Dear friends,

Last week's blessing of our Perpetual Adoration Chapel was a momentous occasion for our parish. It was a special day filled with joy, gratitude, and a deep sense of reverence that radiated throughout the entire liturgy. I have heard so many testimonies to this fact from many of you who attended the blessing Mass led by bishop Nevares.

One of the highlights of the celebration occurred when Bishop Nevares asked me to go to the newly constructed chapel with the monstrance at the end of the Mass. As I processed with the Blessed Sacrament in my hands to the new chapel, I witnessed a moment that will remain etched in my memory forever, and it was this:

As I approached a young father holding his roughly six-month-old baby in his arms at the back of the main Church, the little one became visibly agitated, only to suddenly calm down and clasp his tiny hands in reverence as we usually do in adoration or in prayer. His gaze locked intensely onto the Monstrance, and he remained still, clearly mesmerized by the divine presence in that monstrance.

I was, on my part, so captivated by this profound encounter that for a few fleeting seconds, I became immobilized and unable to proceed. The father of the baby who witnessed this smiled in apparent shock and awe. The image of the baby's rapt attention and the father's gentle smile remained with me throughout the blessing ceremony. (If you are the father of the baby in this encounter, I kindly request for a meeting with you and your baby).

In that instant, however, I was reminded of the profound truth that our Lord is truly present in the Eucharist, body, spirit, soul, and divinity and that even the youngest among us can sense His divine presence as this baby did. To me, this baby's reaction was not learned or conditioned; it was an instinctual response to the sacred. It was a divine encounter!

This moment also highlighted the importance of exposing our children to the beauty and mystery of our faith in our Lord’s divine presence in the Eucharist. As parents, teachers, and a faith community, we have a sacred responsibility to nurture the spiritual lives of our young ones so that they may grow in the knowledge, love, and reverence for our Lord. That is why it is important to me that we will continue to expose the precious children of our school weekly to adoration, soon in our adoration chapel. I also encourage you parents who do not have children in our school here to still bring them regularly to the chapel for adoration. You will never regret it.

As we begin this new chapter in our parish's history with the Perpetual Adoration Chapel, let us continue to seek ways to deepen our devotion to the Eucharist and to share this treasure with our future generations.

However, even though the chapel has now been officially blessed, we shall begin using it for regular adoration this month on a date that we shall soon communicate, so stay tuned.

Meanwhile, may the encounter between the baby and the Blessed Sacrament inspire us all to cultivate a deeper sense of reverence, wonder, and awe in our worship and in our own daily encounter with the Lord in the Eucharist, and may the presence of the perpetual adoration chapel in our parish and school lead to more growth in our parish and an increase in vocations to the priesthood and to religious life from our parish.

I love you!

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