory” church in Seaside, Oregon.
Jason Turk
John
Becker Jr.
Chairman of
Board
Founding
President
