POLA Thanksgiving Mass
at the Start of the House Reconstruction
The following texts contain the Homily of Fr. Marc Bryan R. Adona, SSS (PDO Director) last September 16, 2019, during the Holy Mass offered for the Sanctification of Human Work – as the official beginning of the project to reconstruct, preserve and enhance the existing Provincial House of the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament in the Philippines.
The expression we wish to highlight today in this celebration of the Holy Mass is our gratitude and praise to God for providing us the humble means to acquire this home in the Philippines, where we nurtured and realized the mission, spirit and charism of the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament. This is a way of paying tribute also to the early Sacramentinos in the Philippines who had pioneered efforts in order to find a place we will call a home for our dreams, a shelter for our spirits, and a tower to look over our past, present and future uncertainties. We are grateful to God, not only for finding a place to live in, but for helping us meet the kindness of the family who once owned this very place where we are gathered now. For their goodness and hard work, love and commitment – God has surely rewarded them the merits of heaven. We are happy to recall the good times that went through the walls of this house, and the memory they created to make us forever grateful for having lived in this house. Surely, we love the touches of antiquity in this house which everyone now calls endearingly as POLA Community. One does not need to learn architecture to praise the beauty this house will timelessly hold. But having it turned into a house of the Sacramentinos in the early 1980s, the house has not only retained its beauty but has also gained the character of community and the qualities of fraternity.
Now our mission, ministries and apostolates have eventually progressed. Sacramentino Religious continue to come in and out of this house anytime of the day, of the season and of the year; and the house has not gone through major repairs, and surely its strength has not remained the same. God knows we like to do more than just repairing it; we want to relive the wealth of joys that it can no longer serve today because of particular changes and needs in the Province. However, this is not time for ambitious projects, but it is time to take actions proper to our religious identity, means and capacities. God must be calling us this time to guide our aspirations with the principle of moderation. Relevant then for now, is to reconstruct the house, refresh its quality in order to accommodate changes, preserve its iconic elements, and reinvent the fusion of old and new – all in the fashion of moderation (not too much, not too less). After all, this is not the house of the Provincial Superior, this is the house all Filipino Sacrametinos whose mission is to recreate the Eucharistic values in all their commitment. We work under God’s charity, that is why we will rebuild one that is not simply for beauty but also for truth and charity.
As we offer this Holy Mass for the sanctification of all that we are to begin doing for the reconstruction of our provincial house, let us find our consolation and assurances from the very words of our Lord Jesus in our Gospel for today, saying: “Your heavenly father knows everything that you need. But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, then all good things will be given to you.” These are the thoughts of Jesus to remind ourselves that more than aiming to be successful with the things that we do, we must always find God as our beginning and end; for only God can begin the good things we do and bring them into fulfillment. In all these endeavors beginning to take shape as a project, we are not aiming for achievements, we are working to glorify the Lord who has not failed to love and to guide our Congregation’s mission all these years.
It is a time to gather our generosity and make this project as our own; we are rebuilding a home not a house. That is why, there is a need first of all to involve ourselves and to cooperate at all costs in order to accomplish this work. We thank the Lord in a special way for gifting us chances of encountering the group of architects, engineers and skilled people who committed themselves for the purposes of our project. Everything is God’s ways in God’s own unique timing. As they say, if the things we truly aspire and work for are for us, God will grant them to us. At this point in time, we do not rely much on our individual personal capacities, we rely foremost on the Divine providence and mercy of God for whom all these endeavors are offered.
Lastly, we commend this project of rebuilding our Provincial House to the intercession of our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, and to the time-tested efficacy of St. Joseph’s intercession from whom our Founder St. Peter Julian Eymard believed to have been instrumental for the provisions of our early Sacramentinos. May the Lord who has begun the good things in us, bring into fulfillment. Amen.
SSS Philippines Ongoing Formation
“Life- long Formation is more than ever necessary in our rapidly changing world; it allows individuals and communities to renew themselves and their vocation. This formation is to be encouraged in our communities by appropriate means, and provinces shall ensure that it is incorporated into their overall plan” (ROL, 61).
Cognizant to the call for ongoing formation, the Philippines Province has been consistently holding the Annual Religious Gathering. The Annual Religious Gathering is joined by perpetually professed religious categorized in various groups such as : Young Religious (from Perpetual Profession to five years); Junior Religious (six to ten years); Middle Religious (eleven to fifteen years); Senior Religious (sixteen to twenty five years); and Jubilarians ( twenty six years and beyond). This year’s gatherings are orderly scheduled in terms of dates and venues. An approximate of one-week long is given to each religious groups in order to give enough time to accommodate the formation sessions, pastoral updates and concerns, and rest and recreations. Certainly, an engaging, enriching, and encapsulating experience which cap off the celebration of brotherhood and Eucharistic vocation.
Ongoing Formation has formative character. It reinforces and regenerates an atmosphere of fraternal consciousness that helps the religious to discern further the raging realities at present. One must have realized that there can be no Religious Life without sorrows and joys, desolations and consolations, and crucifixion and resurrection. Preoccupied with the daily bulks and buzzes, searching for space to sanitize, strengthen, and share the enduring pursuit towards holistic way of life is indeed part and parcel of a life-long formation. Thus, “formation is a life-long process and involves each and every one of us” (ROL, 46). Taking Ongoing Formation as one of the top priorities, the Philippines Province holds the importance of ongoing formation as a continuous formation process and intervention towards further development and progress of each religious. The unwavering support of the province is indeed a great leap in assisting the religious groups to meet their objectives. The availability of some religious who have accompanied the groups conveys an impact in ensuing support within the province and within religious community. Thus, the province takes seriously the importance of ongoing formation as a tool to facilitate formation process and intervention towards further development and progress amidst prevailing issues and challenges that the Church encounters at present time. (Rev. Throy Fuentebella, SSS)
Gathering… Stories of the love of God.
September 9 to 13, 2019—a historical and meaningful gathering of POLA Priests and Brother belonging in the Middle Religious category of the On-Going Formation i.e., 11-15 years in the ordination and perpetual profession. The gathering took place in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental. The gathering aims to continue strengthening the brotherhood, encouraging each other in hope through sharing of experiences in the ministry, updating themselves through input on a particular topic related to religious life and ministry in general and spending ample time with each other in a form of recreation and relaxation in order to uplift the spirit and foster camaraderie further. Inevitably, the experience allowed us to reminisce the years in service and renewed our faithful response to God who is the alpha and the omega of our religious vocations.
The days of stay in Dumaguete with the schedule of activities that we have followed leisurely was considered fruitful and enjoyable and necessary for us religious. By listening to the stories of experiences of others in the group, God’s kindness and grace were once again been confirmed and become even more evident in the exchange of real-life stories of religious assigned in different communities. They mirror every hardship of life, the ups and downs so to speak that all, without exception, are going through and in the knowledge that God is a constant and faithful companion. By simply sharing one’s experiences and being listened to without judgment whatsoever, the capacity to let go and the idea of moving forward plus the healing of some created wounds, can be realized. We were just reminded by St. Ignatius of Loyola’s words, “You to feel desolation before consolations.” A small voice that is heard amidst the silence of prayers telling words that are like those uttered by St. Paul, “My grace is enough for you, for in weakness power reaches perfection.” And so, I willingly boast of my weakness, the power of Christ may rest upon me.” Too much thirst is felt that only God can quench due to following God’s footsteps of surrendering thyself. What it seems unending work that seems to be consuming all the energy that’s left in you until you say that you are like Jesus.
Pope Francis shared in his homily, “A wearied hope will be healed and will enjoy that ‘particular tiredness of heart’ when it is unafraid to return to the place of its first love and to find, in the peripheries and challenges before us today, the same song, the same gaze that inspired the song and the gaze of those who have gone before us,” The Pope also said that “in this way, we will avoid the danger of starting with ourselves; we will abandon a wearisome self-pity in order to meet Christ’s gaze as he continues today to seek us, to call us and to invite us to the mission.”
Faced with this weariness, Francis said, priests and religious do well in imitating Jesus and saying “Give me a drink,” referring not to “any water” but to the “spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
The words of Pope Francis in his address to the Religious of Panama, during his visit to this Central American country to participate in the Vatican-sponsored World Youth Day, have been affirmed as true and correct as contained in the sharing by most of us in the Middle Religious. Every obstacle, time we stumble, experiencing intense and hard to explain melancholy and frustration with all the work in the ministry served as a path to ease the extreme thirst. “These are all situations that consume life and energy; yet they show us many important moments in the life of the Master, moments in which our humanity, too, can find a word of Life,” This is a way of showing blessing and chances to once regenerate the lost energy and ignite the fire of passion in the heart to be able to continue responding to and living lives of holiness that is centered in the Eucharist.
Fr. Rudsend was kind enough to lead us to a reflection that made us realize the vastness of possibilities that religious life can offer and the ministerial work can pose as challenge to our perseverance. No amount of time that is spent in the ministry or in the community that a religious could finally say, I have maximized or exhausted my potentials – because of the fact that it is simply immense. This concept of enormity of possibilities in religious life was not too remote in the experiences we have had as we encounter the beauty of nature in Dumaguete. True enough, there is no such thing as “conquering the beauty of nature” because all we can do is to encounter nature and be captivated by it.
In our voyage on the sea, we once again saw the vastness and the depth of it. Every wave that greets our boat reminds us of the vastness and depth of God’s love—a mystery that cannot be understood or something that any creature’s mind cannot reach. What we need to do is to look at all of those with the ‘eyes of faith.’ We were invited to swim and go to the deepest of the mystery and vastness of God’s love. Any hardship or obstacle can be treated as a priest blessing just like what St. Mother Theresa of Calcutta said, “Suffering is just kissing and sharing in the cross of Christ. Everything, in our eyes, be it failure or defeat that brought us to emptiness and all that weakened our faith are blessings of God, like what St. Paul said, “Everything is a gift.”
After five days of being together, sharing and discovering the love of God in the Eucharist, we have to thank the Lord because we were imbued with excitement. We felt rejuvenated in our promise to serve the Lord of the Eucharist more worthily, more profoundly and prophetically as we carry with us the experiences and stories of kindness and love of God, as the gospel of our lives.
This year, we are happy to be joined by graduating MR members: Frs. Muriel, Junvic, Br. Reno and those who will remain in the category for the coming years: Frs. Hermie, Juned, Clifford, Rudsend, and Nelson. (Fr. Nelson Roque, SSS)
Junior Religious Gathering
The Junior Religious Gathering for this year has been a blessing to each of us, for not only have we been nourished physically (as in busog to the max with the generosity of many friends in the parish and of the community, and of course, the Local SSS Community in Tacloban) but also interiorly with the presentation that our speaker, Fr. Vic Buyser, SSS has given which is simple and yet so rich with things that we know can serve as added tool which we can bring back with us to further deepen our dedication in our different assignments. He shared to us an article by Fr. Venancio Calpotura, SJ entitled, “Human Formation: A Necessary Evil?” unto which a very fruitful exchange of experiences transpired regarding all the joys and struggles as well, that everyone encounters daily in the ministry.
Three things Fr. Vic came up with to capsulize all the that have been discussed as the very gist of his talk regarding desiring for a meaningful interior life while consciously and continuously delving into the challenges of human development in our on-going formation, as likewise inspired by our Founder, Saint Peter Julian Eymard are as follows: a) first is about taking the step on Sharp Transcendence; b) secondly, the recognition of God’s grace working in us; and thirdly, imbibing Maturity in Spirit. And the most striking part of it all is him inviting the six of us for Adoration as our culminating prayer.
Also, creating more bonding memories (behind what can only be captured by photos) among us will never be complete without moments of being able to enjoy the beautiful sights and spots Tacloban can offer; of spending time together just for fun, and also with the company of friends and our religious assigned there. A day in Kalanggaman Island while walking on its white sand and swimming in its very clear water is for sure one experience worth the travel. Going farther is venturing the long and adventurous waters of Ulot River in Paranas, Samar.
Hospitality has truly been enjoyed to overflowing through families and groups who joyfully made our stay worth-remembering; fetching from and bring us back to the airport, preparing meals for us, or inviting us to dine outside, and most especially joining us in the Eucharistic celebrations. To everyone who has been part of this experience, Maraming Salamat po! Special thanks too to the Sisters of the Order of St. Francis (OSF) who offered their beautiful and silent place where we indeed took pleasure in taking time to have a good rest and sleep, and delicious breakfasts too. (Fr. Andres Malawis, SSS)
When the pen begins to speak……!
As part of the ongoing formation, the young religious (five years and below) of the Province of Our Lady of Assumption gathered for four days in Palawan, a dream place for most of the Filipinos and a site for many tourists? Were they for the tourism? Of course no, even if it is part of the light moments. With Father Dante Funelas, SSS as the speaker, these men of faith and zeal were warmly welcomed at Puerto Princesa City by the Funelas family where they really felt that it was nice to build three tents. In fact, the words of the Lord came to fulfilment: “Whatever town or village you go into, seek out someone worthy and stay with him until you leave” (Mt 10: 11) “where they make you welcome, eat what is put before you” (Lk !10:8). I am sure this home received the blessing!
With Eucharist at the center, celebrated in the cathedral, these men of faith had the opportunity to meet the Ordinary who cordially and paternally welcomed them. They felt that they were in the father’s house. Among the activities they had is that of visiting historical sites like the prison for the american Second World War soldiers and the visit to the one of the seven wonders of the world, the underground river. This visit, unique in nature, done in silence and contemplation left us but with one word “O Lord, how great You are!”
Father Dante had given to each member a copy of the message from the General Superior and the Provincial Superior, very rich indeed. Exclaiming that he didn’t know how to speak, as if recalling the vocation story of Moses and Jeremiah, the good Lord had to find him a certain “Aaron”. And this was a pen, a mere pen! I think it’s better to call the miraculous pastoral-staff of Moses.
Placing Aaron at the table, Father Dante requested the young religious to keep quiet and let him (Aaron) alone speak. And so, a member would pick up the pen, give it to any other and this for the first round it meant “I want to know more about you” and then for the second time “I want to be your friend”, each round followed by a group discussion. Interestingly, there was much hesitation to pick up the pen as it appeared very elementary. However, members later appreciated the significance of this activity. To some, it shows how, even after being together for quite a long time it is still hard to approach, confront each other and yet this a very important value in our life. What about the fact that there is still more to know about the other? How can we live together as brothers if approaching each other is still a challenge? Besides living together does not necessarily mean that we are friends….and yet we are called to be. Very touching, one of the brothers had the guts of giving Aaron to all members! Who could fail to appreciate and admire such an act! To sum, the young religious felt that such a moment is very important for their growth and perseverance in the ministry. In fact, the benefits are more significant than the expenses. Besides, this is the only forum where people of a generation meet and share experiences, pour out their ministry challenges and fill the togetherness and belongingness as brothers. How I wish there will be more and more encounters of this kind in the whole Eymardian family…..! (Emmanuel Kigwanye Pinto)