Peace!
At the Community Mass for the Service
Personnel in honor of St. Bede held last June 21, I observed that only a
few attended the Mass. It seems that this has been the trend in the
past Community Masses for service personnel. After consulting with
some people, I found out that the main reason for the absences at
Masses is the schedule of the Mass which is inconvenient for many of the
service personnel.
In order to solve this problem of
absences during Community Masses, I am making the following changes:
1.
The schedule of the Mass
will be at 8:30 A.M. instead of at 11:00 A.M.
2.
Attendance will be checked
by the HRM through the use of Attendance Forms.
3.
Work will be suspended and
offices closed during the Mass unless there are urgent matters to be
attended to. In such a case, only a token personnel may remain in the
office.
The rationale for the checking of
attendance is not only that the Mass takes place during office hours
but, what is more important, that attendance at monthly Masses is an
essential part of the Christian formation of the service personnel in
accordance with the Vision-Mission of the school. It is an occasion for
us to grow in our personal relationship with God by publicly
worshipping, adoring and praising Him , by thanking Him for all the
blessings He has given us, our families, our school and our country,
and by asking Him to attend to our needs.
The changes will be effective on
Saturday, July 5 during the novena Mass in honor of St. Benedict for the
service personnel. Through the intercession of St. Benedict, may God
continue to bless us and grant us the grace to become men and women of
prayer, work and peace.
Wishing you God’s blessing of love and
peace, I am
Clement Ma. Roque, OSB
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