On symbols

Do you know why I can't see any stars tonight ? Because you outshine them.

Do you like bananas or blueberries? I want to know what kind of pancakes to make in the morning.

Do you know you're like my blood? Because you're A+ and you're always in my heart.

Did you just fart? Because you blew me away!

***

Pick up lines have been in the limelight of late. I’d like to think that they are so because of our attachment to symbols.

The bananas or blueberries, the the stars in the night, the blood, and yes, even the fart could be stretched a little further to symbolize how they remind us of the person whom we consider significant to us.

Or if there is no connection at all, we’ll try to find one.

A grade six student from Albay in the name of Janela Lelis, must have found that strong connection between the Philippine flag and the country it represents when she braved through the floodwater as she tightly held the Philippine flag in a heroic act to save the national symbol from being swept away by the raging water on that stormy day on July 26.

To recognize her act of bravery, a little Philippine flag was pinned on the left collar of her uniform. She was also given P 20,000 in cash for this selfless act.

More than two thousand years ago, a group of wise men found a connection between a star and the coming of the Great King who would rule them all.

That star, in my opinion, could just be any random stars in the sky if it did not lead the magi to their supposed destination: the infant Jesus.

But it did what it ought to do. That explains why every year we take pains in thinking of what type of star to crown our Christmas
tree.

Symbols are fundamentally important not because of what they are, but because of what they stand for.

In that first Christmas night, the star was there to symbolize the coming of God and to announce the reign of His Kingdom.

May we, who also seek to discover God's will for us, may become ourselves an
outstanding sign of God’s loving compassion.

So that when people--when our companions, when the young people we relate with--see us, they will be reminded that Christmas is not an event which only happens once a year. For with our witnessing, it goes on. Daily.

Merry Christmas. God bless. Good evening.

On good (and bad) books

“Uncle Charles Cabin” and “The Wandering Jews” Do these titles ring a bell?

For those among us who are taking the Rizal course, they should, for they are two books which greatly awakened Rizal's consciousness in fighting for our freedom.

Hands down, books influence us. I don’t have to argue about it. Was it St. Augustine who said that “The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page?”

Don Bosco knew the importance of reading books. This prompted him to issue, three years before his passing away, a circular letter devoting entirely on spreading good books.

But I never thought that in the beginning of the school year of 1883, five years before his death, he wrote a long letter to all Salesian houses regarding one important concern: bad books.

At this point, let us listen to the words of Don Bosco:

The enemies of souls are aware of the influence of this weapon, and experience has taught us how young people avail themselves of it to the loss of their innocence. Strange titles, presentable paper, clean type, fine engravings, low prices, popular style, variety of plot, vivid descriptions: everything is exploited with diabolic artistry and craftiness. Woe to all of us if we doze off while the enemy is constantly alert!

All pupils should be told to hand over any new book they may acquire or that may be brought to them by relatives or friends. Professors, supervisors in the study hall, and assistants must take note of what the boys are reading in the church, at recreation, in class and in study hall.

Speak often on the subject of bad books during the year from the pulpit, in the evening talk, and in the classroom. Point out the harm they do.

If we act along these lines, I hope that no bad books will be smuggled into our schools, and that if they are, they will soon be destroyed.

                                              (cf Biographical Memoirs, pp. 173-177)

This letter was written in 1883. And the popular medium back then was the printed matter. If Don Bosco were alive today, I am certain that he would also write a letter on movies, TV shows, Internet sites.

We have been reminded to choose out friends, to associate only with those who serve as good examples. I believe that, it is also true in choosing the books, and of comics, and of video clips we save in our computers. For we do not just possess them, we also allow them to possess us.

I said a lot tonight. Forget everything, but please remember this. When you receive some cash during the Christmas break, please consider buying good books that will not just satisfy your curiosity, feed your mind, warm your heart, but more importantly, nourish your vocation.

God bless. Read more. Good evening.  

On new media

One of the main issues we tackled in the social communication east-asia oceania regional meeting was about formation. Not only of the seminarians—aspirants and prenovices—but also of Salesians—the young ones and the once young.

You see, the emergence of the personal media such as mobile phone, itouch, ipad, netbook and the like have done a lot of wonderful stuff in our ministry for the young people.

Fr. Duds Hila, a Salesian based in Tondo has his weekly Kiliti ng Diyos, a blog dedicated to breaking the Word aptly written for the young people. For those who are into Lectio Divina, the Pandelasamena of Fr. Chito Dimaranan will surely be of help.

The reflections of Br. George Celis concisely wrapped in more or less 140 character text message and sent to all his phone contacts never fail to capture the essence of the Sunday Gospel.

One Salesian priest who sells his retreat manuals has three SIM cards—one for Globe, another for Smart, and the last one is for Sun. His reason: So that he could easily be reached by the young people. Whenever he celebrates Mass at the Greenbelt chapel, he would use the PowerPoint, which he generously shares in one condition: that the one asking for the file should invite him to be a friend in Facebook.

Young Salesians are also sharing their reflections in the cyberspace. Of late, I saw one  informative and inspirational video produced by the brothers of the postnovitiate community on St. Benedict.  One of my closest friends, Br. Juvelan of Don Bosco Mandaluyong, would flood the Facebook thread with the photos of Bosconians taken during their retreats.  

When I was a cloistered novice in the hill at Don Bosco Lawaan, I was able to befriend some of our Bosconians from Mandaluyong, Makati, Pampanga and even Tarlac! I corresponded with an FMA aspirant in the United States and an elderly Salesian Indian priest based in Rome. This became possible though my blog.

The websites of the Salesians in Africa, in Australia, in the United States are loaded with so many materials on vocation promotions.

One night will not be enough to enumerate how personal media have been used to evangelize and to make way for God to be known in the digital continent.

But as I enumerate its advantages, let us not close our eyes to the dangers it poses.

One of the major blunders of the Aquino administration last year endangered our diplomatic ties with our neighboring country Vietnam. When he visited that country last year, one of his secretaries noted that the wine served to them was not that delicious, and  there was a scarcity of good looking men. There is nothing bad about this opinion, only that, it was made public via Twitter.

It is true that the new media have made our life a lot easier, but it has also made our lives more complicated. For one, in the context of the seminary, the clausura is diminished. The wall separating us from the outer secular world collapses. We are exposed to the crazy outfits of Lady Gaga, and even the antics of Moymoy Palaboy. We could receive text messages in the wee hours of the morning, waking us up to the morning greeting: kamusta na u?

We may shield ourselves from the complexities of the cybernet if we’ll honor the seminary values inculcated in us. Two words Just two words. Authenticity and Transparency.

We are seminarians. Let us hold on to this our identity even when we step in the realms of cyberspace. This identity should remind us to behave well and observe prudence in whatever stuff, be it photos, reflections, witty remarks we post in the Internet. There is such a thing as digital footprints. Once we make our mark, it will be difficult to erase it.

Your seminary formators are helping you by barring you access from certain websites. For us to monitor what you place in your Facebook account, or the videos you upload in Youtube or your reflections in your blog, or even the text messages you send will be quite difficult if not utterly impossible. You have to do the gatekeeping yourself.

So, the next time you log on to the net, remember these two words: authenticity and transparency.

My vocation story

One concrete proposal of Fr. Chavez in his strenna is for the Salesians is to share our vocation stories to the young people.

Allow me this space to share mine.

To begin with, I am a returnee. I left the seminary in 2004 as a novice-to-be on the eve of our supposed flight to the novitiate in Cebu. I worked as a teacher in some school in Manila, and I thought that I’d be happy to live and die working as one.

Along with that teaching stint, I worked for a publisher as a writer of English language textbooks marketed in Korea. I also contributed articles and edited educational materials for a Japanese firm. And because I had so much free time left, I also worked as an English tutor for a language school.

Looking back, I couldn’t believe that I was able to juggle three jobs all at the same time!

Despite the modest salary I was receiving, the glamour of working as a professor in a respectable academic institution in the country, the fulfilment of doing what I liked doing the most, I was satisfied.

There were so many possibilities ahead of me.

Or so I thought. 

One late afternoon, after coming from work, I passed by a mall. I was wanting to treat myself to a fancy restaurant for I was hungry. And modesty aside, because I could very well afford it. While choosing where to eat, out of nowhere, I was reminded of my past life as a seminarian.

I recalled those times in the seminary when there would be unstructured activities by batch, we would just have a quick hike to Tatlong Butas, ordered halo halo and something else, shared stories we would repeatedly delight to talk about over and over and over again.

And that alone was a piece of heaven for me!

That time, I exactly longed for that.

I set aside the idea of eating for I had become hungry for something more, for something greater that could not just be satisfied by any physical food alone. Deep within, I realized, I was completely empty.

That time, God knocked again at my door. And at that moment, He knocked me down.

I got in touch my spiritual director, one year after I left. I told him my situation. And then, we talked about the process of my re-admission. He asked me to volunteer at Pugad once a week. And then after that, we processed my experience.

Irony of ironies, it was on a Good Friday that I got settled with my decision to re-enter. The universal Church was recalling the agony of Jesus that day, but inside me, I found peace at my decision.

On June 1, 2006 I returned to this seminary together with my third batchmates, all first timers, three of whom will be professing their vows six months from now.

I’ve been a Salesian for only three years. Too young, you would say. But that short period has been filled with moments of bliss and faithfulness, although, it has also been marred by pains and infidelity. There were clear moments when I felt that God wanted me to remain by His side;  but there were also times when haunting questions became my sole reason to stay.

I heard Him told me the words "Donnie, come and see," and I did. But I also heard him say "Donnie, go and see." And I did. The other day, I asked him, "would you want me to stay here? For good?" and faintly, I heard the words "Donnie, we shall see."

Evangelizing ourselves first

The South American region has contributed about 101 canonized and beatified saints to the Church. We have the saints like St. Rose of Lima, St. Peter Claver, and of course, our very own Bl. Ceferino Namuncura who all come from this region.

Being considered the most Catholic continent in the world, the question “why does it need Catholic missionaries?” surely defies logic and reason.

Meeting in Brazil four years ago, the region's bishops called for the Latin American church to be in a "permanent state of mission." The bishops realized that "Latin America is a continent of people who are baptized, but who are not really disciples, much less missionaries," noted a Bolivian theologian.

When I came across this news earlier this week, I suddenly felt afraid for the catholicism in the Philippines. Was it not that Fr. Rector mentioned last night that there is just an estimated 15% of genuine Catholics in the country?

Just looking at the support of Filipino Catholics to the RH bill, which is tantamount to contradicting the teachings of the Church, one cannot but see the writings on the wall. If we do not do our part, we are also doomed to face the same situation.

We who belong to an institution founded for the main purpose of evangelizing and educating to the faith needs to do more. A lot are expected from us.

But before we set foot in inviting others back to the church, before we dream about that wonderful first sermon in our thanksgiving mass, or the awe-inspiring good morning talks which we'll deliver to the students, let us begin first the serious task in the mission field we are asked to evangelize: let us begin first to evangelize ourselves.  

On Savio and Namuncura

Namuncura and Savio have got some things in common.

One is that the church recognized their sanctity. The latter was canonized, while the former was beatified.

Aside from this, they were both bosconians.  

And your guess is as good as mine: They would have been splendid Salesians if God permitted them to live longer. But as we know it, they lived only a short life. Savio met the Creator when he was just barely 15 years old. Namuncura, however, smiled goodbye when he was about my age: 19 years old.

When he entered the Salesian school, it was not a walk in the park. He found it difficult to fall in line and to be obedient to the sound of the bell.

Picking up Savio as his model, Namuncura's companions could no longer distinguish the former from the latter. He became a wonderful copy of him.

When a companion slighted him with the question "how does a human flesh taste like" inferring that he was a cannibal since he was an Indian, he responded with just a big tear.

The life of Zefferino is a parable of scarcely 19 years, but it was a life filled with lessons.

Fr. Chavez said that "A saint is never like a meteorite that unexpectedly flashes across the sky of humanity, but is rather the fruit of a long and silent gestation in a family.”

Saints inspire others to be saints. Let us learn from their examples.

How does love look like?

I was feeling bad one day when I thought of flipping the pages of my journal.

In one page I wrote two years ago, I read this line “A confrere-friend shared with me that when he was in the novitiate, he promised not to look at flowers so as not to lose his focus on God. I was awe-inspired.”

Last March, one entry reads “I was gently moved with one aspirant when I raised my voice at him. I expected him to react negatively—to justify his deed, perhaps—but I was surprised when he gently reminded me to correct him in private. My anger faded away.”

Turning to another page, I realized that I jotted a personal observation in my journal when we came back from Tarlac after the thanksgiving mass of Fr. Reggie. An aspirant caught my interest for he was the last person who left the bus. He silently collected the wrappers of bread left by the rest of the community.

On Valentine’s day, my heart leapt when I read this entry. “A 16-year old teenager, a close friend, texted me this text message. He told me that the he’s preparing himself to be consecrated to God.” He was due to enter the seminary this year.

Apart from soothing my wounded soul after recalling these journal entries, I noted one thing common to all of them. All of these are concrete practices of love and they show me concretely what love actually looks like.

Radio apostolate

Every third Sunday, for the past five months now, I slip away from our community to go to Makati for the radio broadcast.

I cannot thank Fr. Gerry enough and the rest of the confreres for the go signal and the support they have given me to pursue this media apostolate. Despite the fact that agreeing for me to be there means I would not be here.

I love to teach, and I consider the classroom as my rightful place in the congregation. It's where, I think, I'll be most productive, it's there that I'll be most maximized by the province.

But communication is my first love. and so far, my experience of being in the radio can be summarized into three words: I am learning.

Br. Jomar would tease me for being so silent most of the time on air. because I feel intimidated being in the midst of seasoned broadcast professionals.

Coming back to the community after each broadcast, I bring home that enixhing experience of not just being able to learn how to operate the console when a commercial needs to be played, or how to modulate my voice so that it becomes more pleasing to the listeners, but being able to learn some insights from my co-hosts and from the listeners who interact with us a well.

I hope that your stint in the seminary does not only give you the obvious skills that we want you to have: to play an instrument, to have a deeper relationship with the Lord, etc. but also, those which are subtle and hidden skills which could only made surface through insight and reflection.

True to our humanity

Before Paulo Coelho, JK Rowling, Bob Ong, Dave Peltzer, Arun Gogna invaded the seminary, there was first Robert Fulghum.

In his magnum opus, entitled "All I really need to know, I learned in kindergarten," he outlined lessons, which were not taught to him by his professors in the graduate school, but learned in his lowly kindergarten class.

These are some of the things he learned:

• Share everything.
• Play fair.
• Don't hit people.
• Put things back where you found them.
• Clean up your own mess.
• Don't take things that aren't yours.
• Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.
• Wash your hands before you eat.
• Flush.
• Live a balanced life.
  
• Be aware of wonder.
  

I am reminded of this when I was having my personal spiritual reading on the life of Savio the other day, and reached that episode when he sought the help of St. John Bosco to help him attain sanctity.

Don Bosco told Dominic that in his school, to become a saint, one needs to be cheerful. The former made the latter realize that to be genuinely holy, one needs to be a real human person first. The age we are in may be characterized by immediacy: think of pancit canton ready in just three minutes, when antique furniture could be manufactured while you wait, we come to realize that "instant" does not apply in the process of sanctity.

We cannot short circuit the process.

Here in the seminary, we have to learn how to become human first. And when we have mastered that lesson: when we are able to say sorry, inculcate discipline, develop the habit of denying ourselves; the task of becoming a saint will just be some corners away.

In our quest to reach sanctity, let us be first true to our humanity.

Some musings on Don Bosco’s coming

Fr. Joe, our catechist, mumbled some unrecognizable words when I told him that I would be off to the provincial house. I thought that he was almost complaining that I’d be out again of the community to go to the provincial house.

The seminarians may be puzzled as well, why I would, once in a while, head to the provincial house. A number of them have asked me what’s my business in the provincial house.

Just so to set the record straight, I am there for the commission on social communications (CSC) meetings.

The commission is composed of five individuals, we have Fr. Bong as our head, Frs. Vester and Drans are also commission members.

I think it’s in order to update you with some endeavors of the commission.

The webpage of the province is still being updated which will hopefully be web 2.0 compliant, that is, it’ll be more interactive and up-to-date.

This year, the CSC penetrates the airwaves via Langit sa Lupa. The talk show airs in Radio Inquirer on Saturday evenings. We met the station manager last Monday and we got the go signal to have an additional 30 minutes by next year which we plan to use for a segment that will cater to the young people.

Fr. Bong asked me to tap seminarians here who could be anchormen for that segment. If we cannot be there on a weekly basis, perhaps, one Sunday every month, we could take charge.

On top of the regular issues of the Salesian Bulletin, the CSC added two more special issues that will coincide with the visit of the relic of Don Bosco. We’ve seen the first one featuring Don Bosco as the cover. The second one will hit the ‘newsstands,’ so to say, once the relic is already here.

Advent season is about coming, I am certain that it’s been a general knowledge. And coming means we are to prepare.

This year, this season of advent means doubly special for we are preparing for the Christmas season, and more than a week after, we brace ourselves for the coming of Don Bosco in flesh, metaphorically and literally. We’ll be able to see a part of him.

I hope that we’ll not be drowned with the pomp and pageantry and noise of his coming, for I believe that his visit is meant to strengthen us spiritually.

Don Bosco’s coming is a meeting with the person of Don Bosco. And I’d like to believe that he has got some special message for each of us.

I’ve read a couple of episodes in the Biographical Memoirs when Don Bosco would do oratory hopping to visit his salesians, the novices, the young people, and the preparations are simply remarkable. They would assign someone to deliver the speech. They would intensify their practices of piety. They would offer their communion and confessions so that the visit of Don Bosco to their house will be a tremendous success.

I wish that we’ll also do the same.

That as we busy ourselves in thinking about what exhibits could be set up, what else will catch the fancy of our guests, what will make the event more special, we may not lose the grasp of the essential.

After all, that’s what his motto is all about: Give me souls, take away the rest.

Salesian brothers

Yesterday, we quietly marked the first day of the triduum in honor of Blessed Artemide Zatti.

I note that there was nothing special in the community schedule, no colorful fanfare, no ballyhoo at all; such a characteristic of Salesian brothers who usually opt for the sidelines, shunning away the publicity and attention.

I think it was in the library of the novitiate where my knowledge and fascination about the Salesian brothers grew more. There’s this booklet in the library entitled “Life Sketches of the First Coadjutors.” It details the life stories of Salesian brothers who helped Don Bosco when the congregation was just starting.

Among the names listed there, there were:

Marcello Rossi, a porter for 48 years.

Dominic Palestrino, sacristan.

Peter Enria, music master and in charge of stage, cook, painter

Camilo Quirino, a polyglot

Maestro Dogliani, a music genius

Andrew Pelazza, director of the press

Peter Cenci, head tailor

Joseph Gambino, head of the Salesian library

Joseph Rossi, General Economer of the Salesian Society

Among the list, my favorite is Joseph Buzzetti. He was just nine years old when he came to Turin to work as a brick layer. He donned the clerical habit in 1851. But a pistol shot wounded one of his finger so that it had to be amputated. This accident discouraged him to become a priest. However, he loved Don Bosco that much that his preoccupation was to make himself useful in the Oratory and soon he became the factotum of the house. He would teach catechism, he was in charge of music and of the choir until 1860 when Don Cagliero took over.

When Don Bosco had some important business at hand and did not know to whom he could entrust it, he would say: “Call Buzzetti!”

If there is one idea that will neatly package and synthesize that book with that of the life of Br. Zatti, it is this: They all loved Don Bosco: that even in the littlest, humblest, lowliest task they carried out, they did it with the greatest love.

I heard from someone that the greatest form of devotion is imitation. Let us do likewise. Let us live as the first lay brothers and Br. Zatti did.

Saints!

Carlos Celdran has become an instant celebrity for some weeks now. And if in case you’re not aware why, you must have been out of the planet. He disrupted the homily at a Mass celebrated at the Manila Cathedral, where no less than Cardinal Rosales, Archbishop of Manila, was among the celebrants. He hurled up an improvised placard and at the top of his voice, shouted at the members of the clergy to “stop getting involved in politics.”

Upon his arrest, support for him has steadily been snowballing. Facebook accounts were set up in his honor and those who made their reactions publicly had generally only two things to say:

1. To free Carlos Celdran

2. To criticize the Catholic Church

Assessing the quantity and quality of the discourse, I was saddened by the great majority of those who have elevated Celdran to hero status for being brave enough to challenge the leaders of the Catholic Church.

In times like these, we don’t expect the members of the clergy and even the religious congregations to exclusively do the talking. They are very much identified with the Church,and for simple minded folks, it’s just that, the priests and religious are the church.

And so, I believe that the most effective stance against the passing of the RH bill is beyond us. We are against the present form of the reproductive health bill as it contradicts the very morals we hold and even if we try to sound objective and rational about it, people have made up their minds.

Amidst the clutter of comments, I found the insights of lay people most enlightening, if not comforting. These level-headed Catholics have been vigilant in taking up the cudgels in defending the stand of the CBCP against the passing of the RH bill and surprisingly, they seem to be well versed in the teachings of the Church. Some claim to have read Humanae Vitae, and they seem to have been enlightened with it.

My point is this.

We don’t only become evangelizers when we write our names with the initials SDB or when we are ordained for priesthood. Our ministry begins now. We have the privilege of meeting our students on a weekly basis. We have to give our best in catechizing them. This is especially true for public school students who may be receiving the last religious instruction in their lifetime.

The students we have at present, who have received the finest values and religious instruction, may not just become apologists in the future, but probably even more, saints.