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"PIONEER"

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"PIONEER" - DETAILS:

Published by - Pioneer Total Abstinence Association of the Sacred Heart. 27 Upr. Sherrard Street, Dublin 1. Telephone (01)8749464, Fax (01)8748485, E-mail: pioneer@s-j.ie, Website: http://www.pioneertotal.ie.

Pioneer Magazine is the official organ of the Assocition.

The Pioneer Total Abstinence Association of the Sacred Heart was founded in the Church of St. Francis Xavier, Dublin, by Fr. James Cullen, S.J., on December 27th 1898.

Cenral Director: Fr. Bernard J. McGuckian S.J.

Annual Subscription:
For Ireland - Euro 19., Great Britian - Stg £16 including postage. All other countries, air-mail Euro 30. U.S.A. including air-mail postage . Payment may be made to the Pioneer Association C/o Bank of Ireland, Drumcondra, Dublin 9. Account number 11181628, Sort Code 900068.

Address all correspondence to Editor, Pioneer Magazine, 27 Upr. Sherrard Street, Dublin 1.

Nihil Obstat: Tim Hamilton S.J., Censor Deputatus.

Imprimi Potest: +Desmond. Archbishop of Dublin. Primate of Ireland.

Printed by: Smurfit Web Press.

Typesetting, Film, Planning and Separations by: Crotare.

Managing Editor: Fr. Bernard J. McGuckian S.J.

Advertising: R. Fulham

Editorial Board: John Brennan, Sr. Camilla Roche I.B.V.M., Adrian Parkinson, Domhnall O Sioradain, Paula Murray, Christopher Clarke, Ray O'Connor, Roisin Fulham.
Pioneering in the Philippines Volume LIV No. 10 - November 2002

[The Pioneer Magazine is published by Pioneer Total Abstinence Association of the Sacred Heart, 27 Upr. Sherrard St., Dublin 1, Ireland; Tel. (01)8749464; Email: pioneer@s-j.ie,Website: http://www.pioneertotal.ie]

FR. BERNARD McGUCKIAN, S.J., recounts his experiences earlier this year in the greater Manila area of the Philippines.

Thursday, 9 May 2002.
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 This was my first full day in the Philippines. My room was in Arrupe House, the Jesuit Student residence at the Ateneo de Manilo, the big Jesuit University in the city. I was delighted to meet Hermes Binlayo, the young man who had contacted me first. He showed me round the University Campus. As a prelude to talking about the Pioneers in Manila I considered the sight of the immense statue of the Sacred Heart in front of the construction site of the very modernistic new University Chapel a good omen. I met Fr. Jim O'Donnell, S.J. of New York just as he was setting off to return to his native New York. The last time I had seen him was as he was doing the same thing, only it was at Rathfarmham Castle in Dublin in 1963. Later in the day I got a phonecall from my brother, Alan, back in Dublin to tell me of the sudden death of my cousin, Colm McGuckian, after a game of golf in Malaga. Golf enthusiasts may remember Colm as a prominent amateur golfer. He was beaten on the last hole of the North of Ireland Amateur Open Championship some years ago by Garth McGimpsey, subsequently the British Amateur Open Champion. I was conscious of the universality of the Church the next morning at Mass when Jesuits, young and old, from over ten different countries and four continents prayed for the repose of Colm's soul.R.I.P.

Friday, 10th May 2002.
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Today the mission began in earnest. After early breakfast, I was picked up and taken about 40 miles from Manila to Tagaytaya, situated on a volcanic lake. This is an extraordinarily beautiful place, where a large tourist industry has developed around the live volcano. On arrival I was taken straight to a Conference Centre run by the Divine Word Missionaries where a large crowd had already gathered in the large Chapel for the Retreat directed by Sister Briege McKenna and Fr. Kevin Scallon. Carmela Borres, a dynamic lady who promotes all sorts of good causes in the Philippines, welcomed me. I slipped in quietly to the back of the church with the idea of getting a feel for what was going on and easing myself gently into what lay ahead. That was not how it worked out however. Fr. Kevin was just finishing what he had to say and invited me to come up to the front. "You can take over now", he said. I was up there for the next half-hour.It was encouraging to learn that Fr. Paddy Hurley, a Columban Father from Bantry, who was in the congregation, had been a Pioneer all his life. He was a cousin of our late Jesuit colleague, Fr. Joe Hurley, better known an t-Athair Seosamh O'Muirthile, S.J., also a Pioneer and one time editor of an Timire, the Irish language Messenger. Attending the Retreat were very committed Catholic people from all sorts of different organizations. They were interested in hearing more about the Pioneers. This was an encouraging start.That evening in the house of Ed and Mary Mijares where we were invited for a meal, the guests talked about things religious without the slightest embarrassment. One of them, Lydia de Leon Sison, told me of an extraordinary experience from her childhood in Manila during the Japanese occupation. Her father and mother were arguing, in the presence of their large family and some neighbours, about whether to stay or leave the city. Her mother, who was carrying a large picture of the Sacred Heart, insisted that they should leave, otherwise they would all be killed. Her father was equally insistent that they should stay put because there were Japanese soldiers all over the city and every escape route was mined. The mother, however, was adamant that they were going. "In that case" the father said, "I am going first and everyone has to follow in my footsteps". As they were picking their way carefully in the father's footsteps (there were more than a hundred people in the group) they looked up and saw a number of Japanese soldiers a short distance away with machine guns trained on them. Her mother held up the picture of the Sacred Heart and began shouting "Sacred Heart of Jesus, blind them!" The others took up the chant and kept on walking. Lydia remembers seeing the soldiers peering confusedly in their direction, looking from side to side, obviously wondering where the people they had just seen had gone. All of them walked freely to safety. It is little wonder that Lydia has had such a devotion to the Sacred Heart all her life.

Saturday, 11th May 2002.
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This morning Fr. Rey Ocampo, S.J., the National Director of the Apostleship of Prayer in the Philippines, arranged for me to speak at a meeting of the secretaries of all the dioceses of the country. Given the close links between the Pioneers and the Apostleship of Prayer, this was a wonderful opportunity. Fr. Cullen was the National Director of the Apostleship of Prayer in Ireland when he started the Pioneer Association. In founding the Pioneers he was asking people to add the dimension of consecrated abstinence to their daily dedication, as a way of combating the social evil of intemperance. Through the fidelity and self-sacrifice of the Pioneers, the spiritual resources of Sacred Heart devotion would have a precise focus-the eradication of intemperance. In this sense, the "Heroic Offering" of the Pioneers was simply an extension of the "Morning Offering", said by millions of Catholics all round the world.When Agnes Pimentel Paynor, one of the ladies at the meeting, heard about our video on the Pioneers, "A Hundred Years of Happiness" she told me that she could have it broadcast nation-wide on a Cable TV station in which her family were involved. All in all it was a very satisfactory meeting.

Sunday, 12th May 2002.
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 This morning Sister Briege and Fr. Kevin directed a session in PICC (Philippines International Convention Centre) a vast building in downtown Manila. I travelled there by taxi with Fr. John Clarkson, an American Jesuit who had been living in Yamagucha, Japan, a few years earlier where he witnessed the cure of the gangrenous foot of a French Jesuit during a visit by Sister Briege to their house.When we arrived at the Centre a congregation of about 2000 people was gathering. The day began with prayers, hymns led by Gerard and Magda, the very talented son and daughter of Lydia mentioned earlier and then Sr. Briege spoke. Her theme as always was on the goodness of God, Devotion to Our Lady and the power of prayer and the sacraments. On this occasion she spoke on the meaning and purpose of the Pioneer Association which served as an excellent introduction to my talk which came immediately after hers. Then we had concelebrated Mass.During the Mass I had the privilege and pleasure of enrolling Sister Briege and Fr. Kevin as Full Pioneers. They had already undergone the preparatory period and after prayer and reflection applied for full membership.After Mass, I was mobbed by people looking for further information. Fortunately, I was carrying samples of Pioneer literature, badges, materiels, magazines, etc. and I was able to give out he address of our website, www.pioneertotal.ie. I got the distinct impression that with God's help there is a future for our Association in the Philippines.Before leaving Manila a few days later to go to Hong Kong, I had a chance to discuss the Pioneer possibilities with a number of people both clerical and lay. Among them was Bishop Ramon C. Arguellos who is Bishop to the Armed Forces of the Philippines but who also happens to be Titular Bishop of Roscrea, something of which he is very proud. Another was Fr. Kevin McHugh, from Knocknacarry in Co. Antrim, who is carrying on the great Columban tradition in a rural area to the south of the country. Mrs. Nathalie Palanca, who showed great interest, has already contacted us in Dublin indicating that she was now a group of 50 people willing to join.I have to confess, however, to something else, not strictly connected with the promotion of temperance. Through the generosity of Ed Mijares, both myself and Lucas (he uses the Irish form of his name) Chan, a Chinese Jesuit scholastic who had spent some time in Ireland were taken on a helicopter ride around the greater Manila area. Our Jesuit superiors and the University authorities acceded to our unusual request both to go on the trip and also to have Ed pick us up in his helicopter on the football pitch at the University Campus. He took us on an unforgettable three hour trip to Tagataya that included flying over the beautiful lake, circling inside the crater of the volcano, hovering over the permanently hot, black lava as well as providing us with lunch before depositing us back on a Golf Range in the city.

Wednesday, May 15th, 2002.
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 Today I set out with Sister Briege and Fr. Kevin for Hong Kong where the Irish Jesuits have been active since 1926.