1972
First Mass was held in Brookside Subdivision with a
handful of Catholic devotees. Subsequent community prayers and Masses were held
in a nipa hut at the Area IV open space.
June 6, 1973
Deed of Assignment of the open space was
signed between Mr. Louis Bernasconi, former President of St. Louis Realty Corporation
and Mr. Pete Alojado, former President of Brookside Residents Association, Inc.
The open space, where the church currently stands, has an area of 1,863 sq. m.
1974
Construction of the initial structure, originally
intended to be an ecumenical chapel and youth center, was completed.
Renovations and expansions were subsequently done to accommodate the growing
number of parishioners.
1998
The open space property was finally ceded to the
Diocese of Antipolo, through the representation of then Parish Pastoral Council
President, Mrs. Lourdes Hernandez, with the approval of the BRAI Board and its
former President, Mr. Pete Petisme. This was a canonical requirement for the
chapel to be raised to the status of a parish church.
The Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish used to be a chapel under
the canonical jurisdiction of the Our Lady of Light Parish in downtown Cainta.
With the increasing need for pastoral care and the growing number of
parishioners of our Lady of Light Parish, the former Bishop of the Diocese of
Antipolo, His Excellency Bishop Protacio G. Gungon, D. D., divided the parish
into two parishes and one quasi-parish, one of them, the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Parish.
April 24, 1999
The Canonical erection of the Sacred Heart
of Jesus Parish and the installation of its first parish priest, Rev. Fr.
Rosalio C. Olaybal, was officiated by His Excellency Bishop Gungon. The
subdivisions under the pastoral care of the first parish priest were Brookside,
(the seat of the parish then and now), Cypress Village, Don Mariano, Gruar I,
Park Place, Gruar II (Riverside), St. Joseph, Village East, Villarica, Barangay
Bulao and Country Homes.
November 29 2000
Cypress Village Gruar I, Gruar II
(Riverside), and Village East became part of a newly created quasi-parish, with
Village East as the main church.
April 15, 2001
Rev. Fr. Dave Onilongo replaced Rev. Fr.
Rosalio C. Olaybal as the second Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish priest.
September 14, 2003
Rev. Fr. Arnold L. Layoc, succeeded
Rev. Fr. Dave Onilongo as the third Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish priest.
October 1, 2009
Rev. Fr. Gerry Evarola was installed as
the fourth parish priest of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish. Currently, the
parish is composed of Bayanihan Village, Country Homes, Don Mariano, Park
Place, St. Joseph, Villarica, Birmingham Place, Basic Ecclesial Communities
(composed of San Buena, Muntindilaw, Majayjay), and Brookside Hills Subd.,
being the seat of the parish.
January 10, 2011
The construction of the newly designed
church, conceptualized by Arch. Alfredo Caritativo, finally took off on January
10, 2011, under the guidance of Rev. Fr Gerry Evarola, assisted by the Parish
Pastoral Council, Construction Committee, Finance Council, all ministries and
church organizations.
The vision for the new SHJP church started as early as in
1999 during Fr. Ross Olaybal’s term, though the initial focus was on the
building up of its gathered people. This dream continued until the term of Fr.
Dave Onilongo. Then, during Fr. Arnold Layoc’s term, he led the ground breaking
rite for the renovation of the chapel on September 30, 2009. Its design
retained the original facade of the old chapel.
Before the church construction took place, Fr. Gerry
requested the team of church builders to replace the dilapidated rectory and
build a parish office. Embarking on a frenzy of initial fund-raising projects,
the SHJP church builders were able to raise P4M to complete the rectory and
another P1.5M to build the multi-purpose building in one year. This gave the
team a foretaste of trail blazing series of fund-raising projects that paved
the way to the new church construction.
October 1, 2016
After more than five (5) years, the new
SHJP church was dedicated and blessed by the new Bishop of the Diocese of
Antipolo, Most Rev. Francis de Leon, with the assistance of Rev. Fr. Gerry
Evarola, Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish Priest, Msgr. Rigoberto de Guzman, Fr.
Mike Balatbat and other co-celebrants.
March 6, 2017Rev. Fr. Jaime P. Padilla became the fifth parish priest of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish.
July 1, 2018
St. Joseph Chapel, in St. Joseph Subdivision, Our Lady of Fatima Chapel of Villarica Subdivision and Queenship of Mary Chapel in Country Homes became part of a new quasi-parish. Christ the King chapel, of Sampalucan, became part of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish.
September 17, 2018Fr. Sandy Anonuevo was assigned as assistant parish priest of Rev. Fr. Jaime P. Padilla.
November 1, 2018
Rev. Fr. Jaime P. Padilla held the first Mass in the columbary.
Today, the Catholic community of Brookside Hills, mini-parishes, and adjoining subdivisions, enjoy the daily Eucharistic celebrations and other sacraments like Baptism, Confirmation, and Marriage in a more spacious, more comfortable and devotion-inspiring beautiful church. The parish is very much alive with the active participation of the parishioners in all its parish activities.
Thank you for a beautiful write up/history of our parish church, the building. A monument of the tenacity and resolve of the parishioners to have a parish church that speaks of their personality, a means to gather, to pray and give phrase to a God that has been there all the time. It was a frenzy of fund raising, tapping every acquaintances even outside of the parish for help. A tribute should also be given to Kuya Jun Hernandes for his effort to change the description of the lot, from an non-denominational grant from the owner then, to a purely Catholic purpose. Kuya Jun did not stop until the property was given to the Bishop of or Diocese of Antipolo.
ReplyDeleteWhile doing this I have a smile on my face, a smile of thanksgivine to a Lord who is so loving, even spoiling us with some extravagance. Lord Jesus, thank You for being "Emmanuel".