Pray for my Dad

My Dad just went into Hospice this afternoon. Please pray for his quick release. He is in a lot of pain. Those who were the pilgrimage with me to Israel the first of September may remember my mention of him. I had brought him home this Wednesday and he was doing well, then Friday morning he collapsed on me. I had to have the paramedics rush him to emergency, then back to the VA Hospital in Tucson. All vitals are out of wack. He was extremely dehydrated and adema is there. Kidneys a problem.
Dr. Lazurus said that he might also have had a heart attack. The chemo may have been to much for his body/organs. He is 90 years old. Fr. Greg came last night and we had prayers and the last rites. My prayers is for his peaceful return to the father so that his pain and struggle may be over. Pray for my brothers and sister and I to have the strength to face this lose. Thank You.
Terry Perkins
tleecat3@yahoo.com

Godspeed, Fr. Jonax!

Fr. Jose R. Nacu, M.S. passed away on November 24, 2008
Missionary priest, cancer victim advocate and founder of the Institute of Reconciliation
By Wally Arida


SILANG, CAVITE, PHIL., (Nov. 24, 2008) - After a decades-long battle with cancer, the Rev. Fr. Jose R. Nacu, MS passed away peacefully today, November 24, 2008, in Silang, Philippines. He was the founder of the Institute of Reconciliation and served as its Executive Director to his deathbed.

Fr. Jonax ,as he was fondly called by many throughout his life, was the first Filipino Missionary of Our Lady of La Salette. He was ordained a priest in Fall River, Massachusetts. In 1957, he became the first Filipino Rector of La Salette of Santiago College, in Santiago, Isabela City, Philippines. Many Lasalette missionaries who are serving today today point to him as one of the key people who inspired them to join the priesthood.

He was also an advocate for cancer victim survivors who planted the seed of sharing among cancer patients in the Philippines. He was diagnosed with lung cancer in the early 1980s in Hawaii. Having no family with whom to spend his last days, he came home to the Philippines to look for others similarly afflicted. Thus were born such groups as CanSurvive at the Rizal Medical Center and Aruga at the Jose Reyes Memorial Hospital.

But God wasn't quite ready for him yet at that time. He went on with his life and lived with the cancer for about two more decades.

Earlier during the early 1970s in Manila, Philippines, while serving as a parish priest in Tondo, Philippines - one of the most impoverished areas of the country - he founded and served as the adviser of the Zone One Todo Organization (ZOTO), an advocacy group for the poor people who lived in ths slums of his pastoral area. Because of his very active advocacy work, the government of then-president Ferdinand Marcos detained him in prison for two years without being formally charged.

Upon his release, he moved to the United States where he served as pastor and priest for several parishes in Hawaii and California. He spent his retirement years in Moreno Valley, CA where he served as priest minister of the local Catholic parish communities of St. Patrick Church and St. Christopher church. He did this earnestly until his illness made him too sick to serve.

He returned to the Philippines in September 2008 with a dying wish to be laid to rest in his homeland.

Even during his dying days, he worked to make the Institute of Reconciliation - which he fondly called his "baby" - a moving force in the promotion of and education for Peace and Reconciliation. With his passing, the team he left behind will continue the work to keep the dream of this kind and holy priest alive.

As he counted the days to the end of his earthly life, he didn't fear death. He always looked forward to seeing his maker some day. Yes, he suffered from the pain of cancer for the many months prior to his death. But many times he had told those around him that he willingly accepted the pain and offered it to God as a sacrifice for the benefit of the many others he knew who also suffered in their daily lives.

Fr. Nacu lived a full life. His radiant smile, engaging sense of humor and contagious laughter followed him everywhere he went. He was well loved and he was richly respected by all the communities he had the pleasure of serving in his lifetime. He may not be around anymore, but his shadow will always loom large over the countless lives and institutions he had touched.

His life was the sort of legends. And with his passing, the legend of Jonax lives on.

Godspeed, Fr. Nacu.

Eternal rest grant upon him, O Lord. And let perpetual light shine upon him.

Please share below your memories of Fr. Jose R. Nacu, M.S. And please say a prayer for the eternal repose of his soul.