Greetings From Fr. "Bong" Rojas

Friday, January 16, 2004
Happy New Year!!! I hope you had a wonderful celebration of the Christmas season and a good start for the new year. I am just imagining all the celebrations in the parish. They must have been fabulous. Anyway, I kept myself busy all this time getting ready for exams. I just finished a 2-hour presentation last Monday on suffrage for the dead! What a relief. I think the adrenalin also made my Italian sound better. Now, I am getting ready for 5 exams - 4 orals and one written plus another research paper. Well, I have to go back and hit the books once again. Please keep me in your prayers. Fr. Bong

Saturday, December 6, 2003
A blessed Advent to you! First, I would like to congratulate you on the assignment of Fr. Rolan to St. Isidore Parish. He is indeed a wonderful priest. He is also a good friend of mine. I'm sure the parish will like him in a heartbeat. Please give my congratulations to him as well. The St. Isidore parish community was a great experience for me and I'm sure he will find the same experience.

I recently had the opportunity to experience a private preview of Mel Gibson's new movie, "The Passion." It was definitely wonderful. Mel and Steve (the co-producer/director) are really gifted artists. The movie is loaded with theological imageries. It may not possess the entire historical-critical accuracy but it does carry a strong Johannine theme. There was a number of biblical interpolations but they all fit together. It was all in Aramaic, Hebrew and Latin but with English subtitles. I don't want to go into the details of this so as not to ruin your own experience but it was really moving. The movie is a bit graphic so pray that it may get a PG-13. According to Steve, it should be released on Ash Wednesday. This is not a typical popcorn and milk duds kind of movie (don't even bother buying them but just think that you are going to a liturgical service). It will compel you to make a change in your life. As the title indicates, it focuses only on the passion thus it makes an appropriate Lenten exercise. As you can see, I strongly recommend this movie!

Both Mel and Steve are Catholics so we can also show our support to them in this way. Steve also indicated at the preview that there appears to be a movement in the film industry to do more religious movies (I forgot the name of the group). He said the group is progressing but it sure could use a morale booster.

Anyway, congratulations again for Fr. Rolan and may you all have a blessed Advent! In Christ, Fr. Bong

Thursday, November 27, 2003
Happy thanksgiving to you all!!! At least I have my turkey and pumpkin pie here. Although we still had a primi piatti of pasta. It was a thanksgiving with an Italian flair.
In Christ, Fr. Bong.

Friday, October 24, 2003
Greetings of peace in Christ my friends. Thank you very much for the prayers which I know you have been offering for me. I can definitely feel them and sincerely appreciate them. Even though all the classes I have are in Italian, I can pretty much understand all the lectures without the help of a tape recorder. With the exception of one lecturer whose Italian has a very thick German accent, I comprehend as much as 95% of the presentations/lectures. I am taking 6 classes this semester with 4 out of 6 compulsory classes already out of the way.

I feel that the classes I am taking will be very helpful in the ministry especially teaching in a parish setting. They are: Transmission of Revelation, which examines Scripture and Tradition mainly using Dei Verbum and other commentaries; Special Questions on Christology, which focuses on different modern approaches to the subject; Relationship Between Popular Piety and Liturgy; Perspectives on Unbelief, which examines the different forms of unbelief and how to deal with them; Special Questions on Sacraments; and Special Questions on the Doctrine of God. The format is very European, i.e., lecture and then final exam. I am already starting to think about a possible thesis topic so I can slowly do some research.

As you know, it has been a wonderful time to be in Rome especially this past few weeks. I was able to participate as a minister of Holy Communion during the canonizations of St.s Comboni, Janssen, and Freinademetz; the 25th anniversary of our pope; and the beatification of Mother Theresa. They were truly unforgettable experiences. While school was not in session, I helped out in the office for the North American Bishops for the reception of guests from the US who were here mainly for papal audiences. It provided a bit of pastoral dimension in my stay here.

Again, thank you for all the prayers. Please be assured of my prayers as well.

In Christ, Fr. Bong

Sunday, September 28, 2003
Greetings from a dear friend. I just finished 10 weeks of intensive classes learning the language here in Italy. It was wonderful but I do welcome this break. In two weeks, we will commence regular classes at the University. I am looking forward to these classes with excitement and apprehension. Although the university offers some classes in English, all the classes I have to take are in Italian. I need your prayers!!!

Know that your community will always be in my prayers. I had the opportunity yesterday to be at the Pope's annual mass for Popes Paul VI and John Paul I. It is a tradition for the popes to offer mass to their immediate predecessor -- and in this case, Pope John Paul I. However, since John Paul I was a pope for only 33 days, hence not being able to offer mass for Paul VI, Pope John Paul II includes the latter in his intentions. As our Papa led the community in prayer, I brought up your community in my prayers.

Taking into consideration the fact hat he was ill during the beginning of the week, thus missing his regular Wednesday general audience, he was in relatively good condition. He was able to finish the whole mass and waved at us. What a wonderful man he is.

Well, I guess that's it for now. By the way, congratulations on the success of the mass celebrating collaboration between the two parishes. Let us continue to keep each other in prayers.

Fraternally, Fr. Bong

Tuesday, August 19, 2003, Fr. Bong writes:
My apologies for not being able to write much sooner. Everything has been happening like a whirlwind. Moving, as we all know, is not very easy. However, things have been going extremely well for me. For the past month, I have been studying Italian. I did better than I expected during my placement exam so they put me in the higher 2nd level (thanks to my teacher from Beale AFB named Laura!). She's the one who came every Wednesday. Starting at that level was good. The bad thing is that my first day was so overwhelming that I could hardly understand a thing the teacher was saying. I did not hear a word of English that day! Uyuyuy. All I could muster is Ciao. Anyway, after 2 days, my ears are used to hearing Italian. Right now, I have level 5 conversation and level 4 grammar. There are 6 levels in the school so they are really working my brains out. I did the first month in Florence. And now, I am back to Rome.

I wish everyone in the parish could have the opportunity and inclination to live in or at least visit these places. Full of history and such international communities. You could see how people differ in their expression of their faith which will definitely make you ask, "Is one better than the other?" Only to realize that it's not really the manner of expression that matters most (although it does matter) but the concordance between the heart and the manner of expression.