Merry Christmas!

Mary's Move, the news

Following the long-standing tradition of Don Bosco’s oratory, the postnovitiate community mounted an academy in honor of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Mother. This time around, they presented a relatively non-traditional performance, as they staged a dance theater. Hence, the title of the production “Mary’s Move.”

The performers of the production were all young people who came from various settings where our FIN and FIS postnovices go for their apostolate. And instead of asking them to simply prepare a dance item, each group was given a theme to reflect on in order to guide them in executing their dance steps.

The themes revolved around four issues which our postnovices thought that affect our young people today: environment, sexuality, socio-economic realities, and various forms of anxieties which influence the behavior of our young people.

Our postnovices conceived this dance theater to not just prepare the young for the solemnity, but through the performances—and the reflections of their fellow young—they are able to recognize their very own situatedness.

The groups which performed included Teatro Sibol of Kapayapaan National High School (a public school where our postnovices teach weekly catechism), Liturgical Dance Group of Caritas Don Bosco School (a school run by Caritas sisters; our postnovices animate the youth groups of the school), Performing Arts Group and The Dance Co. of Don Bosco College (where they do their assistance) and the Juventus Youth Group of Mary Help of Christians Parish.

The result: it was not a mere theatrical production, but more of a full blown shindig held on the very eve of the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. The performers wowed the spectators with their stunning moves and brilliant steps. That eve of the celebration of Mary’s Immaculate Conception proved to be a night for the young!

Together with the friends, classmates, teachers and families of the performers, members of the Salesian family also came to watch the show, such as the FMA and CSM sisters and the Cooperators of Canlubang chapter. Fr. Eli Cruz, SDB the provincial superior of FIN stayed throughout the performance.

In his goodnight talk, Fr. Charles Manlangit, SDB, the rector of the postnivitiate community said that Mary’s Move is a move towards a return to innocence, a journey back to God’s fold.

Mary's Move

We're mounting a dance theater tonight in honor of the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. Sorry, you'll not be able to see us dance. But we have invited talented of young people from our various places of apostolate to do the strutting.

Join them with their groove, and let us see how the Blessed Mother moves! And yes, if in case you're curious, the admission is free. Show begins prompty at 7:30 PM.

Long live the Philippines

We joined the entire Filipino nation in celebrating the 111th Independence Day of the country yesterday.

Extending our waking hours until 11 PM in the evening on the eve of the celebration, we thought of using some colored papers available to come up with our own Philippine flag.

After the 'tedious work' came of course the best moment we all enjoyed: picture taking!

Roller coaster ride

Br. Jomar, a confrere and a big admirer of this site, complained about the scarcity of personal news coming from my end. The past few posts have contained a general 'infomercial' announcements which are rather detached from who I am.

I told him that the past three weeks have been a roller coaster ride of emotion for me and even if this is my own blog, I wouldn't want to bombard it with just personal news.

But to balance things off, let me share this video with you which was taken at Enchanted Kingdom when we visited the park last week.

We were not supposed to proceed with the plan since the weather wasn't so cooperative. But when we decided to watch instead a symphony concert, the weather got better. Well, not really better as in 'better' but the 'child' in the formators decided that we could still enjoy the rides despite the 'strong' drizzle (I know, it's a contradiction. But that's how it was!). But we did enjoy it just the same!

Paete holy week trip

I mentioned in my last entry that we joined Fr. Rey in gathering data (interview devotees and shoot footage for the celebration) of the pre-Easter Salubong in Paete.

Before leaving for Paete, Fr. Rey gave us a briefing as to what we are to expect there. I had been to Paete before. More or less, I was aware of the landscape, and also of the other stuff which may satisfy our logistical requirement.

For one, we needed to know where the salubongs would be held (there are three moments!) and also the division of task of each one. I would be asked to take care of the MP3 for the audio, snatch some video footage, but most of the time, I was tasked take still shots.

It was a long trip. We passed through several towns before finally reaching our destination.

Upon arriving, some of the statues are already in place--with frills and all! And some barrage of paparazzi are also there with their cell phones, instant cameras and some DSLRs to boot!

I was surprised to know that the people consider the script precious. He got hold of the script the people are using, but he is not to publish it for public consumption. When we interview Mark, he's a cantor for Christ, he told us that he only got hold of the script on Palm Sunday, three days before the celebration. And once he's done with his part, somebody immediately gets hold of the script.

We did not expect to be offered free meals, after all, we’re there to gather data. But Filipinos everywhere are hospitable. And following the words of St. Francis of Sales, "we ask for nothing... we refuse nothing."

We've made a smooth interpersonal relationship with some of the people there. The 'rector' (narrator) took it upon himself to accompany us to each house as we conducted interviews. He also held our MP3 recorder since he was posted near the sound system. Some of the sacristans who served as human cordon to control the crowd happily allowed us to get inside the scene for a better view.

The procession began with a rundown of the important personalities involved in the unfolding of the salvation history. It was a long one! But I was enriched to hear some new names such as Maria Jacobe and even match faces with some names of the saints not really familiar to me.

It was a tiring event. We reached home past midnight after a four-hour procession and at least an hour of road trip from Paete to Canlubang. But I couldn't complain. I immensely enjoyed the experience and given the chance to have it again next year, I will surely offer my sweet 'yes' to Fr. Rey.

Some musings on community life

If one asks about the difference between diocesan and religious clergy, one of the most common answers is community life. Religious thrive in communities; on the other hand, a diocesan priest lives in a parish all by his lonesome.

Sure thing, your idea of what a Salesian community is is different from what we Salesians know. This is not because it's explicitly inscribed in our Constitutions, nor because we devoted one whole month to discuss the subject once upon a time in our year of novitiate.

But more than anything else, we Salesians concretely experience community life on a ‘24/7’ basis. To live and work together is for us Salesians a fundamental requirement and a sure way of fulfilling our vocation (C49).

It is queer to realize that in this age of individualism, which tends to emphasize the value of independence and self-reliance and puts a premium on achieving one’s personal goal than to work towards collective development, there are still individuals who profess to live in a community ‘where their love for each other leads them to share all they have in a family spirit, and so create communion between person and person’ (C49).

As we celebrate our community day today, we also give due reverence and love to the leader of our community who has been an efficient father, teacher and spiritual guide for each of us.

I am aware that the past year was not an easy one for our community. I say this as a young Salesian barely crawling towards my first year in the congregation. But amidst the challenges we encountered, our beloved Fr. Rey did not only share with us courage and principled leadership, but also led us to the path of charity in accepting possibilities which might go against our liking.

The best ride in EK

As scheduled, we trooped to the Enchanted Kingdom last Friday.

It was a relatively quiet afternoon. I could even say that it's rather somber, a real irony. Maybe because it was a Friday, and I was used to seeing the carnival packed with people.

For the first time, I tried the Discovery Theater and also the SRRX (Shake Rattle and Roll Experience). Of course, we also enjoyed the classic rides like Anchor's Away and the Space Shuttle and the Jungle Log Jam and the Dodgem (bumper cars).

But having tried all these rides, hands down, I could say that the best ride is that which has been responsible why I have a croaky voice even five days after the experience.