The Feast of San Lorenzo Ruiz was celebrated with the annual Mass at the outdoor altar at the Shrine of San Lorenzo Ruiz and San Pedro Calungsod on the grounds of the Marywood Retreat and Conference Center in St. Johns.
It was a spiritual and festive atmosphere as Bishop Erik Pohlmeier was celebrant for the Mass, which included the installation of the new officers for the Filipino Ministry of the Diocese of St. Augustine.
The bishop spoke about how life can be uncomfortable at times, and how it is important to remember the excruciating pain that San Lorenzo Ruiz went through as he was tortured and hung upside down to bleed out, all of which he was willing to do to serve as a witness of his faith in God.
“We probably look at the story of San Lorenzo and can’t even imagine how that kind of courage is possible, because most of us would look in our own lives and say ‘there is no way that I could do this,’ and you are correct, but the grace of God can make us more than we are on our own,” he said. “What we have to imitate from the life of San Lorenzo is faithfulness, which means that we place ourselves entirely in God’s hands, and then he brings about whatever he needs from our willingness to surrender.”
Those in attendance endured light rain at times, but it did not deter the celebration from taking place with many having come prepared with umbrellas just for the occasion.
“Today’s Gospel has Jesus trying to prepare his followers. He said, ‘pay attention to what I am telling, the Son of Man is to be handed over to men,’ but when his own passion happened on the cross, they ran away afraid and unable, even when it was in front of them, to grasp what he had said,” Bishop Pohlmeier said. “They would not understand until the day of Pentecost. It was then, that as they began to go out and preach, that all of the words of Jesus began to shape and mold their lives.”
That shaping has continued to happen since Jesus’ death and takes place daily throughout the world and in our lives.
“It was that same spirit and those same words of Jesus resonating about the cross that would give someone like Lorenzo Ruiz the courage that he needed,” he said. “With San Lorenzo Ruiz, we can be certain that his ability to endure the torture that he faced, in such a way that his life would give witness. This is not possible from human courage.”
Traditional Filipino cuisine was enjoyed following the Mass, with dishes that included lumpia, pancit, chicken adobo and the sweet rice cake dessert known as biko.
Photos by Anthony Richards
