The Pious Union of St. Joseph promises to serve the PAFPI community through their charism for the sick and the dying. A parish priest friend of the organization was invited to realize their desire for community service for the PLHIV community by celebrating the Holy Sacrament and Mass on October 11, 2024.
Birthdays and anniversaries are celebrated in different ways and for different reasons. Some people recognize the years of development they went through as milestones in their journey to maturity, while others commemorate birthdays and anniversaries as a tradition to throw a party and rejoice in their collection of memories through a celebration filled with home-cooked meals and attended by people who were a part of their life’s strongest and weakest moments.
Rev. Fr. Hans Magdurulang, a parish priest of Our Lady of the Assumption Parish – Malate, a friend of the Pious Union of St. Joseph, was invited. For Fr. Hans, celebrating his 16th priestly anniversary on October 11, 2024, and 43rd birthday on October 15, 2024, meant being inspired by people who are courageously living a life with HIV and using their faith to help them cross the challenges of life.
Pious Union of St. Joseph invited friends and members from their community, a group of individuals with regular meetups and catechistic services with an aim to engage the community in honoring God through their charism for the sick and the dying, and to celebrate Fr. Hans’ birthday and priestly anniversary at PAFPI Cares Center. They didn’t mind being bothered amidst their busy work schedules to bring hope to people living with HIV currently residing in the organization’s temporary shelter, Bahay Kanlungan, in Malate, Manila City.
As part of a program they have prepared, understanding the struggles of people living with HIV by giving them enough time to share their experiences, getting to know them on a personal level aside from being infected with HIV and how they are striving hard to process their feelings to a better recovery. In reciprocating the stories, they have heard, friends and members of Pious Union of St. Joseph blessed PAFPI Cares Center and the PLHIV present with prayers and words of encouragement, so they’ll feel that they are not alone in their journey to a healthier path to fulfillment.
As part of the customary traditions of the Pious Union of St. Joseph, Fr. Hans is showered with smiles of gratitude and sustenance through melodies of laughter, food, and donations spiced with care and support – a Filipino’s way of celebrating the birth of a new beginning by serving the PAFPI-PLHIV community. Fr. Hans and the PUSJ organization promised to give donations and hold mass for PAFPI every month. It was received with much gratitude and hope by PAFPI leadership and the PLHIV community.
The program activity is as follows:
7:30AM-9:00AM – Holy Rosary + Preparation for Confession
9:00AM-10:00AM – Confession + Holy Mass
10:00AM-12:00PM – Catechesis on Hope and Suffering
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