community

Novena of Prayer for Priestly Ordination

On November 12, our brothers Ricky and Alex will be ordained to the sacred order of priesthood. We request all of you to join us in a nine-day prayer in preparation for this grace-filled event.

God our Father,
you appointed Jesus Christ High Priest of the new and eternal covenant.
By grace you allow men to share in this priesthood and in his saving work.

We ask you to pour out your Holy Spirit on our brothers, Ricky and Alex, whom you have chosen for priesthood.
May they preach the Gospel worthily and wisely, celebrate the sacraments faithfully and reverently, and pray without ceasing. May they be united more closely every day to Christ the High Priest, who offered himself for us to the Father as a pure sacrifice.

Bless, sanctify, and consecrate the men whom you have chosen and called to the sacred order of Priesthood. Through the Holy Spirit make their lives worthy of the mysteries they celebrate.
We ask this through Jesus Christ, our Priest and Lord.
Amen.

Fatal Attraction

In our class last week, we were asked the question “what attracted you to your congregation?” – I have reflected on this question many times and came up with a consistent answer, that what attracted me to the Assumptionists is the community life. When I visited the community for the first time some time in 2007, I was touched to see priests, professed religious, and candidates doing the chores together – which in many places and seminaries in the Philippines is quite unimaginable due to the “honor” we Filipinos give to our religious leaders. I think, that strengthened my calling – when I saw priests in the Assumptionists mopping the floor, sweeping dry leaves in the lawn, and washing the dishes. For me, this reflected the quality of community life the Assumptionists have, a community where equality exists because everybody is treated as a brother and not what a he achieved in his life. Another thing that attracted me to the congregation is the way the Assumptionists celebrate the liturgy of the hours. Our chapel in Adveniat House (our community in Katipunan where I had my first experience of the Assumptionists) is set in a monastic way, the chairs are arranged in two choirs facing each other and the liturgy of the hours, its psalms and canticle, is always chanted. There was also a family atmosphere in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist especially in the giving of the sign of peace and in taking part of the body and blood of Christ. So all these experiences, plus my conviction that I will be able to share fully my talents and gifts to the congregation, contributed in making the decision to join the Assumptionists in 2008.

I believe that the call to religious life starts with an attraction; it may be an attraction to the lifestyle of the congregation, the ministry, the habit, and the good examples set by the religious, the prayer life, etc. But I believe all the more that a call to religious life must go beyond attraction, it must be molded into a conviction that God is the one calling you to live closely to Him and to love Him more fully through the religious consecration. One’s conviction of being called and chosen makes a religious faithful to the evangelical vows – all for the love of Jesus.

But religious life is not at all easy! It may be laden with trials and sufferings. There will be period when one will experience doubts and dark nights of the spirit. I think, these kinds of experiences are part of our faith-journey which calls us, still, to deepen our faith to Jesus knowing that it is in our weakness that His power reaches perfection.

So, if you feel a certain attraction to the religious life, don’t fret 🙂 The best thing that you can do is to pray, ask the Holy Spirit to give you the gift of discernment and guidance that you may hear God’s voice, it may be a start of a wonderful journey of living your life and faith to the fullest.

Community Life 101

As a congregation following the Rule of St. Augustine, we put more emphasis on community life. For St. Augustine, a community must be bonded by friendship – one heart and mind intent upon God. Community life is also one of the characteristics of our congregation that attracted me to join the Assumptionists.

Many are saying that community living is the hardest of all in religious life, and in many ways, I find this statement true. Imagine a group consists of men from different cultural backgrounds, age, level of maturity, educational attainment, temperaments, etc. and put them together for a year in one house (as in our case here in the novitiate).

As of now, our novitiate community is composed of 3 priests, two from the USA and 1 from Madagascar, and 6 novices, four Filipinos and two Mexicans.

Our differences, especially among us novices, many times became a source of conflict. There are times that we find ourselves fighting over many things that concern us; yes, it is disheartening sometimes but I believe that conflict is inevitable and that there is a positive side in every conflict. I am hoping that the conflict we are experiencing right now is a necessary part of our formation where it will bring our the best in us by making us more aware of ourselves, our strengths and weaknesses, issues and all; may it also lead us to a deeper reflection on how we are as a community and resolve to be faithful to our vocation through the support of each other.

I am praying that our common desire to live in accordance with the Gospel will prevail over us, it may not happen right away but I believe in God’s own perfect time it will come, for now, we are still learning the lessons we need to learn, a Community Life 101 done in a concrete manner of living together everyday – with or without conflict.

Our Life of Apostolic Service

One of the things that excite me in my Assumptionist religious life is the limitless possibility of going for a mission wherever God is calling me to go. Our rule of life #20 states that “our missionary vocation calls us to become all things to all men; and #15 says that “we choose within the possibilities of our resources these commitments that effectively respond to the needs of today and to the spirit of Assumption. I believe that my Assumptionist vocation entails not only responsibilities towards myself and my community but service to our fellow human beings as well, as our Rule of Life puts it, “in the spirit of zeal, dedication to work, frankness, daring, and disinterestedness.

I remember when I was still in the process of discernment prior to my entry to our congregation, I was particularly drawn to the Assumptionists not only of the community life but also because of my conviction that it is where I can share fully my talents and capabilities, and my personal charism to that of the congregation’s. When I had my “discovery week” with our community in 2007, Fr. Bernard, our delegation superior, asked me then what do I want to do if ever I would become an Assumptionist and I answered I would want to do what I was being trained to do (as part of my work then with the Institute of Reconciliation) like justice and peace advocacy and ecumenical and inter-faith dialogue. I would like also to work on these fields:  education and youth formation and media and communication. I can say that these are still the areas of my priority but now as a novice, I want to add two more things – 1. further studies and research on Augustinian and Assumptinists spiritualities and 2. formation.

In our “Ration Institutionis,” it is clearly stated there that in novitiate, apostolate is not the top priority. Although we go to the Missionaries of Charity every Saturday afternoon to teach catechism to some young people, our focus, still, is our formation in the novitiate house especially our living of the vows. But I believe, in the novitiate, I am also called to do an active apostolic service not through going out of the novitiate house but by being faithful to the task, however small, I was assigned to do. For example, cooking food for our lunch, I believe  is as great as building a cathedral if it is done out of love of Jesus and my brothers in the community. Another example is that of being forgiving of my brother’s shortcomings (which I am trying hard to do) because forgiving is also an act of witnessing to Christ, which is also the same as going to a place where Christ is unknown to preach the Gospel.

In #22 of our Rule of Life, we are exhorted that in our prayer, we beg His forgiveness for our refusals to answer the promptings of the Spirit – it is through the same Spirit that I enkindle my hope of becoming Christ’s witness until He comes.

Goodbye and thank you 2009!

Today is the last day of 2009 and I am spending it in silence – it is our recollection/desert day, a chance to reflect on the things that happened to me and around me this year.

Despite the difficulties I personally experienced this year, I still remain strong in spirit because I believe everything happens for a purpose, I pray that I may be able to see the lessons that God wants me to learn from all those things.

I spent most of 2009 here in the novitiate, and with God’s grace, 4 months more to go before I proceed to another step in my formation program.

I am filled with gratitude as I look back to all the events and people who touched my life this year. I am thankful to my community and the whole Assumption family especially to my co-novices – Glenn, Rodel and Rowell for the gift of fraternity. I am thankful to my family, friends and relatives for their love and support. I am thankful to God for the gift of vocation and for sustaining me all year round. Thank you Jesus for the opportunities that you gave me this year may I use it all for the sake of your Kingdom. Thank you Holy Spirit for guiding me and for being my consoler in moments when I was down. And to all my patron saints and guardian angels for interceding for me.

Goodbye and thank you 2009, welcome 2010!

Second Period

“The purpose of the novitiate is to form the candidate progressively to Assumptionist religious life by bringing him to deepen his concept of the evangelical life and confront it with that of the Congregation, in the presence of God and of his brother.”

–          Rule of Life #142

According to our Ratio Institutionis, “the novitiate community affords the novices an experience of prayer, of fraternal life, of the vows and of apostolic life;” indeed, eight months of being a novice is an opportunity for me to be immersed in the Assumptionist religious life. If the first period of my novitiate was a time of adjustment and painful separation and renunciation, I consider the second period as a time of deeper learning and assimilation of Assumptionist ideals; it is also a time to know myself better, my community, our brothers and sisters, and Jesus Christ who called me in this vocation.

The second period of my novitiate is also a time to grow in faith. What sustains me in my formation is my relationship with God through our daily prayers and celebration of the Holy Eucharist. I came to realize that prayer must not be just part of my daily routine as a novice but it must be my life. I understood all the more that religious life is a life of constant communion with Jesus, and in the spirit of our Father Founder, Emmanuel d’Alzon, I was lead to live a life where Jesus is incarnated in my heart, in my words and deeds, and in my whole being. Praying is not at all easy, there were times that I do not even feel like praying or going to the chapel early for our community prayers but I let myself experience this dryness knowing that Jesus can make something out of my imperfect prayers. Whenever I experience this spiritual dryness, I let God take over my prayers since I rely not on my own capacity to pray but on His grace, knowing that it was He who drew me to Himself to be united with Him. Our monthly recollection and confession were also very helpful for it made me more aware of His presence and be more honest to God and to the people around me especially my brothers in the community.

As I come face to face with the realities of myself and community life, I am called to believe, to hold on to Jesus even at times wherein I find myself in the midst of conflict. One of the highlights of my community life in the second period is my experience of conflict with one of my brothers in the novitiate. This particular incident tested my patience, understanding, and charity. I ended up having a fractured right ring finger which, until now, has not yet fully recovered. This became a turning point in my formation for it showed myself capable of being physically violent when faced with grave aggression and offensive remarks from other people. Due to this experience, I was filled with anger not only towards myself for throwing the first punch but towards the brother who broke my finger as well especially when he showed no remorse after the incident, when he even laughed at what happened to me, and whenever I saw him doing the same thing which in the first place, was the reason of our conflict. In many ways, this tested my faith and prayer life. Sometimes I find myself praying with anger. In moment such as this, I cannot help but tell Jesus that I am praying with an angry heart and let myself surrender my anger to Him. In my prayer, I also ask Jesus to grant me the grace of having a good heart to forgive the way He has forgiven me; to grant me the faith to see Him in my brothers and to all those who offended me knowing that “he who unites us is stronger than that which separates us” RL #8. Forgiveness may be a journey, a process, but nevertheless I chose to forgive because I believe it is the heart of community life.

Apostolate may not be the focus of my current formation program but I am convinced that my novitiate is preparing me for my ministry in the future. I still continue to teach catechism and values formation to the youth group in the Missionaries of Charity. In the second period of my novitiate, I saw myself, together with my brother novices, doing a different kind of ministry through relief operations, after two strong typhoons and enormous floods hit the Philippines, specifically within and near Antipolo areas. This experience allowed me to see the harsh realities of climate change and its effects and our government’s incapacity to respond to emergency cases in time of crises and calamities. I saw how helpless people were in many places we visited especially the poor. But in the midst of these calamities, I rediscovered the human spirit to triumph even at the midst of affliction and tribulation, the goodness and generosity of people, rich and poor, and the power of hope and faith in the Almighty God that make all things new and beautiful. This chance to work in this ministry strengthened my Assumptionist vocation by letting me realize the urgency of the message of God’s Kingdom – to go where God is threatened in man and man is threatened as the image of God.

My intellectual formation, on the other hand, is being nourished by both our in-house classes and Exodus Modules. Our classes here in the novitiate make me love studies all the more by challenging me to do my best especially in my paper works and class presentations. There are still many areas to improve in our in-house classes especially on the way it is being handled but the contents and materials of our studies are very essential in my formation to know more about our congregation. The Exodus program helps me to have an access to different resources on both my spiritual and human growth. The interaction among the Exodus participants and the formators from different congregations widens my horizon and it also helps me understand how we work as a Church.

Christmas, Christmas!

There are many ways to celebrate Christmas. There are even more ways to define it. Not all Christmases are merry and bright; and not all are blue either.

This is not the first time that I am not spending Christmas with my family. Last year, I was in my pastoral exposure at the parish of the Visitation of Mary in Alfonso Lista, Ifugao; this year, I am here in the novitiate of my congregation.

I was touched by the homily of the priest in last night’s Mass. He said that the best thing we can offer to the Lord is our heart but Christmas season is the best time for us to examine what is inside our hearts. Our heart may be full of H – hatred, E – envy, A – anger, R – resentment, and T – timidity. The priest added that Christmas is the time to let go of these negativities and start on living with H – humility, E – enthusiasm, A – acceptance, R – readiness, and T – tenderness. I admit that for the past few months, due to what I have experienced, my heart was filled with many negative feelings and emotions. I pray for the grace of healing that I may be able to let go and let God’s mercy flow in and through me. May the Christ child strengthen my faith to forgive, the way he has forgiven me, may He also help me to see Him in people around me.

Jesus, my heart is not perfect but nevertheless, through the intercession of Mary, our mother, I invite you to come to my heart that I may be transformed more and more into your likeness. I believe that my weaknesses make me more attractive to you, the more you see how weak I am in many ways, the more you want to fill me with your strength. Jesus, come and dwell in my poor and sinful heart.

After the Mass this morning, we all went to our community in Quezon City. It was a joyful experience to celebrate Christmas with our brothers in the congregation. We had a nice meal together.

We’re now back here in the novitiate to continue our Christmas celebration, we will have our own party and exchange gifts tonight. After the party, we are planning to watch Paranormal Activity – our way of ending our celebration hahaha 🙂

May this Christmas brings you fullness of joy and peace, all in the name of Jesus. Again, Merry Christmas!

Funny Things Happened on the way to the Concert

Yesterday, we decided to go to the Cultural Center of the Philippines to watch a free concert featuring Korean Pop artists. The concert was for free – that’s the primary reason why we went there, I think so 🙂 and besides, we also wanted our Korean brother, Christopher, to see some parts of Metro Manila. The concert was organized by the Korean Embassy and part of a 3-day series of shows to celebrate Korean – Philippine friendship day.

We left our novitiate at 3pm. There were 5 of us from our community – Fr. Leo, Rodel, Gilberto, Jose and I. We took a jeepney from Antipolo to LRT Santolan. At the middle of our trip to the train station, our jeepney had a minor accident when its side collided with another jeepney. The driver had an argument with the driver of the other jeepney, they decided to wait for the police to investigate the situation so they asked us to transfer to another jeepney.

Finally, we arrived in Santolan and took the train to Recto. Lo and behold, before reaching Cubao station, the train stopped at the middle of the track due to technical glitch. We waited for several minutes, the train went ok and then we were able to get to Cubao station where they asked all passengers to get off the train until they figure out what’s wrong with the train. The train operator and the technician were able to fix the glitch, they asked us to go back inside the train and continued our trip. At Recto station, we met Joseph and Christopher, we took another train ride from Doroteo Jose to Vito Cruz. From Vito Cruz, we took another jeepney to CCP. When we were about to enter CCP, the guard asked us if we already have tickets for the show, and we said, we have none yet. The guard said that the show has started already and there were no more tickets left, in fact, there were many people who were not accommodated because of the huge number of people who went to CCP that afternoon. We even told the guard that we have a Korean national with us but to no avail – we were still not allowed to get inside the venue.

Anyway, to get rid of our disappointments, we decided to walk around the CCP complex. After walking for a few minutes and seeing Star City, we decided to eat our dinner. We ended up in Reyes Barbecue at the Harbor Square. Why Reyes Barbecue? This is the only place, aside from Jollibee, where we can afford the food hehe! We ordered beer and started talking about our experiences coming to CCP. I ordered boneless chicken barbecue for myself which I found very tasty, I don’t usually prefer sweet sauce but surprisingly, I liked the sauce that goes with my food. Reyes Barbecue at the Harbor Center have very welcoming, kind and efficient waiters. I would like to commend them for the wonderful service we received from them last night. For dessert, I had banana a la mode while many of us ordered leche flan.

I realized, when we were together eating at Reyes Barbecue, that eventhough we were not able to get inside the concert venue, and that we came all the way from Antipolo to get to CCP, our effort was not wasted for we turned it to an opportunity to be together as a community, enjoying the presence of each other. Hopefully we can go back at the Harbor Square for another get together – with or without a free concert.