Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Writing in the rain.
9:37 PM | 
Posted by
daniel
Classes are cancelled today because of Typhoon Juaning (international name, Nok-ten), so I’m here listening to the pounding rain and wild wind while writing a few thoughts about the new semester. To be honest, I’m always a little uncomfortable when another typhoon hits. Actually most of Metro Manila and I get nervous, still recalling the ravages and floods of Typhoon Ondoy two years ago. Our house was knee-high in water as Rick, Dennis and I scrambled to get everything we could up to the second floor. You probably remember the stories and photos from the blog. There’s been such a strange change in weather patterns recently. Two years ago the typhoon season was long and violent. Last year the rainy season all but disappeared! And now it’s back with great flare! We are certainly in a time of change!
Emboy, Aying, Ray, and I are doing well and getting ready for Midterm Exam time. The computer seems to be going round the clock as the guys churn out report after report. As for me, I have oral exams coming up. They are a lot of work, but a great time to meet my students one by one. The dinner table conversation often turns to classes, and I’m always impressed by the guys’ new understandings, insights, and even questions.
Fr. Frederic finished his courses in the Emmaus Program for formators, which will be a great help to him in his ministry of Director of Postulants in Vietnam
Emboy, Aying, and Rey continue to lend a gentle and helpful presence at the Blessed Guanells Center, a residence for persons with disabilities, run by the Servants of Charity. Emboy has promised to share some of his experiences and insights with us here in the blog next month.
The guys are also very involved in the Forum for young professed religious and seminarians. Last year Dennis was a board member, this year Aying is. It’s great for them to be with young men and women from all over the Philippines
I was invited by Ateneo’s Youth for Christ to share with them as they spent a weekend of prayer and fellowship. What a dynamic and inspiring group! Among them were both former and present students of mine. Then I was also invited by the Augustinians (OSA) to be the speaker at their recollection. Having lived in Algeria , the home of St. Augustine
Soon we’ll have a meeting of the Advisory Council of the Loyola School of Theology, of which I’m a member. Right before we broke for the summer, we were graced by an insightful and enriching workshop on formation at the theology level. The formators of the different communities who attend Loyola School of Theology are a diverse group of men and women of varying ages, nationalities, backgrounds, and spiritualities. That’s what’s so enriching about it.
You know the old saying, “One picture is worth a thousand words”, so I’ll end now since hopefully some photos we want to share with you will also tell of our life here.
Thank you for your prayers. May God continue to bless you and all those dear to you!! Come back here soon to hear from Emboy and to learn about our continuing adventures!
In the joy of the Spirit,
Daniel for the whole Holy Spirit Formation Community, Quezon City
Monday, June 13, 2011
New School Year, New Blessings.
12:03 AM |
Posted by
daniel
We’re back! The Holy Spirit Formation Community here in Metro Manila has gathered together again after a very fruitful and enjoyable summer. Right before we left in April, we were asked to facilitate a retreat of some 50 university students. We were asked to do this as a community, the Spiritans! So the four of us, Dennis, Emboy, Aying and I, planned the five-day retreat in the cool, windy mountains of Tagaytay and had a wonderful time sharing with each other and with the students. It was a real blessing for all of us.
Then we went off in all different directions. Dennis, having finished two years of theology at Loyola School of Theology, spent some time in Midsalip with Frs. Jean-Marie and Peter, and is now in Cebu helping Fr. Martin with his youth work while waiting for his visa for Australia where he will have a two-year exposure to mission life. We miss him already, but know this will be a great experience for him. Emboy lived with Fr. Adam in Digkilaan, a very poor, rural parish in the Diocese of Iligan; while Aying went to Midsalip, in the Diocese of Pagadian, with Frs. Raymond and James. Emboy and Aying share some of their experinces in just a moment.
We are also very happy to welcome our newest Spiritan, Rey Desamparado, who professed his religious vows on May 13. Rey, 30 years old, is originally from Cebu and met the Spiritans through Fr. Martin and his work there. In the very short time together we’ve discovered one thing that is certain: Rey is an excellent cook!! When it’s his turn to prepare dinner, we all keep our eyes on the clock not to be late!! His many other talents are also surfacing quickly.
As for me, I got to go back to the States for a visit. It was wonderful! I stayed mostly at our amazing Spiritan high school, Holy Ghost Prep, just outside Philadelphia. Being an educator and formator, it was great fun to be in a Spiritan school and enjoy their many interesting programs. In another case of “perfect timing”, I was at Holy Ghost Prep when their new chapel windows were installed, including one which commemorates the founding of the Spiritan missions in East Asia. You can see it here on the blog, the symbols the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam blended together in harmony; the year we began, 1997, clearly visible.
I also got back to Brooklyn, staying at the rectory of the parish I grew up in. New York City is always “home” in a way beyond words, and just being there is a shot in the arm of renewed energy and vigour! It was wonderful to wander the streets of my old neighborhood, talking Arabic with the shopkeepers, tasting delicious dishes of my youth, catching up on the latest Middle Eastern music. Then I was also off to our Provincialate in Bethel Park, and I stayed our retirement home outside Pittsburgh. It was a very touching experience for me to be with the elders, Spiritans who were the age I am now when I first joined some thirty years ago. Just being with them, listening to their stories and reminiscences, praying with them, laughing…it was a time of blessing and encouragement for me. I went to our Spiritan University, Duquesne University, remembering fondly the short time I taught there, in between my time in Algeria and my coming to the Philippines. I also visited our wonderful parish, Our Lady, Queen of Peace, in Virginia, just outside Washington, DC.
All in all it was a wonderful time to catch up with family and friends, to be with the great guys of the American Province, to be inspired by so many fine people. A little less than two months, it flew by quickly, and now I’m back, looking forward to a new school year with our younger Spiritan confreres and with my energetic and engaging students of Theology at Ateneo de Manila University. But enough about me…let’s hear a bit from Emboy and Aying. In the coming months Rey will share with you some reflections about being a newly professed member of the Community and living here in Metro Manila. There is so much we’d like to share with you, so keep checking our blog site and then!
May the blessings of Pentecost be ours always!! Celebrate the Gifts of the Holy Spirit!
--Daniel S. Sormani, C.S.Sp.
*********************************************************************
Lord Hold My Right Hand!
By Alfre C. Liwagon, C.S.Sp.
Last summer I was assigned to Digkilaan Parish. I was there for one month and two weeks. It was the most exciting experience I’ve ever had in terms of exposure. I chose to journey with the youth with the participation of the youth leaders, Mr. Adrian Pete Canoy and Mr. Angelo Capadiso. We worked together as a team to reach out to those gentle men and women from far places of the parish. Our mission was to offer retreats and recollections. We had three important destinations: MAINIT PROPER, STA. CRUZ ROGONGON, and DIGKILAAN PROPER. We were very fortunate to have “Fireball’ with us, that’s what we call one of our motorcycles. Without it we could not have reached those places. Actually, Filipinos are fans of giving names to things and even animals that can help in our daily lives. For this, the three of us went to those places with special thanks to our very own expert driver, Adrian.
For me, I just couldn’t imagine how we would reach those mountainous places and encounter young men and women who have faith in the Lord Jesus. They were so happy to see the three of us struggling with one motorcycle. They asked us how many times we fell! It was more exciting for them to know, especially when Adrian told them that we couldn’t manage to cross the river without falling a number of times. Things like this made them happy as we discovered how they live and how they survive in this trying trial of life.
By the time we were heading to Sta Cruz Rogongon, fifteen kilometres from the parish, I said to myself, “This is the end!” because I can’t count anymore how many times we fell, both on the road and in the river. The road was so steep! The river was filled with stones. My feet and my hips were aching. I was so exhausted and scared. And the cliffs left and right were so deadly. Even worse, when rain came, “Fireball” was struggling to manage the muddy and narrow roads we were passing. When the road was so slippery, well, that was the worst. I could only see the high cliff that was before us. I was so afraid at that moment. The driver was about to drift off from the wet little pathway, and down there was nothing but death. One mistake would be fatal. And I said with deep supplication, “Lord, hold my right hand!” We were balancing and my right hand continued to rise high, as if God were holding me. I got teary-eyed the moment we passed from those narrow roads. It was all about faith that we were able to survive. I didn’t know what to do except, ask the Lord for help.
I thank the Lord for that experience. I learned a lot, especially how to fight for mission. It is by way of trusting the Lord even though things look impossible. My faith in Jesus saved me. The Lord was there and I could feel he was holding my right hand. I can see how theological insights were moving in my life as a young professed religious. Things can be difficult and disturbing if we do not choose to suffer for the good of the mission. Before we choose something, trials and circumstances are set. All we have to do is to respond freely to the challenges they bring.
**********************************************************************
Mission Experience
We ended our class last semester on March 26. After that, we prepared ourselves for the retreat of the Ateneo student catechists in Tagaytay City. It was the first time that the Spiritan Community in Manila facilitated a retreat together for five days. Fr. Dan, Dennis, Emboy and I, each had our own topic to discuss with the group. It was very wonderful and enjoyable. It was also a time of reflection being with the Lord away from the busy days of our classes. And it was also the good ambiance for our own community bonding.
After the retreat, we went directly to our home and prepared all the things for the summer exposure. Fr. Dan left on April 2 for his holiday. Dennis, Emboy and I left April 5 for summer exposure. Dennis went directly to Maasin, Leyte. Emboy went to Digkilaan, Iligan City for summer exposure. I went directly to Pagadian City and then to Midsalip, Zamboanga Del Sur for the exposure.
I arrived at Pagadian City on Tuesday April 5. Fr James Kutav picked me up at the airport and then we travelled almost three hours going to Midsalip, Zamboanga Del Sur. The road was very disgusting and it was an uncomfortable ride to reach the place. The road will shake your body and head and it will end up tiring everything. But it was an enjoyable travel because I saw the beauty of the mountains by the side of the road. As soon as I arrived in San Jose Parish, Midsalip, Zamboanga Del Sur, my exposure began. I began directly to observe and familiarize myself with the place and the people.
The Parish is situated in the center of the town. It has a wide range of land which is about one hectare in length and also holds the home of the Columban Sisters who are ministering to the Subanen or the Lumads (the indigenous people). The parish has thirty chapels in different barangays (neighborhoods). There are four chapels in areas not yet a barangay and there are also three barangays that have no chapel yet because they are very far and remote places with solid Subanen settlers. In these towns there are many people who turned to Christianity and only few Lumad-Subanen who remain in their tradition and culture. As I observed, out of the population in Midsalip, 80 percent of it is Catholic faithful and the rest belong to other denominations or are Subanen Tribes.
The people in this place are gradually growing in faith. They continually underwent transformation of their lives and also of socializations according to the standard and doctrines of the Church. As I merged myself with them, I discovered that they are still journeying towards further evangelization and spiritual maturity. That is why I give a heartfelt thanks to my brother Spiritans, Fr. Raymond and Fr. James, for their undying effort in guiding the people in their spiritual needs and in continuing the evangelization of the poor.
Furthermore, the place underwent different challenges and threats on mining issues and illegal logging. As I went around from one barangay to the other barangays, I noticed that the place of Midsalip is an undeveloped paradise because it has dazzling mountain ranges that are abundant and filled with vast forests. It has also a wide plantation of rice-fields and corn which is the source of their income. But many of the barangays are remote places and are only accessible by a motorcycle or “habal-habal”. And some barangays can only be reached by horses during rainy season. I experienced two times falling from the “habal-habal” when I went to one of the remote places for a week to live with the people. The driver and I just smiled and get up to continue the journey. It was two hours travel from the parish. The road was very tricky and risky; it would pass through the side of the mountains, a deep cleft, rivers and going up and down. It was very difficult travel in order to reach the place. When I reached the place, people were very generous and welcoming, and it was a consoling part of my travel. Most of them are mixed tribes, traditional religions and Christians. The majority of the people are settled in the barrios, their source of living is farming. Yet the people who are living in the proper or in the center of the town are progressing. They are mostly professionals in different fields and most of them are working in the local government. Some are also businessmen and women who own a large hectare of land and stores. Although they are from different cultures and tribes, they know and understand each other. And the spirit of harmony and peace can be felt even though there are people who are pro or against mining.
The people in my exposure area became closer to me as I lived with them, attending Basic Christian Community gatherings in different chapels, giving seminars to the catechists, facilitating recollections and giving talks to every zone composed of three to four chapels, giving talks to the youth, being with the altar servers, working in the new rectory together with the construction workers and attending the meeting of all the religious associations in the parish. Their laughter and tears, their stories of survival and personal experiences with God give me courage and strength and even purified my anxieties that make me strong to survive. I believe that it is the missionary spirit which brings me in the realm of strength and joy in my journey. It is hard for me to comprehend how I endure and remain steadfast after I experienced being with the people in the mountain place. But I believe that God called me mysteriously to this life as a religious.
I ended my exposure at San Jose Parish, Midsalip, Zamboanga Del Sur on May 27, 2011. I arrived here in Manila on the same day in the afternoon. Emboy, together with Rey the newly professed Spiritan, was already here, and later Fr. Dan arrived. Now we are back, registered at Loyola School of Theology, visited our ministry site, and are looking forward to another year of growth, challenge, and joy as Spiritans in formation. And as Fr. Dan often says, “Formation is a lifelong adventure.”…that sounds good to us!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)