Kinder and 8th Grade Graduation

The School in Don Juan held Kindergarten graduation on the 15th of June.

 The Don Juan eighth grade graduation took place on June 18th. 

Kinder Grads

 We celebrated the graduation of the kindergartners at Don Juan in early June.

Sister Arileida Basarte

Sister Arileida Basarte renewed her simple vows of obedience, chastity, and poverty in a parish in Santo Domingo on April 19^th. 

 Her superior, Sr. Maria Rosa Galan was there to receive them, and I celebrated the Mass.

Ari is from the parish of San Juan Bautista, Don Juan.

Bosque Arriba & Good News Update

Work continues on the project in Bosque Arriba.

We hope to have it ready to be painted when the group from Sacred Heart arrives near the end of July.

GREAT NEWS!

Our visit with the president of the republic has paid off! On Monday July 9^th I will receive the papers that will give us control of the property we have been seeking. We will build a softball diamond on the new property which we hope to then trade for the property we want in front of our complex here in Don Juan, which is the present softball field.Anyone want to help us build a softball diamond?

A container packed with blessings

For some months now three parishes in Auburn, Sacred Heart, St. Alphonsos, Holy Family; and St. Catherine of Siena in Ithaca, as well as many friends of the foundation, have been collecting items to send to support the foundation in the DR. The parishes have collected school supplies, furniture, medicines, school desks, clothing, and medical equipment, as well as many other useful things. A generator was sent for me to use when there is no electric for two to four days. 

 Enough materials were gathered to fill a forty-foot container.

 Originally the container was supposed to arrive on the 18th of June, but it did not arrive until the 20^th. Luckily the driver arrived early and tired on the 20^th. The driver napped, but left the doors open, so five firemen and other volunteers, under the leadership of Ed Galka could begin to pack it.

 You have only two hours to pack a container; it is $95 for each additional hour.

 The container is now on board a ship that has sailed and is due to arrive this coming Saturday. Then the work begins of getting it through customs, unloaded, and its many blessings distributed to many, many welcoming hands.

Playground dedication

The Thursday before Christmas we held a dedication of the new playground behind our school in Don Juan.
The playground was the gift of an anonymous donor from St. Mark's parish in Greece, New York.We also received support for the playground construction from our national government senator, Charlie Mariotti.

The playground is named in honor of St.Francis of Assisi.
This school now has over 480 students, the majority of whom are disadvantaged children.

Our first Community Bank

Our first Banco Comunitario is off the ground with its Directive Board elected and its first three loans made!
A Community Bank is a form of micro credit but differs in this important way, it insists on participants having savings accounts and saving each week. Loans are based on a formula that is a multiple of what they have saved.

Directive Board Members

First Loan: Rosalia Rodriquez was loaned $211 to buy supplies to make sweets and snacks as street vender.


Second Loan: Margarita Castro was loaned $264 to buy supplies and more cooking utensils to make snacks and personal articles to sell to schoolchildren on the break.

Third Loan: Emperatriz Carrasco was loaned $400 to buy a small generator to keep working as a beautician when there is no electricity, which is about half the time.

Fr. Luciano Perez Rivera

Fr. Luciano Perez Rivera was ordained a priest on July 23rd.Fr. Luciano Perez Rivera is native of San Juan Bautista parish in Don Juan and is from the community of Bosque Abajo. Bosque Abajo is one of our campos, which is a what we call a very small rural village. The ordination of Fr. Luciano Perez Rivera is our third ordination to the priesthood in the last five years.

The happiness of a new priestFr. Luciano Perez Rivera is member of the Carmelite Order and a good friend of mine.
Please remember him in your prayers as he will you.

Fr. Ron's 50th Anniversary Celebration in Don Juan

Alter prepared with flowers

Cardinal preaching during the mass

Deacon proclaiming the gospel

Offertory preparations
My remarks at the end of mass

The Cardinal and I with my beautiful cake

Golden Anniversaries

On March 18th the Cardinal of Santo Domingo, DR, His Eminence Nicolas de Jesus Cardinal Lopez Rodriquez, celebrated his golden anniversary as a priest.

His Eminence Nicolas de Jesus Cardinal Lopez RodriquezProgram for the celebration for His Eminence Nicolas de Jesus Cardinal Lopez Rodriquez

This year is also my golden anniversary as a priest. I will be celebrating it in the Dominican Republic on May 21st, and the Cardinal has graciously consented to preside at the mass of celebration in Don Juan.
I will be also celebrating my anniversary at the St. Catherine of Siena parish on June 12th. I was pastor at St. Catherine of Siena from 1987 until my retirement in 2003.

Summer travels

This summer has, as usual, seen me crisscross the USA and Latin America. During June I was in the USA and Argentina, July was spent in both the USA and Dominican Republic, and during August I spent time in the USA and Chile.
Now I am back in The Dominican Republic, I returned on the 3rd of September.

So far this week I have been involved in two funerals, and celebrated the arrival of Sr. Maria, the reason I was in Argentina.
Arrival of Sr. MariaShe is from the parish in Don Juan and recently made her first vows as a sister. Sr. Maria is home for a visit to renew her relations with her family and friends after an absence of three years in Argentina for her postulancy and novitiate.
Sr. Maria and I
During my visit to Chile I visited my close friend, Sr. Veronica, and I baptized her niece, Xaviera.
Family of Sr. Veronica and baptism of Xaviera
I also spent two day skiing in the Andes, Lo Nevado. Our Northern Hemisphere summer is their Southern Hemisphere winter.
Mountains in Chile
While in Santiago I again visited the tomb of Saint Alberto Hurtado, a Jesuit priest who died of cancer at the age of 50 on August 18th 1952.
Alter and tomb of Saint Alberto HurtadoI especially relate to Saint Alberto Hurtado because of his work with the orphans and abandoned children of Chile. He was declared a saint in 2005. His work lives on in the center he established in Santiago, for such children, women and men of the street, as well as many other projects for those abandoned and in need. It is always an inspiration to visit his tomb, especially this time because it was his feast day.
Statue of Saint Alberto Hurtado

Sr. Maria Minerva Santana

As I mentioned in an earlier blog post, on my way home from Argentina, my camera was stolen in JFK Airport. Recently I received a few pictures of now Sr. Maria Minerva Santana, the young woman from my parish in DR who made her first vows as a nun on the 12 of June, and the reason I went to Argentina.
This is a picture of Sr. Mariar and Sr. Areleida, who also made her first vows this year.

Our parish of 12,000 is proud to be doing so well vocation wise, better than most dioceses.

Brother Lucianno and a new chapel in Los Lanos

April 17th saw a member of our parish, Brother Lucianno Rivera Perez, make his final vows as a Carmelite, he will be ordained a priest in the next few months. This will make three ordinations from our humble parish in five years.

St. Theresa of Jesus in Santiago
People often ask me what I do during my time here. I like to point out it sometimes takes a lot to get a little done. To explain what I mean: The above ceremony was first scheduled at 10am on the 17th. This meant that in order to arrive at the church, St. Theresa of Jesus in the city of Santiago, we would have to wake at 6am and depart at 7am on the three-hour drive from Don Juan. Word came that the time had been changed to 8am, meaning rising at 4am to get there on time, which we did.
We arrived at the church on Latin time and it was completely empty. Yes, the ceremony was at 10am.

Last week some of the sisters and I went to pay our respects to a deceased member of the parish in the community of La Haina, which is outside Santo Domingo.
On route we were discussing how to get to the home in question, it turned out that none of us knew the address! Thankfully, we were able to find our way after a few cell phone calls.
If you are an A type person, which I tend to be, life can get to you if you let. My advice is to relax and let the sunshine in.

We recently began construction of a new chapel in Los Lanos. The image below is of the wreckage from the previous chapel.
Los Lanos is an extremely poor, distant, and hard to get to community.

Construction of the new chapel is possible due to the help of Sacred Heart parish in Auburn, New York.

The people of Los Lanos are so grateful to now have a decent home to worship in. We lack money for windows, doors, and pews, which will cost about $2000.

Outdoor mass during reconstruction of chapel in Los Lanos.