A surfing saint? Pope Francis recognizes the heroic virtue of Guido Schäffer

VATICAN— The Catholic Church is one step closer to canonizing a surfing saint. Pope Francis recognized the heroic virtue of Brazil’s “Surfer Angel” Guido Schäffer in a decree issued by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints on Saturday.

Schäffer was a seminarian, a doctor, and a surfer who drowned while surfing in 2009 off the coast of Rio de Janeiro at the age of 34 before he could fulfill his desire of being ordained to the priesthood.

The Brazilian seminarian, known locally as the “Anjo Surfista” or “Surfer Angel,” used to begin each of his surfing lessons with a prayer and was known for his work with the poor, providing medical care to Rio’s “favelas” (poor, working-class neighborhoods) alongside the Missionaries of Charity.

With the decree, Pope Francis declared Schäffer “venerable.” The Church will now need to approve a miracle attributed to his intercession before he can be beatified.

Born in Brazil on May 22, 1974, Schäffer grew up near the sandy beaches of Rio’s Copacabana neighborhood. His father was a physician and his mother was very active in a charismatic renewal movement in their Catholic parish, Nossa Senhora de Copacabana, and instilled in him a love of Scripture and prayer.

As a student, Schäffer was an active member of a charismatic prayer group called Canção Nova (New Song), founded by Father Jonas Abib. Schäffer later cofounded, together with his girlfriend and a priest known as Father Jorjão, the prayer group “Fire of the Holy Spirit” at a parish in Ipanema the year he graduated from medical school.

During his medical residency from 1999 to 2001, Schäffer worked as a general practitioner at the Hospital Santa Casa de Misericórdia. He also began volunteering with a Catholic group that provided pastoral ministry to the sick at the hospital.

While on a retreat, Schäffer was moved by a line in the Bible: “Do not turn your face away from any of the poor, so that God’s face will not be turned away from you” (Tobit 4:7). He asked for God’s forgiveness and prayed: “Jesus, help me to care for the poor.”

One week later, he met Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity and soon began working with them to offer medical care in some of Rio’s poorest neighborhoods. He invited other doctors from his hospital to join him and also brought young people from his prayer group and hospital ministry to volunteer.

Sister Caritas with the Missionaries of Charity recalled how Schäffer talked to each of the people he served about Christ, taking care of “both their body and their soul.”

“He used to pray with and for each of them, always inviting them to receive the sacraments as a source of grace and

True faith must be shared, says papal nuncio

PAPAL nuncio Archbishop Charles Brown on Sunday exhorted the faithful to live as missionaries in their “own small way” in everyday life.

Speaking at a Mass on the feast of Mary Queen of Apostles at a parish in Parañaque City, the archbishop stressed that being disciples of Christ is not a private matter.

“Don’t keep the faith locked in your heart but spread it. Be contagious with the love of Jesus,” Brown said in his homily.

“Don’t keep your faith locked within the beautiful walls of your beautiful parish but go out and speak about the Lord. Be missionaries,” he said.

Hundreds of people packed the church for the 38th fiesta of the parish, administered by missionaries of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME).

The nuncio was joined by Fr. UStefano Musca, Regional Superior of PIME South Pacific, and Fr. Simone Caelli, the parish priest, as concelebrants.

In his reflection, the nuncio also emphasized that being a missionary is not only for religious people, priests and nuns, “but all of us are missionaries”.

He further stressed that lay people play an important role in the “missionary transformation” of the Church.

“All of us need to radiate, we need to be contagious with the love of Jesus, pass the love of Jesus to those around you,” Brown said. CBCP News communion with God,” she said.

ThisSunday is Pentecost Sunday. We commemorate the day when the Holy Spirit came down upon the disciples. This day is also traditionally referred to as the “birthday of the church” for on this day the disciples began to boldly proclaim the good news about Jesus. When the Holy Spirit came down upon the disciples, they were transformed (Acts 1:1-11). From being timid and cowardly, they became courageous. They left their hiding places and started preaching. Miracles happened such as the “gift of tongues.” They were understood by their listeners who came from different foreign places.

“His only concern was to save souls to God — guiding as many people as he could to a personal experience with Christ.”

While he was volunteering with the Missionaries of Charity, Schäffer read “Brother Francis of Assisi” by Ignacio Larrañaga, which became a great inspiration for him.

St. John Paul II’s visit to Rio de Janeiro in 1997 and Schäffer’s pilgrimage to Europe for the beatification of Brazil’s protomartyrs in 2000 also played a decisive role in his lifechanging decision to leave his profession as a doctor and leave his girlfriend to respond to a call to enter the priesthood.

Schäffer began studying philosophy at the São Bento Monastery in 2002. In between seminary classes, he volunteered at a local hospital. He moved to the Archdiocesan Seminary of São José in Rio de Janeiro in 2008, where he devoted himself to evangelization while continuing his medical volunteering and surfing.

Big wave surfer Rodrigo Resende was impressed by Schäffer’s love for the poor and inner peace. He told the Brazilian publication Veja Rio: “I have never seen someone treat the marginalized with such respect. The inner peace that he radiated was impressive.”

While surfing with friends off of Rio’s Recreio dos Bandeirantes beach on May 1, 2009, Schäffer hit his head on his surfboard and drowned.

In 2019, the beach where he suffered his fatal accident was officially renamed in his honor: Praia do Guido.

Father Jorjão, who has since written a book in Portuguese about his life, reflected: “I have never seen someone with so much faith and at the same time so normal. Anyone who knew him was sure they were dealing with someone from God.” Courtney Mares/Catholic News Agency

Photo courtesy of guidoschaffer.com via CNA

Pope Francis accepts resignation of Antipolo bishop, appoints successor

POPE Francis has accepted the resignation of Bishop Francisco De Leon from the pastoral governance of the Diocese of Antipolo, and appointed Bishop Ruperto Santos of the Diocese of Balanga as his successor.

De Leon turned 75 in June 11 last year, the age when canon law requires bishops to submit their resignation to the pope. He had headed the diocese since 2016.

He first served the diocese as auxiliary bishop from 2007 until November 2015 when he was appointed as its coadjutor bishop.

In September 2016, he assumed the leadership of the diocese, succeeding retired Bishop Gabriel Reyes.

The changes were publicized in Manila on Wednesday, May 24, by Archbishop Charles Brown, apostolic nuncio to the Philippines.

Born in San Rafael, a town in Bulacan province, Santos was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Manila in 1983.

The 65-year-old also received a licentiate in history from the

The Spiritual Dimension

Reflections

Rev. Fr. Antonio P. Pueyo, DCC tonypoy_dcc0@yahoo.com

Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome in 1990.

Prior to becoming bishop of Balanga in April 2010, he had been serving as Rector of the Pontificio Collegio Filippino in Rome, Italy.

Within the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, he is the vice chairman of the Episcopal Commission for Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People

(ECMI), which he previously headed for many years.

At present, Santos is also the CBCP’s bishop-promoter of the Stella Maris-Philippines.

No date has yet been set for the installation of Santos as the fifth bishop of Antipolo, home of the newly declared International Shrine of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage. CBCP News

The Spirit is sent by the Father and Jesus as the “soul of the Church.” The Spirit is what makes the Church alive and animated, so much so that it survived the difficult times of persecutions, up to these times. The Spirit is not just the soul of the collective Church, but also the animator of each and every baptized believer as St. Paul proclaimed, “God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying ‘Abba, Father’ (Gal. 4:6).” We received the Holy Spirit during baptism, and at confirmation the flame of the Spirit is stirred up or activated in us. We are therefore to live according to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Another dimension is opened up for us which is the spiritual dimension.

Talking about the spiritual dimension may seem strange in a materially-oriented world. Scientifically and culturally, matter is what matters. Scientists work on and accept only empirical (material) evidence. A growing secular culture sets aside the spiritual dimension. Remember the song, “I’m a material girl.” How then does a contemporary Christian disciple open oneself to the spiritual dimension and live according to its values?

Opening oneself to the spiritual dimension begins with faith and prayer. It is with faith that we accept the reality of God, Jesus, and the Spirit into our hearts. It is with prayer that we communicate with this spiritual dimension. The seeker may not yet be a believer or is weak in the faith, that is why the first prayer of a seeker is, “Help my unbelief, give me the grace to believe.” Faith is God’s gift and it comes when we ask for it and we make what Kierkegaard calls “the leap of faith.” For those who are already baptized but seem to be lacking in faith we ask that the gift of the Spirit be stirred in us. Just like embers, there is a need for stirring them up into flame as St. Paul says, “walk by the Spirit” (Gal. 5:16).

When we walk by the Spirit there are signs that we are doing so. Again according to St. Paul, “the fruit of the Spirt is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self- control” ( Gal. 5:22). Besides these personal fruits of the Spirit, there are the evangelical fruits of boldness in preaching, giving Christian testimony with our lives, and even miracles that accompany the work of disciples. However the Great Deceiver or Satan will also try to undermine the work of the Holy Spirit but the tail of the Devil shows itself in ”immorality, impurity , licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, anger, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, division, envy drunkenness and the like (Gal. 5:19). As the early Fathers of the Church found out, the Devil may even work wonders and miracles but one thing the Prince of darkness cannot imitate is humility. It is beyond the Devil’s ability to kneel before God.

On this Feast of Pentecost, let us open ourselves to the spiritual dimension, first by affirming our faith, and by praying to the Holy Spirit, so that we can give witness to God. “Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful, and enkindle in us the fire of your love … and you shall renew the face of the earth.”

Acts

Readings: RL, no. 1002, p. 824 or Lect., Wkday B: 1st Reading, no. 707(1), p. 1905: Gen 3.9-15, 20

Readings: Lect., Wkday B, no. 348, p. 960

1st Reading: Sirach 35.1-15

Gospel: Mark 10.28-31

Readings: Lect., Wkday B, no. 572, p. 1773; BG, p. 439

1st Reading: Zephaniah 3.14-18 or 1st Reading: Romans 12.9-16

Gospel: Luke 1.39-56

Readings: no. 356, p. 981

1st Reading: Tobit 4.20; 5.4; 6.10-11b; 7.1, 9-16; 8.1, 4-9++

Gospel: Mark 12.28-34

Readings: no. 357, p. 985

1st Reading: Tobit 11.5-15

Gospel: Mark 12.35-37

Readings: no. 358, p. 987

1st Reading: Tobit 12.1-20

Gospel: Mark 12.38-44